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Political effects of the JFK assassination

[Via Instanpundit] Ed Driscoll has a review of the book "Camelot and the Cultural Revolution: How the Assassination of John F. Kennedy Shattered American Liberalism."

The theme is that the liberal movement was unable (at an emotional, subconscious level) to deal with the fact that a popular (and regarded as liberal, anyway) president had been killed by, well, a communist who'd defected to the Soviet Union and demonstrated in favor of Castro. In trying to cope, it (1) went off on conspiracy theories that tied in the government and/or (2) on anti-Americanism: Oswald hadn't killed him, America somehow had. It wasn't helped by the fact that in the early 60s a major liberal theme had been the dangerousness of right wing movements -- now turned on its head by the identity of the assassin. If he'd just been a John Bircher, everything would have fit together emotionally -- but he was quite the opposite.

I wonder if it deals also with the assassination of Robert Kennedy, gunned down by a palestinian -- a third worlder, as it were. A neo-nazi, maybe an Israeli fanatic, would have fit emotionally, but not a palestinian.

I recall reading a similar commentary on 9/11. Not quite so striking there, but again liberalism (already much modified) is faced with a horrific crime committed by people it tends to idealize -- third worlders. Ah, here it is, in the form of a novel. Do read the intro first -- part of the novel's plot is that a group of self-absorbed types have founded a think tank, so if it reads a little strangely, that's part of the plot. The key to the colors mentioned is that in the novel he breaks down political thought on emotional lines. Red=anarchic fighters (good fighter pilots). Blue = rules conseratives. John Aschcroft. (good cops and military). Orange = Jeffersonian, sometimes an early liberal. Green = the modern liberal/left. Not allowed to be judgmental, must be sensitive to everything, esp. that which is different from you.

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