"JFK" on TNT...

And "Conspiracy: Jack Ruby" on The History Channel. JFK's about halfway through, and the show on History is about over.

I'd known much of this stuff before ever seeing this movie, but it does present it well.

...think he had enough enemies?

He selectively edited the Brinkley interview in the opening to falsely portray Kennedy as wanting to abandon South Vietnam.

...included, and made up, that Stone ought to be allowed a little license too. Hell, if our government can invent fiction, then why should Stone be held to a differnt standard? :shrug:

He can't reconcile his ideas with the facts yet mounts massive hype campaigns to promote his ideas as truth.

That being said, I love Wall Street. I felt that he took a classic morality tale and nailed it cold. He should stick to telling stories rather than inserting himself into 40 year old controversies.

My problem with the premise of JFK is the demonization of LBJ. The implicit assumption that Johnson bore x amount of culpability for the assassination is pretty hard to square with the record. Especially when you consider that LBJ was opposed to both the Bay of Pigs (there is dispute when he found out about it) and the assassination of Diem.

MacBird!
A play by Barbara Garson
Synopsis and Personal Notes


The play MacBird! unfolds at the 1960 Presidential Convention, where poor MacBird finds himself a loser in the race for King to young John Ken O'Dunc, but in an ironic twist of fate he is offered the office of Vice President, which he greedily accepts--much to the dismay of the entire Ken O'Dunc clan. Right before the end of the convention MacBird comes upon three witches who tell him HE is destined to rule the land, his deep lust for power takes hold of him, and he wants to know more. However, they seem only to be able to talk in riddles which MacBird really doesn't understand; yet he views this as an omen that the Royal seat of power is really meant for him.

Despite feeling snubbed by the Ken O'Duncs, MacBird decides to invite them down to his "ranch" to look around, and they concede to come after the coronation. MacBird's wife, Lady MacBird, who secretly complains that she has to do all the dirty work to get power for her husband, realizes the upcoming Royal Visit is a perfect time for her to intercede once again on MacBird's part. So she "calls the shots" for the visit and plans a grand procession through the streets which unfortunately leads to the untimely assassination of the well liked king, John Ken O'Dunc.

MacBird takes over the office much to the dismay of John's younger brother Robert, who unofficially had been second in succession to the young King, but soon all form of discord rises throughout the realm. The War in Vietland doesn't seem to be going well, Robert Ken O'Dunc deviously is working behind the scenes against MacBird, and even Lady MacBird is suffering from a bad case of her "nerves" acting up.

MacBird! was a wonderful piece of antiestablishment literature in its day, not even well known by most of American culture at that time. I first --and only-- saw it when my high school in Iowa ran it several evenings one year. It was not our usual kind of play at all, but many a local citizen in the small town seemed to enjoy its total irreverence. I was immediately drawn to its ingenious merging of Shakespearean English with Texas drawl.

snip

http://www.brumm.com/MacBird/

What's the particular relevance, besides the obvious conspiracy underpinning it shares with JFK? Or was that it? Am I thinking too hard?