But This Isn't Our Cruel World (8/22/12)

[brasca]

Dabbling in alternate history. This could be interesting.

[sun tzu]

OK, this is brilliant. Just two pages in, and I'm already hooked.

[Freemage]

Okay, so... Kennedy lives, but (and this is important, and was underlined in the comic), was aware of the attempt on his life, likely making him more inclined towards paranoia and suspicion of others.

Now, I'm Liberal McBleedyheart, but I've always regarded Kennedy's short stint in the White House as a middling affair. For serious left-wingers, Johnson was much better, though both men shared blame for the fiasco in Vietnam. So what does a living Kennedy actually get us (noting that obviously, this is all speculative beyond even the normal parameters for these forums).

1: I see Vietnam escalating even faster, and Kennedy's overall ambition of wiping out Communist influences becoming a major deal. Another effort at invading Cuba would not be out of the question.

2: Paranoia could lead Kennedy to a positively Nixonian approach to his enemies. If we don't invade Cuba, I could see him stepping up efforts to assassinate Communist leaders, especially Castro. And if he turns that internally, maybe striking down both Republican opponents and leftist dissidents.

3: And yeah, Johnson becomes a bit less effective, likely delaying the Civil Rights Act. This is doubly true if the CIA is used to acquire and release proof of MLK, Jr's long-alleged affair--thereby massively discredit the movement just as it's beginning.

[sun tzu]

I thought Kennedy was an ally of MLK?

[John A Arkansawyer]

I thought Kennedy was an ally of MLK?

This is a terribly complicated question, blurred by people's increasingly hazy memories of their beloved boy-king (or sun king, depending on your tastes) and the Boomer hatred of LBJ for putting them at risk (with Vietnam) while benefiting people other than themselves (civil rights, the Great Society). JFK was willing to work with MLK, understanding civil rights as something which was coming, but also did everything he could to slow down the movement (which he, like LBJ, understood would destroy the Democratic Party in the south). Neither JFK nor LBJ particularly liked King, but when push came to shove, JFK talked the talk (which was useful), but LBJ walked the walk (to some exent, over JFK's dead body).