Reprinted from the Tampa Tribune There are anniversaries - births, triumphs, marriages – and there are anniversaries – deaths, defeats, tragedies. And then there is the Kennedy assassination. Nothing else in America’s frame of reference resonates so searingly – and so controversially. Pearl Harbor begot V-J Day and a sense, however imperfect, of some closure. The assassination of John F. Kennedy – 50 years ago this Nov. 22 – is still an open case in the court of American public opinion. That’s because of one word: “conspiracy.” No matter what the alternative scenario, if there’s doubt that Kennedy was killed other than by a lone, Communism-enamored loser out to make horrific history, you have the cornerstones of conspiracy. And an anniversary like no other. According to public opinion polls over the years, a majority of Americans have continued to suspect conspiracy. Many think Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone – or wittingly – or at all. Just last month a national AP-GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications poll found that 59 percent of Americans still thought multiple people were involved in assassinating President Kennedy. The U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations gave more than cover to conspiracy advocates…

