Listen to Jesse Walker Talk About the JFK Files on SiriusXM Insight at 2 pm ET

Matt Welch interviews our resident conspiracist, plus Liz Mair on Jeff Flake and Nancy Rommelmann on "shitty media men," on Channel 121.

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Today, the National Archives and Records Administration released a giant new cache of previously withheld government files pertaining to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Since today also marks a return guest-hosting engagement for me on SiriusXM Insight channel 121's Tell Me Everything With John Fugelsang, I am bringing on Reason's own Jesse Walker, author of the acclaimed The United States of Paranoia: A Conspiracy Theory, to place the JFK conspiracies into historical context.

Also scheduled to join are libertarian-leaning GOP strategist and communications pro Liz Mair (Reason archive here), to discuss the retirement announcement by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona); and the great journalist Nancy Rommelmann (Reason archive), to talk about the ever-expanding fallout from the Harvey Weinstein/Bill O'Reilly sexual harassment/assault scandals.

You can call in to heckle at 877 974-7487.

Comments

[SOFL Hockey Fan]

Lee Harvey Oswald with a rifle from the Texas School Book Depository. 3 shots. 1 missed. 2 hits. 2 dead.

[Juice]

Who else died?

[Citizen X - #6]

AMERICA'S INNOCENCE

[SOFL Hockey Fan]

Oswald. For that matter throw in P.O. J.D. Tippett. Make that 5 shots. 1 missed. 4 hits. 3 dead.

[David Nolan Michael Hihn]

Did Jodie Foster tell him to do it?

[colorblindkid]

The JFK conspiracy is bipartisanly popular for two different reasons:

The right are more likely to be conspiracy theorists simply because they don't believe anything the government tells them (which is, for the most part, completely rational).

The left simply doesn't want to admit that a communist killed Kennedy (likewise that an anti-Israel Palestinian killed Bobby). They need to believe it was due to right-wing hate and bigotry, or a conspiracy to take down such a great man.

Unpopular opinion, but popular around here I'm guessing:
JFK was a pretty lousy president. Had he not been assassinated, he would not be remembered as one of our best.

[CE]

The left seem pretty comfortable with conspiracy theories. They see the tentacles of the Kochtopus behind every corner, and the US president conspiring with the Russians to undermine our democracy.

[Mongo]

I reversed the Zapruder footage and discovered the slug EXITING from JFK's skull and ENTERING the depository window where Oswald was supposedly located!

Further research shows Oswald WAS shot to death!!

Furthermore, Jackie Kennedy's arms were FAKE. Rubber or something. You can clearly see it in the footage.

[Jerryskids]

Like the government's going to release the real documents. The ones they released are all photo-shopped, you can easily tell if you're as familiar with photoshop as I am.