Even now, surveys show that fewer than 50 per cent of Americans believe there was just one gunman. | One of the effects of this is that an entire industry has grown up surrounding the death of JFK, who was shot twice as his motorcade passed through Dealey Plaza…
—The Assassination Industry (NZ Herald)

Hmm… I wonder whether the surveys are really a sign of historical ignorance, rather than a belief in conspiracy. The JFK assassination was 40 years ago, so it’s probably true that there are more Americans now who don’t remember where they were or what they were doing that day than there are who do. If the survey question is “Do you believe that one gunman killed JFK,” I bet that many will say “I don’t know” simply because they have no idea, not because they want to believe in a conspiracy. But then again, news stories like this one keep putting the consipracy theories in the public eye, and thus contribute to a willingness to believe in conspiracy. Having said that, this article does offer some good analysis into the reaons why Americans want the death of a popular leader, the leader of the free world, to have more meaning than it would if JFK really had been taken out by a lone nut.