This is an annotated representation of the 1999 essay written by James Douglass with modifications made by the author in 2012 for greater clarity. Hyperlinks and endnotes by David Ratcliffe with the assistance and approval of James Douglass.I believe that the assassination of John F. Kennedy was a watershed event in US history. It marked a real turning point from what had previously been a fairly independent presidency, although, of course, always representing the broad interests of the dominant capitalist class.
After the assassination of JFK, the National Security State under the guidance of a financial/banking directorate took direct control of the growing US Empire. (It was the agents of these people who, I believe, were referred to by Jacqueline Kennedy while preparing for the emergency swearing in of Johnson as president. In reply to suggestions that she change from her blood splattered pink outfit that she continued to wear, she said: "No, I'm going to leave these clothes on. I want them to see what they have done".) The stunning success of this assassination encouraged many others that followed against any serious threats posed by people such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, many Black Panthers and other activists.
What we have now is a chief executive who functions as a public relations officer for the Empire. The real executive function has been taken over by a ruling directorate consisting of influential people from the financial, military, and industrial complex that I often refer to as a "shadow government". (There has been one exception: the presidency of George H. W. Bush who was very much a part of the directorate. His son, George Bush Jr, was too stupid to exercise much leadership.)
Anyway, I am posting this online piece written by Jim Douglas who has done considerable research on the event and authored one of the best books on the subject--JFK and the Unspeakable.
Two prophets, a president, and a president-to-be were martyred between November l963 and June l968, four and a half years that raised some of the greatest hopes in American history. Has our downward spiral ever since as a people, from hope to despair, from faith in change to an acceptance of systemic evil, been because we haven’t recognized the truth of those martyrdoms, bound up as they were with unspeakable forces that continue to threaten us all?Of course, the answer is YES!
See also this article from Salon published a few years ago.
