I doubt all the witnesses agree on what the accepted narrative is.

    The woman did Not even know where SHE Was inside Dealey Plaza.  This glaring deficiency in her 11/22/63 account taints everything she says.

She was writing a story about the assassination. How does it matter whether they ate their lunch on the grassy slope or on the sidewalk? We know where they were standing. How could she not know where she was standing?

Dear Macho Genius Fancy Pants Rants,

Not necessarily the JFK assassination, itself, but a lot of our history ever since the early 1960s when risk-taking General Oleg Gribanov sent GRU Lt. Col. Dmitry Polyakov and KGB Major Aleksey Kulak (J. Edgar Hoover's shielded-from-CIA FEDORA) to the FBI's NYC field office to volunteer to spy for it at the U.N., and sent false-defector-in-place Yuri Nosenko to the CIA in Geneva in June 1962 to discredit what a recent true defector, KGB Major Anatoly Golitsyn, was telling father-figure-requiring James Angleton about probable moles in the CIA, the FBI, and the intelligence services of our NATO allies -- which intel Angleton unfortunately shared with his confidant, mentor, and mole-hunting superior, Bruce Leonard Solie in the Office of Security (look him up).

-- Tom

Not sure how I got elevated to Macho Genius, but at least you're on the right track.

You omitted "(*Today's FSB/SVR)." Are you slipping?

The original post poses a legitimate question: Why, indeed, are so many nutcases attracted to JFKA forums? The thread has quickly shifted to "Why do people participate on JFKA forums?" - an entirely different question. There are internet forums on topics far more obscure and mundane than the JFKA that are way more active than any JFKA forum. It's a niche interest where even the non-nutcases tend to be fanatics.

But let's get back to the original question: Why ARE so many nutcases attracted to JFKA forums? I won't name names, but on this forum and the Ed Forum are a number of very prominent participants whom I would characterize as actual, bona fide nutcases. People who clearly are not thinking rationally and who assert absolutely preposterous things with complete sincerity. I am constantly agog.

Scroll through the pages of threads here. The silly threads that say nothing and go nowhere get by far the most posts and views. It's almost depressing to a Macho Genius such as myself whose witty, insightful contributions go nowhere, but I perservere because I'm so pleased with myself.

I think the preponderance of nutcases has two primary explanations:

1. Internet forums in general attract extreme personalities and wackos. You can pretend to be anyone you want to be and say anything you want to say. That's why, I believe, they have to be regarded as Monty Python skits and not taken seriously. It's the wackos, of course, who take them most seriously because that's part and parcel of being a wacko. (I'm the irritating and insufferable Minister of Silly Walks of the JFKA, but at least it's a persona I've intentionally adopted and I'm fully aware of what I'm doing.)

2. It's the - yep - conspiracy-prone mindset. Every area of weirdness, including the JFKA, attracts a large number of those who fit this psychological profile, most of whom are not nutcases. But, alas, in a crowd of folks with the conspiracy-prone mindset you are going to have an unusually large lunatic fringe. This is true across all areas of weirdness.

Put 1 and 2 together, and I believe you have your answer.

Let's take this thread to the next level: Who ARE the consensus nutcases here? Should we just start naming names, or would it be better to do a poll?

-- Pitzer was just about to retire and had a good job lined up. He had no conceivable motive to kill himself.

This, no doubt is a reference to Dennis David's claim that Pitzer had accepted a very lucrative position with a TV network in NYC. However, this is not true. Pitzer's family reported that he had accepted a teaching position at a local community college.

-- Pitzer's right hand tested negative for GSR/nitrates, indicating he had not fired a revolver.

The palmar side of Pitzer's left hand was covered in gunshot residue. This is explained by the left hand being used to steady the gun by wrapping it over the top of the cylinder. The palm side catches the GSR emerging from the cylinder gap. If the muzzle is held against the skin (more about this later), then the gunpowder residue follows the bullet into the wound. Put together, these two factors prevent GSR from reaching the firing hand. BTW, using the non dominant hand to steady a pistol in such a way is more common that you might think.

-- The FBI's own paraffin test in this case indicated the revolver was held some 3 feet away from Pitzer's head when it was fired.

This is a misrepresentation of the evidence. There was a muzzle imprint on the skin at the wound site, which proves that the muzzle of the pistol was held against the skin when the weapon was fired. The soot, residue, and combustion gasses would not have been able to scatter across the surface of the body, as it would in a near-distance shot. Instead, the residue and soot would have followed the bullet into body through the wound the bullet was creating, and there would be no powder tattooing around the entry wound.

-- The FBI was unable to find any evidence that Pitzer had acquired ammo for the revolver that was signed out from the security office in his name.

So what? In those days, .38 Special was the most common cartridge used in the US, with the exception of .22LR. He could have obtained it anywhere, paid cash, and no one would have remembered him buying it. This is just another attempt to argue by insinuation.

-- A heel print found near Pitzer's body was not from the shoes Pitzer was wearing.

Which easily could have been from a first responder or an investigator.

-- Pitzer's family said he had been repeatedly threatened to keep quiet about his knowledge of the JFK autopsy.

Eaglesham and Palmer talked with Pitzer's family as well as friends and co-workers. I don't recall him reporting any of them saying such a thing. Did this really happen, then?

You haven't read Belzer and Wayne's chapter on the Pitzer case, have you?

Yes, Pitzer had been accepted for an associate professor position at a local college. Most people would consider that to be a good job, a very good job. Between his teaching salary and his Navy retirement pay, Pitzer would have been quite comfortable. So, why would he have suddenly shot himself? I notice you provided no motive for his alleged suicide.

So Pitzer supposedly used his left hand "to steady the gun by wrapping it over the top of the cylinder"? Oh, please. Give me a break. Why would he not have simply held the revolver in his right hand, put up against his head, and pulled the trigger? That's how suicidal people usually shoot themselves in the head. But, nah, you've got Pitzer "wrapping" his left hand "over the top of the cylinder" so you can explain the paraffin test results (no GSR on either side of his right hand).

Yes, the heel print could have been from a first responder, but we don't know whose print it was because the FBI did not bother to check it. The FBI could have easily checked the shoes of the first responders to determine if one of them made the heel print, but they didn't.

No, I did not misrepresent the distance of the shot per the FBI report. It said, "the revolver must have been held at a distance of more than 3 ft when discharged."

I notice you snipped and ignored the fact that Pitzer wrote himself a note to remind him to return the revolver that he had signed out. Humm, now that's hardly what you'd expect from a guy who planned on using the revolver to shoot himself.

Regarding the FBI's failure to find any evidence that Pitzer had obtained ammo for the revolver, you say, "he could have obtained it anywhere, paid cash, and no one would have remembered him buying it." So when the FBI showed a photo of Pitzer to local gun shops and asked if he had bought ammo, no would have recognized him, even though he would have bought the ammo fairly recently? Yeah, of course.

And why in the devil would he have bought the ammo himself when he could have checked out ammo from the security office when he signed out the revolver? 

Pitzer's family and friends rejected the suicide story. They noted that Pitzer was mentally and emotionally tough and not the kind of person to let problems get him down.

Pitzer was literally just a few days away from retiring from the Navy. And, again, he had a good job lined up. His family said he was "very cheerful" that morning.

Pitzer's wife reported that Navy officials threatened her with the loss of her husband's Navy pension if she didn't accept the suicide verdict and "keep her mouth shut."

You question whether Pitzer was ever warned to keep quiet about his knowledge of the JFK autopsy, yet even Heiner admits this happened.

It's just sad that you folks would desecrate a man's life by claiming he killed himself when the evidence indicates he did not -- and all because you can't bring yourselves to admit there was an organized campaign to kill certain JFKA witnesses, even though a decorated Army Special Forces officer reported that a CIA man approached him about killing Pitzer.

Some good points. But you'd need testimony from Rather to establish if that is the case. If you could find that, it would be helpful.
....James.

  At least 1 of the actual Dan Rather CBS broadcasts done that weekend is posted on You Tube. This is no secret.