Day 326 - not actually Friday but...

 Today is the 4th day of the 47th week [and the end of the work week for us], the 22nd day of the 11th month, the 326th day of 2023, and:

• Blackout Wednesday AKA Drinksgiving
• Go For a Ride Day
• Humane Society Anniversary Day 
• National Cranberry Relish Day
• National Family Caregivers Day
• National Housing Day
• National Jukebox Day
• National Kimchi Day
• National Stop the Violence Day
• Spitegiving 
• Start Your Own Country Day
• Tie One On Day
• What Do You Love About America Day
• and Voyager 1 is 22h 31m 32s of light travel time from Earth 

Quote of the day:

"In short, there's simply not

A more congenial spot

For happily-ever-aftering than here

In Camelot."

~  title song of the play and movie 

On Tuesday, 11.08.1960, John F Kennedy was elected President of the United States, the second-youngest man [and the first Catholic] to be elected to the office.  In December of 1960, the play Camelot hit Broadway to rave reviews.  As JFK swept forward with his agenda, his administration became identified with the promises and optimism of Camelot.  

He didn't even make 1,000 days.

On  Friday, November 22nd, 1963 - sixty years ago - Camelot was shattered by an assassin's bullet..  Every single member of my generation can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when they learned of the shooting

And an entire generation became cynical and depressed as a more traditional politician took the helm.  Despite LBJ's many accomplishments, he never was able to recapture the youth and imagination of the country, and Nixon took over in 1969 [and both he and his VP had to resign in disgrace - Spiro Agnew in 1973, Tricky Dick in 1974], stemming the tide of modern liberalism and turning the country backwards.  Despite the findings of the Warren Commission, not many of us really believe that Oswald was working completely alone.  Trust is the government [already teetering because of what we weren't being told, or not told, about 'Nam] was further eroded, and conspiracy theories continue to abound.  

Now mind you, JFK was no glowing hero in reality - he was just as cynical and manipulative as any politician.  I'm sure that he would've had a lot of ups and downs if he had lived out his time in office, and yet?  We lost so much when he was brutally eliminated, but "once there was a fleeting wisp of glory." .  As Arthurs sings at the end of the play in a reprise of the title song :

Don't let it be forgot

That once there was a spot

For one brief shining moment that was known

As Camelot.