Originally posted by wdlove
What amazes me is that the truth hasn't come out by now. I agree that it was a life changing event, a loss of innocence. ABC's Peter Jennings did a 2 hour special on Thursday night about the assassination. It was called "The Kennedy Assassination: Beyond Conspiracy."
I watched the show, and many of the other JFK-related shows this week. Jennings show, based on a 3D computer reconstruction that wasn't possible even 10 years ago, claimed that Oswald did indeed kill the president, that there were no miracle shots, no magic bullets, and no real proof otherwise for 40 years.
For example, people claim that Oswald couldn't have made those three shots in 8 seconds, or aimed so well. Yet as a U.S. Marine he exhibited expert marksmanship at twice the distance. The move "JFK" made a big issue out of the "magic bullet" that turned in mid-air, but that was because it had John Connally positioned as if he was facing forward, right in front of Kennedy at the same height. In fact, he had turned to the right, and his seat was to the left of and lower down than Kennedy's. With the correct positioning, you can draw a straight line from the book depository to both Kennedy's and Connally's entrance and exit wounds.
The show pointed out many other falsehoods of the JFK movie, but totally ignored the controversy over the autopsy photos. In other words, the show made a good case for the issues it discussed, but avoided others, which could be because of the show's focus, limited length, or (as conspiracists will surely say) because they were hiding facts that didn't fit their conclusions.
I hadn't known before that Oswald didn't seek out the job at the Texas Book Depository (it was recommended to him by a friend) or that he got the job before the president's motorcade route was known, lending credence to the claim that he was an opportunist looking for a place in history, not a patsy in a grand scheme.
I won't be totally convinced either way until I hear a lot more about it, such as having each side continue to challenge statements of the other. For example, where was Oliver Stone's rebuttal to Jennings' claims that Stone falsified much of his movie's evidence?
The Warren Commission had a conflict of interest. The president wanted there to be no panic that the Soviet Union had a part in the assassination. Just because the executive branch got the report it wanted doesn't mean that the report was wrong, however.
Perhaps the most interesting facet of what I learned this week was this: immediately after the assassination, before any evidence was in, 2/3 of Americans thought there was a conspiracy, not a lone gunman, and today the proportion is still 2/3. The show concluded by explaining that believing in a conspiracy serves a purpose in people's minds - it gives a weight and meaning to the event, rather than leaving us with the feeling that one man, a loser, could control the destiny of our country.
You can do your own research using the
JFK Assassination Records Collection Reference System of the National Archives, where you can search for references to the papers collected and made public in accordance with the JFK Act of 1992.
I suggest that we all ask our parents today where they were when they heard the news on November 22, 1963. Maybe we'll all learn something!
