Book 86: JFK and the Unspeakable

JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died & Why It Matters by James W. Douglass

I was watching Bill Maher’s show last spring or summer, and Oliver Stone was on, and he brought this book with him, confusing Bill and all the rest of us. Bill asked if Oliver had written the book, but no. He just recommends it. You remember, Oliver Stone made a movie about JFK’s assassination – a movie in which the CIA orchestrated the killing, framing Lee Harvey Oswald. This book is about the same conspiracy theory.

Douglass cites tons of sources: The Warren Report, interviews with witnesses, letters between Kennedy and Kruschev, and interviews with liaisons between Kennedy and Castro. It’s pretty easy to believe that this version of the story, or something like it, is the truth about how Kennedy died. Of course, I have no idea what actually happened. I wasn’t born yet, and I hadn’t read much of anything about it or thought much about it before picking up this book. Other theories may be equally convincing.

It’s very easy to believe that the CIA, NSA, and the military didn’t want a Kennedy as president. JFK wouldn’t go along with starting WWIII, or using nuclear weapons against the U.S.S.R., or against Cuba. Douglass says (and presents evidence) that JFK was about to pull us out of Vietnam permanently, that he was working up to having peaceful discussions with Castro, and that he had a secret peace-seeking letter-writing friendship with Kruschev.

Right before he died, JFK gave a commencement speech at American University in which he announced that the U.S. “will never start a war. We do not want a war. We do not now expect a war…” He also pledged that we would stop atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, and if the rest of the world also stopped, we would not be the first to resume.

I watched a TV show on the assassination that was touted to be an exploration of the different conspiracy theories, but really it was an attempt to de-bunk them. I did not find it nearly as convincing as this book. One problem was that some of the men insisting that it was just Lee Harvey Oswald were only my age! They only know what they’ve been told, just like I do. I don’t find them persuasive.

I think it’s generally pretty easy to believe in the corruption of government. Particularly in that era of such intense fear and hatred of Communism, big sections of our government would have been willing to do anything to try to stop the U.S.S.R. from getting a foothold in Cuba, so close to the U.S. ANYTHING.

Plus, we know how corrupt the CIA and FBI were in the 1960s in trying to stop the progression of the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. They’ve shown us over and over again that they operate outside our laws, and outside of what we consider “American” behavior – treating everyone fairly, not punishing people for crimes unless they’ve been tried and convicted in a court of law. It’s easy to believe they’ve killed many people who threatened the status quo or the CIA agenda.

The “Unspeakable” that Douglass refers to is a systemic evil. Institutionalized evil. That kind of beaurocratic evil that lets everyone off the hook – no one in particular is responsible. No one has to feel responsible, and no one can be held responsible. The person with the ideas doesn’t actually carry them out; it’s not his fault. Those who carry them out are just following the orders of the middleman, so it’s not their fault. The middleman had no ideas, made no decisions, and performed no actions – he just passed along the message, so it’s not his fault.

I would add that it’s also unspeakable that we are all complicit when we allow evil acts to go on. We are willing to be convinced that it didn’t happen. We are willing to look the other way and not force these agencies to be held responsible for their actions, even though those actions are the exact definition of “Unamerican.” It’s much easier to go on with our days, watch our shows, and think about our own little lives than to admit that there is a problem and that we actually have to do something about it, risking our own personal security and comfort.

In the case of JFK’s death, many of those who tried to tell any truth that was inconvenient to the CIA ended up dead or locked up in mental institutions for the rest of their lives. Bad America!

By way of contrast to murderous political corruption, on “Meet the Press” this week, guess which two political figures were talking about their JOINT work on improving our public education system? Al Sharpton and freaking Newt Gingrich! Not bad, America.