12-11-2013, 05:38 AM
The PBS American Masters on Kennedy was superb. If you can catch part II tomorrow do so. It's a high-quality production.
I was set back right away because they said in the first few minutes that Kennedy had made a big mistake which affected his presidency without elaborating. I'm sure they are going to fill it in in part II with some spin.
Caro spoke of Kennedy's early history. He's good as long as he's not dodging assassination evidence.
What stood out was the fact they were more on line with DiEugenio's history of JFK's aversion to colonial regressivism. They had Kennedy on Meet The Press giving emphasis that we would do ourselves no good if we fought a losing battle for dying French imperialism. You can see from Kennedy's expression and body language he felt this was important. Kennedy's Algeria position and its roots was covered as well as his 1951 visit to Viet Nam - albeit briefly and with no mention of Gullion.
The dark side had to have its spin so the program emphasizes JFK's 'While England Slept' warning that all democracies have to stay well armed to be ready to defend freedom. They need to keep the obvious hidden so they are modifying JFK's peace pursuits by making him look like a militarist.
They made it look like LBJ was brought on to the ticket in order to assure the Texas swing vote. They didn't tell the full truth about Johnson blackmailing Kennedy with sex dirt probably gotten to him by Hoover.
This version of Kennedy history makes me think the writers had The Unspeakable on their consciences when determining content.
I was set back right away because they said in the first few minutes that Kennedy had made a big mistake which affected his presidency without elaborating. I'm sure they are going to fill it in in part II with some spin.
Caro spoke of Kennedy's early history. He's good as long as he's not dodging assassination evidence.
What stood out was the fact they were more on line with DiEugenio's history of JFK's aversion to colonial regressivism. They had Kennedy on Meet The Press giving emphasis that we would do ourselves no good if we fought a losing battle for dying French imperialism. You can see from Kennedy's expression and body language he felt this was important. Kennedy's Algeria position and its roots was covered as well as his 1951 visit to Viet Nam - albeit briefly and with no mention of Gullion.
The dark side had to have its spin so the program emphasizes JFK's 'While England Slept' warning that all democracies have to stay well armed to be ready to defend freedom. They need to keep the obvious hidden so they are modifying JFK's peace pursuits by making him look like a militarist.
They made it look like LBJ was brought on to the ticket in order to assure the Texas swing vote. They didn't tell the full truth about Johnson blackmailing Kennedy with sex dirt probably gotten to him by Hoover.
This version of Kennedy history makes me think the writers had The Unspeakable on their consciences when determining content.