# Happy Assassination Day! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 22, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516 "2013-11-22T14:43:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/1 "2013-11-22T14:43:56Z")
Happy Assassination Day, everybody! šŸ™‚ Can you tell Iā€™m tired of hearing about it every year? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/2 "2013-11-22T15:00:17Z")
'zakly what I was thinking on the way to work this morning. No news station can shut up about it and there is nothing new under the sun in years. 50 years later and heā€™s still dead, folks. Let JFK go already. He wasnā€™t that fucking special. (You know, millions of Russians cried when Stalin died - granted, some of them cried in relief - and he was complete fucking bastard.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/3 "2013-11-22T15:04:46Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > '50 years later and heā€™s still dead, folks. The alternate thread title and OP were going to be: **This just in!** President Kennedy is _still_ dead! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/4 "2013-11-22T15:08:43Z")
In all fairness to the idea of 50th anniversary nostalgia, I guess they figure that not many of us will be here for the 100th. Iā€™m toying with the idea of a poll on who all saw it as it was being covered on live TV. I spent that weekend glued to a B&W set and mourned along with everybody I knew. I do recall a few cheers when the news broke over the radio the day JFK was shot, and there were plenty of people I ran into in the next few days who were not unhappy he was gone. Itā€™s always been a big mystery for people in my age group, and I guess many of us feel that ā€œinnocence diedā€ that day. Thatā€™s kind of hard to grieve. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/5 "2013-11-22T15:21:36Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > Iā€™m toying with the idea of a poll on who all saw it as it was being covered on live TV. I didnā€™t. But there have been 50 years of reruns. Iā€™m a fan of history. When I was younger, I watched the documentaries. But weā€™ve been presented the same information year after year. Data received and stored. Call me when something new comes up. Actually, the explanation of the ā€˜magic bulletā€™ ā€“ that the seat configuration was such that the bullet didnā€™t have to change trajectory to hit Connelly ā€“ was interesting. But that was years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/6 "2013-11-22T15:30:24Z")
I didnā€™t know it was a formal holiday. We could have the kiddies hunt for little marzipan **Harper Fragments** like they were Easter eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/7 "2013-11-22T15:38:20Z")
The kids could go door to door and ask for Kennedy halves, like the English children do (or did) on Guy Fawkes day (A penny for the Guy!) ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/8 "2013-11-22T15:39:35Z")
Yeah, we got the same problem with the Fourth of July. Every year, itā€™s the same, read the same Declaration of Independence, play the same old John Phillip Sousa music (heā€™s still dead)ā€¦ And letā€™s not start on Christmas. Every year the same carols, over and over and over, for a month, in every store and restaurant. Every year the same tree. Every year the same church services\*. And all the principal are still dead.\*\* - Well, I donā€™t actually do that, being Jewish, but Iā€™m making a point. \*\* Open to disagreement, of course. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/9 "2013-11-22T15:44:21Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > And letā€™s not start on Christmas. Every year the same carols, over and over and over, for a month, in every store and restaurant. Every year the same tree. Every year the same church services\*. And all the principal are still dead.\*\* If youā€™re suggesting that JFK worship has reached near religious proportions, I agree. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/10 "2013-11-22T15:46:05Z")
I was disappointed there wasnā€™t a Google Doodle. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/11 "2013-11-22T15:53:06Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > I was disappointed there wasnā€™t a Google Doodle. One of their interactive ones? ā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/12 "2013-11-22T16:02:46Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > And letā€™s not start on Christmas. Every year the same carols, over and over and over, for a month, in every store and restaurant. A **month**?! Iā€™ve been hearing Christmas music since before Halloween this year! ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/13 "2013-11-22T16:18:42Z")
This week was also the 35th anniversary of the Jonestown mass suicide/murder. It really didnā€™t get any press at all. StG ---
**Author:** ![wedgehed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/14 "2013-11-22T16:29:56Z")
I didnā€™t realize until a few days ago that the 50th anniversary would fall on the actual day of the week that JFK was assassinated. I suppose thatā€™s enough to make me pause today & remember that long ago weekend when my six year old self caught a first glimpse of how crazy the world could be. I donā€™t always remember the date when it rolls around, but thereā€™s always an autumn day, with the sky a particular shade of blue & a certain crispness in the air, that will remind me of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/15 "2013-11-22T16:52:42Z")
> [@wedgehed](#): > > I didnā€™t realize until a few days ago that the 50th anniversary would fall on the actual day of the week that JFK was assassinated. I suppose thatā€™s enough to make me pause today & remember that long ago weekend when my six year old self caught a first glimpse of how crazy the world could be. I donā€™t always remember the date when it rolls around, but thereā€™s always an autumn day, with the sky a particular shade of blue & a certain crispness in the air, that will remind me of the day. Such a day was 9/11/2001. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/16 "2013-11-22T16:55:24Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > The kids could go door to door and ask for Kennedy halves, like the English children do (or did) on Guy Fawkes day (A penny for the Guy!) On Assassination Day, kids visit neighborhood homes and collect dum dum bullets and 20 power sniperscopes. ---
**Author:** ![Kwyjibo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/59ef9b/32.png) [@Kwyjibo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kwyjibo)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/17 "2013-11-22T17:19:08Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > One of their interactive ones? ā€¦ This is kinda why I wish there were Upvote buttons on here. (Been on Reddit too long.) ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/18 "2013-11-22T17:32:50Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > The kids could go door to door and ask for Kennedy halves, like the English children do (or did) on Guy Fawkes day (A penny for the Guy!) We would build a Guy by stuffing straw into clothing and beg for our pennies on a street corner, you had to build a pretty good one to get money and then fight for it not to be tossed on the bonfire by rival Guy builders - you had to throw your own Guy. So ā€¦ Stuffed Kennedys? On wheels? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/19 "2013-11-22T18:29:58Z")
Some years back, I was at a meetup where I mentioned that I had just read one of Isaac Asimovā€™s autobiographies, and he told about going to one on 11/22/63 and everyone was joking around and having a good time. A woman who was new to our group curled her lip and shrugged her shoulders like a junior high Mean Girl would do and said, ā€œSo? People die every day. What was the big deal?ā€ She had done this kind of thing to me before, but I was still stunned at her reaction to the point where I was rendered speechless. A few minutes later, I considered saying (but didnā€™t), ā€œI have noticed that every time I express my opinion about something, you shrug your shoulders and make derogatory remarks. I think it is extremely degrading to be treated that way, especially because I have noticed that you donā€™t do this to other people.ā€ Had she done this a couple years later, I could have violated one of the unwritten rules about getting along in the world and added, ā€œAnd if this is how you treated your husband, it would go a long way towards explaining the demise of your marriage.ā€ Long story made short: I found out later that she had pissed off a lot of other people, and in time, her daughter moved in with her father and at the time I heard this, had absolutely nothing to do with her. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516/20 "2013-11-22T18:58:19Z")
Thereā€™s a fairly good chance (well, perhaps, maybe, possibly) that this yearā€™s festivities will put the story to bed more-or-less once-and-for-all. 50th anniversaries seem to be a logical break-point for putting old stories to bed. Example case in point: 50th anniversary of the end of World War II, in 1995. Every year for 50 years, there were major festivities and reminiscences about WWII, with the most major commemorations revolving around D-Day and VE-day, with somewhat lesser commotion about VJ-day. We were living in a ā€œPost-Warā€ world, and never allowed to forget it! Of course, to be technically accurate, the world will be ā€œPost-War (specifically, Post-WWII)ā€ for the rest of eternity. But gradually over 50 years, as the war receded into history and other significant world events successively took the stage, the feeling of living in a ā€œPost-Warā€ world dissipated. Certainly, in the late 40ā€™s and 50ā€™s, it was very much a ā€œPost-Warā€ world and everybody felt it. In 1994/1995, as the 50th anniversary festivities ensued, the was a massive outpouring of hubbub and reminiscences. There were major retrospective articles in all the papers. There was a bigger-than-usual re-enactment of D-Day. (That was in 1994, not 1995.) One of the last remaining Liberty Ships, the U. S. S. Jeremiah Oā€™Brien, long a floating museum in San Francisco, steamed through the Panama Canal and across the Atlantic to participate! I made a prediction that proved spot-on: The 50th anniversary of D-Day would be the biggest festival of them all, with the end-of-war hubbub being somewhat less. And the VE-day celebrations would be significant, but by then, weā€™d all put it to bed, leading to much lesser fuss over VJ-day. And then, weā€™d put World War II to bed pretty much for good, and move on. I would say, it all played out just as I suspected it would. 1995, I think, was the last greatest hurrah for WWII nostalgia celebrations, and itā€™s all been pretty much muted since. We finally fully became a ā€œPost WWIIā€ world. It may be, that this 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination will play out much the same way. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-assassination-day/674516.md?page=2)