Why Did Oswald Kill JFK?

[Thomas Graves]

1. Going bald
2. Marriage falling apart
3. Stuck in a low-paying, dead-end job
4. Hated America and its institutions
5. Was a nobody who wanted to be a somebody
6. Supported Castro and the Cuban revolution
7. The guy who stared down Castro and the USSR was coming to town

Check, Check, Check, Check, Check, Check, ...

7)  I got the "stared down Castro" bit -- The Cuban Missile Crisis. (It's kinda interesting that Castro was really pissed off at Khruschev afterwards. LOL)

But uhh ... What do you mean by "the USSR was coming to town"?

-- MWT 

PS  I would add that, after living in the highly regimented, neighbors-spy-on-neighbors, consumer goods-lacking "Workers' Paradise" for 2.5 years, his last-chance dreams were broken, and by then he probably hated "hypocritical, corrupt" Soviet institutions and way of life, too, and that's why he decided to "speed-up/advance The Marxist-Leninist Dialectic" by killing JFK and getting "warmonger" LBJ into office.

It's all very Hegelian ...

[Steve M. Galbraith]

That would largely be my understanding, Oswaldovitch saw this as a way to contribute to the Revolution and he wanted Gus Hall as his lawyer?

He wanted John Abt not Gus Hall. Abt was a defense lawyer who had represented many Marxists accused of violating American laws.

Abt was an important member of the CPUSA, although he denied being a member at that time; and there's no evidence that I've seen that Oswald knew about his membership. Abt was also a key member in the late 1930s and 1940s of the so-called "Ware Group", a group of spies (some of them) for the Soviets. This was a major group working on behalf of Moscow. It was made famous by the claims made by Whittaker Chambers about Alger Hiss (among other things).

It's funny, though, that I think if Oswald knew that Abt was a member of the CPUSA he, Oswald, may not have wanted him to represent him. Oswald was very critical of the CPUSA - he wrote that it had betrayed Marxism for its slavish support for Moscow.  So he may have viewed Abt more critically than he did.

Oswald was adamant about wanting Abt. Until he found out whether Abt would represent him, he didn't want anyone else. This is what Lou Nichols, the head of the Dallas Bar Association at the time, said Oswald told him. These claims that Oswald was denied a lawyer are simply false. He didn't WANT one until it was determined whether Abt would or could represent him. Turning away a lawyer who said he wanted to meet Oswald is NOT denying Oswald a lawyer since there is no evidence that Oswald wanted anyone other than Abt. Not at that time.

[Charles Collins]

He wanted John Abt not Gus Hall. Abt was a defense lawyer who had represented many Marxists accused of violating American laws.

Abt was an important member of the CPUSA although he denied it at the time and there's no evidence that I've seen that Oswald knew about his membership. Abt was also a key member in the late 1930s and 1940s of the so-called "Ware Group", a group of spies (some of them) for the Soviets. This was a major group working on behalf of Moscow. It was made famous for the claims made by Whittaker Chambers about Alger Hiss (among other things).

It's funny, though, that I think if Oswald knew that Abt was a member of the CPUSA he, Oswald, may not have wanted him to represent him. Oswald was very critical of the CPUSA - he wrote that it had betrayed Marxism for its slavish support for Moscow.  So he may have viewed Abt more critically than he did.

Oswald was adamant about wanting Abt. Until he found out whether Abt would represent him, he didn't want anyone else. This is what Lou Nichols, the head of the Dallas Bar Association at the time, said Oswald told him. These claims that Oswald was denied a lawyer are simply false. He didn't WANT one until it was determined whether Abt would or could represent him. Turning away a lawyer who said he wanted to meet Oswald is NOT denying Oswald a lawyer since there is no evidence that Oswald wanted anyone other than Abt. Not at that time.

There are some parallel aspects to what happened to one of LHO’s heroes:

“August 30, 1918 Lenin visiting a factory outside Moscow. Fanta Kaplan, a woman who was working with a banned terrorist group, was standing in the crowd. She fired 3 shots directly at Lenin. Two bullets entered his body. One pierced his lung. The other one lodged in his neck. Taken back to the Kremlin, he appeared to be on the verge of death. His paranoia continued, he refused all medical treatment until a Bolshevik doctor could be found.”

And then (of course) there is this:

“But there is still doubt about who actually shot Lenin. Kaplan was near blind, she had never had any experience with firearms and it was near dark when the shooting happened. Despite signing a confession, many historians doubt she pulled the trigger.”

[Thomas Graves]

There are some parallel aspects to what happened to one of LHO’s heroes:

“August 30, 1918 Lenin visiting a factory outside Moscow. Fanta Kaplan, a woman who was working with a banned terrorist group, was standing in the crowd. She fired 3 shots directly at Lenin. Two bullets entered his body. One pierced his lung. The other one lodged in his neck. Taken back to the Kremlin, he appeared to be on the verge of death. His paranoia continued, he refused all medical treatment until a Bolshevik doctor could be found.”

And then (of course) there is this:

“But there is still doubt about who actually shot Lenin. Kaplan was near blind, she had never had any experience with firearms and it was near dark when the shooting happened. Despite signing a confession, many historians doubt she pulled the trigger.”

1) So Oswald wasn't so "lucky," after all. Just unlucky as all get-out that his first shot (about 1 second before Zapruder resumed filming at Z-133) grazed the "mast arm" of the traffic signal.

2) If it was Ms Kaplan, she sure had the right idea.

--  MWT 

[Charles Collins]

1) So Oswald wasn't so "lucky," after all. Just unlucky as all get-out that his first shot (about 1 second before Zapruder resumed filming at Z-133) grazed the "mast arm" of the traffic signal.

2) If it was Ms Kaplan, she sure had the right idea.

--  MWT 

In my opinion, LHO’s first shot was inadvertent due to either the rifle unexpectedly hitting the top Rolling Reader box, or his left arm hitting the conduit, (as he was tracking the moving target). And it hit the pavement near the back of the limousine.

[Peter Goth]

In my opinion, LHO’s first shot was inadvertent due to either the rifle unexpectedly hitting the top Rolling Reader box, or his left arm hitting the conduit, (as he was tracking the moving target). And it hit the pavement near the back of the limousine.

really? - I think he had a hole in one of his socks.

[Charles Collins]

really? - I think he had a hole in one of his socks.

This thread shows some of the research, by several different people, behind this theory. How did you research your hole in the sock theory???   

https://www.jfkassassinationforum.com/index.php/topic,2090.0.html