Pops Read a Book: THE DARK SIDE OF CAMELOT

I’m not gonna lie, I skimmed a lot of Seymour M. Hersh’s THE DARK SIDE OF CAMELOT (Back Bay Books, 1997)… this 500-page look at the political sins and personal peccadilloes of John F. Kennedy is verrrrrrry dense, and much of the political machinations with dozens of players had me glazing over. That’s right, I mostly dug into the more salacious stuff, the mob ties and the many, MANY, almost DAILY dalliances with women, from the most famous to unnamed call girls. I think the creepiest thing was learning that JFK willingly and knowingly spread his VD all over the country! Talk about a new frontier!

But what was most interesting is the recurring thread of journalists and politicians KNOWING most of this stuff, but holding it back to protect the office of the President. One can only speculate whether or not any of it would’ve damaged Kennedy politically (probably, given the time), but it’s also crazy to contrast that with today, when a certain unnamed POSPOTUS did shit that was every bit as risible right in the open, it was openly reported, and absolutely nobody gave a shit (well, nobody who could do anything, anyway).

We live in the weirdest times. 

Originally posted on social media, May 2, 2023