Time to lay Kennedy conspiracy theories to rest

The Chicago Sun-TImes ^ | November 23, 2003 | Editorial

[GaryL]

CNN reporter Kelly Wallace stands in Dallas' Dealey Plaza and points to the Texas School Book Depository window where, she says, Lee Harvey Oswald is "thought'' to have shot President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963 -- 40 years ago Saturday. Then she and the anchor chat about the various conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination and conclude that the truth will probably never be known.

That's nonsense. And worse, it's popular nonsense. The truth is known. Oswald, acting alone, murdered JFK. We know this with as much certainty as we know anything in history. And just as we don't speak of the "alleged Civil War'' or the "supposed sinking of the Titanic,'' so to give credence to the lingering and numerous wild theories about the assassination of JFK is an unwise pandering to folklore and uncritical thinking.

Rather than continue to ask if there is any validity to these imaginings, we should wonder why they are so popular in the first place.

Several answers come to mind. People equate skepticism with independence. If the government says the sky is blue, a certain slice of the population would begin to doubt it. People also seek meaning in their lives. The idea of random tragedy, of a lone lunatic being able to destroy a man such as John F. Kennedy, is difficult to accept. They would rather cling to enticing accidents of history -- did you know that Richard M. Nixon was in Dallas the day before the assassination? -- than face a world where bad things happen for no reason at all.

Credulous media coverage by shallow reporters makes the situation worse. Balancing unequal arguments seems like fairness to them. Thus the Warren Report is weighed against Oliver Stone's fevered fantasies, just as science is pitted against UFO fanatics or, occasionally, the historical record of World War II is forced to justify itself to Holocaust deniers.

There is a human need to see order in chaos. We see it in every corner of human experience. It's what causes us to see animal figures in the stars. But the beauty of Western Civilization is that we have a commitment to empirical reality, and dry fact tells us that, despite the desires of our hearts, Elvis is not alive. The Jews don't run the world. And Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone.

The Italians have a word, "dietrologia,'' which translates as the tendency to find shadowy motives behind the obvious. That is what is going on here. Oswald was a skilled marksman. He shot Kennedy at what amounted, for him, at close range. The endless skepticism and analysis are a waste of time, and, worse, they distract attention that might otherwise be devoted to the actual trials and triumphs of Kennedy's short-lived, long-ago administration. Forty years is long enough for wild speculation to be indulged. It's time to stop humoring the conspiracy buffs.

[FreedomCalls]

Embarass or hurt the Kennedys?

Caroline is still alive.

[rickmichaels]

...and no one's head jerks in the same direction the bullet comes from after being hit.

Kennedy's head didn't move in the same direction as the bullet. Conspiracy buffs keep saying: "Backward and to the left." Oswald's third shot was fired toward Kennedy from his (Kennedy's) right to his left (i.e. approaching from over Kennedy's right shoulder). If Kennedy's head had moved in the direction of the sixth-floor window, it would have been backward and to the right.

For every action there is an equal and oppopsite reaction. Kennedy moved backward and to the left while his brain and blood exploded out of his head forward and to the right. As far as I'm concerned, this explains why he moved backward and to the left.

[FreedomCalls]

I have yet to find anyone criticise the single bullet fact (it's not a theory) and base their criticisms on actual evidence. When the critics do mention something it is always made up and has nothing to back it.

Facts:

• The trajectories of the entrance/exit wounds line up.
• The trajectory points to the 6th floor window area of the TSBD.
• The bullet matched the rifle found in the TSBD.
• Oswald owned the rifle -- his palm prints were on it.
• Recreations of the shooting through cadavers ended up with a bullet resembling CE 399.

[RISU]

I don't think Oswald ever shot anyone. Not the type. He was probably very surprised to find himself arrested, and he ws dead in a very short time befoer he could be debriefed.

Ruby silenced the "witness". Ruby wortked for the mob.

You do the math.

[FreedomCalls]

All known evidence has disapeared.

What a patently absurd statement! There is an entire warehouse full of Kennedy assassination material at the Natinal Archives in College Park.

That one statement means you can no longer be taken seriously.

[GaryL]

With all due respect, the "single bullet theory" was dealt with thoroughly in "Case Closed" and in many other places. There is nothing unusual or mysterious about it. It is consistent with all the existing evidence.

Dr. Wecht is the major critic of this theory. I'm sure that Dr. Wecht is a wonderful pathologist (as he seems to be always letting us know). And yes, the autopsy team did not do as thorough a job as they should have. I'm sure Dr. Wecht would have done a better job (again, as he always seems to be letting us know).

But I think Dr. Wecht has way too much of an "emotional tie" to this case - plus books and multiple media appearances - to ever trust his opinion as unbiased or objective.

[Burr5]

There's no doubt that Oswald shot JFK. Granted.

The question us "kooks" might be excused for asking is whether he acted alone (there are both eyewitness accounts and physical evidence which bring this assertion into serious question), and, if not, who might have inspired, assisted, paid, or compelled him to do it.

My belief (and I'm a lot less interested in this mess than I am in the Clinton-era scandals and "conspiracies") is that the Mob, or an element of the Florida Mob had him killed because RFK was going after them so aggressively.

It does make sense if you consider the tape of that Goomba Marcello bragging about how "they" had managed to pull the whole thing off to a friend.

It's also interesting that a Mob-connected club owner would murder Oswald shortly after his arrest isn't it? Jack Ruby, whatever else he might have been, was no true-blue JFK worshipper blinded by his overwhelming grief. *sob*

Come on.

[FreedomCalls]

FR will become a joke site

It's already getting close. But it still is the best of what is out there.

[ColdSteelTalon]

Sorry, It was a conspiracy. The head shot was from the right front. That's two shooters and that means conspiracy. Now the who, what and why, are mereley conjecture since all those who really new what happened died of cancer heart attacks or "accidents".

[bert]

Time to lay Kennedy conspiracy theories to rest

Kennedy is this day conspiring to disrupt the Senate with a fillibuster against the Medicare bill.

[FreedomCalls]

Very little of what he has to say is factually supportable; most of his argument is not defensible; his so called research is sloppy and incomplete; and his writing style is at best loose.

As opposed to what you, and what your conspiracy friends have posted here of course -- all solid facts, nothing made up, no speculation. < /sarcasm >

[rickmichaels]

Ruby silenced the "witness". Ruby wortked for the mob.

Then why didn't Ruby kill Oswald at the first opportunity, namely, when Oswald was paraded before the media at midnight? Ruby was there and did nothing.

[FreedomCalls]

I'll never believe this until things like the "magic bullet" and why Kennedy's head moved backwards when he was shot from behind are explained satisfactorily in relation to Oswald acting alone.

Every time it is explained satisfactorily to you, you ignore it.

Go read this web page and follow the links. Then come back here and explain what is preventing you from accepting the single bullet fact (fact -- not theory).

[jwalsh07]

Lee Harvey Oswald murdered President Kennedy.

Sirhan Sirhan murdered Bobby Kennedy.

Teddy Kennedy left Mary Jo Kopechne to drown in shallow water.

What am I missing?

[FreedomCalls]

I don't think Oswald ever shot anyone. Not the type. He was probably very surprised to find himself arrested, and he ws dead in a very short time befoer he could be debriefed.

Ruby silenced the "witness". Ruby wortked for the mob.

You do the math.

This is a typical post of the conspiracy buffs. Notice it contains not a single fact or piece of evidence. It is all speculation and "stuff made up."

[FreedomCalls]

It does make sense if you consider the tape of that Goomba Marcello bragging about how "they" had managed to pull the whole thing off to a friend.

And Al Gore claimed credit for inventing the Internet. It doesn't make what he said is true.

Again we have a case where every senior official in the government for the last 40 years, every conspiracy debunker, the person under Oswald in the 5th floor window, his co-workers, his family, his wife, the Dallas PD, the FBI, the Secret Service, an so forth are all a bunch of bald-faced liers -- but a Mafia hitman -- he is as clean as the driven snow and always tells the truth?

[FreedomCalls]

Sorry, It was a conspiracy. The head shot was from the right front. That's two shooters and that means conspiracy.

Again, the poster gives us no evidence to back this up. It's simply an opinion. No matter how many times it is repeated it will never turn to fact. What do you base this opinion on?

[FreedomCalls]

Sirhan Sirhan murdered Bobby Kennedy.

What am I missing?

That Sirhan Sirhan is a Palestinian. Did he have any ties to Yassar Arafat?

[Biblebelter]

I cannot accept that this case is closed. It would be in the media's interest if the public would accept that the case is closed. After all these boys and girls badly botched one of the most significant stories of the 20th Century. But so it is with the lamestream media. They continually undermine the government when they are telling the truth, and it seems they are always supporting the government when it seeks to cover-up the truth.

I don't get this Oliver Stone thing. He is a movie maker. Since when have movie makers been truth tellers? If I disagree with Posner, am I forced to defend this Communist? If I would have to choose a public person to offer a debate against Posner, it would be Mort Sahl. The problem is, since it seems the sheeple do not have the attention span to discern the truth, they surely cannot handle the thought provoking social and political commentary offered by Sahl. The are left to the likes of Rush, Hannity, Gallagher, and Savage who are little more than evolutions of Joe Pyne in refined and marketable packages. Rush would dismiss the likes of me as KOOK, an entertaining acronym that no one ever remembers, but derivation of the acronym is not the point. Ad hominem attacks by name calling is proven way of dismissing questions that do not have pat answers. There are others who populate this forum, that like to use the term tin foil hat.

I dismiss the magic bullet theory not so much by weighing its merits, but by evaluating the creditibility of it author. He knows about as much about forensics as he does about Scottish law.

[jwalsh07]

Dunno but I certainly did not miss that or the fact that Oswald and Teddy Kennedy are commie sympathisers.