Agristotle said:
Okay, finally watched the whole show. Guitar, let's put aside whether LHO was the lone assassin. In all of your readings on the subject, do any of the other aspects of the affair trouble you?
Absolutely. We know the CIA and FBI were up to no good in lots of things. CIA tried to assassinate (unsuccessfully) lots of foreign leaders. The FBI was illegally surveilling and blackmailing people like MLK. I think there were tons of abuses of government power all over the place.
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The myriad questions abut the autopsy and the magic bullet, the supposed assassination plans in two other cities, LHO's bizarre backstory, the Warren Commission's handling of their investigation and report. Any of that stuff strike you as wrong/conspiratorial?
*** Autopsy ***
There are certainly a lot of troubling aspects to it. I think we see something similar today with the federal vs state muscle flexing. But ultimately, it was Jackie that chose Bethesda, and the preeminent expert from Walter Reed's pathology department on GSWs attended, witnessed and testified about it.
There are some concerns about it, but the fact that Jackie Kennedy pushed for it to be at Bethesda against the advice she was given quells some of the issues with it. I don't think anyone believes Jackie was in on a conspiracy there. Ultimately, we had multiple experts there that had long and respected careers in the pathology field.
It certainly wouldn't be how we would expect it to go today, but we can't really use a 2021 lens for the actions nearly 60 years ago. I've had the unfortunate opportunity to be part of many autopsies as a medical photographer and from what I have read about the JFK one, I know it wouldn't be done like that today. But we can't apply conspiracy to it because things were handled differently 60 years ago and we have significantly more knowledge today than we did then.
*** Single Bullet ***
I think enough recreations have been done with the ammo and the rifle to that show a single bullet could have easily entered JFK, had no major impact with anything but soft tissue, then hit Connally, who was a few feet in front of him.
The implications of it NOT being a single bullet that hit JFK's back/neck and then Connally's back/chest are much more concerning.
* If Connally was shot in the back, what did the bullet hit first to cause it to tumble and enter vertically?
* If JFK was shot in the neck, where was the shot fired from?
* If JFK was shot in the neck, where did the bullet end up? We know there was a wound in his back, but it the bullet not causing a hole in the Limo seat or trunk is ridiculous.
* What would the odds of two shots (JFK neck and Connally Back) being fired at precisely the exact same moment?
* With multiple coordinated shooters, where is the evidence? We have none.
* We have three fired rounds from the TBD by Oswald's gun, where did they all end up?
* ~90% of eyewitnesses in DP heard 3 or fewer shots. Adding a shot makes it four or more. How did hundreds of people, including dozens of war veterans and trained federal agents and police officers get it so wrong?
* There was no place in front of the fatal shots with good cover. You had an uncovered bridge with tons of people and a fence of a public parking area that was a working train switch yard with people nearby. Neither is an acceptable sniper's nest. There are no other places in front of the motorcade where any shots would be possible and those places would be much more difficult shots than the Oswald shots from the TBD.
Occam's Razor. The simplest answer is likely correct. For a coordinated attack with multiple shooting locations, it instantly becomes a MUCH more complicated operation than one guy hiding behind a bunch of boxes. With more complications, more likelihood of failure or witnesses.
*** Warren Commission ***
We have a lot more knowledge and ability to test and do things now than we did then. We've also had things come to light that they didn't have access to. Ultimately, I think they got it right and the House Select Committee on Assassinations a decade and a half later came essentially to the same conclusion.
There will always be things that don't make sense or rabbit holes with no end. I think that is just a factor of the chaotic and poor investigation by the FBI and DPD. You can see DPD walking around with the gun with ungloved hands. I don't think that was malicious, just ignorant.
But you also have to consider that the people doing that probably wanted to do their best. No one WANTED to **** up the biggest investigation of their career. And it is preposterous to think that every DPD, Secret Service and FBI agent working on the investigation was in on a conspiracy, as many would need to be in on it before the actions even occurred, since it started immediately as the gunshots fired out.
Unquestionably, lots of mistakes were made, especially through a lens of today's standards. But nearly 60 years later, we do not have evidence pointing to any other conclusion other than Oswald did it. We have lots of questions like you posted here.
"Doesn't this seem fishy?" Yeah, it kind of does. Does that mean it is evidence? Nope. And that is exactly what most conspiracy theories rely on. There are always going to be weird coincidences or occurrences with any major case.
*** Oswald's Weird life ***
This helps me support the theory that Oswald was a lone nut more than anything. The Soviets didn't want him. The Cubans' didn't want him. His schools didn't want him. His jobs didn't want him. The Marines' didn't want him. His wife didn't want him. He was an unhinged loser that had a lot bigger opinion of himself than literally everyone he had met at any point in his life. We have data dating back to his grade school that he was unhinged, a poor student, prove to violent outbursts, etc. Does that seem like the type of person the CIA or KGB or Castro would trust with a hit on the most powerful man in the world? This is a guy that assaulted his superior officer in the Marines, accidently (or purposely) shot himself, had been committed to a mental health institution, had attempted suicide, etc. I wouldn't trust him to do my laundry.
Just some random coincidences from this case that happened:
* If the motorcade never turned on Houston, but just went down Main St to the triple overpass, LHO wouldn't have had an easy shot on Elm.
* LHO was scheduled to be transported at 10am, when Ruby was at home. Oswald demanded a shirt or sweater, holding up the transport so he wouldn't be in his undershirt and would look respectable for his Perp Walk. If Oswald was transported at the scheduled time, Ruby would have been at home. But it was Oswald that demanded things holding up the transport.
* Oswald wanted a different job in a different part of town. He didn't get that because they called his previous boss. The family that was boarding Oswald's estranged wife called and got Oswald the job at the TBD, which gave him that location. Was that little homemaker in on the conspiracy to get Oswald a job that had a perfect sniper's nest?
Just tons of weird things had to fall in place for it to have happened. Sometimes the stars align for awful things to happen. Sometimes they don't (like Richard Reid the show bomber's feet being too sweaty to light the fuse.)
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Thanks for your massive contribution to this thread.
It's been fun.
Ultimately, there just isnt' evidence that anything happened other than Oswald taking the shots.