JFK Plus 50

This Friday, we arrive at the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.   What hasn't already been said about it?   Despite the Warren Commission report, many still believe Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone.   We'll never absolutely know, one thing is certain.    Anyone old enough to remember another Friday - November 22, 1963 - will recall where they were when they heard the news.   Admittedly, I wasn't really sick that day when I decided to skip a day in fifth grade at Jerome Harrison Elementary School in North Branford, CT.   We had a new black couch delivered to our house that day and I was in the living room watching a rerun of the Gale Storm sitcom "Oh, Susannah!" on WNHC-TV Channel 8 when they interrupted for an ABC News bulletin.   I relayed the news to my mother in the other room while everyone waited to hear about the President's condition.   We didn't have to wait long.   Even at that young age, I found myself glued to the TV for days.   

 

Our political beliefs are often imprinted on us early in life, and I have no doubt that the result of the groundbreaking election of 1960 had a profound effect on how I thought about Vietnam, civil rights and so many other issues of the turbulent sixties.   Kennedy's shortened Presidency is hugely significant for his handling of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis alone.   To me, his legacy is an idealism that still refuses to let go.   This Friday morning, I get to discuss JFK when I fill in for local radio veteran Wayne Norman on Willimantic's WILI (1400 AM).

War On Christmas? Not In Retail... Or Radio

Sarah Palin is the latest attention getter who claims in her new book that there's a "war on Christmas".   Has she been in a Walmart lately?   She obviously hasn't driven through Rhode Island this week.   On November 6th, WWBB (B-101) in Providence went to an all-Christmas music format.   That's seven weeks before Christmas!    This station is owned by broadcasting giant Clear Channel, so they must have some audience research showing the wisdom of such an early and drastic switch.   That apparently meant Cumulus Media, another force in that market with WWLI (Lite Rock 105), felt the need to jump into the holiday fray early so as not to be outdone.    Obviously they're out there, but who are these people who can't wait until Thanksgiving to hear wall to wall holiday hits?    

 

I'm not the most nostalgic broadcaster for the way everything used to be before big conglomerates gobbled everything up, but this level of saturation makes the seasonal music seem less special than it was back in the day when most stations would gradually ramp things up after Thanksgiving.   This all or nothing strategy caters to the increased polarization we find in media today.   They may be a distinct minority, but the early holiday music listeners make up enough of an audience to justify the trend.   Once you get into December it becomes less of an issue anyway, but right about now it's a love it or hate it thing.   Sarah Palin is taking Bill O'Reilly's cue by aiming at the crowd who mistakenly feel our traditional attention to the holiday is under attack.   She'll make lots of money propagating that idea when she finds her audience.   I won't be buying her book, and I don't plan on tuning in Christmas music until December.   On both issues, neither the nonstop Christmas station operators nor Governor Palin will care.   They've already pinpointed their niche.

It Could Have Been Much Worse

Does this CCSU student look suspicious? (NBC CT)

How do you prevent stupidity?   Monday's unfortunate incident at Central Connecticut State University could have been totally avoided if one student - a son of a geography professor - had the common sense to not wear a camouflage costume with a ski mask and plastic weapons days after Halloween.   We're told if we "see something, say something", and people on campus certainly did.   The system worked well, but thousands of lives were disrupted.   Somehow $1000 bail and a breach of peace charge seem like light punishment.   Then the guy gets arrested a second time the next day for violating an order not to return to the campus!    Some of the stupidest acts I've ever witnessed were the work of college students, but they don't represent everyone trying to actually learn something.   Student or not, this kid is stupid for not realizing you can't do what he did.

 

In other news, it was revealed that the deranged shooter at LAX airport had enough ammo to take out the whole terminal in what should have been one of the most secure public areas in the country.   If he didn't limit himself to hunting down TSA officers, this could have been even more tragic.   Likewise at the huge shopping mall in Paramus, New Jersey, where a gunman there could have taken many lives.   He instead limited his mission to one of suicide.   Less than a year after the Sandy Hook massacre, we seem to look upon these increasing incidents as part of the American way.   That's unacceptable as we passively await the next Sandy Hook.