Martin Luther King’s dream didn’t die with him, but America’s long history of social and political figures being assassinated did. It’s so easy to ignore for someone my age, 29, just how commonplace assassinations were. There was JFK, MLK, and Robert Kennedy in the 60s. There was at least one attempt on Ford’s life in the 70s. There was an attempt on Reagan’s life in the 80s. Since that there hasn’t been a legitimate close attempt made on a president’s (or other significant figure’s) life. As one adult who is in his mid-40s put it to me assassinations just sort of happened and were expected. Every so often someone was just assassinated. Americans accepted that.

I think this lack of assassinations is a good thing, but not for the obvious transparent reason that we will have less dead presidents (pun). These assassins were all insignificant people who wanted to feel big. In this sense, they achieved their goal. I won’t mention their names, but they have become world famous. Because these types of people can’t get to our Clintons, Bushes, and Obamas they have to commit other atrocities to reach their sick goals. These are the types of people shooting up schools and offices to try and make the news cycle. While some of them make it on the news, none of them are as world famous as our presidential assassins. How many people can name those Columbine kids? Or the Russian Boston Marathon bombers? I can picture the younger Russian kid, but I don’t know if I ever learned his name. You would think the reverse effect would take place with the increase in media, but it hasn’t. These killers/terrorists are more anonymous. Thus we’ve taken away some of the incentive to try, even though fucks will still try to be sick.