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People love conspiracy theories. From the idea that Amelia Earhart is still alive and living in the Bahamas to the theory that Jim Morrison of the Doors didn't actually die in Paris in 1971, there are any number of good conspiracy theories to choose from. But my favorite goes beyond being a mere theory; the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy have grown into their own industry.

The JFK conspiracy theories range from the ridiculous (that he was actually killed when a Secret Service agent's AR-15 discharges accidentally) to the morbid (that he is still alive and in a vegetative state on an upper floor of Parkland Hospital in Dallas). It seems that nearly everyone has at some time been named part of the conspiracy: J. Edgar Hoover, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Hoffa, Frank Sinatra, Richard Nixon, Fidel Castro, and a host of others. The only reason I myself have not been implicated is because I wasn't born until after JFK was killed.

One of the things that makes this particular case so prone to ongoing theories is that the Warren Commission had barely released it's report before the first book disputing it came out: Mark Lane's "Rush to Judgment." Since that time hundreds of books have been released, with the focus mainly on the CIA and the Mafia.

The ongoing theories have been stoked by the loss of faith in our government that followed the Vietnam War and Watergate. First, we began to mistrust everyone in positions of authority, and doubted that anything politicians told us was true. That made the Warren Commission report an easy target, especially when you consider that Gerald Ford, Nixon's Vice-President, had been a member of the Commission. Second, people looked back nostalgically and dreamed that if JFK had lived, the troubles of the 1960's would never have happened.

I think the real reason that Kennedy's assassination has produced so many theories is simple. For many Americans, it was impossible to believe that Kennedy, the very symbol of American strength and vigor, could be killed by a lone nut. There had to be powerful forces involved to bring down such a powerful man. If it wasn't a conspiracy, if it really was one unstable young man, then it could happen to any of us at any time as well. That disquieting thought made all of the different conspiracy theories comforting by comparison.

Learn more about this author, Bruno Somerset.
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