Posted on 11/23/2003 6:40:47 AM PST by 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.
His movements. His Russian. His contacts. The fact that he worked in the Depository. Since there was obviously more than one shooter (as the Assassinations Committee found, even) and Mac Wallace was involved, then he had to be an operative.
Gary, I assure you that those of us on the other side want only the truth as well. Speaking for myself, I promise you that.
Interestingly no Posner buffs have replied. That's because they probably haven't looked at the detail very closely.
To be sure, there are Posner folks on the web who support his work and have attempted to debunk critics. Some Posner critics, like other conspiracy kooks, go off on outlandish theories and say Posner had this or that motive to toe the lone gunman line. I doubt that's true. He simply found support for his theory in WC testimony while unilaterally ignoring testimony that didn't support his theory. A lot of people do that; they are called lawyers -- which is what Posner is. While he shouldn't be executed for doing that, his book shouldn't be taken terribly seriously. Its simply another lone gunman theory book with some terrible flaws -- the major ones pointed out by Weisberg unrefuted. Posner's kooky critics have been dealt with, and he would like you to believe that Weisberg has as well, but he hasn't. Additionally, Posner has been accused of fabricating an interview and refuses to turn over tapes of that interview he says he has. Search google for details.
Oswald DID NOT act alone. I don't know who did it, but the head shot clearly came from the front. Otherwise, the first shot to JFK's upper back would have caused some reaction like the head shot did. The only reaction it caused was some sort of probable involuntary movement of his arms and elbows in an upward manner. The first hit barely forced him forward in his seat -- he was leaning a bit forward and a bit to his left, but the fatal shot sent him violently over to his left. And for some reason, the gun that fired a bullet capable of going all the way through JFK's back and then through Connally's chest, leg, and arm, was suddenly UNABLE to fire a bullet that, once it shaved off the right side of a skull, stayed for the most part in the skull and did not go any further to hit Ms. Connaly or the driver -- or even into the seats in front of JFK. Nobody has even remotely come close to explaining that.
I don't think they can.
I know! What is so wrong with not agreeing with the WC proponents? Why are they so bent out of shape about this?
I'm LOL now too! It's all too much!
Well, maybe next year we'll know a little more, eh?
Let's all meet again around this time, God willing.
I'd imagine there's more on the D.H. Byrd angle (the owner of the Depository)
Let's all meet again around this time, God willing.
Yeah, the week is about up. lol
Yep, 5 (FIVE) bullet wounds sure sounds like "Arkancide" to me...
It's never obvious, but it always sticks out like a sore thumb, if you know what I mean.
Interestingly, those who would benefit from watching it seem to refuse to watch it.
The rest of your post is amazing and fascinating.
5 suicide shots from a bolt-action! That means after every shot, he would've had to turn the gun around and cycle it. Amazing since a coroner later said three of the shots were fatal. Looks like Johnson invented Arkancide.
Yep. :^)
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