Re: JFK : Fri Nov 22, 2013 4:35 pm  

No-one ever recalls that a police officer died in the incident too...

Re: JFK : Fri Nov 22, 2013 8:33 pm  

cod'ead wrote:

Look behind the cosy family man presentation and you'll find a philandering mysoginist, unused to being challenged by anyone. There's plenty of detail out there, you just need to look for it.

....other than perhaps the very real stigma of being Roman Catholic in a country which many believed would never elect a Roman Catholic President. Sure you don't have to look too hard for the salacious details of Kennedy's failings, and there were many. But make no mistake, JFK was a great and courageous man, a WWII combat hero, who forced the American people to confront many of their country's uncomfortable societal inequities and facing down the very real global threat of the Soviet bully. For all of its failings, he personified what the USA at its best could be, youthful, enthusiastic with boundless optimism. His inaugural speech 'Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country' is one of the most inspirational speeches ever.
Yes he was an imperfect human being but given the vacuous leadership we have largely endured in the 50yrs since, he was a great man worthy of remembering.

Re: JFK : Fri Nov 22, 2013 9:54 pm  

Was at a talk given by Gore Vidal a few years ago, about the Kennedys, who he knew rather well.

He doesn't seem to have had much time for any politicians - JFK and co included.

As for facing down the "Soviet bully", he also helped to create the Cuban situation. But hey - it was tragic that Cuba was lost to a bunch of Mafiosi and their buddies.

Re: JFK : Sat Nov 23, 2013 8:10 am  

JerryChicken wrote:

No-one ever recalls that a police officer died in the incident too...

Ian Tomlinson might have remembered?

Re: JFK : Sat Nov 23, 2013 8:51 am  

WIZEB wrote:

Ian Tomlinson might have remembered?

No, he was only 18 months old at the time and living in a completely different country.

Re: JFK : Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:01 am  

JerryChicken wrote:

No, he was only 18 months old at the time and living in a completely different country.

Are you sure?
Perhaps he was a boy soldier hidden behind the grassy knoll or cocking that rifle on the 5th(?) floor of that book depositry?
Not sure if it was the 5th. That's from memory, but I bet you googled for Tomlinson's age?

Re: JFK : Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:13 am  

WIZEB wrote:

Are you sure?
Perhaps he was a boy soldier hidden behind the grassy knoll or cocking that rifle on the 5th(?) floor of that book depositry?
Not sure if it was the 5th. That's from memory, but I bet you googled for Tomlinson's age?

7th February 1962, I knew that implicitly after the news coverage of his unfortunate stumble right in front of that police officer, it reminded me of that other unfortunate stumble made by a chap called David Oluwale right in front of some police officers in Leeds back in the days of me youth, he unfortunately stumbled into the River Aire and they couldn't find him again for ages.

Re: JFK : Sat Nov 23, 2013 6:29 pm  

FBI/CIA = Even money.
Prince Phillip 2/1
Sam Giancana 7/1
Lee Harvey Oswald 8/1
Marilyn Monroe 10/1
Jackie Bouvier 14/1
Osama Bin Laden 16/1
Ted Bundy 25/1

Re: JFK : Sat Nov 23, 2013 8:17 pm  

JerryChicken wrote:

7th February 1962, I knew that implicitly after the news coverage of his unfortunate stumble right in front of that police officer, it reminded me of that other unfortunate stumble made by a chap called David Oluwale right in front of some police officers in Leeds back in the days of me youth, he unfortunately stumbled into the River Aire and they couldn't find him again for ages.

Interesting read about Mr Oluwale.
He ended up in your neck of the woods via the 2017 City of Culture.

Re: JFK : Sat Nov 23, 2013 9:14 pm  

WIZEB wrote:

Interesting read about Mr Oluwale.
He ended up in your neck of the woods via the 2017 City of Culture.

A mate of mine joined the WY Police around 1978 and his first posting as a probationer was to Millgarth police station in Leeds city centre and the first PC that he was seconded to had a lot of knowledge of the Oluwale case, the stories that we heard from him were that the two officers who were only ever charged with assaults had been hard done by and what went on was common practice with vagrants and undesirables who the police didn't want in the city centre.

Decades later when I saw the first episode of Life on Mars I was very impressed with how accurately they depicted the 1970s and the attitudes of the police towards criminals, the drinking culture (we often used to start our Saturday nights out with a couple of cheap pints in Millgarths own bar), racism and sexism.

And to finish off, the first arrest that my mate ever made on his own was a young woman who he caught spray painting a wall one night during the campaigns against violence against women (Ripper years), he took her back to Millgarth, they did a search on her name on the one computer that they owned - she was only a known member of the Baader-Meinhof gang (Wiki search that one)