And so they demand what the rest of us have never known:
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by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
"History," the great French 18th century writer Voltaire wrote, "is a pack of lies we play on the dead." He should know... he altered history to his satisfaction and purposes often enough.
Now Voltaire has apparently gone to work for the Kennedys. For they, so they think, have a pressing need for someone to help them suppress a bevy of inconvenient facts and protect their carefully honed version of events. History has become, for these Kennedys, not a matter of truth... but a matter of arranging, sorting, suppressing, in so doing transforming history from inconvenient truths to self-satisfied distortions.
That is, you see, what ex-dynasties do... for all such dynasties, late and soon, have inconvenient skeletons in their royal closets... and people being people, it is these skeletons we wish to know about most of all.
The Kennedys are, of course, on the wrong side of this battle of hide and seek. They ought to bite the bullet and release, release, release... and suffer the discomforts (to say no more) that will inevitably follow the publication of this information. Alas, they cannot forget what they insist we all must remember: they were, once upon a time, the vigorous, the glamorous, the prancing, dancing, magnificent, reigning and ruling Kennedys... and so they demand what the rest of us have never known: the privilege of arranging events to their satisfaction by controlling their rich sources of information ... sources revealing everything the Kennedys are adamant we will not see for epochs yet to come.
In such a way, do Kennedys alter facts and manufacture better fictions.
This battle, between the truths of history and the suppression of facts, is currently raging at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Dorchester, Massachusetts. There there are 54 crates of records individually sealed and labeled, with contents so hot and juicy even the director of the library is prohibited from taking a peek.
Which is no doubt what he, and certainly what we, are so keen to do.
Why?
Here is one reason. The papers are thought to contain the "smoking gun" details on President John's and Attorney General brother Bobby's determination to assassinate that pesky perennial irritate Cuba's Fidel Castro. It was called "Operation Mongoose" and concerns our boys' inept, ham-fisted attempts to take out Fidel. It was an inglorious, if completely instructive and riveting, opera buffa.
Obsessed with snuffing Fidel, the boys had a field day with James Bond style machinations, every one of which perfectly proved just how unready for prime time these guys really were... as Fidel learned to his complete satisfaction. Tellingly, he is still here, still in power.
The world wants to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth... but the Kennedys respond, "No, no, Nanette."
But there is more, much more, none of which conduces to the greater glory of our home-grown, increasingly tattered ex-royal family.
The diaries, notes, phone logs, messages, trip files, and other documents of the brothers are a true treasure trove of the raw stuff of History, every page of which the Kennedys are adamant that historians cannot see and which we, the public, must never know.
There are, too, it is thought, in these inconvenient boxes loaded with pure dynamite details on the 1961 Cuban missile crisis, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the trade embargo and more... truths demonstrating how the boys, desperate to prove their machismo, bungled and bungled again... even in their backstairs 1963 attempt to find a peaceful solution, any peaceful solution, to the Cuban situation.... so they could get this most vexing and abashing of subjects off their plate. They failed here, too, but inquiring minds want to know why, want the details and want them now.
The man in the hot seat on this issue of whether such documents should be released.... how many, when, how is Max Kennedy, Robert Kennedy's ninth child. Matthew Maxwell Taylor Kennedy, a lawyer, was appointed by his mother, Ethel, to take the responsibility and field the untimely, insistent questions.
He waffles, of course. It is inevitable in these circumstances that he does so... for his is a completely unenviable task: to suppress untimely truths... while making historians and the media believe he will, in due course, release the information, oh yes he will.
But we know, don't we, that that means he is not merely reluctant to release... in his uncensored soul we know he thinks it a Very Bad Idea, bad for the country (he must say)... but worse for the dynasty (which is where his total loyalty lies.)
In an email to the Boston Globe (published January 23, 2011) Max Kennedy had his say:
"There are many requests to see them, and frankly, many of those requests come from people with poorly-conceived projects. It is my responsibility, as custodian of the papers, to grant use responsibly."
"That does not mean that every book must be cloyingly positive; I do not think that for a moment, and I would be doing a disservice to my father if I acted that way. But I do believe that historians and journalists must do their homework, and observe the correct procedures for seeking permission to consult the papers, and explain their projects."
This is how the Kennedys and their attorney say "not until hell freezes over, if then."
The Kennedys vs History
This position, no matter how finely written or how seemingly responsible, even generous is untenable, and surely there are some Kennedys who know it.
You cannot stand before the media and professional historians and journalists and say, "yes, yes, you will get what you want but not yet" when there are important documents at hand, merely because such documents make clear the possible illegalities (what was an Attorney General doing in covert operations to kill a foreign head of state anyway?) and certain poor judgements of esteemed family members.
Just because one is born a Kennedy, doesn't mean that you secured a pass for life for suppressing embarrassing information of interest to the nation on what these members were actually doing, when, why, and how.
The bar of History summons even you, privileged members of the defunct dynasty, and make what deal with the Devil you will, these facts will out... the sooner the better.
And so I remind you of what you have reminded others: the truth shall set you free. Instead of defending the indefensible, release these papers, all these papers. And in so releasing them release yourself and your family from the terrible burdens of suppression, half truths, prevarications, and distortions.
You now stand uncomfortably against history, for censorship. As Voltaire knew, this is a losing hand. Stop playing tricks on the dead and let them live again through their own communications. Let them have their say, their whole say... it is what they deserve... and what we all deserve, too.
About The Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., where small and home-based businesses learn how to profit online. Dr. Lant is a noted US historian and author of 18 best-selling business books. Republished with author's permission by Lawrence Rinke http://ActionEqualsProfit.com.
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