49 years ago...

[OldGreyEagle]

OK, Nov 22, 2012 was Thanksgiving, but it was also 49 years since JFK was shot in Dallas. What do we know about that event 49 years later? Did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone? Why did Jack Ruby think it important to kill Oswald

 

What about Magic, hovering bullets, who was behind it if Oswald did not act alone

 

Wasnt some records supposed to be revealed in 50 years after the Warren COmmisions report?

 

What happened?

[AZMike]

Oswald acted alone, but was probably not trying to kill Kennedy but former Secretary of the Navy (and Texas Governor) John Connolly, whom he blamed for denying his military medical benefits due to his dishonorable discharge from the USMC. It wasn't that he was such a good shot to hit Kennedy, it was that he was such a lousy shot he hit Kennedy instead of Connolly. The root causes of political assassination in the U.S. are more often personal than political.

[BadenP]

OGE

 

The truth is we will NEVER know the whole truth about what happened to JFK, certain government agencies have made sure of that. It is time to stop dwelling in the past with the many cornball conspiracy theories that have been offered and instead work towards making our country today the best it can be. Dwelling on these kind of things serve no real purpose and are counter productive.

[FScouter]

The government cover-up conspiracy is not a corn-ball conspiracy?

[BadenP]

F-scouter

 

No coverup or conspiracy at all, the government routinely decides on a daily basis what and how much information to release to the press and the public, and what is in the best interest of its citizens to know or not to know. It has always been that way from the beginning of the country. Homeland Security, FBI, CIA, DOD, etc., all keep top secret case files on events and people that we will never be privy to see and are not covered under the Freedom of Information Act.

[skeptic]

Perhaps the idea that not everything is a conspiracy, and that some information should not necessarily be publicly released in regard to National security should be made known to Fox and a few of our noble legislators. Nahhhh!

[acco40]

I remember that day - I was a seven year old second grader. We were actually released from school of few minutes early that day. I remember going home and telling my mother what happened and she kind of just nodded her head and went on with her normal routine. An hour or so later she heard it on the news and was shocked. I was taken aback because my little seven year old brain realized that she doubted my statement - it was so absurd to reality.

 

A day later I know I was fascinated that on every channel (all three!) the exact same picture was on.

 

Just think, in the period of about ten years (my formative years) I witnessed the assassination of a president, a presidential candidate, a civil rights leader, many civil rights protesters, the resignation of a president, a war that kill four students at home, 55,000 abroad and massive demonstrations worldwide, a raging cold war, British invasion, Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali, riots in Watts, Detroit, space race & moon landing, summer of love, Six Day War and I'm sure I missed quite a bit more.

 

I'm sure that period of time shaped my politics, my trust in Government and how I see the world - for better and worse.

[Kahuna]

There will always be some doubt, but after reading Vince Bugliosi's book, Reclaiming History: The Assassination of JFK,I was pretty much in agreement with his well crafted legal argument that Oswald acted alone. Bugliosi, BTW, was the one who prosecuted the Manson Family. He prosecuted in a mock trial in 1986 with Gerry Spence defending. A jury found Oswald guilty. As a lawyer, I bought his argument enough to vote guilty. As a college student at the time of the event, I will always want to think that surely it couldn't have been as simple as this one little punk with a grudge.

[shortridge]

All Warren Commission records are now public, except for those dealing with confidential tax return information.

[RememberSchiff]

Welcome back shortridge.

[AZMike]

An interesting interview with the Secret Service agent who jumped on the back of JFK's car, on the anniversary of the assassination: http://theweek.com/bullpen/column/236559/reflections-from-the-secret-service-agent-who-leaped-onto-jfks-car

[Eamonn]

I'm not sure about the cover up thing!

 

This thread did make me think back to the times I spent at my Grandmothers home in Ireland.

She had a small alter /shelve, lit by a red electric light bulb with a cross inside the bulb. On the wall was a picture of the Sacred Heart. On the shelve there was statues of the Virgin Mary and two or three of her favorite saints. There along side the saints was a plate with JFK'S face on it.

My Grandmother was not into politics, but like many of the people in Ireland she was so very proud that there was an Irish /Catholic in the white house.

I'm not really sure if JFK really deserved this place of honor or not?

 

As a kid I remember being fascinated by the light bulb with the cross in it.

I never seen one out side of Ireland until a few weeks back.

I was going through some stuff that somehow ended up in my house from HWMBO grandparents.

Her Grandfather was for a good many years the local funeral director.

I came across three huge suitcases, which my wife said were used for wakes that catholics had at home. Inside the cases were electric candle sticks that when put together stood about five foot tall and these were lit by the same little red light bulb, with the cross inside.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this stuff?

Putting it out with the garbage doesn't seem like an option. But I know that I'm never going to use it.

(Sorry about the hijack.)

Ea.

 

 

[packsaddle]

Eamonn, not sure what to do? Put it up for auction on eBay, man!!! You're going to make a fortune off that stuff....either that or maybe enough to do something nice for HWMBO: dinner, movie, theater, chocolates? Just a thought.

[Tampa Turtle]

Eamonn you made me smile. My old world maternal Portuguese grandparents had a an old lithograph of the smiling Jesus with the glowing heart as well as a matching ceramic lamp. Used to terrify me when I was little and had to sleep in that bedroom. The eyes would follow me around the room...or maybe I was a very guilty 6 year old.

 

As for Kennedy I believe the Warren Report and actually read it many years ago (in 6th grade what a nerd). Kennedy made a stop in Tampa before Dallas and many locals recall how laughably easy it was for folks to get within 6 feet or so of him. Several high schoolers ran right next to his car for several blocks. A local man, known to be a nut, managed to stand right in front of him--literally touching--during a speech before a local policeman, not secret service, pulled him away. Security was a different story in those days. No pre-trip sweeps of crazies, snipers on the roof, or alternate secure routes.

 

 

[CalicoPenn]

51 years ago on that date, CalicoPenn was born. From 7th grade on, when talking about November 22nd, I was constantly reminded how November 22nd was a tragic day in US History. Next year is the 50th anniversary. I will be avoiding all news outlets on that day. On the positive side, it won't be "black friday" next year - that would be too morbid.

 

As for the conspiracy theories? I think people pay attention to them for certain events because the truth is just to much to bear. We just can't understand how one person can make such an impact. Instead, we'll listen to self-proclaimed experts say that one guy couldn't have made 3 shots in under 1 minute with the kind of gun they used - never mind that others have done it routinely. We can't bring ourselves to believe that Jack Ruby gunned down Oswald because he was a Texan with a god-given right to carry a gun and simply did what a lot of other people was thinking about. About the only alternate theory I'm willing to listen to is the one that AZMike prposes - that Kennedy wasn't the intended target, that Connolly was the target all along.