(CNS) On Friday night, July 16, 1999, John F. Kennedy, Jr., flew off into eternity with his wife and sister-in-law, when his small plane crashed into the sea outside of Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. Immediately, this single news item crowded out all other news. In the competitive news world that exists in the last year of the 20^th century, all the networks and cable news channels turned themselves into ongoing outlets of information on nothing other than a search that experts agreed at the onset would probably yield no survivors. The president, who always has something to say on every matter, pledged the resources of the Federal government, and it was not until late Sunday night that authorities finally publicly confirmed what they knew all along, that the son of the 35^th president of the republic was dead.

The eulogizing went way beyond any rational level, instead, JFK, Jr. became a metaphor for a Greek god, and a Shakespearean tragedy. Of course, the superstitious repeated the excuse first coined by Ted Kennedy after his near death experience at Chappaquidick, when he suggested that perhaps his devout family suffered under the cloud of a curse. Regardless, the Kennedy mystique may be coming close to expiration, since now most of those individuals who were seared into the nation's consciousness after the assassination of President Kennedy, are now themselves deceased.

The sycophantic media outdid itself in fawning over the Kennedy family, asking again and again why this family seems to be the target of so much tragedy, while few actually plumbed the depths of the family's history to see if perhaps there are answers there. The tiny pool of acceptable "presidential historians" was again called into the service of the myth-makers, predictably infecting all their listeners with their own peculiar predispositions to imbue every aspect of presidential minutiae with the ambiance of importance. Controversial historians are never summoned to give their opinions, such as Professor Howard Zinn, because the producers' intentions are to create tributes to the presidents, not actually examine their legacies in the light of day.

The 38-year-old heir-apparent of the murdered president, however, was eulogized as if he had actually done a great deal during his life, other than being born famous. What gave it away, ultimately, was that despite all of the things he did as an adult, what most journalists said they would remember about the lost Kennedy, was the image of him at three years of age saluting at his father's funeral. It would be hard on anyone to peak out at three years of age, everything after it being little more than a footnote.

It is, of course, a great tragedy for anyone to die suddenly in an accident, young or old, famous or unknown, rich or poor. But the cult of the Kennedys caught up the media so intensely that there was a virtual news black-out during the 48 hours it took the authorities to finally admit that the probability of there being survivors was non-existent. If the media conceives of itself as a public service, it certainly failed to function as one, as it focused all coverage on the Coast Guard's search over hundreds of square miles of ocean, even though most of the time was filled with emotional appeals to nostalgia and sentimentality, instead of real information. During those 48 hours every inch of footage shot of "John-John" since his birth, was fed to a mesmerized public, which didn't even realize that the image they thought they knew was not the real John F. Kennedy, Jr., whose intimate friends and associates never called him "John-John."

Newsmen and hard-core journalists who remembered him as a child, choked back tears, as this icon of their beloved republic was cut down in his prime, just like his famous father. But also like his father, it has been easy for the pushers of the Kennedy myth to play on the theme of "lost opportunity," which always implied that the Kennedys were not pragmatic politicos, but idealistic visionaries, for which there is very little hard evidence other than the wishful thinking of Kennedy partisans. It is hard for members of the general public to separate flatulent statements of Kennedy courtiers, from real known information regarding the Kennedys. The emotionalism of the tragedies that befall the Kennedy clan make it difficult for those who are not supporters of the Kennedy dynasty to remind the public that the biographers and friends of the Kennedys have an ulterior motive in building up the Kennedy myth, because as biographers and friends, the more important they can make the Kennedys, the more important they become as their biographers and friends.

JFK, Jr. was intensely aware of his own celebrity, which he deliberately attempted to exploit in his publication George. The magazine George, up until its publishers' untimely demise, was somewhat of a joke among political activists, because it is the People magazine of politics. (One individual referred to it as the Vanity Fair of politics, but this inferred that it had more depth than it really does. After all, what real value did George's coverage of such issues as what Madonna would do if she was president, really serve?) On the other hand, commentators mistook the readership of the publication as constituting a kind of public support instead of being an audience, in the same way that Rush Limbaugh's performance is not really a political action, but in substance is a form of political entertainment.

John F. Kennedy, Jr. always had a hard road to hoe, like all Juniors who are born in the shadow of famous fathers. A great many Democrats viewed him as the Great White Hope, and waited anxiously for that day when he would assume his father's mantle, and enter the political arena. But this involved more baggage than most people casually understand, because Junior had to both live up to his father's level of success by repeating it, as well as avoid the same animosities that may have caused his father's violent death, which the election of another Kennedy to the White House would have revived. For every comment that the Kennedys constitute "the closest thing the United States has to a royal family," there are millions of Americans who do NOT view the Kennedys as royal at all, namely members of the Republican party, and especially the supporters of a monarchist restoration, who have their sites set on the House of David.

"John-John" really had a very lackluster life, aside from growing up in an extremely rich and famous family. He was a mediocre student; he was a reluctant lawyer, failing to pass the bar examination several times; and ultimately the only accomplishment he achieved in his short life-span was the establishment of his publication. Yet this did not preclude reporters exaggerating his accomplishments, due to the fact that there really were so few of them. Again and again news shows had to show forty year old news clips of JFK, Jr. as a child, but of course, what this really did was turn the entire episode into a Kennedy-fest, by indulging the country's fascination with his assassinated father.

The cult of celebrity that surrounds the presidency works its most powerful magic when presidents die in office, because that gives the republic the opportunity to exploit the pageantry the people thrive on, by providing them with state funerals. The media is particularly adept at enshrining presidents with halos, largely with the assistance of so-called "presidential scholars," who are not really scholars at all, but writers who are personally obsessed with the presidency, and who are actively working to re-write history to create a pantheon of presidents that attempts to elevate these politicos up to the heights of Mount Olympus, where the Gods dwell. Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Michael Beschloss, and Douglas Brinkley virtually drip with devotion for the men who serve in the Oval Office, invoking every emotion they can stimulate to over-ride the real political history of the presidents, because the presidents were actually involved in down and dirty partisan politics.

The most persistent notion among the American masses, however, is the idea that the Kennedy clan is somehow cursed. Ironically, if this is so, then by forcing themselves upon the republic they have interwoven their curse into the very fabric of the nation, in effect causing their curse to have a consequence upon the American people. It may be silly to imagine that the Kennedys are cursed, but then curses are really not something that are brought upon someone from outside, they are rather the consequences of actions that are taken by the individuals themselves, due to the values and outlooks that are usually bred into them by their upbringing. The Kennedys have carved out a niche for themselves in the politics of the country, which was initially done by the sheer force of will of Joseph Kennedy, Sr. And it doesn't take too much reviewing of the Kennedy past to recognize a tendency towards risky behavior that can be found in every generation since.

At this point three Kennedys have died in fatal plane crashes, and one Kennedy experienced the horror of a plane crash but survived, Senator Edward Kennedy. But looking back to the patriarch of the family, it is easy to understand why the Kennedys suffer so many tragedies, because the example and role model the senior Kennedy set was one of outright risk taking. Over the course of the July weekend that JFK, Jr., lost his life, Kennedy hagiographers have referred to Joseph Kennedy, Sr. as a banker, filmmaker, etc., but where the Kennedy clan actually made its fortune was in bootlegging, during Prohibition. It would be virtually impossible to find another career choice that carries with it as much risk as bootlegging, except perhaps illegal drug dealing. After Prohibition, Kennedy became the U.S. distributor for a very popular brand of gin.

What is also less widely circulated is the fact that Rose Kennedy had to put up with a spouse who not only openly engaged in adultery, but who also brought home his mistresses to eat dinner at the same table with his family. This was the example set for his children. And when the oldest, Joseph Kennedy, Jr., went off to fight in World War II, he was offered a high risk mission which he accepted, and during which he was shot down. This was an especially hard blow for Joseph Kennedy, Sr., however, because Joe, Jr., was the son who had originally been groomed to become president. This pretty much forced John Kennedy to assume the role his father had meant for his older brother.

When John Kennedy ran for president in 1960, he was a long-shot. The leadership of the Democratic party was not behind him, and he had to rely on his father's money to build his own political machine. When that political machine gave JFK an electoral victory it pushed aside all the Democratic Party regulars, who were not particularly happy about being shunted aside. One widely known story having to do with the 1960 election was that Joseph Kennedy, Sr. had used his underworld connections (remember, he was a former bootlegger), to secure the Chicago political machine's support for his son. Most people in the 1990s look back on the election of JFK to the presidency as if it was the immutable outcome of destiny, but in fact the election had been extremely close; one of the closest in the history of the United States. Many political experts believe that his victory came about almost exclusively due to his father's solicitation of the support of the Chicago mob. How much more risky can one get, than making a deal with the Mafia?

Another example of the risky behavior the Kennedys took for granted was the womanizing of JFK, which he did right in the White House, under the nose of the First Lady. The president had standing orders that the Secret Service was to alert him upon the approach of the First Lady, any time he was "entertaining" a female friend. But this pales in comparison to the one international act of diplomacy that he is most famous for, the Cuban Missile Crisis, which in fact amounted to risking the existence of the whole planet. Because he was successful, we look back in awe; but what he engaged in was nothing short of brinksmanship. (Although, most people understood that the Soviet Union was a second rate superpower that was mortally afraid of the technological superiority of the United States).

President Kennedy may ultimately have been the victim of his own risk taking when he was assassinated, due to the fact that his agents had been trying to arrange for the assassination of Castro with the aid of the Mafia. There is very little evidence as to the real causes of the President's murder, due to the confusion that has been generated surrounding it, but there is evidence that the President and his brother the Attorney General were laying the foundation for the invasion and conquest of Cuba. Unknown to most Americans, agents were landing on Cuba and engaging in sabotage, and the environment the brothers were making was very volatile.

Robert Kennedy followed the same well-worn path of reckless risk taking as his brother and father, as a womanizer, as well as growing so swollen with his own sense of power that he thought that he could take on the Mafia, even though it had been partially responsible for the elevation of his brother to power. His assassination was also clouded by confusion, so it also cannot be clearly pinpointed as to its real cause, but the possibility could not be denied that someone in the United States was determined to keep a second Kennedy from winning election to the presidency. The idea that JFK and RFK were murdered by crazed loners is just too convenient.

The Chappaquidick episode illustrates for the whole world to see, the readiness of the Kennedy offspring to follow in the senior Kennedy's footsteps, in terms of audacious risk taking. A young woman died as a result of the car accident Ted Kennedy was deeply involved in. Probably the only thing that kept Kennedy from doing time was the fact that the local authorities were all Kennedy political supporters, because the Senator's version of events were inconsistent with the forensic evidence. It was after that tragedy that Senator Kennedy, himself, came up with the notion that there is a curse on the Kennedy family, as an explanation for why the car accident occurred. In fact it occurred because he was probably driving under the influence of alcohol at the time the fatal accident took place, when he drove off a bridge that was in such a state of disrepair that it virtually no longer existed.

In terms of the next generation of Kennedy dynasts, one died of a drug overdose, and a second became involved in an illicit sexual liaison with an underage teenager. His brother, Joseph Kennedy, left his wife of many years, who was the mother of his children, after trying to get the Catholic Church to annul their marriage. A cousin was accused, and later acquitted, on a charge of rape, but the underlying trend is obviously one of a sense of privilege and position that encourages Kennedys to take risks that other people might not consider. Other cousins, two brothers, have been implicated in a murder that took place in the 1970s, which is, of course, not to suggest that they were responsible for it, but the family has stopped talking about it to the public since their own investigators came back with evidence that seemed to point back towards someone in their midst.

Most recently the Kennedy that was implicated in the illicit sexual liaison with a minor, got killed in a skiing accident after being told repeatedly that the sport he enjoyed engaging in with his cousins - playing football while skiing - was dangerous. Most observers believed that JFK, Jr. had avoided the risk taking of his Kennedy cousins, largely due to the influence of his mother, the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. But perhaps her death released the heir-apparent to Camelot from whatever restraints she had imposed upon him, in the hopes of saving him from the consequences of the Kennedy willingness to take risks.

It would be unfair to suggest that every Kennedy is the same, and that all of them take risks. There are plenty of Kennedys who, while none of them will ever really be average citizens, do not indulge in the kind of risk taking that those who created the Kennedy public image did engage in. Every individual receives the example of their fathers and mothers in different and individual ways, and of course, every time a marriage takes place, there is always a mixing of bloodlines that occurs, which changes the potentials inherent in an upcoming generation. But the fact that tragedies do occur in the Kennedy family almost every generation, would seem to indicate that there might be a predilection towards behavior that can sometimes involve significant risks. This is, of course, beside the fact that families that are wealthy have that much more opportunity to do things, and the more activities anyone is involve in, the more the odds increase that some kind of misfortune may take place. These are people who fly around all the time, who were once called, "The Jet Set." A lack of money is not an obstacle to their ambitions. So where most average people stay at home the majority of their lives, and lead fairly routine lives, families that are wealthy tend to be more active, which increases the chances that something may go wrong, and an accident may take place. Yet even people who lead normal lives suffer from terrible tragedies, and few people discuss their great strength in the face of adversity.

It is a tragedy for the young John F. Kennedy, Jr. to perish in such a horrible accident, and it is a natural reaction to mourn the loss of three young people at the prime of their lives. Yet it is also inappropriate for the news media to push all other news aside for "the prince," as Sam Donaldson of ABC News called him. Nothing illustrates the existence of a presidential cult more vividly than the death of a Kennedy, and especially the death of this Kennedy, the man so many Democrats pinned their hopes on for a revival of Camelot. But just like the original Camelot, it was more a dream than a reality. President Kennedy was dragged into the civil rights movement. He was responsible for initiating a covert war against Cuba that was inciting the most dangerous elements in American society, and it was his authorization that sent "advisors" into Vietnam, which swelled into the undeclared and illegal "Vietnam War." The idea of the unrealized promise of Kennedy might have turned into the reality of just another politician, exploiting the gullibility of the American people to make the world safe for corporations. The visionary version of Camelot has been peddled by the True Believers since Kennedy's assassination, mainly because these people believe in the political system of the republic, and as proof that the system itself works, they point to President Kennedy, and the fact that he was able to get elected. The truth, the fact that the republic is a corrupt police state, even under Kennedy's control, faces people with the fact that ultimately it will have to be abolished in favor of a return to the ancient constitution, which the Founding Fathers were so quick to dispose of, when they came up with the Constitution of 1787 from their fertile imaginations.

SOURCE: Written exclusively for the World FREE Internet by the Central News Service. 19 July, 1999.