JFK -- Does It Matter Who Did It?

One of the topics that often comes up in any conversation about conspiracies is the assassination of JFK. There are all sorts of ideas on who could have done it, but those don't matter. Genuinely, it is of no importance as to whether the CIA or Mafia or Russians or Wall Street did it. What matters is that it was covered up, the facts of the case were suppressed by intelligence officials. The elected government officials were unable to prevent or reveal the coverup, and were unable to effectively respond and punish or rein in these agencies.

In a single sentence, the elected officials were unable to exert their legitimate power, while the unelected officials wielded and abused their power to their own benefit. The state was totally unaccountable to the government.

"The Committee has found that the FBI, the agency with primary responsibility in the matter, was ordered by Director Hoover and pressured by higher government officials, to conclude its investigation quickly. The FBI conducted its investigation in an atmosphere of concern among senior Bureau officials that it would be criticized and its reputation tarnished. Rather than addressing its investigation to all significant circumstances, including all possibilities of conspiracy, the FBI investigation focused narrowly on Lee Harvey Oswald."

The point I'm making is not that there was a conspiracy by the government or corporations to assassinate JFK that was covered up. The point is just that there was a coverup. Information was withheld. Bureaus were more focused on their own image and interests than their legal duties.

The JFK assassination holds an important place in the American mind. It is many people's first introduction to the idea that the government not only may be lying to us, but that there are forces deep within the government, beyond elected officials, that have authority that is wholly unaccountable to the voting populace. It is many people's first exposure to the realization that the state is not our friend. That the state apparatus will kill, lie, cheat, and suppress to get their way and protect its interests. The JFK's significance is that it is what gets the ball rolling on people seeing that the state's interests are not aligned with the people's interests, that the workers and the rulers have nothing in common.

So I conclude this very brief article with this simple point: It doesn't matter who killed JFK; the only thing that matters is that the assassination was covered up by the state apparatus.