Did Someone Say "Grassy Knoll?"

By the day after the Bhutto assassination, the JFK analogy seemed to be proving out in a more definitive way.

The American media demonstrated an almost voyeuristic interest in the shooting, publishing x-rays of Bhutto’s brain and photos of the bloody interior of the car.  “Zapruder-like” video footage and still frames of the slow moving motorcade drew attention to questions about the crime, including whether more than one assailant was involved, including a possible second gunman.

Not being “our” loss, the fascination seems perverse, unless one considers the event as partially activating (or, reactivating) one of the most visceral and visual events in modern American political history.  With the dynastic nature of the Bhutto family, and Benazir’s charisma and attractiveness also evoking Kennedy parallels, perhaps — for a more self-centered, “CSI-centric” American audience — the easiest way to relate to this story is in terms of dejavu.

Bhutto’s Last Moments (Video/Hot Air via Wonkette)

Three Causes of Death in 36 Hours (CNN)

Bhutto’s Skull X-Ray, Bloody Vehicle (HuffPo)

(image: REUTERS/REUTERS TV.  December 28, 2007.  via YahooNews.  caption: This combination photograph of TV grabs from footage released by the Pakistan Interior Ministry on December 28, 2007 shows (clockwise from top left) a sequence of shots fired near former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s vehicle after an election rally in Rawalpindi.)