The History Channel, a cable station which often has had excellent programming, and has successfully promoted many citizens’ interest in history, is now on the road to the promotion of myth and sensationalism, rather than historical truth.
Already controversial for a series a few years ago that promoted the view that Lyndon Johnson was involved in the conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy, now plans are in the works for a miniseries on the Kennedy Presidency, with actors reenacting the events of the Kennedy Administration, but with great distortions and mistruths as the basis of the miniseries, an agenda being promoted by political opponents of the Kennedy family.
With up to 20 scenes that portray the President as seemingly always engaging in sexual affairs, and apparently focused on that rather than the duties of his office, the series looks as if it will be a hatchet job on a President, who despite his shortcomings and admitted love affairs in office, actually had major accomplishments, and should not be remembered by future generations of students and citizens primarily for his escapades, but for his courage in the areas of the civil rights movement, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
It is a disgrace when history is so popularized that it becomes a mythology that will much longer remain in the minds of Americans, than the actual important truths and contributions that are made by historical figures.
The History Channel should immediately change the nature of the upcoming miniseries in 2011, or cancel it promptly! 🙁
I quit watching the history channel when it began broadcasting stories about the supernatural, bogus science, and conspiracy theories.