Post by Hank SienzantPost by JE CorbettPost by Budhttps://news.gallup.com/poll/514310/decades-later-americans-doubt-lone-gunman-killed-jfk.aspx
As the graph shows, that is a slight rise from when the question of conspiracy was asked at the 50th anniversary but the
difference is within the 3% margin of error that is normally associated with polling data. The 61% result in 2013 could
indicate an actual number of 64% and the current 65% result could indicate an actual number of 62% so statistically the
difference is insignficant. I was mildly surprised the number had reason since it had been trending downward, but as I
pointed out, that could simply be attributed to the margin of error.
In the past ten years, there have been almost no new developments or revelations that would be likely to cause a change in
opinions one way or another.
Well, one development. Older people who remember the assassination and the coverage and the investigation die off, younger people who remember the movie "JFK" take their place. We are now further removed from the release of the movie JFK (32 years) than we were from the release of the Commission 26 volumes of evidence at the time of the movie (27 years). If people weren't knowledgeable enough about the facts of the assassination in 1991 to know the movie was nonsense, why would anyone expect people not even alive in 1963 or 1991 to be knowledgeable about the assassination?
The polls are meaningless, except to show how little knowledge about the assassination younger people (those younger than 60 were born after the assassination) really have.
Post by JE CorbettI think a general distrust of the government had been on the rise in the last ten years and that
might make people more conducive to believing in a JFK conspiracy. One question pollsters almost never ask is whether
people believe Oswald was actually innocent. I think recognize that most people believe he was at leas complicit even if
they don't believe he acted alone. I would bet the number believing him to be innocent would be in the low single digits.
One other question I wish they would ask is, "Do you give a rat's ass?". I'm betting a solid majority would say NO.
I think boomers are more apt to believe in conspiracy because they had a direct emotional attachment to JFK and are less
likely to look at the event dispassionately. Emotion overtakes reason. I wonder what the breakdown would be among
boomers, Gen-X, millennials (what happened to Gen-Y), and Gen-Z. While were at it, why did they start with Gen-X. We've run
out of letters already. Why didn't they start with Gen-A? But I digress.
A generational breakdown might be revealing. I wonder how many of Gen-Z have even seen the movie JFK. I wonder how
many actually care whether or not there was a conspiracy? The JFK assassination is to them what the McKinley assassination
was to our generation. I don't recall ever having a discussion about that with anybody I knew.
I think we can make a few generalizations. Few people, regardless of generation, have bothered to read the WCR. I'll bet
the numbers who have bothered to read any conspiracy book are a minority. Those who can identify the key players in
the event are even smaller and those who can identify minor players (Newmans, Paines, etc) smaller still. In short most
people, regardless of age, have taken the time to educate themselves about the basic facts of the event. A majority who
are old enough to remember the movie JFK probably got most of what they know about the assassination from that
fictional work. Is it any wonder there would be so many misconceptions about the assassination.