JFK Revisited

I had some time to catch up on reading this morning. I mostly focused on two of my favourites, Mark Steyn and Amy Alkon.

This posting by Alkon particularly caught my attention. Here's the comment I left:

As I told an elderly friend from Chicago yesterday ... Canada tried a similar socialist experiment in the 1970's under Pierre Elliott Trudeau. It was an abysmal failure and we are still paying back for the enormous borrowing he did.

Americans have failed to heed the wisdom that could be learned from every other country that has borrowed way more than it can afford. So now you all are embarking on your own socialist experiment. In the process, the Incentive of those who want to work hard, who need to work hard will be diminished, if not destroyed. You'll have fewer & fewer people working hard and more & more people looking for a hand out.

An historian with a sense of humor could provide this twist on JFK's famous line:

JFK: "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country."

Obama: "And so, my American comrades: ask not what you can do for your country - demand what your country can do for you!"

Recent Videos

Still with a bad cold or flu from my trip, I've just mostly stayed inside the past week. It has given me the opportunity to post a LOT of photos. I've also produced a couple of videos, which I retroactively added. But in case you missed them, here they are again:

San Antonio and Environs:


JFK Assassination in Dallas:

Trip Photos: The Site of the JFK Assassination

The shooting of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 was an unforgettable event for anyone alive at the time. Though my mom and I had very little time in Dallas, we both very much wanted to take a look at the actual site of this tragic event.

It's not my intention to trivialize this terrible event but if you're not very familiar with the circumstances of the shooting then you may want to watch the videos here and here.

The actual shooting took place on Elm Street as it winds down a gentle slope, just southwest of North Houston Street.
This a 3D View from Live Maps, looking ENE.



I don't know if it was just this particular day, but the whole area seemed very desolate and almost spooky to me.

It was just down here, to the left of the pedestrians on the right where Kennedy was shot.




I have since learned that the window where the alleged assassin, Oswald, was located is the one on the front face here, right-side, second from the top.

Inside the building is a museum but we were too early and simply didn't have the time to wait for it to open.



The entire area around Dealy Plaza was under heavy renovation.
Walking over to beside where the President's limousine was, this was a view back toward the [former] Book Depository building.

Note the "X' marked on the road.
I do not know if this is an "official" marking of where JFK was when he was shot.

This interesting building is the Old Red Museum. We briefly went inside but didn't have the time to explore it in detail.

Just to the east of the museum and two blocks southeast of the Book Depository building is this unusual Memorial to John F. Kennedy, designed by Philip Johnson in 1970.




Both of these last 2 photos are worth clicking on to read in detail: