That is true.
I've never thought of it as a fascination on my part. That may very well be what it is. Some years ago on John McAdams' Google groups page, an LN of some stature thought that he could denigrate conspiracy theorists by calling them CT hobbyists. The truth of the matter is that most of us who engage in discussion and debate on the subject are hobbyists. That really is what I am. I don't bring much of my own to the debate. I've spent countless hours searching and researching on different aspects of the case. I spent many many hours debating and researching on the Klein's Sporting Goods Money order over a number of years. I was personally satisfied that the thing had been cashed but the issue wasn't put completely to rest in the minds of all of those with some capacity for reasoning until you came along in the Fall of 2015. And you put it to rest in relatively short order. I was pleased to see you piss off the Armstrong sycophants with your questioning of the Wilmouth document. I had done the same thing a couple of years prior. Except that my questioning of Armstrong's take on the document never reached his "desk".
I absolutely claim no status beyond hobbyist either, and the JFKA would be about tenth in my list of hobbies and interests. When I exposed the money order silliness after about an hour on Google, I was amused to find myself referred to on a couple of sites as "researcher Lance Payette." Gee, is that what it takes to be a researcher? Oh-so-serious Dan O'Meara doesn't seem to grasp that my references to myself as a Serious and Dedicated Researcher are entirely tongue-in-cheek. What I don't understand is why folks, LNers in particular, become so wedded to a particular narrative that propping it up becomes almost a crusade. Something like Orr's theory is way more interesting and fun. (As you probably know, pretend lawyer and certified nutcase Sandy Larsen still thinks he kicked my butt on the money order issue and regards it as one of his great triumphs. I finally traced through ALL the federal regulations dating back to the 1800s and was something like 10,000 words into THE definitive article on the money order silliness - which IS silliness - before saying "Oh, for God's sake, I have better things to do with my life than this.")
The HSCA’s ballistics experts did not conclude that, between the back and the throat, the bullet had carved an 11-degree upward track. Several members of the FPP believed that "when the body is repositioned in the anatomic position (not the position at the moment of shooting) the direction of the missile in the body on initial penetration was slightly upward(11 degrees)". Several members. Not the panel as a whole. Not even a majority.
My point was just that exactly what the bullet hit and how its path might have been altered seem to be very much open issues. Orr doesn't seem to me to be suggesting anything too wild.
Lest we forget, Orr was a respected and honored official in the Antitrust Division of the USDOJ and, while still in that position, submitted his report to Attorney General Janet Reno in hopes of reopening the JFKA investigation. He may have made errors, but I have to believe he wasn't playing fast and loose with the facts.
Quasi-religious attachment to the LN narrative? I don't think that describes me. But me being an SBT zealot, maybe it does. The theological stuff is weighing heavily on me as of late. My own views are somewhat malleable. I am a heretic. That much I do know. My aunt did read a nice bible passage at my Uncle's burial today. He was an agnostic. Yesterday a priest gave a very nice reading and dedication at the burial of my neighbour in that same cemetery. He was the first Catholic Priest to ever reside over a burial ceremony in our family cemetery since the first burial there in the mid 1800s. I live right next to that cemetery and have spent many years taking care of it.
Cool! One of our homes was right next to a cemetery. I could never understand why realtors considered that a negative. I can't imagine a more peaceful and reflective place to live - we loved it. My own religious beliefs are such that (1) I have been banned, multiple times, from literally every major Christian forum, and banned so many times from City-Data that I ("Irkle Berserkle" in my most famous persona) am something of a legend there, and (2) on said forums, I am routinely described as a "fundie" by the atheists and "not a Christian at all" by the fundies. I regard (1) and (2) as proof that I'm on the right path or at least pretty close.
