Reading this book kept me in chills and a cold sweat. When President Kennedy visited Dallas in November of 1963 he went into the captial of Right Wing Crazy in the early 60's. Dallas was the national headquarters for ALL of the right wing anti-communism nuttiness and the racism that was sweeping the country at the time with Cuba such a big focus with Castro seizing power in 1959 and the burgeoning civil rights movement.
I did not realize before reading this book just how crazy Dallas was. The place was a loony bin according to this book. Adali Stevenson had been physically roughed up in a prior visit. Even LBJ and Lady Bird were treated horribly in a previous visit. JFK was warned repeatedly not to go to Dallas, but there was no way he was not going. It was critical to keep Texas in the Democratic column in 1964 and it was necessary to heal a breech between the liberal and conservative wings of the party. Dallas itself hated President Kennedy. Dallas voted for Nixon in 1960 though the Democrats carried the state. Paradoxically, Nixon flew out of Dallas the morning JFK arrived.
The books is hypnotic as it moves toward the inevitable consclusion that we all know so well, those who lived through that time. Read about the power structure in Dallas. Read about the hate-filled local newspaper. Read about about traitorous Gen. Edwin Walker, truly a crazy man, who whipped up right wing frenzy at will. Dallas showed an outpouring of adoration to the Kenndys when they arrived, the undertone of right wing craziness was there. A man named Lee Harvey Oswald was a product of that hatred.
The reader cannot help but compare Dallas 1963 to the present time and the same type of hatred toward President Obama. The right wing hatred and paranoia we see today is nothing new.
No comments:
Post a Comment