A long way from Camelot

James Piereson’s new book on the grassy knoll and all that eloquently describes how JFK’s assassination shattered American liberalism.

“It did this in two decisive ways”, he says in an interview with National Review. “First, by compromising liberals’ faith in the future. Kennedy’s assassination suggested that history is not in fact a benign process of progress and advancement, but perhaps something quite different”.

“Second, by undermining their confidence in the nation. The thought that the nation itself was responsible for Kennedy’s death suggested that the United States, far from being a “city on a hill” and an example for mankind, as Kennedy had described it, was in fact something darker and more sinister in its deepest nature”.

Forty-five years later, Camelot’s great scribe intervenes in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Gore Vidal’s endorsement for Representative Dennis Kucinich appeared in The Nation last week.

How swiftly tragedy turns to farce…