[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: I love debate!

[Shaun Hately]

On 21 Nov 2003 at 14:22, Jen Reese wrote:

> This time of year in Texas, Nellie Connally* always gives interviews 
> describing what it was like riding in the car with JFK on that 
> fateful day (seeing as she's the only one of the riders still alive).
> 
> Anyway, yesterday I heard a clip where she said when JFK got shot, 
> he said something like, "They're going to kill us all." I'd never 
> heard that, and it made me wonder, what did *he* suspect was going 
> on? Of course, that could just be a dying man's confused last 
> thought, but since I'm part of this group now, I see conspiracies 
> everywhere....<beg>

That sounds confused to me - either Mrs Connally is confused, or (more likely) the 
way she said what she said gave a wrong impression about who was doing the 
talking.

President Kennedy said nothing during the assasination - he was physically 
incapable of doing so. The first shot came very close to his spine and almost 
certainly caused the loss of all voluntary movement below the neck - his 
movements in the films are a classic reflexive response to such injury. But more 
significantly the wound came close to giving him an instant tracheotomy - speech 
would have been virtually impossible, coupled with a state of shock, and films and 
witness statements at the time reveal he said nothing.

Governor Connally on the other hand, when he heard a second shot and realised 
that both the President and himself had been hit cried out 'My God, they're going 
to kill us all.' This has been public knowledge since 1963 and can be seen in the 
films. The situation was that two shots had been fired and the two most important 
people in the car had been wounded (note: the official version (which I believe) is 
that only one bullet caused both Kennedy and Connally's initial wounds - the 
second round is believed to have missed completely - but Connally heard both of 
them). Kennedy *was* seriously unpopular with certain elements in Dallas - they'd 
taken out full page newspaper advertisements protesting his visit, describing him 
as a traitor. Connally was certainly aware that there could be some sort of 
conspiracy, and he was in a situation where the people in the car seemed to be 
being picked off one at a time.

There could have been a conspiracy - it is virtually impossible to prove a 
negative, and say "There was definitely no conspiracy". But my personal view is 
that there is also no compelling evidence to believe there was. Most of the 
supposed facts raised in the conspiracy press over the years, aren't facts - the 
classic example is the supposed 'zigzag' flight path of the 'magic bullet'. It's still 
being presented as a problem even though we've known for 35 years that there is 
no reason a zigzag flight path is required (people assume - and so does the 
zigzag path - that Kennedy and Connally were both sitting one behind the other, 
both up against the right hand side of the vehicle. That positioning given a shot 
from the right rear would require the bullet to change course in mid-air to strike 
both of them. However, that assumption of position is wrong - Connally was sitting 
forward and to the left of the President. When the positions are used accurately 
the bullet travels very close to a straight line path, with no mid-air manoeuvering. 
We know that Connally was sitting closer to the centre of the car for two reasons - 
the first is that there are photos that show the relative positions of people in the 
car, the second is that Connally was sitting in a fold down jumpseat, which was 
mounted close to the centre of the car. Yet, most people have been told about the 
zigzagging magic bullet by the popular media - which does seem *incredibly* 
suspicious. Finding out the actual real flight path and real positions takes some 
reading. There's a book 'Mortal Error' - can't remember the authors name right 
now - which is based on a premise that a Secret Service agent accidentally fired 
the fatal head shot - while a conspiracy theory itself, it's probably done more than 
any other book to convince conspiracy theorists that there was no conspiracy 
simply because it was the first book widely read by conspiracy theorists (and at 
the time I was one, myself) to clearly explain the 'magic bullet' with reference to 
Kennedy and Connally's position. It made a lot of people think: "Wow - if that can 
be explained so clearly and easily, what else do I believe is unexplainable but can 
be easily explained."

We do surveys at our meetings. We've found over the years that the more a 
person reads about the Kennedy assasination, the more likely they are to come to 
the conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald did it! (there are exceptions - there are 
well informed conspiracy theorists). My view is that is simply because the more 
spectacular books, the ones that most people are likely to read first, are the 
conspiracy oriented books - which also tend to be shorter.

My view based on reading everything I can get my hands on on this topic (I've 
even read the entire Warren Report) over the last decade or so, is pretty much as 
follows.

I am 99.9% certain that President John F. Kennedy was killed by two shots fired 
from the Texas School Depository. A third round was fired and missed (probably 
the second round fired).

I am 99% certain that his assassin was Lee Harvey Oswald.

I am 95% certain that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.

I concede the possibility that there may have been a conspiracy - a totally 
successful conspiracy wouldn't be apparent after all. I just can't see any 
compelling reason to assume there was. To me, it looks very much like Oswald 
decided to shoot the President only the night before it happened. It's just a 
tragedy that he had the means and the opportunity to do so - motive, as well, but 
I'm less convinced on that (the most likely motive I have seen formulated still 
seems rather weak to me - I know of people who've killed with less motive 
though).




Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
Where am I: Frankston, Victoria, Australia