By: Jeremiah Chiappelli, Editor
A lot of Points of Departure in alternate history take place with assassinations. What if JFK wasn't shot? What if Lincoln wasn't shot? Or, alternatively, maybe why they had to be shot in order to prevent a more tragic history such as in last issues "President's Man". It got me thinking. Why is it that only good people are assassinated?
It's not like people don't try to kill the villains of history, they just survive. Hitler survived a bomb attack, Castro evaded the United States exploding cigars, and Reagan survived a bullet in the chest. Yet John F. Kennedy and his brother both bought the farm. Peacemakers like Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon, and Ghandi were all killed.
And when the bad guys do get killed, it's always after they've done evil. Mussolini at the end of World War II, Stalin possibly poisoned after his purges, Saddam Hussein after he gassed the Kurds and fought the Iran-Iraq war with American supplied weapons. That makes sense in the fictional world. Drama would be a lot less dramatic if the villain were caught and defeated in Act I. But the real world is supposed to be different, so I hear.
And when good guys get assassinated, it's always before they could carry out their good deeds or complete their tasks. John F. Kennedy never got the chance to pull advisors out of Vietnam. Robert Kennedy never got a chance to be president. Okay, I guess not always before, Ghandi, Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr. both accomplished a lot before destiny removed them from the stage. Nonetheless, they could have done more, or at least had a chance to bask in their accomplishments.
My pop-psychology theory is that violent people tend to be stupid people and stupid people don't know a good thing when they see it. Nazi's, Klansman, gangbangers, and militiamen don't tend to have a lot of intellectuals in their members. Of course the reverse is also part of the problem, smart people tend to be more peaceful and therefore less likely to nip a violent dictator in the bud before he starts doing evil things.
So my challenge to you, the loyal readers (both of you) is to find me examples of bad guys in history who were assassinated before they could do evil. Or, if you feel up to it, write a short story on the subject.
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