The Kennedy assassination

I saw a news item that said that 70% of Americans believe that there was a conspiracy to kill John F. Kennedy. I suppose that there is a certain percentage of Americans that believe that there is a conspiracy about everything, and things were not helped by Oliver Stone's movie.

There was no conspiracy, and Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Two good books on the subject are Posner's "Case Closed" and Bugliosi's "Reclaiming History." I have met David Belin of the Warren Commission, and found him to be an honorable man. My own experience in government teaches me that it is hard for a government to keep a secret, much less manage a conspiracy.

The History Channel did a good show on the assassination earlier this month. It showed that Oswald was a loser who wanted to be a "big man." He attempted an assassination of a general earlier in 1963. He clearly purchased the rifle via mail order. He got a job in the Texas School Book depository, and the president's motorcade route was printed in the newspaper ahead of time. Oswald clearly had time to fire three shots. There was no "magic bullet"--one shot clearly went straight through Kennedy and Connolly. The acoustic "evidence" suggesting more than three shots does not hold up under scrutiny. The police officer whose microphone was on has stated that he was farther away from the site than the conspiracy theorists have suggested.

I know this brief post probably will not convince anyone, but if any parents are out there reading this, tell your children that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, killed John F. Kennedy. My two cents in an attempt to clarify the matter.