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 Dexterous!   

We note with regret the political passing of the Philly Scrambler, Senator Arlen Specter.

Specter first came to public notice as a plucky Warren Commission staffer who explained the seeming inexplicable, the pattern of John F. Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connolly’s wounds, with what will go down The Ages as the “Single Bullet Theory,” unless The Ages inexplicably prefer “Magic Bullet Theory.”

Arlen Explains It All 

“SBT” clearly won the public’s heart, with countless homages in pop culture,         not least two bands carrying the name.

Bush Backwash

Oppressed small businessman hope to invent fond memories of the Bush Era, starting with this provocative billboard.

Such miracles have been wrought before with creative application of the writerly arts, even with Bush himself, so watch out.

Bold New Platform       

George W. Bush has announced exciting new plans for his Presidential Library, spraying the horizon with many, many numbered lists of intentions, notions and fanciful ideas.

Just what will his legacy be all about?

The Bush Library will continue Bush’s on-going worldwide effort to devalue words by grasping them tightly to himself:

Join The Freedom Registry for only $50!

In the spirit of the age, the Bush Library hopes to mobilize the sinister power of social networks through its Member Advocates. But if the roaring success of the Bush administration alumni blog is an indicator, Face-book will remain fairly Bush-free.

The Bush Library web site is doing its part to erase the Kennedy assassination stain from local consciousness, offering a map of “Dallas Landmarks” with Dealey Plaza unmarked.

Not From Around Here?

We’ll be seeing a lot more of Bush’s attempts to tie himself to great “dissidents,” hiring a guy from Columbia whose “One Million Voices Against FARC” Face-book page harnesses the power of the web against the plucky jungle fighters by presenting seven [7] photos, one of Cheney and two of them of Bush.

Something called ” The Freedom Collection of the Bush Institute’s Oral History Project” looms, in which “the Institute will bring together dissidents who are participating in the Freedom House oral history project. They will share their experiences and promote best practices.”

Not to be confused with the just announced “George W. Bush Oral History Project,” by the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

 Friendly Ghosts

What sort of probing questions might the Miller-narrians ask?

Lets take a loving look back at the Reagan Administration, the Millerists’ hard hitting interview with Caspar Weinberger.

What did they chat about?

The interviewer glides lightly over Iran-Contra, and asks Weinberger no questions about hiding documents in the Library of Congress, lying about it to the Special Prosecuter, his indictment, or his pardon by George H.W.Bush on eve of trial.

“Weinberger’s notes proved to be an invaluable contemporaneous record of the views and activities of the highest officials regarding those sales. They revealed, among other things, that contrary to his sworn testimony, Weinberger knew in advance that U.S. arms were to be shipped to Israel in November 1985 without Congressional notification, in an effort to obtain the release of U.S. hostages, and that Israel expected the United States to replenish the weapons Israel shipped to Iran. Weinberger’s notes also disclosed that, contrary to his sworn testimony, he knew that Saudi Arabia was secretly providing $25 million in assistance to the contras during a ban on U.S. aid.“

Lame or not, the Miller Center best get going,  given some Bush administration figures shall we say slippery memories.

You’ll Always Remember When You First Heard

Anniversaries not divisible by five never get the respect of their more numerically endowed brethren, but this year’s Kennedy assassination anniversary has had some high-points.

Chronicle Of A Death Foretold  

Your USAToday published a “where-did-it-end-up?” roundup of assassination related objects – planes, cars and oddities.  The items are dispersed to a sprawling collection of government and for-profit museums and collections, the private sector equivalent of the presidential library system – intrepid local hustlers, cranks and visionaries, following their dreams.

From Baylor University’s  Ruby’s slipper to Historic Auto Attractions‘ really creepy artifacts and diorama collection, the stuff is everywhere.

Baylor lost out to SMU on the George W. Bush Library, but they can keep their head up in Kennedy conspiracy theory archives.

Auto Attractions provides an alternative past of a sort – what if Jack Ruby had shot Steve Buscemi rather than Oswald?

TCU Killed Kennedy! 

Now it can be told!  the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is working the hell out of JFK’s pre-assassination overnight in Ft. Worth, and revisits once again Texas Christian University’s role in the road to martyrdom.

Kennedy’s plans originally included receipt of a TCU  honorary degree, but they changed when TCU’s board rejected the Papist President as not the right type of Christian.

In one of history’s great Woulda  Coulda Shouldas, a TCU degree ceremony might have pushed Kennedy’s Dallas motorcade later in the day, spoiling Oswald’s shot.

   Kennedy held a rally at his Ft. Worth hotel instead, then headed for Dallas.