Editor’s note: this column was originally published in the Daily Bruin on Nov. 27, 1963, five days after the death of John F. Kennedy, under the headline “Questions.” One sentence was edited for sensitive language.
He was assassinated.
And so was his alleged assassin.
Do we shrug our shoulders and turn slowly to our work? Do we let our emotions run unchecked until this country slips into utter chaos?
Do we blame the Republicans? The Communists? The South? Do we speculate on the political consequences? Do we wonder if John Kennedy will become the Democrats’ Abraham Lincoln?
Do we resolve to somehow rectify his death? Do we strive to eliminate strife and internal dissension? Do we bemoan the President’s death and then spit in a(n) … eye? Do we invade Cuba? Do we condemn all people who have disagreed with President Kennedy?
Do we pray?
Do we condemn the police chief of Dallas who was to provide the greatest amount of security? Do we vomit the word “Texas”? Or do we almost unintelligibly squeeze the name “John Fitzgerald Kennedy” out of our throats?
Do we sympathize with Mrs. Kennedy who, in so short a time period, lost a baby and a husband? Do we forsake Thanksgiving? Do we refuse to elect a president every twentieth year?
Do we now look to Lyndon B. Johnson as a God-image or do we become obsessed with the realization that the President is a man and, indeed, he bleeds?
Do we all bleed with the President?
Do we …? Do we …? Do we …?
Harrison was an editorial editor for the Daily Bruin when this column was published.