Wednesday Reads: JFK, Marilyn Monroe, Elmore Leonard…the NRA and a Southern Avenger

Good Morning

Hey, the title of this morning’s post is longer than the actual body of the post itself.

As usual, the first few days of school are spent wasting time and pulling hairs, with papers to sign and forms to fill out…and of course it goes without saying, it also includes dealing with teenagers that turn what remaining hairs you do have left gray.

Two links for you on JFK:

JFK Second Shooter? New Documentary Makes Radical Claim

A new documentary alleges that a Secret Service agent was the second (and accidental) shooter in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

At the Television Critics Association press tour in Los Angeles on Sunday, producers and investigators behind Reelz Channel’s new documentary “JFK: The Smoking Gun” made the claim that George Hickey, a Secret Service agent riding in the car behind Kennedy, accidentally shot the president on Nov. 22, 1963. The film follows veteran police detective Colin McLaren in his four-year investigation of the assassination and points at Hickey, who died two years ago.

McLaren’s research built on the work of Howard Donahue, who spent 20 years studying the assassination and had his findings documented in Bonar Menninger’s book Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK.

[…]

Based on his painstaking investigation, McLaren said, evidence suggests Hickey was not qualified to use the weapon he was holding the morning of the shooting.

“It was his first time in the follow car, his first time holding the assault weapon he was using,” McLaren said. Producers said the film’s theory is that shots rang out, and Hickey grabbed his weapon to return fire. When his car stopped suddenly, Hickey accidentally discharged his weapon — making him the second shooter, the film’s investigators and producers alleged.

McLaren said he believes that Hickey’s weapon had hollow-point rounds — different from the ammunition for the weapon used by Lee Harvey Oswald, whom the Warren Commission declared in 1964 was the lone gunman in the case. Menninger and McLaren said that based on their review of the forensics in the case, they believe that Kennedy was also struck by a hollow-point round.

And if that doesn’t get you going…maybe this one will:  New book claims Marilyn Monroe hoped to marry John F. Kennedy

Marilyn Monroe, who notoriously had an affair with John F. Kennedy, apparently believed she was going to marry the president, even phoning the White House to tell his wife.

The story, reported in a new book out Tuesday by journalist Christopher Andersen, asserts that Jackie Kennedy even told Monroe that the screen siren was welcome to take over her role as first lady.

“And you’ll move into the White House and you’ll assume the responsibilities of first lady, and I’ll move out and you’ll have all the problems,” she reportedly told Monroe.

The incident is just one layer of the complex marriage in the year before the president was assassinated, according to the new account.

The book chronicles how Jackie was begged to stay by her husband even in the face of a nuclear strike, how the couple withstood the death of their newborn son Patrick, as well as how they weathered JFK’s many extramarital affairs.

It aims to answer whether the pair, 33 and 46 when JFK was killed, who captured the hearts of the nation, truly loved one another.

According to Andersen’s research, Jackie was well aware of her husband’s many infidelities, but was only upset over Marilyn — not because of the affair, itself, but because the first lady feared the scandal set her up for public ridicule.

Honestly, it all seems like some version of the History Channel’s brand of historic docudrama meets Lifetime…television for idiots.

Speaking of idiots: Senator Rand Paul denies his former ‘Southern Avenger’ aide was racist

“I do think he was unfairly treated by the media, and he was put up as target practice for people to say he’s a racist, and none of that was true. If you look at his writings, I think there are a lot of problems and a lot of disagreements and none of it do I support. But none of it was racist. He got along with everyone in the office, treated everyone fairly without regards to race or religion.”

And more idiots: Informal ‘White Student Union’ started at Georgia State

Freshman Patrick Sharp said he started the club so that students of European and Euro-American descent can celebrate their shared history and culture and discuss issues that affect white people, such as immigration and affirmative action.

And yes…you got it…a shit more idiots: National Rifle Association Enemies List Now Includes Scientists, Zoos

In a move bizarrely reminiscent of its “anti-gun” enemies list, the National Rifle Association announced a new plan Friday to target scientists, environmental groups, government regulators and individuals who favor banning the use of lead in gun ammunition.

The targeted attacks are part of Hunt for Truth.org, a newly revamped effort by the nation’s largest gun lobby to block attempts to regulate the use of lead in bullets. Regulations have been proposed in some states after studies have shown that millions of birds — most notably the highly endangered California condor — are dying of lead poisoning after ingesting lead bullet fragments.

[…]The NRA singled out a law under consideration in California which would require hunters in the Golden State to use lead-free ammunition. Lead free bullets are widely available from top manufacturers, and have not been shown to function any differently than bullets containing the highly toxic element.

In order to rally its members to oppose the lead regulation, the NRA described a conspiracy theory involving crooked scientists, phony research, and a shadowy network of nonprofits, zoos and government agencies all conspiring to ban hunting.

According to the NRA, an “activist portion of the scientific community” has formed “a highly organized network of like minded researchers with an agenda to ban lead ammunition.” In order to thwart this looming threat, “Hunt for Truth will expose the researchers associated with ‘faulty science’ critical of lead ammunition,” the gun lobby says.

Scientists aren’t the NRA’s only new targets. Nonprofits like the San Diego Zoo and the California Condor Recovery Team are also on the enemies list. The NRA claims these groups “have considerable influence over many legislators and regulators,” which they use to “capture” the regulatory agencies and bureaucrats responsible for lead ammunition restrictions.

[…]

As of Monday, the NRA had yet to list any scientists it planned to target, but there were seven environmental and wildlife conservation groups on the site, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Center for Biological Diversity. Four government agencies were also singled out: the Arizona Game and Fish Department, the California Department of Fish and Game, the Los Angeles Zoo and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Crazy right-wing nuts!

There was some sad news yesterday, Elmore Leonard, Lauded Crime Novelist, Recovering After Stroke In Detroit-Area Hospital

Elmore Leonard, one of the most prolific and beloved crime novelists of the 20th century, is recovering in a Detroit-area hospital after a stroke, according to the Detroit News.

Gregg Sutter, the author’s longtime researcher, confirmed Monday that Leonard, 87, suffered the stroke on July 29. Leonard is currently working on his 46th novel.

“He’s doing better every day, and the family is guardedly optimistic,” Sutter told the Detroit News. “He’s showing great spirit. He’s a fighter, and we’re glad to see that.”

For someone who was such a brilliant and prolific writer…to suffer a stroke is devastating.

Last year, Leonard won the National Book Foundation’s Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

In his take on The Huffington Post’s regular “Where I Like To Read” column, Leonard wrote, “I don’t need anything else when I read. The sound of the words in my head is enough.”

That is so true…oh yes, it surely is.

Treat this as an open thread. Have a wonderful day, hope to see you in the comments later on in the day.