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.

[Pepper's_Paw]

One thing I have never seen addressed - according to the Commission Report, which I read, the rifle that Oswald was supposed to use had a scope mounted on it. When that rifle was to be test fired the scope had about a quarter inch "slop" or wiggle in it mounting on the rifle. The FBI had to redrill and remount the scope in order to do the test firing.

[aristeides]

LBJ, J. Edgar Hoover, and Richard Nixon all attended a dinner party in Hoover's honor held at the Dallas home of oilman Clint Murchison the evening of Nov. 21, 1963. LBJ's mistress, who was also at the party, said that LBJ told her at the party that, after the next day, the Kennedys would never embarrass him again. I just learned she recently died, but the report is in her relatively recent book (as well as being cited by Barr McClellan in his book).

[Agkistrodon]

Yes everyone there was a conspiracy it is time to lay that conspiracy to rest:
In the early '60s only one person had the power and popularity to get government agencies to lie for him AND the motive to see JFK dead. Yes, it is obvious to all:
Joe Dimaggio had Kennedy killed.

[VeritatisSplendor]

This thread shows that some people have difficulty reasoning logically when certain emotionally charged subjects come up. There are really only three things to be said:

1) The evidence is OVERWHELMING that Oswald shot Kennedy.

2) It is IMPOSSIBLE to prove that Oswald acted alone, even if he did.

3) Given 1) and 2), the burden of proof is on the conspiracy theorists to show who the other people in the conspiracy were. At this, they have failed, and reasonable people need not listen to them until they come up with some positive evidence involving PEOPLE WITH NAMES. Otherwise, NOTHING FOLLOWS from their efforts.

[birdsman]

Numerous people involved with the Clinton Admin died under questionable circumstances. In the early 60s, a young Bill Clinton had his picture taken shaking hands with JFK. Shortly afterwards, Kennedy was shot. Conincidence?

[aristeides]

I don't know about that early, but Clinton's involvement with assassination may have been ongoing just a few years after that. Didn't Clinton drive Rep. Boggs to the plane in which he was about to die in a suspicious accident? (Boggs, who was a member of the Warren Commission and a member of the Democratic leadership in the House of Representatives, had been acting erratically and expressing misgivings about the commission report in the months before his death.)

[RJL]

Time to lay Kennedy conspiracy theories to rest

I agree, release all information immediately, so we can all have a look. As long as there are unknown secrets people will never completely believe the story put forward.

[DustyMoment]

Here's the question to ask yourselves - IF the Warren Commission report is factually correct and the truth was ascertained, why were all of the records related the JFK assassination SEALED for a period of 75 years?

SEALED; inaccessible; unavailable to public view.

Who would benefit from doing that?

[ronnieb]

Well, the real question is was he acting alone. Which includes the possibility that he alone did the killing, BUT there were others involved, either with LHO's knowledge or not. When Posner focuses solely on wether LHO was the lone gunmean, he ignores and in a way, distorts the real question. A majority of Americans found it really incredible that Jack Ruby was allowed to walk right up to the most wanted man in the country, and blow him away. Seems to me that the major media, is on a big push to take the steam out of the question of just who killed JFK. Seems to me that a lot of people with good questions are labeled as nuts, it is just a variation of heretic. A way to make people quit asking questions. In any case, wether LHO was the lone shooter or not is a not the basic question. The question is and always has been "was he part of a larger conspiracy?"

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

Nope, I understand your point, but I can't agree tha this purely a matter of deductive reasoning.

There are many mysteries in history, the details of which we are unlikely ever to know. Should we just stop wondering about them?

In this particular case, a confirmation that JFK was the victim of a conspiracy would have immense consequences. So, even though the chances of learning the truth are vanishingly small, I think it is worthwhile to at least keep a small sliver of doubt about the "official" version of events alive.

I believe in Occam's Razor for narrowing down the possible explanations of most natural events - but this was not a "natural event": it was the product of human will and human action. As such, it is permissible to "multiply possibilities" a little.

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

</b> oops- close tags. Sorry.

[Shooter 2.5]

Small entrance hole, Large exit hole. There is no action to the right of his ear in frame 313.

What you looked at was neurological shock.

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

The problem with the printed page is that I can't tell if you were being sarcastic with that post about Clinton and Boggs! If you were, it was very, very funny!

[Beachcomber]

"...endless skepticism and analysis are a waste of time...."

Whenever anybody tries to stampede your thinking with a line like that, I know the author is not out for a rational discourse, but is using emotion to brutalize the discussion.

Studying the different theories about the JFK assassination is fun! It's a great mental exercise and good for you.

Beware of sharks with closed minds.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Good point about "misdirection."

It started immediately -- from the leftist pukes. One of the main reason I hate the left is because they used the assassination to trash the emerging modern conservative movement blaming its criticism of JFK for "causing" Oswald to do it. I don't have a TV but it would not surprise me to learn that the Disney / ABC "news" digital cartoon opened with Mickey.. er, Lee Harvey reading the Dallas newspaper ads criticizing JFK and deciding to take his rifle to work that day.

Now on to a general comment. If worries about conspiracies are silly illogical, inane wastes of time why are conspiracies against the law?

Now that the Disney / ABC "news" digital cartoon proved that Oswald did it alone why keep evidence locked up? Mrs. Kennedy is no longer here to be hurt by reliving the horror. Embarass or hurt the Kennedys? Are you kidding?! With Ted Kennedy still running wild.

Release ALL the information and let's move on. It don't git no simpler.

[Reactionary]

"My eyes say it came from the front."

My eyes do as well.

[GaryL]

What you are for has already been done. It's called "Case Closed." Have you read the book?

[GaryL]

I suggest you read the book "Case Closed."
Best regards

[Hildy]

This is one of those times that I wish that my Dad were still around. My Dad was an EXPERT on all things Kennedy assassination. He covered the Ruby trial in Dallas for the Saturday Evening Post. I grew up with the entire Warren Commission report on our kitchen table. When he died, he was writing a book about Jack Ruby. A few months before he died, he went to Dallas to talk to somebody about something Kennedy. That being said, what did he think? CASE CLOSED. Oswald acted alone. Period. He would tell me all the things that would have had to happen, all the people who would have had to keep their mouths shut for a conspiracy to happen. He always knew how to quiet the conspiracy claims. God, I miss him.

[GaryL]

Thank you, and...AMEN!