The Jeffries Film

In addition to Thanksgiving, today is the anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination. It was 44 years ago to day that JFK was murdered.

The New York Times has an interesting article examining one of the most famous pieces of footage in history - the Zapruder film, which captures the the shooting.

I thought you might like to see another fascinating piece of film from that day, however.



This clip was shot by a man named George Jeffries, as the president's motorcade moved through Dealey Plaza, just seconds before the shots rang out.

Interestingly, it ends with several shots of the Texas School Book Depository building, which at the moment the footage was taken, had no historical significance at all. In a moment, that would change, of course.

_{Video courtesy of The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza}

The JFK "Terror Plot"

I'm sort of ashamed to admit this, but when I saw the headline on Saturday about the terrorist plot to blow up New York's JFK Airport, I didn't even bother to read the story. I thought, "Oh, I wonder how badly the Bush administration is over-hyping this so-called plot? As badly as the one where those yahoos were going to destroy the Sears Tower? As badly as the clown who was going to cut down the Brooklyn Bridge with a blowtorch?"

I'm not kidding. I have learned that when this administration announces that it has rolled up another terrorist plot, that I should wait for the inevitable deconstruction of the official story before I start to care.

I was right not to get too excited. Anonymous Liberal does a beautiful job with the deconstruction duties.

Luckily, "[p]olice say the men never got their hands on explosives or funding and lacked the technical expertise to attack JFK airport's fuel tanks and underground pipeline." Oh and according to the Homeland Security Department, the plan was "not technically feasible."

In other words, this plan had about as much chance of working as their first plan, which involved constructing a full-functioning replica of the Death Star and using it to terrorize the planet.

The mastermind behind this "plot" is quoted as saying:

"Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow ... they love JFK -- he's like the man. If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It's like you can kill the man twice."

Indeed.

[...]

Why is it that every terrorist "plot" that has been "thwarted" over the last few years has been almost cartoonishly amateur? Are all terrorists really just a bunch of halfwits trying to play jihad in their mothers' basements? I mean, if you put all these terrorist masterminds in a room together, I doubt they'd be able to hatch a realistic plot to change a light bulb, much less carry out a successful terrorist attack.

Wolf! Wolf!! WOOOOLF!

Yawn.

For people who claim to believe that real terrorists are lurking just out of view, waiting for a chance to hit us again, the Bush administration sure seems eager to make us disregard the warnings. It's almost as though they want us to let our guard down. I wonder why that is.

New JFK Film

A new piece of film has surfaced of President Kennedy's Dallas motorcade on the day he was assassinated.

It is a stunningly clear clip of 8mm film. JFK and Jackie are visible for a few seconds as they pass the photographer. An analyst says it appears to show the president and first lady about 90 seconds before the shots rang out.

The film can be viewed on the website of the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.

h/t Dotcommonsense