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The Real JFK Mystery, 50 Years Later: Why The Infamous Murder Must Be Reinvestigated - Salon
This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by In_The_Wind (a host of the General Discussion forum).
On the 50th anniversary, so many questions remain. Here's why every piece of evidence must be viewed in a new light
JUSTYN DILLINGHAM - Salon
SATURDAY, NOV 22, 2014 06:15 AM PST
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As far as the vast majority of the American press is concerned, critics of the Warren Commission are in a class with the paranoids who doubt that the moon landing occurred, that President Obama was born in the United States, or that al Qaeda was responsible for the 2001 terrorist attacks. They insist, as Adam Gopnik did in a meandering New Yorker essay last year, “that the evidence that the American security services gathered, within the first hours and weeks and months, to persuade the world of the sole guilt of Lee Harvey Oswald remains formidable,” and that anyone who differs with this assessment is an “obsessive” or a “buff” with no life. Some defenders of the Warren verdict sound as passionate as any conspiracy theorists: Chris Matthews, an admirer of Kennedy, once told his audience that assassination skeptics cling to conspiracy theories “because they cannot bear the suffering that truth brings to the heart and to the mind.”
It can be shocking, after reading such dismissive remarks, to learn that some of the most powerful people in the United States expressed skepticism about the official account of JFK’s death. John Kerry might have startled some people when he admitted last year that he entertained “serious doubts” about the Warren verdict, but he was far from the first member of the political establishment to say so.
President Lyndon Johnson, who commissioned the Warren Report, was never satisfied by its conclusions. “I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever been completely relieved of the fact that there might have been international connections,” he told Walter Cronkite in 1969, adding that Oswald was “a mysterious fellow” whose motivations remained uncertain. “I never believed that Oswald acted alone, although I can accept that he pulled the trigger,” he told another journalist in 1971. Senator Richard Russell, a member of the Warren Commission, disagreed with the final report, particularly the controversial claim that JFK and Texas Governor John Connally had been struck by the same bullet—a conclusion that Connally himself doubted.
While the Kennedy family has been guarded in its public statements on the subject, they privately expressed doubts that Oswald had acted alone. A week after the assassination, Robert and Jacqueline Kennedy sent a back-channel message to Soviet leaders, telling them that they believed that “the president was felled by domestic opponents.” In 2013, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. revealed that his father had dismissed the Warren Report as “a shoddy piece of craftsmanship.”
Other Washington bigwigs have given voice to similar suspicions. In his memoirs, former House Speaker Tip O’Neill recalled that JFK aides Kenneth O’Donnell and Dave Powers—both of whom had been riding in JFK’s motorcade at the moment of the assassination—once told him that they had heard two shots coming from the grassy knoll, across the street from where Oswald is alleged to have fired all of the shots. CIA Director John McCone told RFK that he believed two gunmen had been present in Dealey Plaza. In 1992, both Al Gore and Bill Clinton expressed guarded doubts that Oswald had acted alone.
In short, even as the media strained to portray the Warren Commission’s verdict as unassailable, some of the most powerful figures in Washington, past and present, publicly and privately admitted that they found it hard to swallow. None of these people were flakes, none were easily fooled, and none could be considered “obsessives” or “buffs.” Why did they feel, instinctively, that something was wrong in the Kennedy case?
The answer lies not in the much-debated minutiae of the case—in how many shots were fired, the order in which the wounds were inflicted, and the reliability of each witness. The real mystery lies not in the facts that are disputed, but in the facts that are known. There is something profoundly strange about the story of Lee Harvey Oswald as it was presented by the Warren Commission.
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As far as the vast majority of the American press is concerned, critics of the Warren Commission are in a class with the paranoids who doubt that the moon landing occurred, that President Obama was born in the United States, or that al Qaeda was responsible for the 2001 terrorist attacks. They insist, as Adam Gopnik did in a meandering New Yorker essay last year, “that the evidence that the American security services gathered, within the first hours and weeks and months, to persuade the world of the sole guilt of Lee Harvey Oswald remains formidable,” and that anyone who differs with this assessment is an “obsessive” or a “buff” with no life. Some defenders of the Warren verdict sound as passionate as any conspiracy theorists: Chris Matthews, an admirer of Kennedy, once told his audience that assassination skeptics cling to conspiracy theories “because they cannot bear the suffering that truth brings to the heart and to the mind.”
It can be shocking, after reading such dismissive remarks, to learn that some of the most powerful people in the United States expressed skepticism about the official account of JFK’s death. John Kerry might have startled some people when he admitted last year that he entertained “serious doubts” about the Warren verdict, but he was far from the first member of the political establishment to say so.
President Lyndon Johnson, who commissioned the Warren Report, was never satisfied by its conclusions. “I can’t honestly say that I’ve ever been completely relieved of the fact that there might have been international connections,” he told Walter Cronkite in 1969, adding that Oswald was “a mysterious fellow” whose motivations remained uncertain. “I never believed that Oswald acted alone, although I can accept that he pulled the trigger,” he told another journalist in 1971. Senator Richard Russell, a member of the Warren Commission, disagreed with the final report, particularly the controversial claim that JFK and Texas Governor John Connally had been struck by the same bullet—a conclusion that Connally himself doubted.
While the Kennedy family has been guarded in its public statements on the subject, they privately expressed doubts that Oswald had acted alone. A week after the assassination, Robert and Jacqueline Kennedy sent a back-channel message to Soviet leaders, telling them that they believed that “the president was felled by domestic opponents.” In 2013, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. revealed that his father had dismissed the Warren Report as “a shoddy piece of craftsmanship.”
Other Washington bigwigs have given voice to similar suspicions. In his memoirs, former House Speaker Tip O’Neill recalled that JFK aides Kenneth O’Donnell and Dave Powers—both of whom had been riding in JFK’s motorcade at the moment of the assassination—once told him that they had heard two shots coming from the grassy knoll, across the street from where Oswald is alleged to have fired all of the shots. CIA Director John McCone told RFK that he believed two gunmen had been present in Dealey Plaza. In 1992, both Al Gore and Bill Clinton expressed guarded doubts that Oswald had acted alone.
In short, even as the media strained to portray the Warren Commission’s verdict as unassailable, some of the most powerful figures in Washington, past and present, publicly and privately admitted that they found it hard to swallow. None of these people were flakes, none were easily fooled, and none could be considered “obsessives” or “buffs.” Why did they feel, instinctively, that something was wrong in the Kennedy case?
The answer lies not in the much-debated minutiae of the case—in how many shots were fired, the order in which the wounds were inflicted, and the reliability of each witness. The real mystery lies not in the facts that are disputed, but in the facts that are known. There is something profoundly strange about the story of Lee Harvey Oswald as it was presented by the Warren Commission.
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Much More (plus lotsa links): http://www.salon.com/2014/11/22/the_real_jfk_mystery_50_years_later_why_the_infamous_murder_must_be_reinvestigated/
54 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
He provides links to those quotes ya know...
I don't believe I did. Why does everyone jump to full force ridiculousness when someone merely gives an OP a heads up?
That is extremely interesting to me. I don't have too many problems with too many people or issues here. If I were you, and this is so important to you, I would PM a host about unlocking the original thread. 
that was last year.
They can trash them, or put me on ignore...
I really don't care...
But they sure wanna make sure they go away for everybody else who's interested...
Why is that?
What is really funny is that I have a bookshelf full of JFK stuff. Sometimes, I think we all need to take a step back, breathe, and then realize what someone actually said. 
John Kerry: I Have 'Serious Doubts That Lee Harvey Oswald Acted Alone' the Day JFK Died
Parade
NOVEMBER 13, 2013 – 9:00 AM – 10 COMMENTS
Link: http://communitytable.com/226397/parade/john-kerry-i-have-serious-doubts-that-lee-harvey-oswald-acted-alone-the-day-jfk-died/
Parade
NOVEMBER 13, 2013 – 9:00 AM – 10 COMMENTS
Link: http://communitytable.com/226397/parade/john-kerry-i-have-serious-doubts-that-lee-harvey-oswald-acted-alone-the-day-jfk-died/
