| JFK ASSASINATION JFK ASSASSINATION 40 YEARS LATER GOING BACK IN TIME TO SAVE THE WORLD If JFK was assassinated by a conspiracy and yet the cover up prevailed as did social order, then the government’s activity right after his death saved us from a third world war. If we could go back, we would want to tell LBJ that social order transcends validity. On the other hand, the events that transpired after that late November day began the end of America’s trust in its government. PERFECT STORM We will explore two traditions. One is the “perfect storm scenario.” This suggests that a single disorganized individual terminated the president. That everything fell into place so that he could make history. The other is the “typical hit” scenario. It implies that more than one person was involved and the last person in the chain of order is a loose canon who kills and then is killed. Oswald is the fall guy. An excellent site to suggest that on balance, President Kennedy’s death was committed by one person is the JFK/ASSASSINATION WEB SITE. Gerald Posner’s book CASE CLOSED, the 40th anniversary accounts by ABC and PBS are others. The most watched and exciting was “Kennedy Assassinated; Beyond Conspiracy” Peter Jennings (ABC News) There findings suggest that the FBI, CIA, Cubans or others were not involved. Governor Connolly was not injured by a magic bullet, rather sat in a jump seat 3 “ lower than JFK and the governor was turned toward the president. Lead was found in his body. There was a conspiracy to keep social order and sloppy work, but Oswald was alone. PBS had similar remarks. New York Times/Discovery report that in Gerald Posner’s CASE CLOSED is that both Oswald and Ruby were unstable individuals. Oswald wanted to make history and Ruby was a mob reject. Ruby was in the police station, because he was always there. Kennedy was shot from the back and his head could have moved in either direction from the impact of the bullet. Discovery station’s “JFK: Death in Dealy Plaza” draws from all the photographs taken that November day in the plaza. There were 30 photographs from 500 people. For the show, 23 photographs were used. Most utilized inferior cameras, wrong settings, and film. However, all film appears to indicate that most after the shooting headed for the grassy knoll. Zapruder described his film at 2:35 on CBS television the same day as the shooting. His film ends right before the grassy knoll is shown. Their conclusion is the Oswald likely acted alone. If there was a conspiracy, it was brilliantly done and the predators were extremely fortunate. Iowa City pathologist, Dr. Karl Rose believed the Warren Report, but said the autopsy was botched. Although it was started at Parkland Hospital, it was completed in the Bethesda Naval Hospital. There 2 medical administrators did their best to assess the pathology but were watched and monitored by the secret service. Rose was at Parkland hospital the day of the assassination. The JFK /ASSASSINATION WEB SITE appear to do an excellent job tracking down eyewitnesses. They describe a number who either made up stories or replaced their original stories with over versions to become a footnote in history. Other relevant questions are answered on this page. TYPICAL HIT Much of this discussion comes from numerous conspiracy books and the History Channel’s, THE MEN WHO KILLED KENNEDY. Essentially, these are some of the highlights. + Numerous windows were left opened at the Dallas Book Depository. This leaves an opportunity for an assassin to kill a target. The Secret Service should have had all the windows closed before Kennedy rode past the building. This is not to suggest the Secret Service wanted to get rid of the president, but rather their efforts were modest in regards to this security issue. + The first reporter from the leading Dallas paper perceived that the shots came from the Dal-Tex building near the Depository building. She reported that shots came from behind and to the right of the Depository building. The first issue of the paper reported such. After the official report had the bullets coming from the book building, the newspaper changed its story. + An amateur photographer took pictures of the Kennedy killing right across from the grassy knoll. Her film was confiscated and not returned to her by the Secret Service. + One young serviceman standing by the fence, felt bullets go by him from behind and toward the president. He quickly left the scene and in 3 days was in Alaska on duty. He did not make his report until much later. +A deaf mute watched a “hit man” fire from the bridge located in front of the Kennedy car heading in the direction of the structure. The offender was near an electric terminal, disengaged his rifle, placed it in his jacket or coat and walked away from the scene. +Most report that the majority, but not all, headed for the grassy knoll after the shooting. +A surgical assistant from Bethesda that was in the autopsy, said the work was done by modestly experienced administrators and monitored by the Secret Service. + On Larry King Live, “They tried to save JFK” all the remaining pathologists from Parkland said the body was taken over by the government and they did not voluntarily want to give the body to the Secret Service. One said that Governor Connolly had been stripped and moved earlier and no one saw the “pristine’ bullet.” + Joseph Califano, who served with LBJ, maintains that both the president and himself believed that Castro had Kennedy killed. His memoirs are in A PUBLIC AND A PRIVATE LIFE (Public Affairs, 2004.) TIME, 4/12/2004. Thus, Castro’s role appears to be some where in the chaos of the assassination itself and the cover up was believed to be necessary. CONCLUSION Everyone has a right to make their own judgment about what happened that day. However, some interpretations are more equal than others. That applies to this author. Although interested in the topic and have read a great deal about it, I am a lesser interpreter of the past. The reader’s value of my conclusions must take this into account. They are: Oswald shot and killed President Kennedy. Oswald may have acted alone, but there were probably others. If they acted with Oswald, independent of Oswald or co-terminously, is hard to say. Many may have been in the plaza or along the parade route trying to do the same thing that Oswald was doing, but did not succeed. There may have been other attempts, but they were thwarted and remain outside the public’s knowledge. Nearly every president has one or more who want to terminate him or her. Kennedy was killed. Reagan was shot. Truman received a near miss as did President Ford. Thus, Oswald was probably not alone in his pursuit of JFK. There was a cover up. The cover up was done to preserve social order because LBJ believed that Castro had Kennedy killed. A commission was picked to give legitimacy to the report. Witnesses were hand picked. The report was rushed to calm the public. Most who differ in their opinion of what happened agree that the cleansing of the facts was done because it was devious or because it was necessary, but it was done. This author suggests that the perfect storm scenario is less likely than the typical hit. However, all the specific details will probably never be resolved. One can not underestimate the importance of blaming Oswald exclusively and not fingering Castro The Bay of Pigs war, the Cuban missile crisis and a number of other events sandwiched into a cold war atmosphere could have triggered a major war. Millions could have been killed over the assassination. In his first interview right after JFK’s death, Robert Kennedy thought that his Operation Mongoose, a hit squad established by him to kill Castro turned on the Kennedys and may have killed JFK. There are numerous other scenarios. The judgment of this author is that Oswald did the killing, probably not alone (directly or indirectly), and was covered up. The remaining details will be left to the ages. |