Only in America

For my birthday I got the book "11/22/63" by Stephen King from a good friend. I am loving this book. As my friend Andy pointed out, it is continually amazing that Mr. King could write something so fresh and gravitating after writing so many books over the years. But that is not really what I intend to write about... This book deals with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It deals more precisely with Lee Harvey Oswald. This caused me to do some research and something struck me hard tonight in my studies. It has to do with Marina Oswald Porter. In my studies, she is rapidly becoming one of my heroes. But only in America could that be the case. This woman was the wife of Kennedy's killer, and she was a Russian woman who spoke little English in a country that was barely past the red scare of the 50's. And yet, she was protected (yes, I realize that this was mostly for her testimony) and her voice was heard and she was not persecuted, she was released to live her life. And live her life she did. She found a good man and remarried and raised her two daughters and a son to be good, productive people. I do not believe that the wife of the assassin of a beloved leader would have had such opportunities in any other nation. She did not get a wholly free ride, she was watched for many years, but she was essentially allowed to live her life and became a naturalized American citizen. The question must be asked, is that America still available today? What do you think? I would like to get some feedback and then I will write a follow-up post.