JFK Assassination Forum

Once again, to be clear: Nothing in my posts suggests Oswald was an innocent patsy. My posts are predicated on him doing what the LN scenario says he did. In that context, his behavior seems distinctly odd to me, beginning the day before the assassination. I simply noted that if he were an innocent patsy, his behavior would be (somewhat) more understandable.

Ben just posted a thread where, when things didn't go smoothly in MC, Oswald supposedly "became violent and screamed 'I'm going to kill that damn Kennedy!'' This is not the Oswald of November 21-24. There is an odd disconnect.

I see the discussion of the Baker encounter. You have just blown off the head of the President. You rush down the stairs, hoping to escape. You hear Baker and Truly coming up. You duck into the lunchroom, apparently seconds before the encounter. Baker sticks his gun in your stomach and asks Truly if you work there. And you are cool as a cumcumber, like a deer in the headlights, not even breathing hard. If you had 5 minutes to compose yourself, perhaps. Under the circumstances, I find it almost unbelievable. The encounter does not sound like it lasted long enough for Oswald to ask, "What is this all about, gentlemen?" After the encounter, I suppose he would now feel a sense of near-euphoria: "I just survived an encounter with the police! I'm actually going to walk out of this building!" He might have had the presence of mind to think "It will look even better if I'm casually carrying a Coke" - but I'm not convinced he even was carrying a Coke, and this too seems like a very odd detail under the circumstances. All just ... very odd. At least to me.

JC:

I do not make that assumption, that G-2'ers knew that LHO would get a job at the TSBD.

They knew that had an informant or asset in Dallas, a Marxist activist (LHO), who may have told some G-2'ers he took a shot at Walker. A nut, who apparently volunteered to shoot JFK. And G-2'ers knew that JFK had been trying to assassinate Castro.

By chance, LHO took a job at the TSBD. By bad luck, the presidential motorcade made a hairpin turn in front of the TSBD, a route revealed in local newspapers on Nov. 19.

So you think G2 was planning to kill JFK and they just got a lucky break that the motorcade just happened to get routed past their asset's workplace. Well, at least you tried. Most CTs won't even do that.

As stated, I have reasonable doubts about the WC version of the JFKA, and reasonable doubts LHO leads into Cuba or Russia were followed up.

Nobody cares about your doubts.

Evidently, LBJ shared those doubts.

Nobody cares about LBJ's doubts.

Why would he need to pre-purchase a Coke. He didn't have one when Baker encountered him. He bought the Coke after Baker left and was seen with it by Mrs. Reid as he headed toward the front of the building.

  Once again, cherry picking 

Whenever we try to figure out what was going on inside Oswald's head, we are guessing but they can be educated guesses. I think Oswald enjoyed his newfound notoriety. He enjoyed being the center of attention. I think he was just toying with the cops, even though he knew they had him dead to right. He wasn't going to make it easy for them by confessing. I think he knew he would be convicted and sentenced to death, but he was going to have fun with the authorities in the meantime. I think he was looking forward to his trial and his status as an evil celebrity. Jack Ruby robbed him of that. Good for Jack.

Yep, Jack was wrong to take justice into his own hands. But I do remember watching it live on TV and my first reaction was being glad LHO got shot. Same for when the news of his death was broadcast.

Factors that seem to me to be relevant to this discussion:

The time that LHO spent in the brig while in the USMC would have been very difficult for anyone to bear. Especially someone with LHO’s inflated ego. I believe that experience probably hardened LHO and turned him against the USA even more than he already was. It also probably taught him how to behave while under custody in order to minimize any harsh treatment from his captors. All of that combined to help him appear as a “cool customer” while under custody in Dallas, TX.

The JFK motorcade came to LHO’s place of work, LHO did not need to go elsewhere in order to make an assassination attempt. I believe that when LHO, after reading the news papers and seeing photos of the motorcade, realized what a golden opportunity had been laid in his lap. It was simply too tempting of an opportunity to resist. After quickly planning a military-style ambush from behind and above, he formulated a “reason” (curtain rods) to go to retrieve his rifle and ammo. Perhaps LHO realized that if it turned out that conditions didn’t permit him to get a clear shot, he could have simply not pulled the trigger and might have even been able to sneak the “curtain rods” out of the TSBD with no one even suspecting anything.

The points that Lance brings up are interesting. But if one reads the book that Robert Oswald wrote, he will see that Robert indicates that LHO enjoyed trying to mystify and trick the authorities, etc (or something to that affect). That’s part of how Robert explains much of LHO’s bizarre behavior. Remember that Marina said that LHO laughed and got a kick out of the police assuming the Walker shooter got away via an automobile (while LHO “tricked them” by getting away via public transportation).

Whenever we try to figure out what was going on inside Oswald's head, we are guessing but they can be educated guesses. I think Oswald enjoyed his newfound notoriety. He enjoyed being the center of attention. I think he was just toying with the cops, even though he knew they had him dead to right. He wasn't going to make it easy for them by confessing. I think he knew he would be convicted and sentenced to death, but he was going to have fun with the authorities in the meantime. I think he was looking forward to his trial and his status as an evil celebrity. Jack Ruby robbed him of that. Good for Jack.