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.

[texasbluebell]

The HSCA itself refuted the WC, saying that there was probably a conspiracy -- they concluded that LHO was the one who fired 3 shots, but that he probably was not alone in this operation.

This they based not solely on the audio evidence which was later called into question, but other evidence too.

The HSCA did exclude most of the usual suspects from the list of those who were involved. They were "unable to identify the other gunman or the extent of the conspiracy."

link

[Sapper26]

Well, since you asked for it (and the Bay of Pigs, too)

http://www.the7thfire.com/bush8b.htm

[FreedomCalls]

Thank you! Finally somebody has an open mind. You have reviewed actual evidence and came to your own conclusion -- not something fed to you in an Oliver Stone movie.

[tpaine]

We've had 39 years of mind-numbing crapola from the primary documents themselves..

Spare us more _jimbo. Have a heart.
246 tpaine

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_Jim wrote: See - the old dog is attacking material he's NEVER even read ... a *good* example of just what conspiracy-spreaders do - ignore fact and spread fiction.

---

Bizarre accustion, _bozo. I bought and read the Report as soon as it was published, and fired off a letter to a SF Chronicle columnist, debunking the single bullet theory.
My letter was published in late '64, if memory serves..

[ronnieb]

With all due respect, the controversy over JFK's death erupted wdell before Oliver Stones movie, lets not rewrite history here!

[ColdSteelTalon]

I have seen the Zapruder footage. It clearly shows the head shot movement to the back and left indicating a bullet penetration from a front rigth direction (the grassy Knoll). Since we know Lee Harvey Oswald was in the depository we can conclude two shooters and thus a conspiracy by definition.

[texasbluebell]

I didn't think so...

[FreedomCalls]

Why was Jack Ruby allowed to get within 2 feet of LHO?

Because there was little to no security at the Dallas city jail that day. Most of the journalists who where there were on TV all weekend talking about it. Almost to a man they mentioned the lax security. One rehearsed running down the stair a couple of times to see if he would be stopped. He wasn't. Bob Schieffer told about how he simply put on a snap-brim fedora so he would "look like" a detective and walked in with Oswald's mother into an interrogation room. He kept slipping out to file his stories and coming back in! Ruby was there touting his Carousel Club to the reporters telling them to come on down afterwards -- he had booze, women, and entertainment. Ruby had no problem getting in as he let the policemen in the club free and he often hung out there with them so he could "keep up with" what was going on in Dallas.

[maestro]

Your# 170........Yep!

...........Another 10 years, most of those with direct info will be dead and we'll still be watching Zapruder.

?....most...will be...?

LOL

In less than 10 years there will be 3-D Zapruder 'graphic' film viewing from any angle the viewer desires!

Technology, Time, Tradition, Thinkers and Turkeys,.....means big bucks $$$.

Hopefully,....'FR' will even be able to handle it!

[ronnieb]

The widespread belief that JFK was murdered in a manner not consistent with the Warren Commisions beliefs(and apperently yours) is the direct result of the unbelievability of the official report. To suggest that those who refuse to accept the official version are weak minded followers,(when in fact the major media has generally supported the offical version) or are mentally deranged is simply ridiculous. Whatever your reasons, they are transparent and unconvincing.

[FreedomCalls]

I have seen the Zapruder footage. It clearly shows the head shot movement to the back and left indicating a bullet penetration from a front rigth direction (the grassy Knoll).

Your memory is flawed. Watch it again.

It shows Kennedy being shoved forward about 2 inches upon the impact of the bullet from the rear. Put you cursor on the door handle highlight, Jackie's hat, or the rear seat. Now put it on Kennedy's head. He goes forward.

[Terridan]

You got that right!!! ;)

[Sapper26]

Perhaps you're missing this.

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/bag.htm

[VeritatisSplendor]

So a single expert claims an unidentified print at the TSBD belongs to one "Mac Wallace", but official experts say no. Fair enough, this is the kind of thing which can be resolved, the two prints ought to be available for all to see. I'm not a fingerprint expert, so I would hope that Mr. Darby has found some other professional fingerprint analysts to agree with him. I searched the Web and could not find clear pictures of the two prints which were supposed to be matched, just a superposition of the two which is much less interpretable.

But you have still not explained why the involvement of Mac Wallace implicates LBJ. What is the documentation of the connection between LBJ and Wallace? Is it also the say-so of a single individual, or are there multiple sources who say Wallace worked for LBJ?

[ronnieb]

Exactly, there was no security that day. The reporters even mention it, and I noticed it too..as a 12 year old watching on TV, now you are free to believe that "Security" hadn't been discovered yet or that the Dallas Police Department was just having a bad day, and at the same time the FBI and or CIA, felt they should just stay out of it, as it was a local issue. Or you can find it somewhat suspicous. Whatever your reasons for being so accepting of this major screw-up. I don't accept it. How do you feel about Ruby dying of cancer 3 yers later, after being granted a new trial...another amazing co-incidence?

[texasbluebell]

Billy Sol Estes, one of LBJ's close associates, said so. Estes knew a lot of the bad stuff about LBJ, since he was himself involved in it.

From the link I posted at #236:

"Malcolm Wallace, convicted in a 1951 murder and suspected in others, has been linked to the 1961 death of U.S. Department of Agriculture investigator Henry Marshall. Marshall was reportedly close to connecting Lyndon Johnson to fraudulent activities involving businessman and convicted swindler Billy Sol Estes.

"Estes alleged in 1984 that LBJ ordered the killings of Marshall, President Kennedy, and half a dozen others, and that Wallace carried them out. A grand jury decided that same year that Henry Marshall was murdered as a result of a conspiracy involving then-Vice President Johnson, his aide Clifton Carter, and Wallace. No charges were possible since all three men were by then deceased."

[texasbluebell]

My mouth just drops whenever I read this stuff about Johnson. How did I miss hearing Dan or Peter or Tom talking about this back in the 80s...

Did they? Did I just miss it? Maybe. But I doubt it.

[GaryL]

Ok...now take the next step. Start shedding off the conspiracy theories, one by one.

[ronnieb]

With all due respect, Freedom, I don't know who weekly World news is, but the other cases, though I do not agree with, I do not think they are crazy nor would I suggest(as the editorial does) that they belong in the same camp as holocaust deniers. So, I fail to see the connection between them, and your being in Posners camp, and my not being there.

[#3Fan]

Regardless, he said he was sure he carried it between his armpit and his palm.