A bit of a Personal plea and a little tiny rant

I have noticed obviously as the 55th Anniversary comes near there area few programmes on television regarding the Kennedy’s and the assassination. You would think that as a researcher I would looking forward to all of them.

I dont.

In part it is of course the lip service they play to anything other that the official line on the assassination.  It is normally served with a side helping of derision for anyone who questions the event.

Mainly, however, for a lot of people this is all the information that they will have on the Kennedy”s.
Once the ideas of these programmes are out there, shown to a mass population scant information becomes solid fact which is turn is seen as truth.

This then becomes the story, the final analysis,of the events of the day. Of the meaning of the lives of the individuals who make up that family.  The narrative of those who accept without question the integrity of the mass media.

For those who have since the assassination been trying to put forward another explination the frustration is not the point of view that these programmes put forward, more the lack of balance there is for a reply.  A fair, uninterrupted, valued reply.

This is not just an issues with this topic of course with the mass media being a topic for its own 26 volume enquiry and not something I can do justice to in a few scant lines here.

What I find however, what I can say and give justice to here is my personal experience.

I am open to debate.  I am open to anyone giving me their opinion.  I am more than happy to discuss any aspect of the assassination you wish.  As long as you are also willing to hear.

Respect research.  Respect the time, effort and thought I have spend on this subject.   Respect my right not to believe everything I see or hear before analysing it.  Respect that on this a person who has a personal investment in this subject may know more than you.

Do not dismiss me as someone who will never listen to anything other things I agree with. I may question when I am made to listen to known lies, granted and therefore will not be too confident in the one espousing them but I will listen and I have learnt form various sources.

What I basically saying is don’t come to me after watching a programme and tell one piece of information that proves everything and that I only question it because “ you will not accept the facts”.

Ask me a question about it, listen to what I say, look for yourself, come back to me etc tc that’s how we learn.  That would make me so happy and at the end if you disagree with me fine.  But you took the time to consider and not just think because I question I am the nutty one.

Oh what a tangled web we weave.........

On November 22 2018 it will be 55 years since the JFK assassination.

At this moment in time I feel that if I had started my research at 12.30 pm that day I would still be trying to catch up with everything that has been written or filmed or discussed about this incident.

My main issue at the moment is distraction.  I am writing this in a hope that I can begin to focus my racing mind and find the best way for me to work.  The thing is because it is so complicated it seems that the best thing to do is find a path and to follow it.  Easier said than done.

The thing is that all my previous interest leads me to read certain articles and books more readily than others.  Certain aspects of the case hold my attention and spark more neurological connections than others.  Some areas I find complicated and to be honest as dull as ditch water, no matter how relevant or important they are.

And all the while I am, in true me style, finding it hard to focus.  There is so much stuff to read, I must organise how I will read it, I need to devise a chronology of events, create a scale model of Dealey Plaza in my front room, read every declassified file, consider every idea and theory every written..........and so on.

But I think I have had at least one good idea today.  I am going to use this blog to help with the focus.  It will be like my assistant.  Or perhaps therapist.  It will be the place I come to to actually collect my thoughts and ideas and try to devise my own methodology in how I will study the JFK assassination.

Today my current thought is that the writing of essays is one way of looking at singular topics within the assassination and examining them in detail.  I need to cut through the excessive detail and focus on things that have made my brain light up.  Things I believe are relevant to the study of this event, which do not necessarily have anything to do with the number of bullets, or the movements of Oswald, or even the day itself.

I suppose it could be seen as a sort of wholistic approach to the assassination.  For me the key question is why, not just the why it happened but why did the investigation turn out as it did.  Why are we still trying to understand it and why there are so many divisions and opinions.  Why we are prone to make it all so personalised in terms of how we hold what we understand, believe and argue about so closely to us and have it as something that is entwined in our identity.

I cannot see the assassination as a single event.  I cannot see it without understanding the history of the era, the ideals of that time and the honesty about how the administration was viewed and considered by the American public and those in Washington.  I cannot see it without looking at where we are today.  I cannot see it without looking at the sociological and psychological aspects of it all.

I also can not see it as a detached unemotional human.  Every now and then I will read something,consider something, watch something and find I am crying.  That also has to be part of what I am doing.  As does self reflection and most painfully of all honesty in looking at myself and why this always has been part of my life and seemingly increasingly always will be. If it is cathartic or disturbing only time will tell.

The realisation I have had today however is this.  I cannot read more than one thing at a time.  I cannot focus on more than one thing at a time.  I cannot step back in time to begin this work and become overnight an expert in the assassination.  My journey of discovery is one of single steps which will change.  There is no one path to take.  The road will be built for me to step on just before I step on it.  That is ok.  The seemingly chaotic research I have undertaken so far is only to be expected.  If you are thrown into deep water you are bound to splash about a bit and flounder before finding the surface and knowing which swimstroke to take.

Serious research

I have always had more than a passing interest in the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Since I was born after the deaths of JFK, Malcom X, MLK and RFK I have never been able to look at any of these events without the contamination of the thoughts of others.  I had no chance to let my own organic thoughts grow through my exposure to the events, the reporting of the time or my interpretation of this reporting.

I have however always believed that there was a conspiracy.   Always took the main stream media’s lone gunman status with a large pinch of salt.  Always believed in underhand dealings and mysterious cover ups.

Having recently more time on my hands I have decided really look into the assassination. And how easy it is all is.    I often think how amazing it is that information it just a few mouse clicks away.  I can access files and records that have been hidden for so long, read accounts and listen watch videos at any time I wish.  Instead of hours in libraries I can spend hours on my sofa a library of books stored on my kindle ready for me to delve into.

However for all the ease that I have in having access to information, it became very clear to me that this research was a little like quicksand.  It sucks you in and you are drawn down into the deep and am encompassing world that is the JFK community.  I confess that I am not at present involved in any way shape or form with any part of this community.  I am trying my hardest to actually lead my own path and make up my own mind.  To really understand why I want to do this.  Is it just for personal knowledge or in the hopes one day to share this information? Am I looking for an definitive answer, or rather to see if the events of November 1963 really have affected us today?  Do I want to become part of the community or set up my own community of like minded people who perhaps look at things a little differently?

I do know writing my thoughts and ideas in some constructive manner will help me to clear my mind, monitor progress, failure, milestones and distractions.  I also want to share what I find with others.  So here I am, writing this blog.  To share one of my passions, to help my own development and also to express myself.  Hopefully you will enjoy it with me.