Are there any "researchers" here who started out as LNs but who are now CTs?

[Lance Payette]

Then why are you here?

Ah, the "why are you here?" ploy! I see this at least ten times a week on the FOX News comments, when someone dares to criticize the one-sided inanity of many FOX articles. "Then why are you here, you non-MAGA maggot?"

Putting myself under oath, an honest answer would be something like "sheer boredom" and "amusing myself as my own best audience."

However, in my own little way I feel that I am contributing to that hall of mirrors called "JFKA studies." Some of my contributions, I believe, are borderline worthwhile. Not many, but sometimes I get lucky.

Am I required to still be grieving JFK and hating Oswald in order to participate on a JFKA forum? That would be a weird Term of Service, not unlike those one finds on many Christian forums:

1. Participants are reminded that this is a JFK assassination forum. For many, this is a deeply sensitive subject and their grief remains fresh. Similarly, their hatred of Oswald remains intense and equally fresh. While fawning worship of JFK's memory and foaming-at-the-mouth hatred of Oswald is not a condition of participation, sensitivity is required and will be enforced at the discretion of the moderators. If you do not agree that JFK was the greatest American who ever lived and that Oswald is an evil monster who would have been aborted before birth if only you had a time machine, perhaps this is not the forum for you. Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are not deemed True JFKA Believers and may participate only on the Unorthodox JFKA Beliefs section of the forum.

[John Corbett]

Ah, the "why are you here?" ploy! I see this at least ten times a week on the FOX News comments, when someone dares to criticize the one-sided inanity of many FOX articles. "Then why are you here, you non-MAGA maggot?"

Putting myself under oath, an honest answer would be something like "sheer boredom" and "amusing myself as my own best audience."

However, in my own little way I feel that I am contributing to that hall of mirrors called "JFKA studies." Some of my contributions, I believe, are borderline worthwhile. Not many, but sometimes I get lucky.

Am I required to still be grieving JFK and hating Oswald in order to participate on a JFKA forum? That would be a weird Term of Service, not unlike those one finds on many Christian forums:

1. Participants are reminded that this is a JFK assassination forum. For many, this is a deeply sensitive subject and their grief remains fresh. Similarly, their hatred of Oswald remains intense and equally fresh. While fawning worship of JFK's memory and foaming-at-the-mouth hatred of Oswald is not a condition of participation, sensitivity is required and will be enforced at the discretion of the moderators. If you do not agree that JFK was the greatest American who ever lived and that Oswald is an evil monster who would have been aborted before birth if only you had a time machine, perhaps this is not the forum for you. Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses are not deemed True JFKA Believers and may participate only on the Unorthodox JFKA Beliefs section of the forum.

You did say you felt no angst about the assassination so asking for your motivation for participating here seems like a reasonable question.

A more appropriate reference than a hall of mirrors would be funhouse mirrors. Without distortion, there is no case for conspiracy. 

[Richard Smith]

In my experience, many CTers believe that those of us who conclude that Oswald is the lone shooter somehow have a vested interest in that outcome.  As though we have a vendetta against Oswald who died before most of us were born or just want to accept the "official" story without being open to their claims.  Nothing can be further from truth.  I believe that John Wilkes Booth WAS involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln.  I came to that conclusion based upon the evidence and nothing else.  I believe that Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated JFK all by his lonesome and was not involved in a conspiracy because the evidence links Oswald to this crime beyond any doubt and there is no credible evidence that links him to any other person or organization.  There may be some things that can never be known about Oswald's motivation and actions because only he would know and took precautions not to be detected before committing this crime.  There can be reasoned conjecture based on common sense and known facts but we can't ever have perfect knowledge to explain every action.  None of that, however, should be conflated with creating any doubt as to his guilt in light of the existing evidence that links him to this crime.  I've read all manner of explanations and conjecture by CTers on this forum and elsewhere and have never come across an iota of real evidence that gives me pause about Oswald's guilt.  Again, not because I'm not open to the possibility of conspiracies or hate Oswald or am programmed to accept the "official" story but because there is no such evidence.

[Richard Smith]

I was 13 years, 8 months, so perhaps I have a more mature perspective. I never felt the slightest connection to JFK, positive or negative. Nor do I hate Oswald any more than I hate John Wilkes Booth or the obscure assassins of Garfield and Mckinley. What was supposedly taken from us, other than JFK himself? Is charisma a big loss? LBJ to me was about as uncharismatic as they get, but he was far more qualified to be President. Am I still supposed to be grieving something? I truly don't get what, in 2026, the "JFK angst" is all about.

At the very least, Oswald murdered two people in cold blood. Regardless of who they were, double homicide is a despicable act.  His actions also had longstanding cultural implications in my opinion that remain with us today.  He let the genie out of the bottle that every angry nut can take a gun and make is mark.  School shooting, mass shootings, other assassinations, and the security state that presidents must now live in can all be traced back to Nov. 22.  The merits or lack thereof of JFK have nothing to do with that.  The Camelot myth was a product of leftist revisionist history but that doesn't minimize the harm.

[Lance Payette]

At the very least, Oswald murdered two people in cold blood. Regardless of who they were, double homicide is a despicable act.  His actions also had longstanding cultural implications in my opinion that remain with us today.  He let the genie out of the bottle that every angry nut can take a gun and make is mark.  School shooting, mass shootings, other assassinations, and the security state that presidents must now live in can all be traced back to Nov. 22.  The merits or lack thereof of JFK have nothing to do with that.  The Camelot myth was a product of leftist revisionist history but that doesn't minimize the harm.

That's a fair perspective - certainly more balanced than John's. But my God, there are at least 100 news stories every year involving multiple murders that are factually more ghastly than the JFKA. I read them, factor them into my perspective on human nature and what humans are capable of, and move on. I do think you grossly overstate the case in terms of Oswald letting a genie out of the bottle. There were surprisingly ghastly crimes long before Oswald, and the 1970's and 1980's looked nothing like today in terms of what you're describing. I think the near-hell we're living in today is due to factors much more recent than the JFKA. John's suggestion was that there is something illegitimate about anyone who is interested in the JFKA for any reason other than "JFK angst" and visceral hatred of Oswald. As stated, I'm very interested in Oswald the man and can have empathy for him without minimizing his actions. I can also be interested in the JFKA simply as a whodunnit and opportunity to exercise my brain, all of which I believe to be entirely legitimate. I actually think that the attitudes John expresses are an impediment to thinking critically about the case.

[John Corbett]

At the very least, Oswald murdered two people in cold blood. Regardless of who they were, double homicide is a despicable act.  His actions also had longstanding cultural implications in my opinion that remain with us today.  He let the genie out of the bottle that every angry nut can take a gun and make is mark.  School shooting, mass shootings, other assassinations, and the security state that presidents must now live in can all be traced back to Nov. 22.  The merits or lack thereof of JFK have nothing to do with that.  The Camelot myth was a product of leftist revisionist history but that doesn't minimize the harm.

BRAVO!!!

[John Corbett]

That's a fair perspective - certainly more balanced than John's. But my God, there are at least 100 news stories every year involving multiple murders that are factually more ghastly than the JFKA. I read them, factor them into my perspective on human nature and what humans are capable of, and move on. I do think you grossly overstate the case in terms of Oswald letting a genie out of the bottle. There were surprisingly ghastly crimes long before Oswald, and the 1970's and 1980's looked nothing like today in terms of what you're describing. I think the near-hell we're living in today is due to factors much more recent than the JFKA. John's suggestion was that there is something illegitimate about anyone who is interested in the JFKA for any reason other than "JFK angst" and visceral hatred of Oswald. As stated, I'm very interested in Oswald the man and can have empathy for him without minimizing his actions. I can also be interested in the JFKA simply as a whodunnit and opportunity to exercise my brain, all of which I believe to be entirely legitimate. I actually think that the attitudes John expresses are an impediment to thinking critically about the case.

The critical thinking has been done countless times over the years to expose the fallacies of all CT objections to the conclusions of the WC. The questions the LNs pose to the CTs are questions they should have asked themselves but rarely if ever do.