As we've mentioned before, this is like a defense attorney trying to persuade one juror to find his client not guilty. It doesn't matter how, it doesn't matter whether it's logical; just find one person to block a guilty vote.
And it's done on every piece of evidence, however small, that indicates Oswald's guilt. Time after time, day after day, week after week, year after year it's this fanatical devotion to the cause of Oswald. Every piece of evidence implicating Oswald has to be attacked, made into a "supposition" or "conjecture", waved away on some made up technical ground (as if we're in a court room).
Thousands and thousands of posts - at this forum, at the previous ones - giving the most innocent interpretations of Oswald's actions, of the evidence against him. Every single time. And thousands more giving the most sinister suggestions and explanations for the actions of everyone else. Every single time. If these aren't the actions of an apologist for Oswald then it's a damned good impersonation of one.
As I said, defending a Dreyfus was understandable. Or other people accused of crimes. But Lee Oswald? This is what they devote their lives to doing?
It's mystifying. The evidentiary case against Oswald is very strong and straightforward. Absent a time machine, it is difficult to understand how we could have much more evidence than exists. Almost equally compelling is the improbable nature of any alternative narrative - including everything that would have to have happened - for Oswald to be innocent or some Gomer Pyle-type patsy.
So what is the explanation for this pedantic endless defense of Oswald:
1) Bias. A conspiracy behind the JFK assassination comports with a world view that important events are always controlled by some nefarious entity. So the CIA, FBI, WC, or LBJ is behind everything. In fact, the conspiracy itself becomes necessary to explain why they can never make a case for proving Oswald's innocence. Some powerful force precludes it. An endless loop. Similar to UFO believers. They can never be dissuaded from this belief because their inability to make the case for Oswald's innocence is deemed further proof of a conspiracy.
2) Compulsion disorder. Many CTers appear to share a common trait. They are obsessed with minutia. They literally can't see the forest for the trees. Long rambling posts that have disconnected points that never add up to anything. They can't filter information into knowledge. Thus, they become overwhelmed by detail and conclude "something" must have happened. What they can't quite articulate but something must have happened because a lot of small details can't be explained to their subjective satisfaction.
3) Mental illness. Some CTers appear to have actual mental issues. If they believe even half of the nonsense that they espouse, they are suffering from delusions and paranoia. Outside of an Internet forum with many like minded folks, these people would be put in a straight jacket for some of their nutty theories. There are serious minded CTers who use evidence in an attempt to make their case, but they are a definite minority. Oddly, intelligence is not a mitigating factor. In fact, there some very intelligent CTers who are off their rocker.
4) Attention. It's easy to play the contrarian and gain attention. Ironically, not much different from Oswald himself who played the outsider to garner attention. So they take issue with every point - no matter how obvious - that lends itself to Oswald's guilt ("Oswald's rifle - LOL"). Repeat endlessly. I suppose it passes the time like other hobbies. Whether these folks believe their own nonsense is unclear. Perhaps they get so caught up in trying to conjure up doubt that they come to believe it.
