Ruth Paine remembers the Assassination

[John Iacoletti]

Yes, many CTers suggest there must be some tidy, rational motive for a guy to take his rifle to work and assassinate the President.  As though that is the act of a normal person which must be explained with absolute certainty that we can all agree upon.  Oswald was clearly an angry malcontent.  That is the leitmotif of his entire life.  He hated authority and blamed society for his unhappiness.  He wanted to make his mark like many angry people with an act of violence.  He likely had no particular personal grievance against JFK.  As the President, JFK was a representative of American society who became a target of opportunity for a disgruntled nut who had already decided he was willing to sacrifice his own life to commit an act of violence. Oswald must have felt like he had won a golden ticket when he learned that JFK would be passing the TSBD in an open car.  Everything fell in place for him after that.  A happy guy to go out in a blaze of glory.  The fact that we are still discussing him 50 plus years later is a sign that he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.  Ironically it is the CTers that are trying to rob him of his one successful act in life.

Cool story, bro.

[Thomas Graves]

Yes, many CTers suggest there must be some tidy, rational motive for a guy to take his rifle to work and assassinate the President.  As though that is the act of a normal person which must be explained with absolute certainty that we can all agree upon.  Oswald was clearly an angry malcontent.  That is the leitmotif of his entire life.  He hated authority and blamed society for his unhappiness.  He wanted to make his mark like many angry people with an act of violence.  He likely had no particular personal grievance against JFK.  As the President, JFK was a representative of American society who became a target of opportunity for a disgruntled nut who had already decided he was willing to sacrifice his own life to commit an act of violence. Oswald must have felt like he had won a golden ticket when he learned that JFK would be passing the TSBD in an open car.  Everything fell in place for him after that.  A happy guy to go out in a blaze of glory.  The fact that we are still discussing him 50 plus years later is a sign that he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.  Ironically it is the CTers that are trying to rob him of his one successful act in life.

Richard and Bill,

If, as I suspect, all-around loser and self-proclaimed Marxist Lee Harvey Oswald, disgusted as he was with life in America as well as in the USSR, assassinated President Kennedy on November 1963 in order to "accelerate The Dialectic" (and bring down both systems), I wonder if he could have envisioned that a mobbed-up, multi-billionaire, former KGB officer would be a de facto dictator of Russia today, and that his (Putin's) number one  "useful idiot," Donald Trump, would be the nominal president of The United States?

Ironically, what Oswald did gave rise to oodles and gobs of tinfoil hat conspiracy theories, some of it Kremlin-promulgated, that paved the way for the likes of far-left (Oliver Stone, James "Jumbo Duh" DiEugenio) and far-right conspiracy-spewing ideologues (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Alex Jones), and, as a result of their "works," the advent of Donald J. Trump as our president.

--  MWT 

[Richard Smith]

Richard and Bill,

If, as I suspect, all-around loser and self-proclaimed Marxist Lee Harvey Oswald, disgusted as he was with life in America as well as in the USSR, assassinated President Kennedy on November 1963 in order to "accelerate The Dialectic" (and bring down both systems), I wonder if he could have envisioned that a mobbed-up, multi-billionaire, former KGB officer would be a de facto dictator of Russia today, and that his (Putin's) number one  "useful idiot," Donald Trump, would be the nominal president of The United States?

Ironically, what Oswald did gave rise to oodles and gobs of tinfoil hat conspiracy theories, some of it Kremlin-promulgated, that paved the way for the likes of far-left (Oliver Stone, James "Jumbo Duh" DiEugenio) and far-right conspiracy-spewing ideologues (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Alex Jones), and, as a result of their "works," the advent of Donald J. Trump as our president.

--  MWT 

I don't believe Oswald gave much thought to the consequences of his actions.  He was just an angry guy who was going to shake the tree and see what happened.  He only had a few days to plan and this opportunity was purely one of chance.  That's about all he could do given his limited means.  And he succeeded in changing society in a fundamental way.  Imagine an American president being able to drive through a city in an open car on a preannounced route.  That was routine before Nov. 22, 1963.  Now it is unimaginable.  Oswald was the guy who showed the way to every angry nut who was willing to die for some grievance and wanted to make their mark.  A perfect storm with the media coverage which gives ideas to other such nuts.  And on and on until today.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

I don't believe Oswald gave much thought to the consequences of his actions.  He was just an angry guy who was going to shake the tree and see what happened.  He only had a few days to plan and this opportunity was purely one of chance.  That's about all he could do given his limited means.  And he succeeded in changing society in a fundamental way.  Imagine an American president being able to drive through a city in an open car on a preannounced route.  That was routine before Nov. 22, 1963.  Now it is unimaginable.  Oswald was the guy who showed the way to every angry nut who was willing to die for some grievance and wanted to make their mark.  A perfect storm with the media coverage which gives ideas to other such nuts.  And on and on until today.

About 10 days before the assassination Oswald goes to the FBI headquarters in Dallas to confront the FBI agent, James Hosty, about his (Hosty's) questioning of Marina. That's not an act of someone who is planning to murder the president. That's drawing attention to yourself, raising a red flag.

Granted the FBI, Hosty specifically, dropped the ball. But Oswald wouldn't know how the FBI would act. In fact when he was in Mexico City he complained that the "notorious FBI" was after him.

Then he gets his rifle the day before the assassination. He doesn't get it earlier to practice with it, to check on its accuracy and reliability. He has four bullets. He needs a rife ride from a co-worker. He has to hope that he can be alone at the time JFK passes by. He has to hope on....well it's not a small list.

He got tragically lucky. He had almost no resources, no planning, no escape. It was essentially suicide.

[Steve M. Galbraith]

Richard and Bill,

If, as I suspect, all-around loser and self-proclaimed Marxist Lee Harvey Oswald, disgusted as he was with life in America as well as in the USSR, assassinated President Kennedy on November 1963 in order to "accelerate The Dialectic" (and bring down both systems), I wonder if he could have envisioned that a mobbed-up, multi-billionaire, former KGB officer would be a de facto dictator of Russia today, and that his (Putin's) number one  "useful idiot," Donald Trump, would be the nominal president of The United States?

Ironically, what Oswald did gave rise to oodles and gobs of tinfoil hat conspiracy theories, some of it Kremlin-promulgated, that paved the way for the likes of far-left (Oliver Stone, James "Jumbo Duh" DiEugenio) and far-right conspiracy-spewing ideologues (Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Alex Jones), and, as a result of their "works," the advent of Donald J. Trump as our president.

--  MWT 

You have dozens of post here positing this bizarre (to me) theory that the KGB/DGI and Khrushchev or Castro directed Oswald to kill JFK. And then you (correctly) complain about rampant conspiracy thinking going around?

Frankly, your views on the assassination are really not much different than those of Oliver Stone and DiEugenio and Simpich. They just believe that the CIA was behind it all and you think the KGB or DGI was.

Then, to top it off, you've suggested that people here who disagree with you may be Putin's assets? Really?

As Richard pointed out above, Oswald probably didn't give much thought to his act. He retrieves his rifle the day before the assassination, he has zero practice with it, doesn't check it for accuracy and reliability. He has four bullets. He has to get a ride from a co-worker. He has to hope that he'll be alone at the time JFK passes by.

This is not the act of a well-trained assassin who prepares for the act on orders of Khrushchev. This is a desperate, angry man who got tragically lucky.

[Richard Smith]

About 10 days before the assassination Oswald goes to the FBI headquarters in Dallas to confront the FBI agent, James Hosty, about his (Hosty's) questioning of Marina. That's not an act of someone who is planning to murder the president. That's drawing attention to yourself, raising a red flag.

Granted the FBI, Hosty specifically, dropped the ball. But Oswald wouldn't know how the FBI would act. In fact when he was in Mexico City he complained that the "notorious FBI" was after him.

Then he gets his rifle the day before the assassination. He doesn't get it earlier to practice with it, to check on its accuracy and reliability. He has four bullets. He needs a rife ride from a co-worker. He has to hope that he can be alone at the time JFK passes by. He has to hope on....well it's not a small list.

He got tragically lucky. He had almost no resources, no planning, no escape. It was essentially suicide.

Yes, he wouldn't have even known JFK was coming to Dallas and would pass his building until Monday or Tuesday before the assassination.  He also made a request to hold up his tax form when he was hired at the TSBD so he could add another dependent when his child was born.  Saving himself a few bucks.  Not something a guy who knew he would be killing the president in a few weeks would have concerned himself with.  There is no escaping from assassinating the president.  Oswald knew that which is why he left most of his money and wedding ring at home that morning.  This is where CTers ask why Oswald would have made a run for it if he knew his situation was hopeless.  As though criminals simply sit down and give themselves up even if there is no hope of escape.  Oswald just played his hand out like any number of criminals have done throughout history.  He had nothing to lose by giving it a try.  With a little luck (i.e. not encountering Tippit) he might have got out of Dallas and even to Mexico before the authorities caught up to him.  Like James Earl Ray did.

[Bill Chapman]

Yes, he wouldn't have even known JFK was coming to Dallas and would pass his building until Monday or Tuesday before the assassination.  He also made a request to hold up his tax form when he was hired at the TSBD so he could add another dependent when his child was born.  Saving himself a few bucks.  Not something a guy who knew he would be killing the president in a few weeks would have concerned himself with.  There is no escaping from assassinating the president.  Oswald knew that which is why he left most of his money and wedding ring at home that morning.  This is where CTers ask why Oswald would have made a run for it if he knew his situation was hopeless.  As though criminals simply sit down and give themselves up even if there is no hope of escape.  Oswald just played his hand out like any number of criminals have done throughout history.  He had nothing to lose by giving it a try.  With a little luck (i.e. not encountering Tippit) he might have got out of Dallas and even to Mexico before the authorities caught up to him.  Like James Earl Ray did.

Yeah, Oswald seemed an unlikely candidate to voluntarily give himself up