Tag Archives: Lone Nuts

JFK ASSASSINATION – STRANDS OF FATE

The 50th anniversary of the JFK Assassination is Friday, November 22nd.

JFKThere have been a lot of new books, documentaries, and movies released to coincide with this historical moment. I’ve seen and read some of them. Thankfully most seem to avoid the whacko conspiracy theories.

I’ve decided to postpone the publication of my book Lone Nuts – A No BS Guide to the JFK Assassination” until around Christmas.

One reason is that I don’t want to be seen as trying to cash in on all the hype surrounding the anniversary. I’ve put a lot of research into this project and want it to stand the test of time as a simple guide to the facts and the science behind the murders. (I say murder’s’. Not only was JFK cut down, Officer JD Tippit and Lee Harvey Oswald were also shot and killed.)

JFK Limo 2Secondly, I’ve been sidetracked on another project and haven’t been able to dedicate sufficient time to polish the manuscript. Again, I want this to be a timeless resource which anyone can pick up and pull out information. As far as I can see, no one else has taken this approach. It’s sort of a ‘JFK Assassination For Dummies’. There’s a real need to help future researchers cut through the bullshit as well as giving the general public a snapshot of what really happened in Dallas.

Third, I want to see what’s coming out over the next week as the 50th approaches. I don’t expect any shocking revelations but I’ve already seen some innovative computer reconstructions. Part of the value in “Lone Nuts” is that I’ve hyperlinked a number of internet sites into the text which are accurate and helpful. Already I’ve found some well-done new documentaries and expect there are more to come.

Part of my presentation is the strands of fate that caused the assassination. Here’s a preview of a few strange things that went down. Without them, the assassination event might never have occurred.

The PT109 came back to kill Kennedy.

JFK Back braceJFK was the skipper of a Navy Patrol boat during WWII. On the night of August 2nd, 1943, JFK’s vessel got rammed and cut in half by a Japanese destroyer. Two men died and three were injured, including JFK who suffered a serious spinal injury. By the time of his death in 1963 JFK was in continual pain from a degenerating backbone and he was forced to wear an elaborate and stiff back-brace or corset. The first bullet that hit JFK passed clean through his neck with little damage and knocked him unconscious. He would have survived that gunshot wound, but the stiff back-brace prevented him from instantly collapsing and kept him propped up. He stayed within Oswald’s sight picture, allowing time to get off the fatal head shot.

Nixon JFK DebateRichard Nixon didn’t shave and wear makeup.

The Nixon – Kennedy faceoff in 1960 was the first time that live TV was used in a Presidential election debate. Up to this point all debates had been either been on stage or by radio. Kennedy appreciated the power of television and prepared for the meeting by looking fresh and using theatrical makeup. Nixon arrived with a heavy 5 o’clock shadow and refused makeup. Although Nixon was probably better informed of the issues and was already ahead in the polls, he came off appearing unprepared and nervous; sweating under the hot TV lights. Historians consider this the turning point and allowed Kennedy to squeak by and get elected with a margin of 0.17%. If Nixon had been better looking, JFK would never been elected.

A tour guide saved Lee Harvey Oswald’s life in 1959.

Oswald young photoBy any measure Oswald was unstable. He defected from the US Marines to Russia and was thought by the KGB to be such a head-case that the Soviets refused to have anything to do with him. In despair from rejection Oswald slit his wrist and lay in his hotel bathtub. A tour guide who was curious about this strange young American arrived at his room unannounced, found him bleeding out, and called for help.

Childish Democrats sealed JFK’s fate.

Dealey_3D_MapOne of the reasons Kennedy went to Dallas was to patch-up a squabble between power brokers in the Texas Democratic party. One leader wanted the lunch-time meeting at the Texas Fairgrounds. Another leader threw a tantrum and demanded it be held at the Trade Mart. The Trade Mart guy won out which changed the motorcade route, bringing JFK right underneath Oswald’s window.

A devout Quaker deceived Oswald.

Ruth PaineRuth Paine was responsible for getting Oswald his job at the Texas School Book Depository. This was six weeks before the Assassination and well before the motorcade route was planned. Paine had been helping Oswald’s wife and children, but had no use for Lee Oswald. To keep Oswald away, she found him a job. The day Oswald interviewed for the Depository, another employer who Oswald had applied with, called Paine whose phone number Oswald used as a contact. This guy offered a better paying job which Oswald surely would have accepted. To get Oswald out of her hair, Paine never told Oswald about the better offer. He went to work at the Depository and the rest is history.

A broke stripper killed Oswald.

Ruby Little LynnJack Ruby actually shot Oswald, but if it weren’t for an exotic dancer by the name of Little Lynn, he’d never been in right place at the right time. Ruby was also a nut-case who owned the Carousel Club. When JFK was killed at noon on Friday, Ruby spiraled down into a bizarre fit of grief and rage. He closed his strip club for two days in ‘respect’ of JFK which put his dancers out of work. Little Lynn was already behind in rent and about to get evicted. She couldn’t absorb the loss of two day’s pay and called Ruby to loan her some money. Rather than lose her as a dancer, Ruby went to the Western Union office on the Sunday morning to wire her twenty-five bucks. This put him beside the Dallas Police Headquarters right at the time Oswald was being transferred to the county jail. Ruby saw all the media attention and wandered over to check things out. He was already carrying a handgun which he always did when carrying money. Ruby simply walked into the crowd, right into Lee Oswald, flipped out, and shot him.

Lone Nuts – A No BS Guide to the JFK Assassination brings out more strands of fate in this fascinating case. It gives a clear explanation of the direct and circumstantial evidence, as well as explaining the science behind it.

Let me know if you’d like a free Kindle copy or a signed print version. 

 

JFK CONSPIRACY THEORISTS

Why do so many people buy into JFK conspiracy theories?

I have some theories about that.

JFK Ass CartoonRegular blog followers know that I’ve been a student of the JFK Assassination for years and that I’ve written a book about it.

It was going to be called Lone Nuts – A No BS Guide to the JFK Assassination and was going to be released in November, 2013, in time for the 50th anniversary of the highest profile, most thoroughly investigated homicide case in history. It’s now before Wiley Publishing to be released as The JFK Assassination For Dummies.

And I’m not afraid to admit it.

I once believed there was a conspiracy to murder President John F. Kennedy.

LHOI mean, virtually all the books said so, right? Didn’t matter that they never said who did it or why, let alone establish one single piece of irrefutable evidence that anyone other than Lee Harvey Oswald was involved.

Like, how could a lone nut with a cheap rifle from a tall building take out the most powerful man on earth? It just didn’t make sense. And the grassy knoll… people heard shots from there. The magic bullet… that had to be planted. The autopsy… what a hack job! The pictures… they had to be altered. And all those witnesses that mysteriously died… no way that was coincidental… I watched Oliver Stone’s JFK movie, too.

Nope, there had to be more to it. Not just a conspiracy to kill him. There had to be a cover-up which meant that the FBI, the Secret Service, and the CIA knew about it. Who were they afraid of? Or worse, in bed with? The Russians? Cubans? The Mafia? Big Oil? The Military-Industrial Alliance? Then there’s Jack Ruby who silenced Oswald in front of millions on live TV?

Ruby OswaldThis thing just seemed to get dirtier the more I read about it. Didn’t matter that the official 26 volume Warren Report concluded that Oswald, a nut acting alone, murdered Kennedy and then was shot dead by Ruby, another nut also acting alone. Case closed. Nothing more to see here folks, they said. Put it to rest.

Well, I formed my opinion by reading one side of the story – that of the conspiracy theorists. It wasn’t convenient to read the other side. It wasn’t until the internet came about, thirty-five years after the fact, that I was able to get my hands on the Warren Report. It’s lengthy – never mind the slog through appendices of witness statements and forensic reports.

JFK-Assassination-Jake-GyllenhaalBut when I finished it, I said “Holy Fuck! They investigated the shit out of this thing!!” I was blown away by the scope of the investigation. It was unbelievably thorough… and that’s coming from someone who was doing homicide investigations for a living at the time.

The thoroughness didn’t stop at the Warren investigation. There’ve been five other US government probes into the JFK case and none have uncovered evidence to credibly contradict the original conclusion of no conspiracy.

None.

Why is there no evidence of a conspiracy? Because non-events leave no evidence. It never happened any other way than two nuts, Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby, acting alone.

So why do 80+ % of people believe in a conspiracy behind the JFK murder? I think there are three distinct reasons.

  1. The vast majority have never been informed of the facts. I don’t mean they’re ignoramuses. They just have a superficial interest in the case and follow the herd.
  2. Many who look into the case don’t understand the supporting science and haven’t had it clearly explained.
  3. Some simply want to believe in a conspiracy and no amount of reasoning can change that.

Oswald RifleI don’t blame most people for believing that there was a conspiracy in the JFK case. On one hand, the physical evidence is so straightforward that it’s almost unbelievable. On the other hand, the circumstantial evidence is so complex that it’s almost unbelievable.

So much BS has been written on the JFK case by so many; many whom I suspect don’t believe their own BS.

twjfk_11_5What I’ve done in The JFK Assassination For Dummies is cut through the BS. I think that over 50 years of bullshit is enough and the record needs to be set straight.

It’s now in the standard Dummies format and written in a simple, easy to follow style that deals with the facts. It looks at the overall circumstances, the scientific evidence, and – most importantly in understanding the president’s murder – what a twisted character Lee Harvey Oswald was.

The real story is not about a conspiracy.

It’s about the strands of fate that brought these men together. Remove any one of over a dozen contributing factors and the JFK Assassination in Dallas would not have occurred.