I do not remember this much crazy venom over JFK during his campaign or

[Raven]

after he was elected. I am 63 so I've seen some Presidents in my day. JFK was probably the only other President who elicited such bigotry, because he was Catholic and Irish. In the early '60 there was still a great deal of bias against Catholics in this country and the Irish were still portrayed as stupid, red-nosed drunks. During and after his election there was talk about the Pope running the US and there were many people who really believed that the first act of the JFK administration was to be the construction of a tunnel from the White House to the Vatican...really, people believed that.

In my view, JFK's treatment at the hands of the lunatic fringe pales with what Obama is experiencing and I worry. Communication is so much more advanced than it was in the early '60s...it is so much easier to incite some wingnut living in a basement collecting guns...I'm going to say what I know people here have to be thinking:

I pray for this man everyday, for his safety and the safety of his family. This country cannot afford to lose him and I think he is in great danger. As ridiculous as Olry Taitz is, as awaful as Rush and Glen are, they are reaching and inspiring very deranged and dangerous people. My hope is that the Secret Service know this and much more.

I'm sorry this is a bummer post but it has been heavily on my mind.

[DesertFlower]

1. i'm almost 68.

i remember too.

[NightWatcher]

2. two reasons it is different now. 1. Obama is black. 2. Nutjobs use the net to get together

1. Okay, I know that Obama is only half African American, but no one sees the "white half".
2. Nutjobs who used to just sit and listen to hate via talk radio or holed up in a cabin in the hills now have the internet to get together as a collective hate-base.

[Raven]

4. I know, gives me a chill.

[rurallib]

8. Also, The media pushes or at least condones the virulent crazies

Not saying there wasn't some odd media in the '60s, but most was somewhat responsible.
Turn on any radio or TV anytime of day and you will find someone going after Obama in vile terms.

[customerserviceguy]

24. They didn't even have talk radio during JFK's administration

And there were only three TV networks, none of which had the word "Fox" in them.

[YOY]

3. There was no internet then.

The internet is both a great and terrible place. Great ideas can be shared among those capable of sharing them...and idiotic movements can be started by those dumb, desperate enough to follow them (and unwilling to admit that they may be on the wrong track.)

[JuniperLea]

6. Yeah, lies and wildfire runs through The Tubes...

Just as quickly as good things.

I do recall the mud slinging by the GOP causing my folks a lot of arguments during the JFK campaign. My mom being a Dem and my dad being a Republican and all.

Dad saw the light... voted for Obama:) Embarrassed by the GOP now. I feel for him, but I keep reinforcing his good judgement!

[villager]

5. good point. Regionally, I think it was as bad, or worse. Like in, say, Texas

...where the "wanted for treason" posters were going up.

But yes, there was no internet so that the lunatics in the central California foothills, say, could get "together" -- even if virtually -- with the ones in Dallas. On the police force, or wherever....

[TexasObserver]

9. Yes, and Dallas was such a rightwing enclave.

[TexasObserver]

7. I do. The hatred toward Kennedy was just as bad.

Not talking everyone, but the real haters were just like these anti Obama freaks. They hated him with such a passion, facts didn't matter.

[frogcycle]

15. I was in high school

I knew that there were passionate anti-JFKers. The right wing then was every bit as right wing as it is now. The news broke during class change, and when I went into my next classroom, a guy who one would have thought was an average-Joe high school kid came up to me with a grin from ear to ear and said, "guess who got shot!" - when I said "who?" he gave a fist-pump and crowed "Kennedy!"

I will never forget that moment. It was when I realized how truly sick at least half the world is.

[TexasObserver]

23. I was, too. I remember the son of a rightwinger hater saying "probably a publicity stunt."

It was the same kind of insane hatred driven by prejudices that ran deep, beyond all reason.

[grantcart]

25. My family was pro Goldwater and they were shocked at the venom

I had classmates who said that there fathers promised them that somebody in the AF would scrafe the Whitehouse and take JFK out.

[TexasObserver]

29. The classmates who evidenced their parents' hatred remain the same today.

I keep tabs on my home town and the folks who graduated in my era, and the same guys are the Birthers, the Tea Baggers, the ones who spew anti Obama hatred like they spewed anti Kennedy hatred.

They also hated Carter and Clinton, and were vile in that hatred, too, but it wasn't as bad. I know that may sound crazy, since Clinton was attacked and hated insanely, but I suppose because both were from the South, they escaped an extra layer of hatred that Kennedy and Obama have seen.

These people are Old South racists. There's absolutely no question about that.

[mkultra]

10. Did the left bash other democrats who where passionate about Kennedy

like they do Obama or is that just some kind of deep seated racism.

[Raven]

13. I honestly don't specifically recall...my sense is it was the Repubs

together with the haters of all parties. Some people really thought it was going to be the end of the country and the end of the world if JFK got elected. Jesus! I lived through that...an Irish Catholic high school girl...amazing what people would say to you!

[mkultra]

21. its truth to power that causes it

when someone is willing to say the truth, they become of lightning rod for both sides of the battle. Things just heat up from there.

[mkultra]

19. .

[unc70]

26. It was bad, particularly South. Many Dems were part of it.

NC narrowly voted for JFK (with great help from Gov. Terry Sanford), and things were pretty bad here. Further south, it got a lot worse. The West was not much better. We get so caught up in viewing things as North/South, we now miss how strong the East/West conflicts were among the states.

The South was so busy seeing everything as black and white, we mostly missed out on the Catholic issue and often on Jewish fears that affected other areas. In eastern NC, Eleanor Roosevelt was widely hated, "Impeach Earl Warren" and "This is Klan Kountry" billboards were as numerous as "See Rock City" and SoB's "Chili today, hot tamale!", and the migration of white Dems/Dixiecrats to the GOP was starting to rev up. People like Jesse Helms were still Dems.

The 20-year cycle of Presidents dying in office seemed to me as almost certain wrt JFK. Unfortunately, the cycle lasted another 20-years, finally broken by Reagan.

Edit to add: Remember that Helms was a TV news owner/personality during this entire period. While his coverage was more-limited, it was augmented by a large radio news network with commentary.

[EFerrari]

11. I was only 6 or so but still remember it was bad enough

that my mom was afraid for him to go to Dallas.

[Arrowhead2k1]

12. JFK wasn't black... nt

[Still Sensible]

14. Yes we had a lunatic fringe back then, too

but I think one of the BIG differences is that back in the early 60s that was the "lunatic fringe" and, while they hated Kennedy every bit as much as the current crop of losers hate the President now, that fringe is more mainstream thanks to people like Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Coulter and the rest or the RW hate machine.

Having grown up in the 60's, it seemed to me like that lunatic fringe was smaller, too. I think you had the 10% far right wing maybe and the 5% that were Birchers and their friends... But now, the overall nutball fringe is well over 20% I think. They were assholes back then, just not as many of them. And a lot of bullshit that to the mainstream was not acceptable in 1962, is perfectly acceptable today.

[Raven]

17. That is what worries me. These folks seem much more mainstream.

[Still Sensible]

28. Absolutely. What started with Reaganomics as

us vs them class warfare in the mainstream has evolved, with the help of the hate mongers, and their coalition friends the fundamentalists, the supply siders and the us vs them neocons, into the incredible divide we see in America today. And thanks to the mainstreaming of much of their agenda, the ranks of that lunatic bunch is now something over 20% of adults. In the USA, thats about 40-50 million that buy into most of the bullshit and probably a significant portion of those millions are really batshit crazy.

[SoCalDem]

16. In the early 60's people were more localized

Most did not travel beyond their own states. Most people had not been to college. Most were blue collar.

There were only 3 tv stations and many people did not even have tv ..or if they did, they had ONE, in the living room.

our lives were simpler, calmer.

[GrantDem]

18. ...

My reply to a similar post earlier

[BlooInBloo]

20. (shrug) And I don't recall JFK being black.

[tanyev]

22. I'm sure the whack jobs were out there, but they didn't land in front of a camera and a microphone

as easily. Can you picture Walter Cronkite giving air time to Orly Taitz?

[Triana]

27. JFK wasn't black. n/t

[hfojvt]

30. it does not seem that much worse than Clinton Derangement Syndrome

Since I cannot remember Kennedy (not even Robert, although I remember waiting at the airport to see him). The M$M also went after Carter. I also remember that it was Ford and Reagan who got shot at.

[HamdenRice]

31. "Back, and to the left." It was worse against Kennedy, considering the outcome-so far.

But that of course depends on what you think happened to Kennedy, and the relationship of those events in Dallas to the hatred against Kennedy in the south and within the military and intelligence establishment.

[Vinca]

32. I'm currently reading "Kennedy" by Ted Sorenson and I was

surprised to read about how much hatred his religion created (although I don't think it was anywhere near what we're seeing today with Obama). One interesting thing I read last night was that a New Hampshire man filled his car with dynamite and drove to Palm Beach where the Kennedys were staying prior to the inauguration. His intention was to ram JFK's car and kill him. Apparently he had one chance and held back because Jackie and the children were in the car with the POTUS-elect. Fortunately, the Secret Service got him before he had a second chance.