An Assassin When We Need One

“Where is Lee Harvey Oswald now that we need him?

The small bumper sticker on the back bumper of the white panel truck smacked me in the face. I had pulled up behind it to wait for the car ahead to turn left. The famous picture of Oswald and his rifle illustrated the provocative and disturbing question.

The truck may have been just old enough to carry such a message with George W. Bush in its sights. But even if that truck did go back to “W’s” administration, I doubted Lee Harvey Oswald was being wished on him. I know to whose head the question was aimed.

There were no other markings on the back of the truck to tell me if its driver might be a plumber or electrician or any of the many people who drive such vehicles. The bumper sticker was so low on the truck that you might not notice it if you walked around it, or toward it. It was almost as if the owner wanted it on his vehicle, but not so it would attract too much attention.

We moved forward, and I pulled to the truck’s left as it prepared to turn right at the next light. No markings on its side, either. I tried to catch a glimpse of the driver’s face, but just as I passed he raised his left hand and blocked my view. Chance or intention, I don’t know.

I am willing to guess he thinks himself a true Patriot. But he isn’t, not at all. We elect and with equal fervor un-elect our leaders. When we don’t want them any more, we use the ballot box to turn them out to pasture. Those who wish Lee Harvey Oswald to come and do the work of democracy for them, or over the will of the majority, simply do not get being citizens of this nation. It’s not patriotism and it’s not democracy: it’s anarchy and it’s chaos.

That driver should hide his message and his face; he should be ashamed. But he shouldn’t be shot.