November 22, 2013, - 2:36 pm

JFK Kill Overkill, the Left’s Kooky Conspiracy Theory Industry & The James Deaning of a Prez

By Debbie Schlussel

I know I can’t be the only one who is sick and tired of the endless coverage of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. But this is what happens when a mediocre American President–and anyone who is intellectually honest knows JFK was just fair on the job–has good looks and is killed while he’s young and in office. He gets James Deaned–hyped and overhyped to the point of beatification of a saint.

jfkassassination

With this ever-increasing, non-stop coverage we’ve been subjected to on the Kennedy assassination, I feel like I’m at one of these bad biopic movie screenings, and I’m thinking, “just die already.” Sure, it was tragic that a U.S. President was assassinated, and I’m sorry that happened. It shouldn’t have happened and should never happen again. And the guy served America in the military and in public life (though often with dishonor). But I get it. Enough already. This hype has been going on for almost a year. It would be one thing if the hype started last week or even last month. But it’s been going on for a while. (And, sadly, so has the conspiracy theory BS about who killed Kennedy.)










And you know that if John Hinckley, Jr. had succeeded in murdering President Reagan, there would never be this kind of hype 50 years from March 30, 1981. Nope. Because Reagan was a conservative to be pilloried. Kennedy was a classical liberal Democrat to be idolized and elevated to godlike status.

Because, hey, they are the Kennedys . . . the family the media and pop culture have told me is my royalty. Well, I choose not to be a subject of that ill-gotten royalty fathered by a sleazy guy named Joseph Kennedy who idolized Hitler and threw away hundreds of visas the Brits gave him to help save Jews from the Holocaust. Nope, they ain’t my royalty and JFK ain’t my martyr. He didn’t “die for my sins” or any of that.

And part of this is that the Clintons and the Obamas and their ilk need the story to be hyped so they can claim the mantle, so they can be the “heirs” to JFK and Camelot. When he ran for President, Bill Clinton constantly used a pic or video clip of his meeting JFK at the White House in his younger years. And I suppose Hillary is “Hack-ie O.” We’ve already had Obama claim the mantle as the Black JFK with his wife, “Blackie O,” and all the raving about her clothes.

And, then, there are the conspiracy theorist kooks. They are mostly nuts and mostly far lefties like Oliver Stone, who created a BS/fictional movie about an alleged conspiracy and paraded it as actual history. It ain’t. The movie was full of holes and falsehoods, and Stone has a similar rendition in an op-ed in today’s USA Today. Check out John Leo’s excellent critique of “Oliver Stone’s Paranoid Propaganda.” Oliver Stone also believes in HAMAS, Castro, and the “evilness” of America. I don’t believe in those, and I don’t believe in his views on the JFK killing. This ain’t the case of a broken clock being right twice (or, in Stone’s case, even once). Even liberal Sam Donaldson said the Stone “JFK” movie is false and said he’s seen no evidence that anyone other than Lee Harvey Oswald was the assassin.

I’ve seen none either. The best investigation into what happened is a PBS “Frontline” special that aired early this week, “Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald?” I hate recommending Palestinian Broadcasting Service, but in this case, they did the job, and they did it thoroughly. The Frontline folks bring up all the “inconsistent” things that the conspiracy theorists do, but they also provide the answers from those of us who think Oswald and only Oswald did it. Watch it here. A preview:

I believe that, for all the nutty theories, all the claims about this allegedly conspiratorial act or cover up and that one, there has been no evidence that anyone other than Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy. The guy was a nutjob, a loser, a flat-out Communist who spoke ill of America to fellow military men, even when he was in the National Guard. He was such a nothing that even the KGB didn’t want him and he was eventually sent out of the Soviet Union. Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you’ll tell me that was by design. And perhaps it was. But the bottom line is that Lee Harvey Oswald hated America and its leader and didn’t have any help. Of that, I’m convinced.

And I’m even more convinced when I see the parade of people who prefer to believe–along with the Kardashian-lovin’ lumpenproletariat of the American population–that there was some sort of conspiracy. These are the same jerks who believe 9/11 was an inside job and not committed by the 19 Muslim Arabs who actually did it under the auspices of Al-Qaeda. They’re the same people who believe Andy Kaufman and Jim Morrison are alive. And they’re among the same people who actually care if Andy Kaufman and Jim Morrison are alive. They aren’t generally reasonable people. They aren’t generally patriots. They don’t want this to be about an anti-American, lefty nut who wanted to kill the leader of the country he hated. They’re the people who want to believe that they are not in control of their own lives and that “the man” or “big brother” is running the show.

And that ain’t me.

Also not me are the JFK fans who gush ad nauseam over this guy–and not just on the left. Conservatives wanna claim JFK was conservative. Really? Tell it to the Bay of Pigs veterans, whom he sold out and disavowed and didn’t try to save or help. That’s conservative? Even classical liberal Dems, in those days, were anti-Communist and didn’t abandon those who helped us fight Communists and try to overthrow Castro. At least, that’s how they were until Kennedy set the new mold. I’m glad JFK was initially a committed anti-Communist and tried to oust Castro and that he dared go into Vietnam. But he didn’t own it. He washed his hands of the Castro stuff when the Bay of Pigs plans went wrong.

The leftists try to paint JFK as a civil rights champion, even though as I noted recently, he and bro RFK sold Blacks out repeatedly, manipulated them masterfully, and spoke out of both sides of their mouths on everything from civil rights protests to affirmative action to the Civil Rights Act (which JFK actually opposed under Eisenhower).

Kennedy really was no better than a classier, less trashy version of Bill Clinton. If the media had exposed his dangerous philandering then, the nation would have been outraged that he compromised America’s national security and law enforcement interests and efforts by sleeping with Cuban spies and chick mobster gun molls (minus the guns). What did he actually accomplish?

Yeah, he told people to ask what they could do for their country instead of the other way around and he cut taxes and spending temporarily, but a full second term from him would have been much different. He would have been more Ted Kennedy than Jack Kennedy. No doubt about that.

So, on this 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy, the nicest thing I can say is that the U.S. Naval Academy Glee Club’s rendition of “America the Beautiful” at today’s memorial ceremony at Dealey Plaza was fabulous and patriotic.

I’m not really sure I can say the same about the late John F. Kennedy.




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55 Responses

Right you are, Debbie! You aren’t the only one sick and tired of the endless Kennedy assassination coverage.

Ah, relief.–Thanks so much for the chaser.

lee of the lower case "l" on November 22, 2013 at 2:51 pm

Debbie,

I wholeheartedly agree that JFK was overrated. However I am not so there was no conspiracy. If LHO would have made it to
court-as he and we as Americans deserved, he might have been acquitted or had a mistrial. I say this as he was held in the city jail for nearly 48 hours when he should have been transferred to County jail within 12 hours per the law. This I believe is pre Miranda in time-yet he was denied an attorney for the 2 days. He supposedly was interviewed sans legal help
for 18 hours but there were no recordings, video, or even contemporaneous notes. He was put in a lineup with Mexicans kids-a clear violation of lineup procedures. Finally as the accused assassin of the President he was led to his death by at best flimsy protection compared with the human shield he had when first brought to police station as a suspect. We all
deserved to know the truth for the sake of history and closure-the DPD wanted the truth silenced as reflected by their “protection” of LHO.

Lance Whitmore on November 22, 2013 at 3:11 pm

I agree with you on most of your points, except that you are glad he went into Vietnam.

Let us look at Kennedy’s Vietnam record.

First, a couple weeks before he died, he had President Diem of South Vietnam overthrown and MURDERED (But Karma is a bitch, right?) He destabilized the government, and had a real war hero killed. After that, many Vietnamese saw their government as a puppet of the US.

We had no business sending troops to a country that did not want to fight for its own survivor. Speak to any of the US vets who were over there, and most will tell you they trusted the North Vietnamese more than the so-called allies in the South.

If we were going to go into Vietnam, (against Ike’s advice), we should have bombed the hell out of the North first, like we should have done in the Bay of Pigs before sending the Cubans in to be slaughtered and captured.

He also let the Soviets build the Berlin wall. That was another test of the resilience of the West, and we failed. (I for one thought dividing Germany helped prevent the rise of another Nazi power, but that is for another posting).

Just remember, Kennedy always had sex while on the bottom because he always f–cked up.

Jonathan E. Grant on November 22, 2013 at 3:15 pm

    Jon,

    We were fighting losing wars against Communist-led nationalist movements in Cuba and Vietnam. Since we weren’t serious about defeating them, we should have stayed out of it.

    As for the Berlin Wall, when the East Germans and their Soviet allies built it, they illustrated the ultimate bankruptcy of Communism and it could only be maintained by force – as long as the Soviets had the will to use to it to keep the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe in power. When they lost it, the Communist bloc swiftly disintegrated and the Cold War came to an end when the Soviet Union itself disappeared.

    In the long run, Kennedy’s decision not to stop them was ultimately vindicated. My belief is tyranny will eventually lose when confronted with freedom. Islam is a good deal stronger than Communism but it will eventually meet the same fate.

    NormanF on November 22, 2013 at 4:04 pm

    Just remember, Kennedy always had sex while on the bottom because he always f–cked up.

    Jonathan E. Grant on November 22, 2013 at 3:15 pm

    Reply

    TACKY!!!!

    Miranda Rose Smith on November 24, 2013 at 5:33 am

We will be plagued with 50th anniversaries for the remainder of this decade, and into the next decade. The 60s is when America lurched to the left, and the Democrats renewed their alliance with the left, including the Communists.

Especially obnoxious was the 50th anniversary last year of the Port Urine statement. Just wonderful. All the little Reds paving the way for breaking store windows in Chicago, robbing banks and killing security guards, praising the Viet Cong, etc. Do you think we will have a 50th for the Days of Rage?

Little Al on November 22, 2013 at 3:26 pm

And the fact that so many ‘conservatives’ are claiming Kennedy for one of their own is especially irksome. Shows how far to the left most conservatives have fallen.

Little Al on November 22, 2013 at 3:29 pm

    You’ve pointed out such an interesting point, Little Al, about all the 50 Anniversaries! Yikes! There is more pain to come!

    And I 2nd your annoyance with those saying Kennedy would be such a great Conservative if he lived. What a waste of time to think about such nonsense. Also, if that nonsense were true, than he would have to have been the Kennedy political anchor since once he died it’s been all Commie, all the time with the rest of his whack clan.

    Adults know enough not to ever get stuck in woulda, coulda, shouldas. Such a waste of valuable time and history just does NOT prop up the far-fetched dream.

    Trouble is, more Commie are just letting it shine and are less clandestine these days. The water just keeps getting warmer so more are jumping into the crappy Commie pool.

    Skunky on November 22, 2013 at 4:30 pm

      I agree. He was the only president in my lifetime that I actually cried for when he died. He made us proud to be Americans.

      I admired him almost as much as my late father. Both great and humble men. I knew John Kerry wasn’t going to make it when I saw the people lined up along the side of the road as the funeral caravan drove by, many of them saluting as the hearse went past.

      He was an honorable man who loved his wife deeply and he would have never dreamed of stepping out on her like JFK and Slick Willie. He had so much respect for the office that he would never enter the Oval office without a coat and tie. The current occupant mocks our oldest ally , the Brits by putting his feet up on the Resolute Desk. What the hell is that ?!

      Richard Norton on November 22, 2013 at 8:39 pm

Where I disagree with this particular post, is that I think if Reagan had been murdered, I think he would be revered, maybe not as much a Kennedy just because of the wealth factor, etc, but I think America appreciates Reagan, looking back. Now look I am far from knowledgeable about Reagan’s tenure, I’m making this opinion on my observation of conservatives and their admiration of him, and many Dems.

Now I must admit I’m no lefty kook, but I do believe in the C.O.N.spiracy (said in the Damon Wayans voice) lol.
The Driver shot Kennedy. The Zapruder film that now circulates is not the original and has been doctored, seeing the original, it is clear, the driver shot Kennedy.

Big D on November 22, 2013 at 3:33 pm

Gotta keep the conspiracy theories alive to maintain the Kennedy assassination alive. There are a few “conspiracies” around the Obama presidency, but the same crowd has no interest in those. So it’s not really about trying to get at the truth after all.

RaymondofCanada on November 22, 2013 at 3:34 pm

I think the saturation of JFK is also supposed to be a lefty distraction- an alternative focus- to replace the obamboozle/obamacare/democrat disaster unfolding.

Anyway, there was a biography on the history channel about Reagan and I was in tears from both the nostalgia and the quality of the man and leadership our nation enjoyed.

Kirche on November 22, 2013 at 3:37 pm

    Kirche, it would be so nice to revel is such Reagan nostalgia since I felt quite cheated the first time around.

    Living in a Moonbat state that detested him robbed me from the chance of knowing the truth as it was happening. I’m the same age as DS but I didn’t have a Conservative family, unfortunately. But this I do know, in retrospect, I can see how he was demonized and wrongly portrayed as an evil monster. I was very young so the strongest portrayals were by the music & entertainment industry.

    Watch Genesis’ (never was a fan ‘in the day’…) “Land Of Confusion” video and it’s almost a farce how off the mark and exaggerated it was. And at the time shows on Nuclear Holocaust (Was it called “The Day After”?) scared the sh** out of young ‘uns like me.

    THAT’s what I remember about Reagan and I resent it to this day!! Libtards at work screwing with the narrative as they ALWAYS do.

    Skunky on November 22, 2013 at 4:47 pm

Yeah, they want it to appear like someone on the Right shot Kennedy, when, as you said, it was a Commie. Reminds me a little of the deranged Muslims, where the Muslim organizations can try to disclaim responsibility by saying it was just some kind of nut. True, Oswald was a nut, but he was a left-wing nut.

And I remember those on the left cheering and clapping when Reagan was shot. I overhead conversations on the train of people saying they hoped Reagan would die.

Little Al on November 22, 2013 at 3:39 pm

John F. and his brother Robert were both assassinated.

The 1960s began with so much promise and ended in turmoil and violence.

I’m not sure the legend of the American Camelot would have caught the imagination of so many Americans if the Kennedy family didn’t have its share of human tragedies. No decent human being wants to see that happen to people in public life.

That said, like Debbie I’m sick of the hype. I was a baby around then and truthfully, I don’t remember anything about the early 1960s.

NormanF on November 22, 2013 at 3:55 pm

    Norman, usually I agree with you, but on this point I will defer to my mother, who is quite the historian. She says the whole “Camelot” BS was cooked up by Jackie Kennedy and Joe Kennedy and the great Kennedy media machine. The media had a slobbering love affair with the Kennedys, mostly because old Joe Kennedy owned a bunch of media outlets. Keep in mind too that he was followed by Lyndon Johnson, who members of his own party hated.

    John Kennedy was a womanizing druggie, with poor judgement, who lived under his father’s thumb. Jackie was nothing but a golddigger, as evidenced by her subsequent marriage to Onassis.

    Now it appears that the idiot Caroline is revving up the media love machine, as she pretends to be a serious stateswoman in Japan. What do you want to bet we see a Clinton/Kennedy ticket in 2016?

    MIGirl on November 22, 2013 at 8:33 pm

And those who claim that Oswald could not have shot Kennedy from the book depository don’t know what they are talking about. Oswald was a marksman in the Marines, and the shot from the sixth floor window was as easy as shooting sitting ducks. It was a real easy shot.

Personally, I think the CIA, together with the Cubans, joined up with the Easter Bunny and Santa Clause and the ghost of Marilyn Monroe to kill Kennedy.

Jonathan E. Grant on November 22, 2013 at 4:00 pm

    JEG, I heard today on a Philly show that Texas used to mark the spot (on the road) where Kennedy was shot. They said it is now covered up.

    The host and his guest agreed when you saw the mark and saw the Book Depository, it seemed more than feasible that Oswald fired that shot.

    But I wondered why they removed the marking? I never even knew there was one.

    Skunky on November 22, 2013 at 4:17 pm

Conspiracy theories are always based on attractive coincidences.

They fail because they violate Occam’s Razor – the most truthful explanation is the simple one.

There is no proof Kennedy was murdered by any one other than Lee Harvey Oswald.

NormanF on November 22, 2013 at 4:08 pm

I really like the James Dean allusion. It’s quite clever and quite apt. Good one!

As I have stated before, all the conspiracy kooks have ruined it for people definitively knowing the truth. I stated previously that I was glad the only book I read (half read…it’s Texas sized…) was Bugliosi’s tome on the matter (I believe Oswald was LONE assassin). I also like what Rush said yesterday discussing how Soviet Russia financed many conspiracy theories. That seems more than feasible.

Kennedy Conspiracy bores, why not take up Conspiracy Theories that have more going for them and actually have a lot of smoke to lead to a fire. How about…

1) That plane that went down in East Rockaway in November 2001? Nobody wants to talk about THAT. But every mental case still believes ‘9/11 was an inside job’. We know it was an Islam job.

2) All Obama-Putin’s hidden past. The bath clubs, Columbia Uni, the Birth Certificate, his real Daddy, the missing records in the national archives the year he was born, all his time he spent sayin’ he was a “foreign” student, his life on the DL with his pakistan roommate. Talk about a bark that has many bites!!!

3) The missing male college men who end up dead in water (after drinking with friends at bars) during the school year…especially in Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa, Illinois and Rhode Island? Another gem TOTALLY ignored.

Some things beg for more attention than others…

Skunky on November 22, 2013 at 4:10 pm

Hey Hey! Easy on Andy Kaufman! He was hilarious!

Agree with your 100% on all the conspiracy theories you commented on.

Kennedy was nowhere near as liberal as our current President and most of the Democratic congress.

I see Kennedy’s biggest failing as making the Cuban Missile Crisis public. It should have been handled discreetly. Forcing Khrushchev and Russia to back down publicly likely made them even more determined to build up their arsenals. Don’t humiliate super powers unnecessarily. b

GeorgeX on November 22, 2013 at 5:08 pm

Unlike our current president, Clinton compromised a lot with the Republican congress (and good things resulted). He was better than what we have now by a longshot.

GeorgeX on November 22, 2013 at 5:10 pm

    GX, all DS said that was Andy Kaufman was NOT still alive. She didn’t slag him (???).

    Also, it was 50 years ago with Kennedy. There was NO Donk back then who was as openly Commie as they are today. Duh! (I know Little Al can explain why that was so better than I can…)

    And again, you should view TIME in the context…no way any Donk back in the 90s could be as openly Crypto Commie as they are now. Don’t you remember HillaryCare tanked? ObamaPutinCare would have TOO if not for the sneaky way (and all the kick-backs) that got it thru’ even in 2010.

    C’mon. Try harder!

    Skunky on November 22, 2013 at 5:27 pm

    Clinton did much to dismantle American defenses, and permit North Korea to become nuclear. He helped gays make tremendous inroads into the military, expanded Government spending (except for defense of our country), and did much to erode social norms. His superficial cooperation with Republicans was geared only to helping Democrats win election.

    And his Supreme Court appointments were abysmal.

    Little Al on November 22, 2013 at 5:56 pm

President Kennedy and his Administration have been overrated for decades now. As the Bay of Pigs fiasco demonstrated, his instincts led him to be soft. That weakness was noted by the Soviet Union, and led directly to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962,

Worry01 on November 22, 2013 at 5:11 pm

Actually, I heard that the moment JFK was shot, Jackie turned to him and said “That’s for Marilyn.” When the second shot hit Kennedy, she said, “And that’s for all the others.”

What’s amazing is that no blondes were killed in the attack on Kennedy. After all, Kennedys + motorized vehicles = dead blondes.

Jonathan E. Grant on November 22, 2013 at 5:26 pm

    Tacky.

    Miranda Rose Smith on November 24, 2013 at 4:24 am

When Kennedy was shot, Jackie looked down at her suit and said, “Shit, I just bought this.”

When he died, she said, “Now I have to go out and find ANOTHER millionaire.”

Jonathan E. Grant on November 22, 2013 at 5:28 pm

Fox had some clips from Kennedy’s press conferences where he showed off his whit and charm.

Man, if he’d been around today with all the pc that’s going on people, especially women, would have had his head on a pike.

Get back in the kitchen, baby. You can’t handle the big stuff.

Ruckus_Tom on November 22, 2013 at 5:29 pm

Wait until women are in the front lines in the military and they get a Purple Heart if they break a nail in combat.
Yup, stick a fork in the USA, because we are done!

Jonathan E. Grant on November 22, 2013 at 6:38 pm

I was sick of the Kennedy “mourning sickness” before the actual anniversary today.

I wasn’t around when he was killed, but from what I heard, he can best be remembered for nearly getting us into WW3 with a pissing match he got into with Kruschev, then bailing out on the refugees and refusing to give them the air support he promised in the Bay of Pigs debacle.

I wonder if he would have been impeached for that had he lived.

Michelle on November 22, 2013 at 6:59 pm

” . . . a sleazy guy named Joseph Kennedy who idolized Hitler and threw away hundreds of visas the Brits gave him to help save Jews from the Holocaust.”

And that’s not counting his initially making his loot – er, fortune in bootlegging during Prohibition (and being among those who lobbied for its repeal), and his corresponding ties to mobsters (whose machinations enabled JFK to win in 1960 in the first place – and RFK showed his gratitude by going after them).

ConcernedPatriot on November 22, 2013 at 6:59 pm

I have considerable knowledge and expertise in facts of the JFK assasination and of JFK’s presidency. I have also discussed the case with people for many years from all walks of life. The majority of people that I’ve talked to do not believe the Warren Commission (“WC”) story. That also comports with every poll taken in the US since the assasination took place.

Of the minority that do believe the WC story, I have yet to meet a single person that has actually looked at the evidence. They only know and can only reiterate the official WC storylines, if that. Not one of them has looked at the mountain of evidence that the WC ignored or the unrealiable evidence that formed the basis for their conclusions. I’m sure that the same is true as well for those on this message board who believe the WC story.

What conclusion is to be drawn from the above facts? Apart from the professional WC advocates, like Posner and Bugliosi, those who still cling to the WC story are dupes, naive, fools, or are simply ignorant–and, most importantly, wish to remain so. When it comes to actual knowledge of the assasination and JFK’s presidency, they are functional illiterates.

Consequently, those who cling to the WC fairy tale will avoid reading any of the outstanding books that have researched key areas of the assasination and JFK’s presidency. To read, requires thinking and assessment of evidence, and believers in fairy tales don’t want to go there. They won’t even watch a nonfiction movie like “Rush to Judgment,” available online via YouTube, that features actual witnesses to the crime, not available anywhere else. Again, anything that challenges belief in the fairy tale must be avoided like the plague.

As for JFK’s presidency, I see a great deal of ignorance here as well. Those who smear JFK have not read any of the important works that have genuinely and meticulously researched the subject. Again, when you want to remain ignorant, that is an easy objective to accomplish. Simply read fairy tales and avoid real study, research, work, and thinking.

But for those who do want to learn about JFK’s presidency, I have two recommendations. “Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years” by David Talbot (a NY Times bestseller) and “JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died & Why It Matters” by James Douglass. Of course, if you prefer fairy tales, these books are to be assiduously avoided; and I would not recommend even thumbing through any sections. Much better to remain ignorant and in the dark.

Ralph Adamo on November 22, 2013 at 8:35 pm

I will close with a letter from JFK to Albert Schweitzer. Most here probably have no idea who Dr. Schweitzer was, so you should look him up to get a better context of this letter. JFK’s response to Dr. Schweitzer will give you some better insights into JFK.

June 6, 1962

Dear Dr. Schweitzer:

I read your letter on the nuclear testing problem with interest and sympathy. I can assure you that no decision I have taken in my Administration has given me more concern and sorrow than the decision to resume nuclear testing. It was a tragic choice; and I made it only because the alternative seemed to me to offer even greater dangers to or hopes for world peace, to unborn generations to come, and to the future of humanity.

If I had any assurance that the Soviet Union would not test again, I would never have directed that our tests be resumed. But it is impossible to believe that our refusal to test would have deterred the Soviet Union from initiation of a new test series whenever it suited their plans. The Soviet leaders have shown their contempt for world opinion in the past, and deference to this opinion is not likely to constrain them in the future. If the Soviet Union had been able to launch a new series without intervening tests on our part, it is conceivable that a grave shift in the world balance of power might have resulted, with fateful consequences for all our hopes for peace and freedom.

From the start of my Administration, I have tried to negotiate an agreement with the Soviet Union outlawing all nuclear tests. As you know, the Soviet Union has shown little interest in having such an agreement. Until the Soviet Union accepts a meaningful test ban agreement, I can see no choice, as the man responsible for the future of my country and my people, but to take necessary steps to protect the security position of the United States.

You raise the question of the need for international inspection. At present, national systems are able to detect seismic shocks but not reliably to identify them – i.e., they are not reliably able to distinguish an explosion from an earthquake. Until detection methods improve, there can be no alternative to some limited form of onside inspection. Obviously such inspection would apply to the United States and Great Britain as well as to the Soviet Union.

I need hardly say that, as the father of two children, I share your concern over the pernicious effect of radioactivity. I can only say that I had to weigh this against the alternative— that is, unlimited testing by the Soviet Union alone, leading to a steady increase in Soviet nuclear strength until the Communist world could be ready for a final offensive against the democracies. I believe that the Soviet leadership includes men genuinely devoted to the cause of peace. Our strength reinforces them in their arguments with their extremist colleagues. It would seriously underline their position if their country were permitted to acquire decisive nuclear superiority.

Nothing lies closer to my heart than the hope of bringing about general and complete disarmament under conditions of reliable international control. You are one of the transcendent moral influences of our century. I earnestly hope that you will consider throwing the great weight of that influence behind the movement for general and complete disarmament. I am happy to attach an outline of the basic provisions for such a treaty. I also enclose a study by our Arms Control and Disarmament Agency on ‘The Detection and Identification of Underground Nuclear Explosions” and a copy of my speech of March 2 setting forth the considerations which led me to conclude in favor of the resumption of testing.

Sincerely, John F. Kennedy

Ralph Adamo on November 22, 2013 at 8:40 pm

Actually, Lee Harvey Oswald left Minsk on his own; was too much even for him.

Lev on November 22, 2013 at 10:09 pm

We can hold these truths to be self-evident.

(i) 50 years ago today, Lee Harvey Oswald took a shot at the president with the intention to kill him. The president died.;

(ii) JFK wasn’t all he was cracked up to be. Lots of people aren’t. Regardless of his shortcomings, he was no Barack Hussein Obama, mmm, mmm, mmm!!!;

(iii) Camelot never existed. Americans are too quick to want to believe in sunshine, lollipops and rainbows. Worship the God of The Bible. It works better than looking for Gingerbread Land in all the wrong boxes.;

(iv) Jackie O. wasn’t all she was cracked up to be, but if I’m not mistaken, we owe her a vote of thanks for helping to save Grand Central Terminal. It’s a cool place.;

(v) The Great StainMaker (I refuse to say his name) sucked, and still sucks. He destroyed respect for the office of the presidency, and for discipline, order and structure in society. Skunky, don’t forget Flight 800. Recently the investigators tried to get their voices heard, again, 17 years later. Made headlines on FOX(y)-News web site for a few days. Nothing since, nothing at all.

The husband of The Dragon Lady also tore down national security, paving the way for 911. He and his wife have about 62 mysteriously dead bodies strewn behind them in their political career. Yes, it’s a career, not careerS. Two people, ONE political career.

(vi) 50 years ago today, Lee Harvey Oswald took a shot at the president with the intention of killing him. The president died, and with all we’ve learned about him since, WHO CARES WHO DID IT? The guy was a pretty messed up person in some ways. It could have been a LOT of people. He’s DEAD, let the train move already!!!

(vii) Jessica Simpson and Alfredo from Puerto Rico STILL don’t know what’s in a can of Chicken Of The Sea Tuna Fish. Well, maybe Jessica does, . . .

by now.

Well, inquiring minds want to know.

Is it Chicken, . . .

or Fish?

ROTFLMAO!!!

Alfredo from Puerto Rico on November 22, 2013 at 10:17 pm

    (iv) Jackie O. wasn’t all she was cracked up to be, but if I’m not mistaken, we owe her a vote of thanks for helping to save Grand Central Terminal. It’s a cool place.

    It’s beautiful.

    Miranda Rose Smith on November 24, 2013 at 4:35 am

“And part of this is that the Clintons and the Obamas and their ilk need the story to be hyped so they can claim the mantle, so they can be the “heirs” to JFK and Camelot.”

Yep. I was mostly indifferent to JFK specifically (but loathed Ted and that cousin who murdered the girl with a golf club) until the KKKlintons started flogging his “holy” name.

DS_ROCKS! on November 23, 2013 at 2:51 am

Debbie- Kennedy was a womanizing cheat on his wife scum, pill popping Mafia connected con man who with his AG brother RFK tried to screw over the Mafia who did a lot to get him elected. Some how I didn’t see a good end to his life.

bobby99 on November 23, 2013 at 7:40 am

This is tabloid pablum intended to distract from the discomfort of the obamascare broomstick being shoved up our collective ass.

Pete on November 23, 2013 at 9:14 am

Yup Pete, right on. One distraction after another, and with all the anniversaries that either have come up, or are coming up, just another chance for the sleight of hand going on in the admini—-, errr, regime to continue its sleazy practices. Anyone notice what big change in the Senate happened this week? Nahhhhh, it was just all about “the grassy knoll,” “the magic bullet,” Sofia Vergara, Eminem.

40th Anniversary, Roe v. Wade, 50th Anniversary ‘I Have A Dream’ Speech, 50th Anniversary JFK Assassination, and next year, . . .

at the VERY least, we have the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles coming to America.

We also have the 50th Anniversary of one of the most vicious presidential campaigns, with the way Barry Goldwater was maligned back then. It was all part of the propaganda that had me growing up thinking “Democrat good, Republican bad.”

There’s also the 50th Anniversary of The Phillies Collapse next year, the following year the 50th Anniversary of The Great Society programs and Civil Rights Legislation, the 50th Anniversary of WABC-Radio, which changed the music that was being listened to on the radio. The 50th Anniversary of The Big NYC Blackout (the FIRST one) is also coming up in 1965.

There will also be other media distractions cooked up for each of the abovementioned, with the possible exception of The Phillies Collapse. Not to mention that in two years, as we are all observing the revisionist history on the anniversaries of The Great Society and Civil Rights Legislation, we will also run smack dab in to the 70th Anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

If you think you’ve seen media distraction, wait’ll those anniversaries. By then, the Golfer-In-Chief will no doubt have declared martial law, and we will have to sit and watch The Obama Channel (which will be ALL channels at that point) tell us how fierce, bad and evil America was and is, and how we deserve whatever we get as punishment for nuking Japan.

Alfredo from Puerto Rico on November 23, 2013 at 9:42 am

I pretty much agree with everything Debbie said I’m pretty much fed up with the MSM going all out with the Kennedy assassination. I’m in my early 40s so I wasn’t alive when he was president. What I do know is what I read learned in school and my own research. Public schools in the 70s and 80s sucked as far as history went(nothing’s changed)so my own reading about JFK lead me to conclude a few things: JFK was second choice as far as his reprobate daddy was concerned. Remember his older brother Joe Jr died in a plane crash during WWII thus ending his political aspirations. JFK was a womanizing puke who cheated before and after he and Jackie O got married. Much like Putin and the O’clown JFK was though of as a very weak president(he was) in the eyes of Khrushchev and other Russian politicians. Oliver Stoned’s movie notwithstanding Oswald shot JFK. Not some conspiracy with the government and the mafia. Both JFK and RFK via MLK played blacks like fiddles to make themselves look good in said community(blacks fall for this every time liberals do it).Last but not least LBJ was a racist scumbag who is also revered by the same blacks whom he called the N word. A friend of mine who is also fed up with the JFK garbage said that the greatest thing he did in office was to die young. While that’s harsh way to put it in some instances that’s true.

Ken B on November 23, 2013 at 10:53 am

After Robert Kennedy was shot, my grandfather said, “Two down, one to go.” Yes, he was a conservative WWI vet. Yes, WWI.

WilliamMunny on November 23, 2013 at 12:29 pm

re: “and all the raving about her clothes” My wife who is a serious fashionista and also black, unlike me, thinks that whoever dresses michelle should be tried for treason and shot. A worse looking shlep you cannot find. She should watch Joan Rivers on shopping channel to get some lessons in dressing.

bikerrich on November 23, 2013 at 1:37 pm

RE: “Kennedy really was no better than a classier, less trashy version of Bill Clinton. If the media had exposed his dangerous philandering then…” actually, I recall the media did. Weren’t pics of his two girlfriends fluffy and muffy in the WH pool, in Life?

bikerrich on November 23, 2013 at 1:39 pm

In addition to Alfredo From P.R. list of things up for their 50th Anniversary’s, the 50th Anniversary of the Immigration Reform Act,or the Hart-Cellar Bill – with a big hand from TED Kennedy, that slammed the door on White immigrants coming to the US,and letting in only non-Whites. The destructive effects it has had on this country,is nothing less than pure evil,and all engineered by Leftist Traitors.

CharlesMartel on November 23, 2013 at 3:17 pm

Ah, Mr. Martel, I KNEW I forgot something. Yes, the 50th Anniversary of The Immigration and Naturalization Reform Act, THAT will be a cause celebre in this country. Especially with the drumbeat of how Republicans are supposedly trying to deny people their voting rights.

Imagine that!!! Asking for a photo ID at the polling places, and refusing the right to vote six times for a Democrat in case the person is an illegal immigrant.

By the way, I had a Stuy High classmate named Charles Martel.

Alfredo from Puerto Rico on November 23, 2013 at 3:42 pm

I heard where Michael Skakel (nephew of JFK) was granted bond on Thursday after 10+ years in prison. But you don’t see it in the news…

#1 VATO on November 23, 2013 at 3:47 pm

    It was in the news, definitely. At least two local NY TV stations had it the other day. I was at a friend’s house and he had the TV on. I had actually seen it earlier in the day on Not So FOX(y)-News’ web site.

    Alfredo from Puerto Rico on November 23, 2013 at 9:35 pm

    I heard where Michael Skakel (nephew of JFK) was granted bond on Thursday after 10+ years in prison. But you don’t see it in the news…

    #1 VATO on November 23, 2013 at 3:47 pm

    Nephew by marriage.

    What surprises me is the Kennedy conspiracy theories people don’t dream up. No one, for instance seems to have come up with the theory that John F. Kennedy was assassinated, by the Mafia, to divert the attention of the public and the news media from the Golden Age Nursing Home Fire, early the following morning, in Fitchville, Ohio. No one seems to have said “There was this old man, a retired brewmaster, who had been a bootlegger during Prohibition. He was a patient in the Golden Age Nursing Home. He knew that certain ‘respectable’ Midwestern CEOs were laundeirng money for the Mafia. He was old. He realized he would soon be meeting his maker, and he decided to blow the whistle on these people. The Mafia shot the President, so that the public and the news media would be diverted, and early the following morning, they burned down the Golden Age Nursing Home. 63 patients died in that fire. I DO NOT believe that, but I’m surprised nobody seems to.

    Miranda Rose Smith on November 24, 2013 at 4:21 am

Are you related to Rae Dawn Chong, whose daddy smokes a bong?

Alfredo from Puerto Rico on November 23, 2013 at 9:36 pm

I will close with a letter from JFK to Albert Schweitzer. Most here probably have no idea who Dr. Schweitzer was, so you should look him up to get a better context of this letter. JFK’s response to Dr. Schweitzer will give you some better insights into JFK.

Dear Mr. Adamo:

When people dpn’t remember who Albert Schweitzer, may he rest in peace, was, we will live in a sad world.

Miranda Rose Smith on November 24, 2013 at 4:31 am

The JFK case is a test obedience to authority. Other than fools, dupes, and the ignorant, only those who blindly obey authority, no matter who wrong that authority is, believe the Warren Commission lies. The notion that the government and the media have conspired to lie to the American public is a frightening thought to those who worship authority. This is not a left or right or center matter. It is a matter of freedom or obedience to authority. The choice is yours…..

The following is from The People’s Almanac #2, by David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace (NY: Bantam Books, 1978), pp. 47-52.

THE LAST WORDS OF LEE HARVEY OSWALD

Compiled by Mae Brussell

Did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone in shooting Pres. John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, or did he conspire with others? Was he serving as an agent of Cuba’s Fidel Castro, himself the target of American assassins? Or in squeezing the trigger of his carbine was he undertaking some super “dirty trick” for a CIA anxious to rid itself of a president whose faith in the “company” had evaporated in the wake of the Bay of Pigs fiasco? Or was he representing a group of Cuban exiles, the Teamsters Union, the Mafia? Indeed, was it Lee Harvey Oswald at all who killed JFK? Or was there a double impersonating Oswald? These questions continue to nag many people more than a decade and a half after that dreadful day in Dallas, in spite of the 26 volumes of hearings and exhibits served up by the Warren Commission, the congressional investigations, the release of heretofore classified FBI documents.

Almost everyone, it seems, has been heard from on the Kennedy assassination and on Lee Harvey Oswald’s guilt or innocence, except one person—Lee Harvey Oswald himself. From the time of Oswald’s arrest to his own assassination at the hands of Jack Ruby, no formal transcript or record was kept of statements made by the alleged killer. It was said that no tape recordings were made of Oswald’s remarks, and many notes taken of his statements were destroyed.

Determined to learn Oswald’s last words, his only testimony, The People’s Almanac assigned one of the leading authorities on the Kennedy assassination, Mae Brussell, to compile every known statement or remark made by Oswald between his arrest and death. The quotes, edited for space and clarity, are based on the recollections of a variety of witnesses present at different times and are not verbatim transcripts. “After 14 years of research on the JFK assassination,” Mae Brussell concludes, “I am of the opinion that Lee Harvey Oswald was telling the truth about his role in the assassination during these interrogations.”

12:30 P.M., CST, NOV. 22, 1963
Pres. John F. Kennedy Assassinated

[Note by Ralph Adamo: The time of the assassination is not questioned by anybody. However, the timeline for Oswald’s purported bus and cab trips from the Texas School Book Depository was constructed by the Warren Commission. If the Commission’s timetable is to be believed, Oswald was on the sixth floor of the Depository, and just completed firing three shots at JFK with expert precision in less than seven seconds using an antiquated rife with a poor site by 12:30 P.M–a feat that remains unduplicated by anybody to this day, let alone what follows. Then, according to the Commission, in two minutes Oswald ran downstairs to the second floor lunchroom, not observed by anybody, and calmly drank a Coke, which was observed by several witnesses. Oswald must have undergone some tremendous body conditioning to maintain a Zen-like stance while firing the rifle, then running downstairs at top speed, and then reassuming a Zen-like state of serenity, instantaneously reducing his heart rate and pace of breathing to a totally relaxed state in less than two minutes–but the Commission, apparently, never explored whether Oswald had undergone such training. Within one minute, Oswald left the second floor of the Depository and caught a bus at 12:33 P.M. and headed to a Greyhound Bus Station. Finally, Oswald got off the bus and took a cab at 12:40 P.M., even though the cab driver’s log indicated that Oswald took the cab at 12:30 P.M. The Commission concluded that Whaley must have been in error, though the Commission had no problems with Whaley’s other errors. But let’s not question authority…… And now, the words of Oswald.]

12:33 P.M.

Lee Harvey Oswald left work, entered a bus, and said, “Transfer, please.”

12:40 – 12:45 P.M.

Oswald got off the bus, entered a cab, and said, “May I have this cab?” A woman approached, wanting a cab, and Oswald said, “I will let you have this one. . . . 500 North Beckley Street [instructions to William Whaley, driver of another cab]. . . . This will be fine.” Oswald departed cab and walked a few blocks.

1:15 P.M. Officer J. D. Tippit Murdered

1:45 P.M. Arrest at the Texas Theater

“This is it” or “Well, it’s all over now.” Oswald arrested. (Patrolman M. N. McDonald heard these remarks. Other officers who were at the scene did not hear them.) “I don’t know why you are treating me like this. The only thing I have done is carry a pistol into a movie. . . . I don’t see why you handcuffed me. . . . Why should I hide my face? I haven’t done anything to be ashamed of. . . . I want a lawyer. . . . I am not resisting arrest. . . . I didn’t kill anybody. . . . I haven’t shot anybody. . . . I protest this police brutality. . . . I fought back there, but I know I wasn’t supposed to be carrying a gun. . . . What is this all about?”

2:00 – 2:15 P.M. Drive to Police Dept.

“What is this all about? . . . I know my rights. . . . A police officer has been killed? . . . I hear they burn for murder. Well, they say it just takes a second to die. . . . All I did was carry a gun. . . . No, Hidell is not my real name. . . . I have been in the Marine Corps, have a dishonorable discharge, and went to Russia. . . . I had some trouble with police in New Orleans for passing out pro-Castro literature. . . . Why are you treating me this way? . . . I am not being handled right. . . . I demand my rights.”

2:15 P.M. Taken into Police Dept.

2:15 – 2:20 P.M.

“Talked to” by officers Guy F. Rose and Richard S. Stovall. No notes.

2:25 – 4:04 P.M. Interrogation of Oswald, Office of Capt Will Fritz

“My name is Lee Harvey Oswald. . . . I work at the Texas School Book Depository Building. . . . I lived in Minsk and in Moscow. . . . I worked in a factory. . . . I liked everything over there except the weather. . . . I have a wife and some children. . . . My residence is 1026 North Beckley, Dallas, Tex.” Oswald recognized FBI agent James Hosty and said, “You have been at my home two or three times talking to my wife. I don’t appreciate your coming out there when I was not there. . . . I was never in Mexico City. I have been in Tijuana. . . . Please take the handcuffs from behind me, behind my back. . . . I observed a rifle in the Texas School Book Depository where I work, on Nov. 20, 1963. . . . Mr. Roy Truly, the supervisor, displayed the rifle to individuals in his office on the first floor. . . . I never owned a rifle myself. . . . I resided in the Soviet Union for three years, where I have many friends and relatives of my wife. . . . I was secretary of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee in New Orleans a few months ago. . . . While in the Marines, I received an award for marksmanship as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps. . . . While living on Beckley Street, I used the name 0. H. Lee. . . . I was present in the Texas School Book Depository Building, I have been employed there since Oct. 15, 1963. . . . As a laborer, I have access to the entire building. . . . My usual place of work is on the first floor. However, I frequently use the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh floors to get books. I was on all floors this morning. . . . Because of all the confusion, I figured there would be no work performed that afternoon so I decided to go home. . . . I changed my clothing and went to a movie. . . . I carried a pistol with me to the movie because I felt like it, for no other reason. . . . I fought the Dallas Police who arrested me in the movie theater where I received a cut and a bump. . . . I didn’t shoot Pres. John F. Kennedy or Officer J. D. Tippit. . . . An officer struck me, causing the marks on my left eye, after I had struck him. . . . I just had them in there,” when asked why he had bullets in his pocket.

3:54 P.M.

NBC newsman Bill Ryan announced on national television that “Lee Oswald seems to be the prime suspect in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.”

4:45 P.M. At a Lineup for Helen Markham, Witness to Tippit Murder

“It isn’t right to put me in line with these teenagers. . . . You know what you are doing, and you are trying to railroad me. . . . I want my lawyer. . . . You are doing me an injustice by putting me out there dressed different than these other men. . . . I am out there, the only one with a bruise on his head. . . . I don t believe the lineup is fair, and I desire to put on a jacket similar to those worn by some of the other individuals in the lineup. . . . All of you have a shirt on, and I have a T-shirt on. I want a shirt or something. . . . This T-shirt is unfair.”

4:45 – 6:30 P.M. Second Interrogation of Oswald, Captain Fritz’s Office

“When I left the Texas School Book Depository, I went to my room, where I changed my trousers, got a pistol, and went to a picture show. . . . You know how boys do when they have a gun, they carry it. . . . Yes, I had written the Russian Embassy. (On Nov. 9, 1963, Oswald had written to the Russian Embassy that FBI agent James Hosty was making some kind of deals with Marina, and he didn’t trust “the notorious FBI.”) . . . Mr. Hosty, you have been accosting my wife. You mistreated her on two different occasions when you talked with her. . . . I know you. Well, he threatened her. He practically told her she would have to go back to Russia. You know, I can’t use a phone. . . . I want that attorney in New York, Mr. Abt. I don’t know him personally but I know about a case that he handled some years ago, where he represented the people who had violated the Smith Act, [which made it illegal to teach or advocate the violent overthrow of the U.S. government] . . . I don’t know him personally, but that is the attorney I want. . . . If I can’t get him, then I may get the American Civil Liberties Union to send me an attorney.”
“I went to school in New York and in Fort Worth, Tex. . . . After getting into the Marines, I finished my high school education. . . . I support the Castro revolution. . . . My landlady didn’t understand my name correctly, so it was her idea to call me 0. H. Lee. . . . I want to talk with Mr. Abt, a New York attorney. . . . The only package I brought to work was my lunch. . . . I never had a card to the Communist party. . . . I am a Marxist, but not a Leninist-Marxist. . . . I bought a pistol in Fort Worth several months ago. . . . I refuse to tell you where the pistol was purchased. . . . I never ordered any guns. . . . I am not malcontent. Nothing irritated me about the President.” When Capt. Will Fritz asked Oswald, “Do you believe in a deity?” Oswald replied, “I don’t care to discuss that.” “How can I afford a rifle on the Book Depository salary of $1.25 an hour? . . . John Kennedy had a nice family. . . .” (Sheriff Roger Craig saw Oswald enter a white station wagon 15 minutes after the assassination. Oswald confirmed this in Captain Fritz’s office. A man impersonating Oswald in Dallas just prior to the assassination could have been on the bus and in the taxicab.) “That station wagon belongs to Mrs. Ruth Paine. Don’t try to tie her into this. She had nothing to do with it. I told you people I did. . . . Everybody will know who I am now.”
“Can I get an attorney?. . . I have not been given the opportunity to have counsel. . . . As I said, the Fair Play for Cuba Committee has definitely been investigated, that is very true. . . . The results of that investigation were zero. The Fair Play for Cuba Committee is not now on the attorney general’s subversive list.”

6:30 P.M. Lineup for Witnesses Cecil J. McWatters, Sam Guinyard, and Ted Callaway

“I didn’t shoot anyone,” Oswald yelled in the halls to reporters. . . . “I want to get in touch with a lawyer, Mr. Abt, in New York City. . . . I never killed anybody.”

7:10 P.M. Arraignment: State of Texas v. Lee Harvey Oswald for Murder with Malice of Officer J. D. Tippit of the Dallas Police Dept.

“I insist upon my constitutional rights. . . . The way you are treating me, I might as well be in Russia. . . . I was not granted my request to put on a jacket similar to those worn by other individuals in some previous lineups.”

7:50 P.M. Lineup for Witness J. D. Davis

“I have been dressed differently than the other three. . . . Don’t you know the difference? I still have on the same clothes I was arrested in. The other two were prisoners, already in jail.” Seth Kantor, reporter, heard Oswald yell, “I am only a patsy.”

7:55 P.M. Third Interrogation, Captain Fritz’s Office

“I think I have talked long enough. I don’t have anything else to say. . . . What started out to be a short interrogation turned out to be rather lengthy. . . . I don’t care to talk anymore. . . . I am waiting for someone to come forward to give me legal assistance. . . . It wasn’t actually true as to how I got home. I took a bus, but due to a traffic jam, I left the bus and got a taxicab, by which means I actually arrived at my residence.”

8:55 P.M. Fingerprints, Identification Paraffin Tests—All in Fritz’s Office

“I will not sign the fingerprint card until I talk to my attorney. [Oswald’s name is on the card anyway.] . . . What are you trying to prove with this paraffin test, that I fired a gun? . . . You are wasting your time. I don’t know anything about what you are accusing me.”

11:00 – 11:20 P.M. “Talked To” by Police Officer John Adamcik and FBI Agent M. Clements

“I was in Russia two years and liked it in Russia. . . . I am 5 ft. 9 in., weigh 140 lb., have brown hair, blue-gray eyes, and have no tattoos or permanent scars.”

(Oswald had mastoidectomy scars and left upper-arm scars, both noted in Marine records. “Warren Report,” pp. 614-618, lists information from Oswald obtained during this interview about members of his family, past employment, past residences.)

11:20 – 11:25 P.M. Lineup for Press Conference; Jack Ruby Present

When newsmen asked Oswald about his black eye, he answered, “A cop hit me.” When asked about the earlier arraignment, Oswald said “Well, I was questioned by Judge Johnston. However, I protested at that time that I was not allowed legal representation during that very short and sweet hearing. I really don’t know what the situation is about. Nobody has told me anything except that I am accused of murdering a policeman. I know nothing more than that, and I do request someone to come forward to give me legal assistance.” When asked, “Did you kill the President?” Oswald replied, “No. I have not been charged with that. In fact, nobody has said that to me yet. The first thing I heard about it was when the newspaper reporters in the hall asked me that question. . . . I did not do it. I did not do it. . . . I did not shoot anyone.”

12:23 A.M., NOV. 23, 1963 Placed in Jail Cell

12:35 A.M. Released by Jailer

Oswald complained, “This is the third set of fingerprints, photographs being taken.”

1:10 A.M. Back in Jail Cell

1:35 A.M. Arraignment: State of Texas v. Lee Harvey Oswald for the Murder with Malice of John F. Kennedy

“Well, sir, I guess this is the trial. . . . I want to contact my lawyer, Mr. Abt, in New York City. I would like to have this gentleman. He is with the American Civil Liberties Union.” (John J. Abt now in private practice in New York, was the general counsel for the Senate Sub-Committee on Civil Liberties from 1935-1937, and later served as legal adviser for the Progressive party from 1948-1951. Mr. Abt has never been a member of the ACLU.)

10:30 A.M.-1:10 P.M. Interrogation, Capt. Will Fritz’s Office

“I said I wanted to contact Attorney Abt, New York. He defended the Smith Act cases in 1949, 1950, but I don’t know his address, except that it is in New York. . . . I never owned a rifle. . . . Michael Paine owned a car, Ruth Paine owned two cars. . . . Robert Oswald, my brother, lives in Fort Worth. He and the Paines were closest friends in town. . . . The FBI has thoroughly interrogated me at various other times. . . . They have used their hard and soft approach to me, and they use the buddy system. . . . I am familiar with all types of questioning and have no intention of making any statements. . . . In the past three weeks the FBI has talked to my wife. They were abusive and impolite. They frightened my wife, and I consider their activities obnoxious.”
(When arrested, Oswald had FBI Agent James Hosty’s home phone and office phone numbers and car license number in his possession.)
“I was arrested in New Orleans for disturbing the peace and paid a $10 fine for demonstrating for the Fair Play for Cuba Committee. I had a fight with some anti-Castro refugees and they were released while I was fined. . . . I refuse to take a polygraph. It has always been my practice not to agree to take a polygraph . . . The FBI has overstepped their bounds in using various tactics in interviewing me. . . . I didn’t shoot John Kennedy. . . . I didn’t even know Gov. John Connally had been shot. . . . I don’t own a rifle. . . . I didn’t tell Buell Wesley Frazier anything about bringing back some curtain rods. . . . My wife lives with Mrs. Ruth Paine. She [Mrs. Paine] was learning Russian. They needed help with the young baby, so it made a nice arrangement for both of them. . . . I don’t know Mrs. Paine very well, but Mr. Paine and his wife were separated a great deal of the time.”
(Michael Paine worked at Bell Aerospace as a scientific engineer. His boss, Walter Dornberger, was a Nazi war criminal. The first call, the “tipoff,” on Oswald, came from Bell Aerospace.)
“The garage at the Paines’ house has some seabags that have a lot of my personal belongings. I left them after coming back from New Orleans in September. . . . The name Alek Hidell was picked up while working in New Orleans in the Fair Play for Cuba organization. . . . I speak Russian, correspond with people in Russia, and receive newspapers from Russia. . . . I don’t own a rifle at all. . . . I did have a small rifle some years in the past. You can’t buy a rifle in Russia, you can only buy shotguns. I had a shotgun in Russia and hunted some while there. I didn’t bring the rifle from New Orleans. . . . I am not a member of the Communist party. . . . I belong to the Civil Liberties Union. . . . I did carry a package to the Texas School Book Depository. I carried my lunch, a sandwich and fruit, which I made at Paine’s house. . . . I had nothing personal against John Kennedy.”

1:10 – 1:30 P.M. Lee Harvey Oswald Visited by Mother, Marguerite Oswald, and Wife, Marina Oswald

(To his Mother.) “No, there is nothing you can do. Everything is fine. I know my rights, and I will have an attorney. I already requested to get in touch with Attorney Abt, I think is his name. Don’t worry about a thing.”
(To his Wife.) “Oh, no, they have not been beating me. They are treating me fine. . . . You’re not to worry about that. Did you bring June and Rachel? . . . Of course we can speak about absolutely anything at all. . . . It’s a mistake. I’m not guilty. There are people who will help me. There is a lawyer in New York on whom I am counting for help. . . . Don’t cry. There is nothing to cry about. Try not to think about it. . . . Everything is going to be all right. If they ask you anything, you have a right not to answer. You have a right to refuse. Do you understand? . . . You are not to worry. You have friends. They’ll help you. If it comes to that, you can ask the Red Cross for help. You mustn’t worry about me. Kiss Junie and Rachel for me. I love you. . . . Be sure to buy shoes for June.”

2:15 P.M. Lineup for Witnesses William W. Scoggins and William Whaley

“I refuse to answer questions. I have my T-shirt on, the other men are dressed differently. . . . Everybody’s got a shirt and everything, and I’ve got a T-shirt on. . . . This is unfair.”

3:30 – 3:40 P.M. Robert Oswald, Brother, in Ten-Minute Visit

“I cannot or would not say anything, because the line is apparently tapped. [They were talking through telephones.] . . . I got these bruises in the theater. They haven’t bothered me since. They are treating me all right. . . . What do you think of the baby? Well, it was a girl, and I wanted a boy, but you know how that goes. . . . I don’t know what is going on. I just don’t know what they are talking about. . . . Don’t believe all the so-called evidence.” When Robert Oswald looked into Lee’s eyes for some clue, Lee said to him, “Brother, you won’t find anything there. . . . My friends will take care of Marina and the two children.” When Robert Oswald stated that he didn’t believe the Paines were friends of Lee’s, he answered back, “Yes, they are. . . . Junie needs a new pair of shoes.”
(Robert Oswald told the Warren Commission, “To me his answers were mechanical, and I was not talking to the Lee I knew.”)

3:40 P.M. Lee Harvey Oswald Calls Mrs. Ruth Paine

“This is Lee. Would you please call John Abt in New York for me after 6:00 P.M. The number for his office is ___________, and his residence is _______________ . . . . Thank you for your concern.”

5:30 – 5:35 P.M. Visit with H. Louis Nichols, President of the Dallas Bar Association

“Well, I really don’t know what this is all about, that I have been kept incarcerated and kept incommunicado. . . . Do you know a lawyer in New York named John Abt? I believe in New York City. I would like to have him represent me. That is the man I would like. Do you know any lawyers who are members of the American Civil Liberties Union? I am a member of that organization, and I would like to have somebody who is a member of that organization represent me.” Mr. Nichols offered to help find a lawyer, but Oswald said, “No, not now. You might come back next week, and if I don’t get some of these other people to assist me, I might ask you to get somebody to represent me.”

6:00 – 6:30 P.M. Interrogation, Captain Fritz’s Office

“In time I will be able to show you that this is not my picture, but I don’t want to answer any more questions. . . . I will not discuss this photograph [which was used on the cover of Feb. 21, 1964 Life magazine] without advice of an attorney. . . . There was another rifle in the building. I have seen it. Warren Caster had two rifles, a 30.06 Mauser and a .22 for his son. . . . That picture is not mine, but the face is mine. The picture has been made by superimposing my face. The other part of the picture is not me at all, and I have never seen this picture before. I understand photography real well, and that, in time, I will be able to show you that is not my picture and that it has been made by someone else. . . . It was entirely possible that the Police Dept. has superimposed this part of the photograph over the body of someone else. . . . The Dallas Police were the culprits. . . . The small picture was reduced from the larger one, made by some persons unknown to me. . . . Since I have been photographed at City Hall, with people taking my picture while being transferred from the office to the jail door, someone has been able to get a picture of my face, and with that, they have made this picture. . . . I never kept a rifle at Mrs. Paine’s garage at Irving, Tex. . . . We had no visitors at our apartment on North Beckley. . . . I have no receipts for purchase of any gun, and I have never ordered any guns. I do not own a rifle, never possessed a rifle. . . . I will not say who wrote A. J. Hidell on my Selective Service card. [It was later confirmed that Marina Oswald wrote in the name Hidell.] . . . I will not tell you the purpose of carrying the card or the use I made of it. . . . The address book in my possession has the names of Russian immigrants in Dallas, Tex., whom I have visited.”

9:30 P.M. Lee Harvey Oswald Calls His Wife, Marina, at Mrs. Paine’s Home

“Marina, please. Would you try to locate her?” (Marina had moved.)

10:00 P.M. Office of Captain Fritz

“Life is better for the colored people in Russia than it is in the U.S.”

9:30 – 11:15 A.M., SUNDAY MORNING, NOV. 24,1963 Interrogation in Capt. Will Fritz’s Office

“After the assassination, a policeman or some man came rushing into the School Book Depository Building and said, `Where is your telephone?’ He showed me some kind of credential and identified himself, so he might not have been a police officer. . . . `Right there,’ I answered, pointing to the phone. . . . `Yes, I can eat lunch with you,’ I told my co-worker, `but I can’t go right now. You go and take the elevator, but send the elevator back up.’ [The elevator in the building was broken.] . . . After all this commotion started, I just went downstairs and started to see what it was all about. A police officer and my superintendent of the place stepped up and told officers that I am one of the employees in the building. . . . If you ask me about the shooting of Tippit, I don’t know what you are talking about. . . . The only thing I am here for is because I popped a policeman in the nose in the theater on Jefferson Avenue, which I readily admit I did, because I was protecting myself. . . . I learned about the job vacancy at the Texas School Book Depository from people in Mrs. Paine’s neighborhood. . . . I visited my wife Thursday night, Nov. 21, whereas I normally visited her over the weekend, because Mrs. Paine was giving a party for the children on the weekend. They were having a houseful of neighborhood children. I didn’t want to be around at such a time. . . . Therefore, my weekly visit was on Thursday night instead of on the weekend. . . . It didn’t cost much to go to Mexico. It cost me some $26, a small, ridiculous amount to eat, and another ridiculous small amount to stay all night. . . . I went to the Mexican Embassy to try to get this permission to go to Russia by way of Cuba. . . . I went to the Mexican Consulate in Mexico City. I went to the Russian Embassy to go to Russia by way of Cuba. They told me to come back in `thirty days.’ . . . I don’t recall the shape, it may have been a small sack, or a large sack; you don’t always find one that just fits your sandwiches. . . . The sack was in the car, beside me, on my lap, as it always is. . . . I didn’t get it crushed. It was not on the back seat. Mr. Frazier must have been mistaken or else thinking about the other time when he picked me up. . . . The Fair Play for Cuba Committee was a loosely organized thing and we had no officers. Probably you can call me the secretary of it because I did collect money. [Oswald was the only member in New Orleans.] . . . In New York City they have a well-organized, or a better, organization. . . . No, not at all: I didn’t intend to organize here in Dallas; I was too busy trying to get a job. . . . If anyone else was entitled to get mail in P.O. Box 6525 at the Terminal Annex in New Orleans, the answer is no. . . . The rental application said Fair Play for Cuba Committee and the American Civil Liberties Union. Maybe I put them on there. . . . It is possible that on rare occasions I may have handed one of the keys to my wife to get my mail, but certainly nobody else. . . . I never ordered a rifle under the name of Hidell, Oswald, or any other name. . . . I never permitted anyone else to order a rifle to be received in this box. . . . I never ordered any rifle by mail order or bought any money order for the purpose of paying for such a rifle. . . . I didn’t own any rifle. I have not practiced or shot with a rifle. . . . I subscribe to two publications from Russia, one being a hometown paper published in Minsk, where I met and married my wife. . . . We moved around so much that it was more practical to simply rent post office boxes and have mail forwarded from one box to the next rather than going through the process of furnishing changes of address to the publishers. . . . Marina Oswald and A. J. Hidell were listed under the caption of persons entitled to receive mail through my box in New Orleans. . . . I don’t recall anything about the A. J. Hidell being on the post office card. . . . I presume you have reference to a map I had in my room with some X’s on it. I have no automobile. I have no means of conveyance. I have to walk from where I am going most of the time. I had my applications with the Texas Employment Commission. They furnished me names and addresses of places that had openings like I might fill, and neighborhood people had furnished me information on jobs I might get. . . . I was seeking a job, and I would put these markings on this map so I could plan my itinerary around with less walking. Each one of these X’s represented a place where I went and interviewed for a job. . . . You can check each one of them out if you want to. . . . The X on the intersection of Elm and Houston is the location of the Texas School Book Depository. I did go there and interview for a job. In fact, I got the job there. That is all the map amounts to. [Ruth Paine later stated she had marked Lee’s map.] . . . What religion am I? I have no faith, I suppose you mean, in the Bible. I have read the Bible. It is fair reading, but not very interesting. As a matter of fact, I am a student of philosophy and I don’t consider the Bible as even a reasonable or intelligent philosophy. I don’t think of it. . . . I told you I haven’t shot a rifle since the Marines, possibly a small bore, maybe a .22, but not anything larger since I have left the Marine Corps. . . . I never received a package sent to me through the mailbox in Dallas, Box No. 2915, under the name of Alek Hidell, absolutely not. . . . Maybe my wife, but I couldn’t say for sure whether my wife ever got this mail, but it is possible she could have.” Oswald was told that an attorney offered to assist him, and he answered, “I don’t particularly want him, but I will take him if I can’t do any better, and will contact him at a later date. . . . I have been a student of Marxism since the age of 14. . . . American people will soon forget the President was shot, but I didn’t shoot him. . . . Since the President was killed, someone else would take his place, perhaps Vice-President Johnson. His views about Cuba would probably be largely the same as those of President Kennedy. . . . I never lived on Neely Street. These people are mistaken about visiting there, because I never lived there. . . . It might not be proper to answer further questions, because what I say might be construed in a different light than what I actually meant it to be. . . . When the head of any government dies, or is killed, there is always a second in command who would take over. . . . I did not kill President Kennedy or Officer Tippit. If you want me to cop out to hitting or pleading guilty to hitting a cop in the mouth when I was arrested, yeah, I plead guilty to that. But I do deny shooting both the President and Tippit.”

11:10 A.M. Preparation for Oswald’s Transfer to County Jail

“I would like to have a shirt from clothing that was brought to the office to wear over the T-shirt I am wearing. . . . I prefer wearing a black Ivy League-type shirt, which might be a little warmer. I don’t want a hat. . . . I will just take one of those sweaters, the black one.”

11:15 A.M. Inspector Thomas J. Kelley, U.S. Secret Service, Has Final Conversation with Lee Harvey Oswald

Kelley approached Oswald, out of the hearing of others, except perhaps Captain Fritz’s men, and said that as a Secret Service agent, he was anxious to talk with him as soon as he secured counsel, because Oswald was charged with the assassination of the President but had denied it. Oswald said, “I will be glad to discuss this proposition with my attorney, and that after I talk with one, we could either discuss it with him or discuss it with my attorney, if the attorney thinks it is a wise thing to do, but at the present time I have nothing more to say to you.”

11:21 A.M. Lee Harvey Oswald Was Fatally Wounded by Jack Ruby

Ralph Adamo on November 26, 2013 at 2:54 am

I heard where Michael Skakel (nephew of JFK) was granted bond on Thursday after 10+ years in prison. But you don’t see it in the news…

#1 VATO on November 23, 2013 at 3:47 pm

Nephew by marriage.

He was ROBERT F. Kennedy’s nephew by marriage.

Miranda Rose Smith on September 7, 2015 at 11:05 am

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