[News] JFK 60 years on

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Was LBJ a consummate failure? He pushed through a heap of civil rights legislation and made changes to healthcare and eduction. He did get bogged down in Vietnam though. I'd say he had a mixed record. And if you're talking about integrity, I'd say Jimmy Carter is probably one of the most moral and upright people to have ever been president. You can certainly argue that he was an ineffecitve president but I don't think even the Republicans would have questioned his integrity.

I didn't hear about JFK's assassination until the following morning and wasn't sure who he was. I was more looking forward to a new series starting on TV that evening. It was called Dr Who ... whatever happened to it?

Yes, maybe harsh on LBJ as he did continue many of JFK’s policies. Vietnam was what I think many will remember him for and my comment was swayed by that.

 

[Bish Bosh]

Genuine question to someone who has taken a deep interest in the topic -- what's your view on who killed JFK?

I won't pretend that I've taken a massive interest but like most people, I'm well aware of the theories, and I've read a bit about it over the years. I'm not a conspiracy theorist by nature, and (despite odd bits of mldly circumstantial evidence), I have to believe that it was an individual act by Oswald.

More generally, I totally agree that it' can be incredibly emotional and (if it doesn't sound crass) thrilling to visit modern history venues. For me, the 9/11 memorial in New York was a deeply affecting experience, as was Auschwitz. On a more pedestrian level, a walking tour of West Belfast with an ex-H Block prisoner was pretty amazing too.

Oswald ( LHO) shot and killed a police officer in Dallas within an hour of JFK's assassination. There were several witnesses to that. He attempted to shoot another when arrested. He worked in the Texas Book Depository from where some shots were fired for sure. Three co-workers directly under the window where a gunman was seen heard shots reverberate in the building and fragments of cement fell on their heads.

A lot of hard (especially ballistic) evidence ties Oswald to the killings. Doubts as to whether others were involved started when LHO was himself killed while being transferred to jail. His killer Jack Ruby had visited Mafia types in Cuba and the conspiracy theories seemed to start from there.

I could go on but anyway two relatively sane books by Summers and Posner put the case for and against conspiracy.

Hope this helps.

 

[maltaseagull]

Yes, maybe harsh on LBJ as he did continue many of JFK’s policies. Vietnam was what I think many will remember him for and my comment was swayed by that.

Did LBJ send the first troops to Vietnam or did JFK.
Certainly LBJ escalated on the advice of the "experts"

 

[Sergei's Celebration]

The issue with 'conspiracy' is that all it takes for a conspiracy is to have more than one person involved, well if we believe marina probably knew something was afoot or in the least other, unnamed individuals, may have discussed an assassination with LHO then it would be considered a conspiracy.

To take that further we need to answer some simple questions with complex answers.
1. Did Oswald act alone?
If no,
2. Were the others involved just friends or family
If no,
3. Who was involved.

Having been to Dealy plaza and the 6th floor, it is obvious (based on my experience/ ex military) to me that it is highly probable one person could have taken the required shots. I did the same in my mind following a car down the road from the 6th floor and I was astounded it was ever in question!

And as said above the weight of evidence indicates LHO did take those shots. So if he took the shots, he killed JFK.

Is it possible LHO did it alone? Yes.

The grassy knoll... standing on the grassy knoll it becomes apparent that this is actually the more difficult shot; the low (actually only a few meters above target) angle, the closeness of the vehicle, that it was moving, and that if you're using a scope you would have to track the target left to right very quickly and are more likely to miss than hit. Also ignoring Stones 'back and to the left' repeated line in JFK that has now seemed to have become ingrained in consciousness, it is ballistically possible to not have been shot from the knoll.

We have had a tonne of theories of who was on the knoll but no firm evidence...just chit chat.

So using Occam's Razor I must answer question 1 as possible. However as said above it is also likely marina or some other knew of LHOs intent and thus it's is probable there was a conspiracy. A CIA, mafia, Cuban, russian conspiracy...no. but a simple 'more than one' conspiracy.

I could go on to debunk the various theories but I'd be here forever and this is already a long post!

 

[The Antikythera Mechanism]

Did LBJ send the first troops to Vietnam or did JFK.
Certainly LBJ escalated on the advice of the "experts"

I believe that there were 15k troops there at the time of the assassination which escalated to 500k afterwards.

 

[Worried Man Blues]

Sitting in the lounge as a 9 year old with parents and sister. The screen flashed JFK assassinated, my sister saw it and blurted it out, parents were just shocked, a momentous occasion for them, less so for me!!