Penelope’s Loom

 There are few murder cases in modern history that have exercised more speculations and controversies than the killing of j f k. I would hazard a bet that this cold case and the identity of the perpetrator (s??) has warranted as much print as have the murders in white chapel. Perhaps the cases still fascinate because of their tragic qualities.   And yet there is also something of a guilty voyeurism in our preoccupation with the case of j f k. If you think about that November day in 1963, the whole affair was spectacularly dramatic, down to the way in which the president was killed, and to the blood stained pink designer suit that Jackie wore. In thinking about the end of the Kennedy administration one naturally thinks about obvious things, like lost possibilities. The what would-have-beens of any situation.  There are a few cliches that illustrate, but I am particularly fond of one—a favorite show of the president’s was a musical production called “Camelot.”  Th...

  Truly one of the more charismatic and yet troubling presidents of the last 75 years. Kennedy’s administration formed itself into an Arthurian wonderland filled with gorgeous fashion and populated by virile knights of the round table.  JFK, who comes to the presidency in 1960, in a hotly contested election with Richard Nixon, upset the republican power base when he won the presidential election with one of the slimmest voting margins in American history.       Now, how did he win?  Well that is a vexed question indeed.  First there were the televised debates. My oh my, Nixon—the poor man just sweated so profusely underneath those debate lights!!  I wonder if anyone really noticed what Nixon said versus what Kennedy said, particularly when Nixon looked like a poor man stuffed into an ill fitting suit.  And did anyone except me see the sweat line on his upper lip?  It’s really too bad that Richard didn’t use his pocket handkerchief! ...

 This is Penelope’s Loom. A place where one can read about and perhaps discuss strange, wonderful, and peculiar historic events