Thread: JFK Assassination - A personal recollection

As we are approaching the 50th year since the assassination of JFK, I have been considering how that tragedy effected me and my view of the federal government. I assume that many members here are old enough to remember that event and for it to also have shaped their views. I am asking for your ideas, and for your opinions of my thoughts on the subject. If you think I am full of shit, let me know (preferably with an explanation of why), which is why I put this thread here rather than in Issues. Conspiracy theories have been done to death. I will only discuss here my perception of the assassination, looking at it through the eyes of a teenager in the 1960's, and how it changed my world view.


First, a little background on me. I grew up in rural mid-west America in a staunch Republican family. I spent most of my spare time and money on my main hobby: guns and shooting. Before joining the Army, I typically fired thousands of rounds of ammo through a variety of weapons each year during my teenage years. After the assassination when details started emerging, my initial thought and still current thinking, is that if accepting that the facts given in the Warren Report are true, there is no way that Oswald could have been the lone gunman. Subsequent Army training only reinforced that opinion.


So, how did this effect my world view. Before this event, I would consider myself to have been extremely naive. Or at least much more so than now. Washington's handling of the assassination proved to me that they could not be trusted. Since then, when the government wants its citizens to believe something, whether it is the necessity for another righteous war, the need to bail out the banks, or that they're not all a bunch of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, I am very skeptical. My tendency to accept (or at least seriously consider) conspiracy theories rather than the government's propaganda, is a direct result of my conviction that many in government are simply liars and crooks. Many are apparently quite willing to do whatever it takes to benefit themselves or their friends.


While still in most ways conservative, I now look at the political parties as two sides of the same coin. Whichever side is in power, we still are stuck with “more of the same” government. The political parties play up the differences between them, but the reality is there are more similarities than differences. The parties seem to exist mostly to give people on forums such as this the perception that they have a voice in the government, so we can delude ourselves into thinking that our democracy is real.

Based on the facts stated in the Warren Report (the government's official report on the assassination), why do I believe that Oswald could not have acted alone?


Oswald was a below average Marine marksman, with apparently no further rifle (eg, sniper) training and very little chance to practice after leaving the Marines. He kept his rifle in his wife's garage, with whom he was not living.


He was using a WWII surplus Italian Army rifle with a scope mounted. This was, at that time, among the cheapest poor man's deer hunting weapons. (Probably cost less than $50.) He was apparently using WWII surplus military ammunition. The combination of bad ammunition and a standard military rifle would make a less than accurate combination.


He fired from the building's 5th floor, at a target moving away at an angle to him and downhill at 11mph, firing three shots at a distance of between about 150 feet to 265 feet. His firing angle down varied from 15 to 20 degrees. For an inexperienced rifleman, compensating for those factors would be difficult.


He fired three shots accurately over a period of 6 seconds. According to the Warren Report, it took a minimum of 2.8 seconds to chamber a round in that rifle between shots. That leaves virtually no time to aim between shots.


His third shot, at the longest distance, was the most accurate: the head kill shot. In my experience with rapid fire shooting, the first shot is almost always the most accurate. Subsequent rushed shots may go almost anywhere.


If Oswald pulled off those three shots, it was an exhibition of shooting worthy of Wild Bill Hickok or Annie Oakley.

You should consider changing your nic to Baldy the Bore.

The Bill Hicks version is shorter and way funnier.

Originally Posted by Borey the Bald

If you think I am full of shit, let me know

I wasn't born when JFK died, but significant deaths I remember are John Denver, Elvis, John Lennon, Princess Di, Twin Towers, Michael Jackson, whitney Houston, the fat bloke off Countdown, Saddam Bin Laden, The Welsh Football Player who hung himself, Jocky Wilson, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Bernard Manning

None had any effect on my life or aspirations, we all die one day. If I had to pick one death from some rich cnut I don't know or care about, it would be Rod Hull the tight bastard

Originally Posted by Borey the Bald

my initial thought and still current thinking, is that if accepting that the facts given in the Warren Report are true, there is no way that Oswald could have been the lone gunman

Don't be so paranoid Borey, and don't let these keywords of FBI, CIA Teens Jihad and Terrorist add to your fear of them coming after you

Originally Posted by Neo

You should consider changing your nic to Baldy the Bore.

I'll consider that change. I do believe in truth in advertising.

Originally Posted by Neo

The Bill Hicks version is shorter and way funnier.

I suppose with enough mushrooms and LSD, even a realistic world view can seem funny. Unfortunately, even on drugs I am a sour jerk.

Originally Posted by Kwang

None had any effect on my life or aspirations, we all die one day. If I had to pick one death from some rich cnut I don't know or care about, it would be Rod Hull the tight bastard

I don't look on Kennedy as being a particularly important president with much impact on us except in his death. The way it occurred and how the aftermath was handled showed me just how screwed up our government was and remains.

i had a 6.5 cacano[?] bloody thing breechfired on me and i was lucky i was wearing glasses otherwise i might have lost an eye..piece of shit rifle, i took it out shark shooting and threw it overboard at the end of the day

facts stated in the Warren Report

There's two words that don't go together

i had a 6.5 cacano

Me too, shit, real shit.

Originally Posted by nedwalk

i had a 6.5 cacano[?] bloody thing breechfired on me and i was lucky i was wearing glasses otherwise i might have lost an eye..piece of shit rifle, i took it out shark shooting and threw it overboard at the end of the day

I agree. Always thought it was shit. But apparently three shots it could handle.

so he got lucky.

end of story

Nothing special, extraordinary or enlightened about JFK.

Under his government, much more detrimental activities were the model than beneficial.

Where does this dreamy romantic state towards this pustule on the human condition come from?

Originally Posted by sabang

What I've never figured is why some people wanted him rubbed.

My favorite theory is that the Israelis did it because JFK was trying to do to their nuclear program what Obama is trying to do to Iran's now. Also, the Israelis had the capability to do it and the balls to order it done. But that's just my bias showing.

I've always thought the 'Mafioso with Cuban connections' bumph a bit far fetched.

Originally Posted by Sir Wilson

so he got lucky.

end of story

Indeed.

Man...how much longer are people going to cling to some whacked-out conspiracy thing?

Oswald got lucky - there has never been any solid proof of a second gunman.

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

there has never been any solid proof of a second gunman.

Except the Warren Commission.

Originally Posted by sabang

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

there has never been any solid proof of a second gunman.

Except the Warren Commission.

Not to this posters knowledge. The Warren Commission concluded that Oswald was acting on his own.

Originally Posted by Boon Mee

The Warren Commission concluded

So therefore no need to read it, or read about it. Now that's Patriotism.
JFK was rubbed, but there are no compelling theories as to who and why.

^ Just the response I would have expected from you booners..

^
Your so fuckin' stupid you probably think little green men from Mars whacked JFK!

I was only about 6 when the JFK shooting happened. Although I know that it was a significant event I never bothered to do any further reading on the subject.
Did Oswald ever make any admissions or denials re the shooting? If yes, did he say what his motive was?
Are you saying that all three shots hit the target? Did the ballistics on the bullets match the rifle that Oswald used? I suppose that if it was a conspiracy it would be easy enough to pay off the forensic people to say that the ballistics checked out.

^^ No but I wouldn't put it past Mossad or the KGB. I am not as brainwashed as someone like yourself who falls in lockstep with the government party line. You blindly believe anything your government (and fox news) tells you.

Originally Posted by bsnub

^^ No but I wouldn't put it past Mossad or the KGB. I am not as brainwashed as someone like yourself who falls in lockstep with the government party line. You blindly believe anything your government (and fox news) tells you.

Go splash some douche or ...something. Call yerself a 'free-thinker' eh?

Just another liberal Obamabot...

Shot in the face by the driver