Whodunnit?

Damn it! My brother has forced me to think about what I think about the Kennedy assassination. And why I think what I think.

He thinks I'm an idiot for believing Oswald acted alone. I may well be.. and for a lot of other reasons, too. But it's not easy being in the minority, and I only take small comfort in the fact I'm not totally alone in my belief.

To be honest I'm guessing that what I think and believe is based mostly on fear. I don't want to be more afraid of my government than I already am. I don't want to believe the absolute worst. I don't want to be paranoid or begin to feel that things are hopeless and that the bad guys are so all-powerful that any opposition is useless.

I ask myself, why do so many people believe that Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy, a conspiracy, if not arranged by people within the government, then at least covered up by the government?

Obviously they believe it for a lot of reasons. Besides all the books making the claim for a conspiracy, and all the so-called witnesses, there are plenty of reasons to suspect the government. Didn't the government overthrow the Iranian leader in the 1950's and lie about it, organize central American death squads and lie about it, lie during the Tonken Gulf resolution to get us deeper into a war in Viet Nam, break into Watergate, deceive us about Iraq, lie to us time and time again? At this point we'd be crazy not to be more than a bit paranoid. Hell, going back to the sinking of the battleship Maine in Havana's harbor, concocted misinformation has been used by our government time and again as an excuse for mischief, war and invasion.

But what is equally important to remember is that along with cases of real guilt, malicious accusations have been made throughout our history. Accusations that Roosevelt was a secret Jew, that he knew in advance of the attack on Pearl Harbor and wanted the fleet wrecked and thousands killed to get us into war. At this point, in the fifth year of his presidency, yet another “witness” has come forth to claim, along with the testimony of others, that Obama is a Muslim, a communist, a Kenyan, he is now accused by a woman of being a homosexual prostitute. She knows.. she saw it with her own eyes!

In the case of the Kennedy assassination, there are several degrees of belief. The “Little” conspiracy, the “Bigger” - as well as what could be termed “The Illuminati Did It” giant conspiracy.

Examples of the last two contain some degree of certainty that the murders of Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy and the attempted assassination of George Wallace were all part of the same conspiracy. However, proponents of the Little Conspiracy are less all-encompassing in their claims.

When discussing the possibility of a conspiracy to murder JFK, I think it's vital to remember that the hundreds of lies perpetrated by the government from the 1950's until today, go a long way to explain why so many people think the Government killed Kennedy. Where there's smoke there's obviously fire, most people think.

But sometimes most people are wrong.

In a concrete canyon, for example, is it not possible for a number of people to be confused about the direction of gunfire, because of echoes? Unlikely some say, but impossible?

One of the things that irritates me most about the whole conspiracy business, is that those who have become absolutely convinced, and usually convinced many years ago, refuse to read the so-called “debunking” material made available the last ten years. They regard any statements made by “witnesses” favoring a conspiracy as true, honest and accurate. And any “witnesses, investigations, evidence” debunking the theories as simply malicious lies concocted by the bad guys as part of the continuing cover up. It's all black and white. The angels versus the devils. And to read anything written by these devils is as dangerous and heretical as fundamentalist Christians reading about evolution. Don't do it or you'll be tainted - or at least put in doubt. (..again, let me confess. I'm no better. I'm reluctant to read much of the conspiracy literature, for fear of extra paranoia.)

At the moment there are thousands of sites on the Internet, and hundreds of books written which claim Bush and Cheney blew up the Trade Towers – or the Israelis did it – weren't the Jews warned to stay home that day? We have witnesses who will testify to it. We have metallurgists who say the jet fuel couldn't have melted the steel beams, we have physicists who say the building couldn't have fallen naturally at that speed. We have the facts! We have scientists who saw the alien bodies in Area 51! We have witnesses!

For the last 50 years the Kennedy Conspiracy believers have been like a religion, more like Protestants than Catholics, Protestants in the sense that there are Methodists, Presbyterians, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses – and a dozen sects of snake-handling Baptists. And they agree on almost nothing. LBJ ordered the hit. No, he didn't. Jimmy Hoffa ordered the hit. No, he didn't. It was the Mafia. It was the Mafia and the CIA. It was the Mafia and the CIA and the Pentagon. It was right-wing Texas oil money men. (LBJ thought Castro did it, but didn't want to start a war with Russia to punish Castro.) Four bullets were fired, five, six. There were two, three, four gunmen. Every book had to justify its existence with new or contrary revelations. Ruby was obviously in on it – but why did they let him live another 3 years in prison if his existence was so dangerous to the other conspirators? Yes, but a jail house witness said Ruby confessed to being a part of a conspiracy – but wait – another witness said he confessed on his death bed that there had been no conspiracy.

Every claim made which supports a conspiracy is accepted by the believers, and every claim debunking a conspiracy is dismissed. Witnesses are always supplied, despite the fact that witnesses, especially to events of high drama and confusion are notoriously unreliable. Yet these legions of witnesses are given absolute credibility, despite the fact that many of them look and sound like rejects from Jerry Springer's show – lonely, deluded people hungering for attention. But could these hundreds of witness all be wrong? Even doctors and nurses? Yes, technically speaking they could.

If there was indeed a conspiracy to kill Kennedy, it would have required planning, execution, and cover up.

It would have required using Oswald – how? Shipping him to Russia years before as a false defector? Having him pretend to shoot at General Walker? Getting him a job months before in the Book Depository – after finding out Kennedy's travel plans and route months before? Him killing or not killing the police officer, him being found with the pistol that killed the officer?

What about the witness who claimed to have seen a bullet hole in Kennedy's car windshield, the witness “certain” the bullet entered from the front? If indeed the bullet entered from the front, it would have hit one of the four people sitting in front of Kennedy and his wife. Did it? No. Everyone agrees that Kennedy was fired at from above, either solely from the depository or from the Grassy Knoll as well. A downward shot striking the windshield would not have hit Kennedy, so why the relevance? Believers say it proves more than one shooter. Doubters say where did the shot go? It clearly didn't hit the four people in the front, and logically could not have hit Kennedy. But the bullet broke the window and then disappeared!

But for me the three central issues are motivation, competence.. and longevity

Let's start with competence first. Since no one has ever gone to jail for conspiring to kill Kennedy, a conspiracy to do so must be judged to have been a success. A conspiracy and cover up involving hundreds, if not thousands of people. But what is the track record of the American government and the CIA? One botched operation after another. Either the CIA has gotten something totally wrong, its agents incompetent at information gathering, or it has left a trail a mile wide, as in the case of Chile, Iran, Nicaragua and Guatemala. If anything the last fifty years have proven the government agents are mediocre employees with a poor track record. And they have kept almost nothing secret for very long. To believe in a successful conspiracy we have to remember that any instigator was likely in his 40's, 50' or 60's in 1963.. which would make him long dead today. To continue the conspiracy three generations would have had to take over. Imagine being called into your boss's office and told, “Now it's your turn to take over this treacherous conspiracy that you knew nothing about and run it for a generation..” It would be like the Illuminati, Free Masons or Rockefeller and Rothchild never-ending conspiracies.. Possible..? I suppose.. but how likely?

..and why is there no mention of a cover up in the hundreds of thousands of secrets exposed by both Snowden, Wikileaks and countless others? Because killing Kennedy was vital and easy to hide while bugging Merkel a trivial thing? ..yes.. possibly..

And why has no Kennedy screamed bloody conspiracy the last 50 years? Why has none shouted “Who killed my brother/uncle/father/cousin?” Because the whole family was afraid to admit there was a conspiracy? Did they all think they would all be killed? Or have they believed the conspiracy stories are myths? Just recently a Kennedy niece was asked.. she had not come forward with an announcement and a call for an investigation. She had simply been asked during an interview about other things, whether there had been a conspiracy. “I don't know,” she replied. “I just don't know.” Hardly a firm belief in a plot, or a cowardly avoidance of all mention of a plot. For after 50 years of conflicting “facts” she's just as confused now as the rest of the population.

For me the central issue in discussing a conspiracy is what would motivate the conspirators? Hate might have motivated Jimmy Hoffa. A possible return of huge profits might have motivated Mafia leaders if Castro was overthrown and they could somehow regain control of gambling and prostitution in Cuba. But would that have been enough motivation? They already had Las Vegas and gambling and the heroin trade. And why would the Mafia trust the CIA? They didn't even trust each other. Most of the aging Mafia leaders had already spent years in prison. Why would they risk life sentences or the electric chair over a possible increase in revenues that their successors would be the first to enjoy????

What would motivate the CIA - or elements within it? Their pride was hurt when Kennedy wouldn’t give them full support for a plan he inherited to invade Cuba? If they could just get rid of Kennedy then they would be allowed to try again, prevail and be heroes?!? They also couldn't wait for all that extra work in escalating a war in Viet Nam???? Oh boy! Yet another chance to show their mediocre abilities! As has been noted elsewhere, most government workers like as little work and responsibility as possible and like to keep their heads down. But for some reason the CIA longed for extra headaches!

Remember one essential element to the story. If a conspiracy did occur, not only bosses and instigators were involved, but middle-level management and foot soldiers were required. These people had little personally to gain – a promotion? - when compared with the risk of humiliation, their families destroyed - and the electric chair if exposed. Were hundreds of conspirators tempted with millions of dollars each? If not, what could make the attempted murder of an American President so tempting?

Was there not a single person in the government who liked Kennedy??? Not one patriot who wouldn't put up with treason???

(..for me the most logical candidates for conspirators would be the Joint Chiefs - as they were hyper-patriotic and terrified of a first strike from Russia, and pushed incessantly for a first strike of their own. But why would they plot a shooting when the shooters could have so easily missed? Why not another poisoning? They had aides in the White House. So did the CIA. The CIA had a stockpile they were eager to use, and an undetectable poison would have been easier to administer and wouldn't have required three dozen operatives and a huge cover-up! ....yeah.. I know.. guys who play soldier all their lives need to shoot things.. ..And wouldn't the all-powerful all-knowing CIA know about Doctor Feelgood - Dr Max Jacobson's regular visits to the White House ..and trips aboard Air Force One where he often shot Kennedy up with illegal amphetamines and morphine? Surely it would have been child's play to ensure Kennedy got a no fuss no muss overdose????)

Finally we have to confront the people who say “What about the mountains of evidence pointing to a conspiracy? Surely they prove something?”

Perhaps. But is this mountain fundamentally different to the mountains offered by the Moon-Landing-Was-A-Fake people? Or the Queen-of-England-Sells-Heroin people? Or the Bush-and-Cheney-Blew-up-the-Towers people? Area 51 aliens?

As has often been mentioned, many people believe in a conspiracy to kill Kennedy because they cannot bring themselves to believe that such a imposing figure could have been brought down by a single pathetic loser. Perhaps. I think the more convincing explanation is the Where-there-is-smoke-there's-fire tendency in all of us. Just present us with enough “evidence”, manufactured or misunderstood or not, and we'll be inclined to believe it.

To dismiss so much would require our own research and would be exhausting.

Whew.. I'm tired out already.

(P.S. ..the caption of the above cartoon is: "Back off! It's ME! I'M THE LONE ASSASSIN!")