Amusing rant Kid, but I think of the politics of that era more or less as does Mad_as_Heck:
I think it is important to remember that JFK was murdered by a hardcore leftist specifically because he was (relatively) a hawk on national defense.
It's quite true that JFK had as many enemies on the far left, - as he had on the far right. Maybe more.
But in any case the radicals of both left & right tend to be socialistic/fascists.
There is no doubt that Oswald was nutty as a loon but that is true of many of the lefties on the stage today. He was basically a prototype for later '60s radical types like Tom Hayden, John Kerry, SDS, the Weathermen, etc. The main difference was that he was a genuine poor person working alone and they were mostly a country club of spoiled rich white boys.
'Working alone' is arguable. - For sure he didn't have much money but he did get around. [Russia/Mexico] - I don't recall that his personal finances were ever even reconciled by the Commission. - How did he manage to finance his political activities on minimum wage dead end jobs?
Lee Harvey Oswald was the father of the modern "Progressive" left and the shot he fired from the Texas School Book Depository was the opening shot of the hard left takeover of the Democrat party that took hold by the end of the Vietnam War.
Well, LBJ's 'hard left' sure took over, but I doubt anyone saw Oswald as anything more than a patsy, certainly not as a 'father'.
Most of the alleged "controversy" about the assassination is an attempt to cover up the fact that JFK was killed by the left because he, whatever his VERY great faults, was not a traitor.
Yep, - JFK was a threat to the Democrats socialist wing, imo.
They have done a very good job of muddying the waters.
Hear, hear. [is that an echo Kid?]
Oswald took a bus to Mexico. How much do you think it cost in 1963 to charter a ride through Mexico in a greasy bus with diesel exhaust and dirt up to the windows? I wouldn't be surprised if the fare is under 100 bucks even today. There were several witnesses to that expedition. He ate cheap meals at the chartered stops. On that trip, he was even wearing the ratty sweater he had on when he was arrested in Dallas.
He passed out poorly mimeographed 'Fair Play for Cuba' handbills in New Orleans. Sounds cheap to me.
To Russia, he booked a shared cabin on a clunky freighter to Europe with part of his savings from the USMC and even walked part of the way into the USSR. He petitioned the US State Department for funds to get him home when he wanted to return with Marina. They billed him for a refund.
He also bought a cheap surplus rifle via mail order that he used to murder the President of the United States.