Personal Questions

[RCMerchant]

What do you think of the JFK assassination?
I think the Russian's plotted with Oswald, myself.

[ER]

I suspect the Warren Commission probably arrived at or close to the truth.

I've said before one thing I do note about Oswald was his sense of calm, even coolness, right after the shooting, which is a mark of someone with training. A professional, in other words, someone with some familiarity with high-stress environments and how to handle them. Or that may mean nothing and just be a feature of his personality. It is a detail that's leaped out at me about him, though.

[RCMerchant]

^ He was in the Marines. He also defected to the Soviet Union, and lived there for 3 years.

[Trevor]

What do you think of the JFK assassination?
I think the Russian's plotted with Oswald, myself.

I don't think Oswald acted alone.

[Rev. Powell]

I think Oswald did it on his own.

I have an interesting story about it, though. A guy named Kerry Thornley served with Oswald in the Marines and later wrote a serious biography of him (before the assassination). For some reason, Jim Garrison subpoened him for his Oswald investigation.

Thornley, however, was a hippie prankster and a co-founder of the Discordian society. Working with Robert Anton Wilson, he trolled Garrison by planting dozens of fake stories in any publication that would take them that the Illuminati were responsible for Kennedy's assassination. But later in his life Thornley actually came to believe there was a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy (not involving the Illuminati, though).

[indianasmith]

I put a LOT of study into the JFK assassination back in the 1990's.  Probably read a dozen or more books and went to Dealey Plaza multiple times to get a feel for the place where it all went down.
I'm generally skeptical of conspiracy theories in general, but after years of consideration, I've concluded:
There's an 80% chance Oswald did act alone.
And that leaves a 20% chance he was part of a larger conspiracy.  Of the various angles, I've always believed a handful of rogue CIA types working with the mob (since both parties REALLY hated Castro) was the most plausible angle.
Of course, there is also a strong possibility that there was a larger conspiracy to kill Kennedy, and that Oswald simply beat them all to the punch.

[ER]

What did anyone have to gain from eliminating Kennedy though? LBJ got high office, yes, but it would have been so much easier for any of the major players usually named to have ruined Kennedy via making public his own irresponsible misconduct than to kill him and expose themselves to risk and scrutiny.

The Soviets had zero motive, less than nothing to gain. Of anyone they are the easiest to conclusively rule out. When they heard of Kennedy being murdered the Politburo went into CYA mode and we soon knew through our own intelligence they were scrambling to investigate the assassination themselves, with many suspecting an internal US coup.

The mob had access to blackmail that could have destroyed Kennedy or left him open to its control, the CIA, which WAS in bed with the mob in its anti-Castro mania, was held in check by many, many factors, not the least of which was the FBI,  its rival to this very day, which was itself at war with the CIA's illegitimate ally, organized crime, so motivated if need be to reveal any collaboration between Central Intelligence and the mob as regards the ultimate crime murdering an American president would have been. It would have been unhideable.
 
So there is zero way the CIA or the mafia could have hit the President of the United States and gotten away with it.

Let you in on a secret, the CIA is given waaaaay too much credit for being more of a miracle worker than it is, and the majority (yes, the majority) of its operations end in either failure or at least do not achieve the desired ends. Kill the President? Please...

The idea of the CIA having motive is farcical, the idea of it successfully carrying out a hit on JFK beyond conception. It's tin foil hat level.

I have been confronted with many theories on the murder of the president and in every case what has been missing is what the parties stood to gain with Kennedy off the stage. Was Johnson any more prone to invading Cuba?  Was the Cold War defused by removing one POTUS in favor of the next? No, and the Kremlin knew that.

I think the Warren Commission did the best job anyone could, and presented the scenario that best fit the known facts: Oswald was the killer. He had means, motive, opportunity.  Do we know for sure? No, but it best fits the facts: a wild card with a grudge can do terrible things, and I think evidence points to one doing just that

[indianasmith]

What did anyone have to gain from eliminating Kennedy though? LBJ got high office, yes, but it would have been so much easier for any of the major players usually named to have ruined Kennedy via making public his own irresponsible misconduct than to kill him and expose themselves to risk and scrutiny.

The Soviets had zero motive, less than nothing to gain. Of anyone they are the easiest to conclusively rule out. When they heard of Kennedy being murdered the Politburo went into CYA mode and we soon knew through our own intelligence they were scrambling to investigate the assassination themselves, with many suspecting an internal US coup.

The mob had access to blackmail that could have destroyed Kennedy or left him open to its control, the CIA, which WAS in bed with the mob in its anti-Castro mania, was held in check by many, many factors, not the least of which was the FBI,  its rival to this very day, which was itself at war with the CIA's illegitimate ally, organized crime, so motivated if need be to reveal any collaboration between Central Intelligence and the mob as regards the ultimate crime murdering an American president would have been. It would have been unhideable.
 
So there is zero way the CIA or the mafia could have hit the President of the United States and gotten away with it.

Let you in on a secret, the CIA is given waaaaay too much credit for being more of a miracle worker than it is, and the majority (yes, the majority) of its operations end in either failure or at least do not achieve the desired ends. Kill the President? Please...

The idea of the CIA having motive is farcical, the idea of it successfully carrying out a hit on JFK beyond conception. It's tin foil hat level.

I have been confronted with many theories on the murder of the president and in every case what has been missing is what the parties stood to gain with Kennedy off the stage. Was Johnson any more prone to invading Cuba?  Was the Cold War defused by removing one POTUS in favor of the next? No, and the Kremlin knew that.

I think the Warren Commission did the best job anyone could, and presented the scenario that best fit the known facts: Oswald was the killer. He had means, motive, opportunity.  Do we know for sure? No, but it best fits the facts: a wild card with a grudge can do terrible things, and I think evidence points to one doing just that

That's a great analysis, honestly.  I've never thought the actual CIA organization did it, but I have thought perhaps a few bitter former employees could have been involved. What about the anti-Castro Cuban faction?  They were plenty mad at Kennedy over the Bay of Pigs abandonment (as they saw it).  Like I said, I'm about 80% sure it was Oswald acting alone.  There's just a few bits of evidence that don't fit that scenario which still leave me wondering.

[ER]

What's the oddest thing you've ever stuck in your ear?

I once tried to take the advice of a song concerning a banana. Didn't end well.

[Alex]

A song told you to stick a banana in your what?

[ER]

At least I think it said "ear"...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1Oo84eI8gY

[ER]

What's your current relationship status?

I'm married to someone who is (wait for it!) also married to me. Pretty cool, huh?

[indianasmith]

About to celebrate my 39th anniversary with my bride.
And we still like each other!

[RCMerchant]

I am single. Most likely will be until I die.

[Alex]

Happily married for 11 years.