Sunday, November 23, 2008

JFK






















Yesterday was the 45th Anniversary of the assassination of JFK.

38 comments:

Bob jr said...

That Friday in 1963, mid-afternoon at St. Peter's Elementary School, the last class on the last day of the week, was always art class. Jimmy the janitor (who a few years later would fall to his death cleaning gutters at the rectory) heard the news on the radio. Art class was interrupted while the entire school, prompted by the principal over the intercom, recited prayers at our desks, the same desks we used to hide beneath during Cold War "air raid" drills. The Catholic parish, led by our Irish-Monsignor John Fallon, mourned.
A few days later, on Sunday morning, the 7-year-old ran into the dining room where his parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles gathered during their weekly Italian-clan after-church social ritual. "Oswald's been shot" cried the boy, who had been watching the black & white TV in the family room. The adults looked up from their coffee cake and admonished the boy, who was known for making tasteless jokes. The boy, who had watched history, had to convince the grownups it wasn't a joke.

Bill Villa said...

The two best books on the Kennedy assassination, in my opinion, are "Oswald's Tale" by Norman Mailer, and "Case Closed" by Gerald Posner.

The worst and most deceptive account of the Kennedy assassination is the movie "JFK" by Oliver Stone.

Bill Villa said...

Bob Jr., our experiences and remembrances of November 22, 1963 sound very similar. I was at the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Sienna elementary school in Allentown when news came over the intercom that "President Kennedy was gravely ill." A few minutes later the report was amended: "President Kennedy is dead." The next few days are etched in my memory as if they happened last weekend, as I'm sure they are etched in your memory too.

Mrs. Dottie said...

Bob Jr,

Thanks for sharing.

BV Thanks too.

I wasn't born yet so I don't have a story. My mother was pregnant with my brother at the time. But I agree that Oliver Stone's movie is the worst account.

Bill Villa said...

I believe Oliver Stone did a great disservice to our nation and to generations of Americans who will mistake the retroactively admitted "dramatic license" Stone took in "JFK" as historical fact.

Like the majority of the conspiracy theorist writers (and there are hundreds of conspiracy theory books on the Kennedy assassination and I've read all of them), Stone constructed his version of "history" on item after item that had been de-bunked and disproved years ago by credible assassination scholars and researchers-- like building a house using broken and crushed bricks.

What makes Oliver Stone's "JFK" unique is that Stone found a way to slam EVERY single conspiracy theory ever dreamt up by ANYONE into his movie-- no matter how outlandish it was, and no matter how many times it had been previously disproved.

For over 30 years, no one believed in a Kennedy assassination conspiracy more than I did.

Until I read Mailer's and Posner's books.

Gerald Posner's breathtakingly precise book, "Case Closed," so upset a Kennedy assassination conspiracy world I believed existed, I read Posner's book three times, and listened to it on "books on tape" two more times, and communicated with Posner via e-mail-- mostly to thank him for bringing such comprehensive clarity to every question nagging assassination researchers since 1963.

Oswald did it. All by himself.

Case Closed. By Gerald Posner.

Anonymous said...

I don't believe in a Kennedy assassination plot but I do believe in a Morning Call and D.A. Martin cover-up conspiracy, definitely.

Bill Villa said...

Anon 5:04, you may be pleased to learn that this case is very much OPEN. And ACTIVE. In the files of the proper authority. Stay tuned ...

foo foo said...

I hope you can tag that grassy knoll sniper from Nazareth as well.

Bill Villa said...

(foo foo) and them three shifty hobos, oh geez don't get me started on Kennedy assassination double-entendres ...

Bill Villa said...

"Since the inception of "Blogger Tuesday at The Morning Call," our local blogosphere's previously informative and healthy criticism of The Morning Call has vanished ..." -Me

I can't help but notice: no one is disputing or countering my claim ...

mc judas said...

they can't and won't because it's true. they'll just ignore your claim and hope it goes away before it gets too much traction. kind of like how the morning call editorial board handles you. they ignore you in hopes you'll just go away. don't.

Bill Villa said...

I won't. Ever. I'm like that.

When/where can we meet?

mc judas said...

I can't help but notice: no one is disputing or countering my claim ... -villa


i can't help but notice that chris casey has already buried your claim in his "older posts" from um 3 days ago....a glenn kranzley suggestion possibly? Or do these blogger tuesday sellouts do these things intuitively?

Anonymous said...

wow your right

Bill Villa said...

Worth Repeating Department:

"Blogger Tuesday" translates into Less Dissent and More Profit for the Morning Call in one slick move.

Anonymous said...

How D-U-M-B are these Blogging Tuesday bloggers who are squashing Morning Call criticism like exterminators and handing over their columns and providing both loyal doggie services absolutely FREE?!

FOR WHAT? So they can see their pictures in the paper?! Big Whup. Or should I say BIG SHOT-ITIS because that's what this is, delusions of grandeur, pure and simple. It's sad.

jdg said...

One of them thinks he's Hemingway, another one thinks he's Robert Shapiro, one of them wants to be Mayor, and the ringleader is Jesus of Nazareth. These guys define delusions of grandeur.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the one who fancies himself a cross between King Solomon and Gandhi :) his favorite song must be "Stuck In The Middle With You."

Bill Villa said...

:) thank you for paying attention. Have a good Thanksgiving.

Bill Villa said...

Oh and watch for a desperate "CYA" wave of "faux dissent" against The Morning Call to come crawling out of the primordial ooze at certain "Blogger Tuesday" blogger's blogs. In fact, there's a really fishy smell emanating already over at Mike's Nostalgia Korner ;) have a whiff (and a laugh) when you can ...

Anonymous said...

Omigod, I read it, "2009 Municipal Election," HYSTERICAL! And soooo transparent. In addition to that stinky odor of faux Morning Call dissent a-coming, check out the faux in-fighting! As if this crew doesn't breakfast together on a regular basis (and blog about it!) with or without Glenn Kranzley and cook up ways to keep Kontrol of their local blog universe. Priceless. Thanks for pointing this out as I don't usually read that blog (who does?). But now I will because I want to see when the college kid pipes-in parroting BO! Better than watching football today!

Anonymous said...

"Sadly," some in our local blogosphere are not yet "on" to these phonies. Or people find them amusing and miss the significance of their cozy ties to The Morning Call. This is actually very serious business. It's "1984, Big Brother" stuff. It's spooky really.

Joe The Banker

Joshua T said...

Mr. & Mrs. Dottie, thought you and your readers should know....I tried posting this comment this morning at the local blog "Molovinski on Allentown" for his column titled "2009 Municipal Election." In it, Mike Molovinski is alleging that Mayor Ed Pawlowski is abusing his position and "campaigning" by having his photograph on the cover of a city map that was sent to property owners in Allentown. It's a nice piece. I got one in the mail.

Molivinski squashed my reasonable question by not publishing it. Here it is:

Mike, semi-valid point, but isn't your picture adorning the masthead of "Valley Blogosphere" at The Morning Call's web site equally offensive? Or, one could think of it as "equal time" (re: Pawlowski), depending on how you look at it. And actually, it's not equal at all; you have a big advantage, since your picture is up at The Morning Call's web site every day, and the Mayor is not pictured there daily.

Mrs. Dottie said...

Worth Repeating Department:

The M.O. of O'Hare and his buddies is to taunt and provoke and twist and lie, to the point where victims are forced to defend themselves, and then he accuses the victim of harassment when he/she tries to set the record straight. We are guilty only of the crime of standing up for ourselves.

I have been depicted as a "grant seeking Stepford wife" with a chip in my brain, a phony artist, a bad mother, having my head up my ass, and many more vile things said to me in e-mails and at the Troll Parade blog. It is hard to ignore constant taunting, not just from O'Hare but from other misinformed and hateful bloggers like Scott Armstrong and Mike Molovinsky who cross-polinate the twisted lies of O'Hare at their blogs.

You can look at my record, and my reputation in the community. I am a teacher, a dedicated wife and mother, and a community activist and volunteer.

Bernie O'Hare is a disbarred attorney.

I am doing positive things for Allentown.

And my husband has been gallantly fighting a crony crooked local justice/media system and beating the bastards but good.

Bernie O'Hare is a disgrace. If he continues to be allowed to make up lies about me and my family, how can any intelligent person believe him to have any credibility at all on any subject? He is a cruel and evil man, and he has fooled a lot of people, and that is truly sad for our local blogosphere.

Mellow Yellow said...

Greetings, I still need more information.

Joshua T said...

Mr. Villa, may I contact you "back channel" email or phone?

Bill Villa said...

Sure "JT," see "Contact" at The Villas web site ...

www.villasongs.com

... and buy a Villas CD or two while you're up there, they make for a wonderful and thoughtful Holiday Gift.

Bill Villa said...

I'd like to see a Morning Call feature entitled:

"The Christmas Trees of The 'Blogger Tuesday' Bloggers."

Think of the clever ornaments we'd see hanging from these trees.

* Molovinsky's tree would be adorned with photos of Mayor Pawlowski being dragged down Hamilton Street by rampaging reindeer with rabies

* O'Hare's tree would have those new Video Christmas Balls with Sam Bennett's "Meltdown" playing on a continuous loop

* Casey's tree would include an elaborate manger display with the real Glenn Kranzley playing the Son of God

* Donovan's tree would be just the tree stand (he couldn't decide which tree to put up)

* Attorney (for now) Dave Najarian's tree would be POOFED real soon after being launched

... and so forth ...

foo foo said...

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G

that you can keep your excellent sense of humor intact through all this.

Bill Villa said...

Thanks foo foo, I owe it all to my spiritual advisor, "Father Alex" ...

"It's Not Like The Dali Exhibition" said...

I'm peeing myself, that Christmas tree list is so funny :)

mc judas said...

glenn kranzley would never settle for playing the son of god.

Bill Villa said...

Hello Dali! Stay dry!

mc judas, good one.

"Since the inception of "Blogger Tuesday at The Morning Call," our local blogosphere's previously informative and healthy criticism of The Morning Call has vanished ..." -Me

I can't help but notice: no one, and I mean no one, is disputing or countering my claim ...

Chris Casey said...

Bill, I would like to point out that I will never put a manger in my yard, under the tree. My family history precludes it. And I don't see Glenn as the son of God. maybe the angel gabriel, bringing the good news, but not the son of God!

Now Santa is watching, and please try and be nice, or it's coal in your stocking, young man!

Bill Villa said...

Worth Repeating Department:

99% of local blogosphere dissent against The Morning Call has disappeared since the inception of "Blogger Tuesday at The Morning Call."

Ernie Bay said...

"Blogger Tuesday" = Less Dissent + More Profit for the Morning Call in one slick move.

Chris Casey said...

Gee Bill, what can I say? Guess I'm a sellout. Would it really matter? I doubt it. I know what it is like to be antagonized, and I know what it is like to look at a situation and feel powerless.
But I also know what it is to use what power I do have to take control of what I can.
We always have a choice, and it's still not too late to change direction.

Bill Villa said...

Attention Bad Guys Jim Martin & Glenn Kranzley:

My main focus is still ousting you two off of your respective thrones and onto your ample derrieres where you both belong.

Sadly, your "Blogger Tuesday" hired guns have slowed me up only temporarily.

Run.