JFK assassination: was any consensus ever reached as to who actually did it and why?

http://webpages.charter.net/cmvenuti/images/rubyshot.jpg

my guess is that in his warped and desperate mind he thought he would impress the cubans and soviets by killing kennedy, whose administration was ordering attempts on castro's life. he had unsuccessfully attempted a month earlier in mexico city to get a visa to cuba, and even allegedly offered a representative (at the soviet embassy if i remember correctly) to kill kennedy.

there are several other strands of evidence and counter-evidence though, and it gets really murky and complicated. depending oon who you believe oswald may have even been manipulated by both pro-castro and castro agents for various reasons, which may or may not have been related to the assassination. who knows?

but the evidence suggests oswald mostly likely killed kennedy, whatever his motivations.

From the Onion

http://www.prouty.org/nixon.html

George Bush Sr. was working for the CIA at the time, dealing with cubans, but that's another story.

I love me some conspiracy theories.

Former Texas first lady Connally dies

By Kelley Shannon, Associated Press Writer
September 2, 2006

AUSTIN, Texas -- Nellie Connally, the former Texas first lady who was riding in President Kennedy's limousine when he was assassinated, has died, a family friend said Saturday. The 87-year-old was the last living person who had been part of that fateful Dallas drive.

Connally, the widow of former Gov. John Connally, died late Friday of natural causes at an Austin assisted living center, said Julian Read, who served as the governor's press secretary in the 1960s.

As the limousine carrying the Connallys and the Kennedys wound its way through the friendly crowd in downtown Dallas, Nellie Connally turned to President Kennedy, who was in a seat behind her, and said, "Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you."

Almost immediately, she heard the first of what she later concluded were three gunshots in quick succession. A wounded John Connally slumped after the second shot, and, "I never looked back again. I was just trying to take care of him," she said.

She later said the most enduring image of that day was the bloodstained roses.

"It's the image of yellow roses and red roses and blood all over the car ... all over us," she said in a 2003 interview with The Associated Press. "I'll never forget it. ... It was so quick and so short, so potent."

Read said Connally had been sitting at her desk writing thank-you notes when she died.

"She has been extremely active and vital the past few days and weeks," he said. "It's a shock to all of us."

In 2003, she published a photo-filled book -- "From Love Field: Our Final Hours with President John F. Kennedy" -- based on 22 pages of handwritten notes she compiled about a week after the assassination and rediscovered in 1996.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry called Connally "the epitome of graciousness."

"Long before she was propelled into the national spotlight from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, she was a Texas icon," Perry said in a statement.

Connally, formerly Nellie Brill, met her husband at the University of Texas in Austin, and they married on Dec. 21, 1940.

John Connally managed several political campaigns for fellow Texan Lyndon B. Johnson, including his 1964 presidential campaign. Connally was elected Texas governor as a Democrat in 1962 and won re-election twice, serving three two-year terms.

He was treasury secretary in the Nixon administration and ran for president as a Republican in 1980, when Ronald Reagan was elected. John Connally died in 1993.

Nellie Connally helped raise money for many charities. In 1989, Richard Nixon, Barbara Walters and Donald Trump turned out for a gala to honor her and raise money for diabetes research.

"I've never known a woman with Nellie's courage, compassion and character," Walters said. "For all her ups and downs, I've never heard a self-pitying word from her."

John and Nellie Connally suffered financial difficulties after he left office. Private business ventures after 1980 were less successful than John Connally's career as a politician and dealmaking Houston lawyer. An oil company in which he invested got into trouble, and $200 million worth of real estate projects went sour, and he ended up filing for bankruptcy.

Nellie Connally served on the Board of Visitors of The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center since 1984, and a fund in her name raised millions for research and patient programs. The Houston hospital's center for breast cancer also is named for Connally, a survivor of the disease for more than 15 years.

About a year ago, Connally moved back to Austin after decades in Houston.

Survivors include her daughter, Sharon Connally Ammann, two sons, John B. Connally III and Mark Connally, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Funeral services are pending. She is to be buried near her late husband in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.

There was a documentary, maybe a couple of years ago, that pretty convincingly dealt with every doubt/conspiracy theory including the 'magic bullet' one. IIRC it was to do with the fact that the seats at the back were higher than the seats at the front, and that the front of the car was more narrow at the front. Or something. Anyway, by the end of the documentary I was completely won over to the Oswald-acting-along side.

1. Oswald did it and he was a lone gunman, without any assistance whatsoever.

2. Oswald was a patsy and INSERT CONSPIRACY HERE did it.

Why not

3. Oswald was solely responsible for physically shooting Kennedy, but he was aided/abetted/instructed in doing so by party or parties unknown.

I've always thought that this was the most likely explanation.

That's kinda what I believe too. With the CIA & FBI knowing all about it, but looking the other way.

wasn't like 30 minutes of Stone's JFK spent on this?

This documentary (that I mentioned earlier) looked into that as well, and the gist of it was that there had been so many supergrasses over the past 40 years that it was unthinkable that if the mob had been involved the truth wouldn't have come out by now.

SEE

I, too, say there was more than one problem when I fail to prevent a world changing problem at work

lmao

or when i CAUSED the problem…

"it could have been anyone"

I may have mentioned it before, but one-man public domain content machine Greg Goebel had an incredibly thorough microsite about the JFK assassination, which appears to now only be available via the Wayback Machine:
https://web.archive.org/web/20131123221428/http://www.vectorsite.net/twjfk.html

Oswald comes across as a massive dick who had a troubled but not overly awful childhood, and was then given opportunity after opportunity to better himself, but screwed it up time and time again. He comes across as the type of smirking, self-satisfied "I'll show them how smart I am" person who was competent enough to shoot JFK, lucky enough to briefly get away with it, but not smart enough for any kind of long-term planning. Nowadays he would probably have a Youtube channel, except that he didn't appear to have the self-discipline to actually knuckle down and pump out content.

Goebel also covers the conspiracy theories that appeared afterwards, none of which come across as convincing. It strikes me that arranging to clandestinely get rid of JKF by having him shot in public, in a way that might not have worked, was bad planning. It would have been simpler to pay a gunman to shoot JFK, and then arrange for that man to be shot while resisting arrest. Or to lure JFK into a giant freezer with Jolly Rancher candies, which would have the advantage of removing JFK from the picture but also leaving open the possibility of reviving him if the Communists didn't play ball.

Goebel's conclusion was that people would just stop caring, and over time no-one would remember JFK or the conspiracy theories, which is fair enough.

I completely forgot that Rob Reiner was into JFK assassination theories and hosted a ten part podcast about it with Soledad O’Brien. https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-who-killed-jfk-127000428/

The podcast isn't particularly informative if you've watched or read any other assassination material (crucially, there's no mention of the important "maybe his head just did that" theory), but in the final episode he does name four people he's convinced are the potential assassins - all of whom have been implicated in the assassination by others:
Jack Cannon
Herminio Diaz Garcia
John Souetre
Chuck Nicoletti

Oswald comes across as a massive dick who had a troubled but not overly awful childhood, and was then given opportunity after opportunity to better himself, but screwed it up time and time again. He comes across as the type of smirking, self-satisfied "I'll show them how smart I am" person who was competent enough to shoot JFK, lucky enough to briefly get away with it, but not smart enough for any kind of long-term planning. Nowadays he would probably have a Youtube channel, except that he didn't appear to have the self-discipline to actually knuckle down and pump out content

Pretty weird post. Aside from the facts of his childhood which seem to suggest it was difficult and lacking in love, it is strange to simultaneously say "he'd have been a YouTuber today!" as a pejorative then in the same breath praise YouTubers by saying he wouldn't have been talented enough to be the YouTuber you say he would have been. It's also just weird to apply this frame to the past. And it's an odd thing to say about a person who does not appear to have had much confidence or connection in their life. Doesn't mean you have to like them or they deserve sympathy, just a very odd series of conclusions which even a cursory few facts easily dismiss.

I’d partially buy that take! It takes some level of ongoing effort to set up a successful YouTube enterprise, what with all the equipment, editing, technical knowledge. Oswald wasn’t a dabbler per se, but he didn’t really commit to anything long term.

I buy that he was the actual assassin. He was erratic but not committed, to the point where multiple agencies had an eye on him but he wasn’t worth scooping up. He defects, he returns, he’s a bad husband and father, he’s never really succeeded or committed to anything. He decides to shoot his shot, literally, and suddenly everyone’s panicked because this guy who perpetually dabbles with things that could be seen as subversive actually does something.

I think most youtubers are pitching at a lowest common denominator but they’re committed to it if they’re successful. The uncommitted man occasionally squeaks through.

Would hit that subscribe button on that Oswald YT so fast!

We need an Oswald rn aimirite lads?!

Well if he wasn't capable of being a YouTuber then it isn't true to say he'd have been a YouTuber. Again though it seems a strange frame to look through. He seems to have done worse things and experienced worse things than reducing assessment to "I hate YouTubers".

what Ashley said was that Oswald would have a Youtube channel. plenty of people start posting videos and never get any traction and let them languish without ever becoming successful Youtubers, not sure what’s hard to understand about that

It's not hard to understand, it's just an absolute mindless point.

i also think it’s reasonable to infer, in context, that the Youtuber comment was an extension of or an elaboration on the portrait painted by Goebel in the linked material rather than a straight-ahead opinion but ymmv

Y'all gotta start thinkin' on a different level like the CIA does. We're through the lookin' glass, people! Here, white is black and black is white.

Other ppl from the JFK universe who should've had a YT channel: Jim Garrison, Willie O'Keefe, David Ferrie and ofc Mr.X!!

“would Lee Harvey Oswald have been a Youtuber” is precisely the kind of mindlessness i come to ilx for, i didn’t realize we were only supposed to have deep important thoughts on the jfk thread

I wouldn't say deep and important is the opposite of mindless but to each their own.

Oswald used to stand on the street yelling about Cuba. Seems like he'd have done better with a Twitch stream.

I think if Cervantes was alive today he would probably own a smartphone.

Cervantes would be into AI

Don Quixote would be using Uber.

He'd be big into LARPing.

Jay Gatsby would be a Silicon Valley tech lord.

Chaucer would probably be writing on a computer! Makes you think.

when you think about it, newspapers were like the social media of the time

Hitler would definitely have a phone

And a podcast no doubt!!

He was the leading influencer in Germany in his pomp tbf

Hitler would be a free speech bro

You might even say Ezra Pound was the first intellectual dark web podcaster.

Hemingway would have tweeted some incredible very short stories.

Henry VIII would have a reality show to pick his next wife.

Jesus would have been a backpack rapper.

Jesus would have been what we now call “a little woo-woo”

He would totally be one of those young bros who are into Catholicism.

Trad-Naz

I'm reading Stephen King's 11/23/63 at the moment and very much enjoying it.

"it is strange to simultaneously say "he'd have been a YouTuber today!" as a pejorative then in the same breath praise YouTubers by saying he wouldn't have been talented enough to be the YouTuber you say he would have been"

My point is that Oswald would have been a natural fit as a modern-day YouTube talking head - he thought highly of his own opinions and was keen to share them with strangers - but he didn't have the commitment or the focus to make it in that arena. The internet is full of people like him. He was a big-headed egoist who spent his life convinced he was the smartest person in the room, but every time he tried to apply himself he failed, because he wasn't as smart as he thought, and he didn't have the commitment to improve himself. Time and again [insert bulk of original post].

Now, whether you love or merely adore Mr Beast, it's impossible not to be awed by his work ethic. Mr Beast transformed himself from nothingness into the world's most beloved YouTube personality, and I mean that most sincerely. Whereas in contrast Oswald lived his life like a... candle. That's right. A candle. A candle in the wind. Never knowing which way to turn to when the rain set in. His personality was built on frustration, anger, and a total lack of self-awareness.

As far as I can tell he didn't even expect to successfully kill JFK - he had no coherent escape plan, no pre-prepared speech - so the one significant thing he achieved in his life was an accident. During his police interview he maintained that he was a patsy, and that the police weren't smart enough to work anything out, and then he was killed. And all the press wanted to know was whether he slept in the nude #toosoon #christmasnumberone #folsomprisonblues

but every time he tried to apply himself he failed

uhh, with one notable exception

Nobody's going to tell me that kid shot like he did from that bookstore. They say that Oswald got off three shots with world-class precision from a manual bolt-action rifle in less than six seconds.

According to his Marine buddies, he got Maggie's drawers. You know what that means? He wasn't any good.

Sometimes you just get lucky

My point is that Oswald would have been a natural fit as a modern-day YouTube talking head

Apart from the fact he was an ostracised misfit.

the internet is full of people like him

The rest of the post just seems like too much brandy in the trifle but feel free to fire away again.
Which people are not on the internet? The internet is full of people like everyone.

"Lee Harvey Oswald would have been a very silly internet bro, also what if the pope actually smoked dope!!!"

The type of guy who starts a one man “Fair Play for Cuba” group and hands out pro-Castro flyers in Texas is certainly the kind of personality who today would do stunts like handcuffing himself to the Twitter office door or whatever.

Yes cos we've never had people on the street saying stuff until the last three years or prior to the Kennedy assassination

I'm reading Stephen King's 11/23/63 at the moment and very much enjoying it.

Best King novel after he got sober, absolute travesty what they did to it with the James Franco series.

he thought highly of his own opinions and was keen to share them with strangers - but he didn't have the commitment or the focus to make it in that arena. The internet is full of people like him. He was a big-headed egoist who spent his life convinced he was the smartest person in the room, but every time he tried to apply himself he failed, because he wasn't as smart as he thought

There but for the grace of god.

Come on, this guy moved to the Soviet Union on a whim and then came back because it was kind of lame. He would definitely do attention grabbing stunts but didn’t have the follow through to put together an Infowars.

He’s like those alt-right guys who move to Hungary for the fascism but get disappointed because there are a bunch of rules.