For the day that’s in it, it’s worth noting that conspiracy theories are just that-theories.
Indeed, the very absence of evidence seems to convince the true believers that something Machiavellian is happening behind the scenes.
That Friday night 60 years ago today was the first time the five-year-old me saw a grown man cry.
For the global Irish family, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was one of our own.
His murder touched all of us, and we felt it deeply.
Perhaps it was just too much to take in, and the happenstance of it all was unbearably unsettling.
That someone as globally central as the 35th President of the United States could be removed by someone as inconsequential as Lee Harvey Oswald.
Many people just couldn’t accept that.
There is obviously a deep-seated human need to believe that there is order and that someone, somewhere, has a plan.
The idea that there might be no plan and that it’s all chaos, chance, and timing is such an appalling vista that it is better to believe in some dark Machiavellian chess game ordering seemingly random events.
The featured image is a worthy selection from my JFK shelf in the study.
For me, the middle one nails it.
Gerald Posner is unrelenting in his dissection of the conspiracy narrative and convicting Oswald as the sole author of the shooting.
The other two books on show were the basis for much of Oliver Stone’s 1991 cinematic triumph.
Back and to the left.
Back and to the left.
Sadly, for conspiracy theorists, even the Zapruder film doesn’t show anything inconsistent with a kill shot from above and behind.
If New Orleans DA Jim Garrison was correct, then there was a vast network within the US Intelligence agency working with Cuban exiles and organised crime.
According to that narrative, the shooting itself was an urban sniper operation involving three rifles, spotters and a coordination team, all in plain sight and with the possible connivance of members of the Secret Service.
Occam’s Razor suggests that the much more straightforward explanation is of a textbook troubled loner with military training and a highly accurate rifle taking a shot that an infantry recruit could manage.
The very idea that SIXTY YEARS on such a labyrinthine conspiracy has yielded no deathbed confession or no clinching piece of forensic evidence should be enough for those with the facility of reason.
That it isn’t is a testament to the enduring power of myth among humans.
We need stories that explain the world and make us feel better about our fragile grasp on life.
Here is an excellent collection of conspiracy theories by David Aaronovitch.
Spoiler alert:
They all fall to pieces under even the most rudimentary scrutiny.
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I base my ‘opinion’ on basic firearms. If you are shot from behind, a la by Oswald, the bullet would exit toward the frontal area. If however, you are shot from the front/side a la the grassy knoll or even more so the shooter below ground level in a drain, then your brain matter is likely to explode out the back of your head and give your unfortunate wife something to scramble vainly after. I know which I recall seeing time and again. On an aside, if Aaronovitch told me today was Thursday I would quickly check my calendar to check.
Never seen the words ‘excellent’ and ‘David Aaronovitch’ seems incongruous
LHO was a US intelligence asset.
As a Marine he had been stationed at an US airbase in Japan which was home to the top secret U2 spy planes that flew over USSR.
He defected to USSR and renounced his US citizenship. He was then allowed to return to US with his Soviet wife and was not charged with any crime on his return. This essay details his links to US intelligence including the people who supported him on his return. Most of these people were also linked to the CIA.
https://edwardcurtin.com/the-life-and-public-assassination-of-president-john-f-kennedy-by-the-cia/
Gerald Posner ignores a lot of inconvenient counter arguments in his book. For example, witnesses who claim to have seen a 2nd gunman are airbrushed out with comments such as “no one can even prove they were there” – which doesn’t prove they weren’t. If Posner is to be believed, Oswald wasn’t the only lone nut crackpot in Dealey Plaza that afternoon, and in fact, some sort of convention of them must have been in town that day. It seems unlikely.
More importantly, even the evidence he does accept as valid seems to point to conspiracy. A lot of testimony suggests the 2nd and 3rd shots were almost simultaneously fired, an impossible feat for anyone firing a manual, bolt actioned rifle.
The number of ground level witnesses claiming to smell gunpowder seems out of kilter with shots fired from a 6th floor window.
Finally, if there’s genuinely nothing to hide in this 60 year old case, why are so many files remaining classified?
Crikey Phil, you opened the door and let them all in!
It looks like some topics let the inner detective out in people haha.
Phil, with all due respect. Lee Harvey Oswald was given the grading of “Marksman” in the US army. It sounds impressive, but was, back then anyway, the lowest grading a recruit could receive. It basically meant he could, on a good day, just about hit a barn from the inside. That is NOT someone who could hit a moving target, approximately 8-9 inches in diameter, no matter how slowly it was moving. There’s a film of the shooting that VERY CLEARLY shows JFK was hit TWICE. From two different angles.
Now, I am not a conspiracy theorist. I have absolutely no idea, no theories, frankly no real interest in who was involved or behind the assassination of JFK, but I believe the evidence of my own eyes. There were AT LEAST two shooters, and I doubt very much that Oswald was either of them.
Oh aye, an aside. I’ve never bought into the complete bullshit about how great Kennedy was. He was at the very best, a mediocre President. The myth among Catholics that he was a great president is just exactly that. A myth.
The Zapruder film shows there was absolutely more than one angle of shooting – one of the reasons it was confiscated by the CIA and only appeared in the mod 1970s.
I remember quite vividly the shooting, the shot hit JFK from the front as it moved his head back, his head would’ve went forward if shot from the back. LHO was a patsy, why did Jack Ruby who had affiliations to the Mafia shoot and kill Oswald. It wouldn’t surprise me if LBJ had his hand in it somewhere as he was seen smiling when they brought JFK into the room.
Phil, I enjoy your articles but if you honestly believe that LHO acted alone because of a contrarian book against the conspiracy of JFK’s murder you should stick to Celtic leaks and humorous reports on Sevco.
Having just watched the documentary about the doctors in parkland emergency room, I am convinced more than ever there was more than one shooter. I believe I also read many years ago that the rifle found in the book depository was any thing but highly accurate. I dont generally believe in conspiracy theories, in fact I tend to dismiss them on the basis that they involve too many people for no one to let it slip or confess. In the JFK assassination though, too many who could have been implicated met with untimely deaths so less risk of someone talking. So yes, this is a conspiracy I believe in. Remember, just because the word conspiracy comes up does not mean there wasnt one.
I Have stood in the book depository and looked out that window. I’ve also had weapons training and was what you could call a crack shot.
That shot was doable even for someone with basic firearms training and Oswald would have had plenty. He may even have hunted before.
Slow moving target that was moving in a straight line away from the shooter at less than 150 yards is manageable. 4 shots ( the first one missed) and you are going to hit something in that car.
I’m Surprised someone missed with the first to be quite honest with you. Do i think Oswald was the guy. He could very well have been. So could Mr and Mrs Average who spent a week down at the firing range.
You’ve looked out that window? From how far back? Did you stick your head out the window (or did the plexiglass that blocks off that area prevent you from getting anywhere near the sill?) Did you see the large trees from 1963 when you looked out the window (or were they long gone?) Oswald was ‘allegedly’ there early, so why didn’t he shoot as the President was coming closer and closer toward him? What would be the explanation for him to start shooting once the car had turned the corner and started moving further and further away from him? Why pass on the easier shots and try the more difficult shots? (And the official account says 3 shots, not 4.)
I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing, when I first heard the news about JFK. I was 10 at the time. Even at that age I knew he was a good man and a sad loss for humanity.
Totally agree with your angle on the assasination and conspiracy theories in general although I don’t need the endorsement of a smug ex communist turned vengeful centrist like Aaronovitch thanks.
I was eleven and remember the upset the passing of JFK caused in St Modans primary school well so much so we got the rest of the day of school as the news broke. I also remember (I’m now 71 give me a little rope) a cry of penalty therangers!!!!!
He was shot at around 18:30, were you in detention?
I’d seen it on the news a 7.20 pm
I was playing football in the street with four pals, when a few women came out of their doors and started calling across to each other. I was eight and didn’t fully take it in until the next day. The women ran out because it was a Friday, and most of the men were in their favourite watering holes.