Posted on 11/21/2002 10:52:30 PM PST by mlo
"The Warren Commission did not "cover up" for "the KGB," or for any other communist institution."
Who did they 'cover up' for, in your opinion?
Well, I have to admit that I have read a few books on the assasination, but none on the investigation. So I don't have much of an opinion on the investigation, other than that I generally agree with its conclusions. Senator Specter is too moderate for my taste, but I judge him a decent man.
The important thing about the assasination, as far as I am concerned, is who did it and, above all, what was the motive.
If you want to read an honest sceptics' view of the assasination, check out the book written by Bonar Menninger with Howard Donahue, "Mortal Error." They give the name of the fellow they think fired the fatal shot (not Oswald) and a motive (human error). This theory a person can agree or disagree with. (I disagree.) However, attacking the investigators without sticking your neck out to say precisely who the real killer(s) were is, to me, rubbish. You can poke holes in any theory if you don't have a responsibility to prove there is a more likely alternative. This is what defense attorneys do all the time, and sometimes it works because in something so complex as this, all the pieces will not fit perfectly together for ANY theory.
Spector fingered Oswald simply because he thought the evidence was strongest against Oswald and rather weak against all others. So do I. Rush to judgement? Maybe in 1963. But now all the facts are in after many exhaustive investigations, governmental and private. Argue the facts concerning who did it and why, not the government investigation.
As for there being a coup, Kennedy and Johnson had such similar, strongly anti-communist, policies that this is ridiculous. The liberals who doubt Kennedy would have defended South Vietnam do not know much about Jack Kennedy.
As for the eyewitness testimony, are you aware that the vast majority of the eyewitnesses, at the time, stated that the shots came form the direction of the Texas Scholl Book Depository? Just who are these people who "say shots coming from the grassy knoll"? Can you name them. Can you name one? "Dozens were run out of the parking lot area behind the fence by people identifying themselves as Secret Service Agents." Dozens? Again, can you name these "dozens" who saw "people" identifying themselves as Secret Service? And you say 225 people out of 245 were dead in three years? Aren't you padding the infamous Assassination Death List just a tad? Finally, the "stretcher bullet" was not in " absolute perfect condition", and you should know that, so you are either a liar or quite ignorant.
Again, Oswald scored in the mid range, achieving an "expert" rating. If this is barely qualifying then you should take it up the Corps you claim to love, since their training is so poor. Again, even if as you say it would have been extremely difficult it would not have been impossible so we cannot use that as 'evidence" of conspiracy.
" He said he was buying a coke. But was he waiting for a phone call? Could be.. Could be he was also buying a coke like he said." Oswald always drank Dr Pepper. As a DP fanatic myself, I can assure you he would never have been there for a Coke!
"Prior to 11/22/1963 Oswald had been seen several times in the company of Jack Ruby." Dates and places, please? "This is right in the heart of the United States Governments Intelligence community in 1962. Kind of an odd place for a Pro Communist sympathizer to be operating don't you think?" Not really, for a rabid communist lake Oswald who dreamed of showing the Soviets what a good and aggressive Comrade he was.
You misrepresent the medical evidence and testimony. ALL the doctors who actually worked on Kennedy later viewed the autopsy photos and x-rays and pronounced that compatible with what they saw in Dallas.
I don't have the time right now because it is getting late but again the facts of Oswald's prints on the rifle have been distorted in your post. Maybe tomorrow I'll look them up.
I'm afraid you don't understand my view on the matter at all. I ONCE BELIEVED IN THE CONSPIRACY THEORIES. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT? MY CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS HOWEVER WERE NOT BEEN TOTALLY ABANDONED AND I GREW TO SEE IT WAS ALL BS!!!!! Look, believe what you want but there is really nothing there. Nobody popped up from under the manhole cover, no one sprayed poison from the umbrella, there was no one on the overpass, no "triangulation of fire". Just Oswald, on the sixth floor, with the rifle.
I have been a shooter and hunter my entire life. I have been to the plaza and the 6th floor. That series of shots was quite pedestrian - despite people saying otherwise. Maybe on another day, Oswald might have missed. On this one, he didn't.
As for the head moving backwards.....Shoot a plastic gallon of water with a similar caliber say a 7.62x39. More often than not, the exploding jug will fall towards the shooter. This doesn't even consider the physiological effect.
P.S. I think Elvis is dead, too! (not intended as sarcastic!) ;)
Simple request. Find somewhere to view the Zapruder film. Find one of the enhanced-type versions where they zoom in on the head area, and you can view it at normal speed and at slower speeds. Hopfully, you can find the clearest copy available. Some copies are second- or more generation.
*Then*, ask yourself, where did the last shot come from, and does it look to you that his head is thrown back due to "muscle tightening".
However, please do likewise. My point about the gallon of water is that the physics of a high speed projectile rupturing a liquid filled vessel is very complex - certainly beyond my meager ability to explain. My own observation in watching a shooter (usually my boys) blast such a container is that shock waves actually propel the vessel towards the shooter. Thanks for your suggestion....I will follow-up.
[you replied:] Not really. Feel free to cite it if you think so...
David Lifton interviewed tons of people involved with the autopsy. He recorded the interviews and fully documents everything. His book "Best Evidence" goes into all the details. Here's an example (from his testimony to Cnogress):
Turning now to the report of the two agents who attended the autopsy, James Sibert and Francis O'Neill. I interviewed Sibert in early November 1966 questioning him about the statement in his FBI report in which he quotes the head pathologist at Bethesda autopsy, Commander Humes, is saying it was "apparent" that when the President's body had been put on the table there had been "surgery of the head area namely in the top of the skull." Sibert said the statement was true.
- - end of excerpt.
Even if there's some perfectly normal explanation for "surgery at the top of the skull" before the autopsy, Lifton's book is filled with details of the weirdness, suspicious activities, conflicting statements, and so on concerning the autopsy and the events before and after.
( http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/arrb/index38.htm is a link to his Congressional testimony concerning Assassination records.
I certainly will, also. I'm going to my local video store to see if they've got a copy of the Zapruder film on DVD or video that I can rent. (Though, I have no idea if they'll have an "enhanced" or "zoomed-in" copy or not.)
I'll look at it again with an open mind.
I have seen films of pumpkins or something getting shot and "falling backward." But the head movement on the Zapruder film just doesn't look the same to me. (Especially when you consider the shot from the back that pushed the head forward for only one frame.)
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