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by galanter_Archive
I've seen more than one demonstration of Oswalds shooting being entirely possible. And contrary to some reports, it wasn't a difficult shot (I've looked out that window and can personally affirm that), and Oswald was a pretty good marksman who loved his gun.
I've seen a demonstration of someone climbing into that curbside grate, and from there Kennedy's head wasn't viewable or shoot-able, at all.
For me that last bit of compelling conspiracy-theory evidence was Kennedy's head motion after the killing shot..."back and to the left" as Oliver Stone would say. It seemed to violate the physics of an impact from behind, and even with most of the rest of the physical evidence ultimately pointing at Oswald alone, I couldn't give up my skepticism due to that head motion in the Zapruder film footage.
Since then I've seen footage of both simulated head shots and footage of executions where the victim/target jerks backwards towards the rifle rather than forward...just like Kennedy.
The physics of a high velocity bullet going through a solidly contained soft solid/liquid mixture is counter-intuitive and complex. Some times the target is pushed forward, and sometimes the target moves backward. Much of the momentum continues forward with the bullet. The applied momentum left behind will often become diffuse in direction and cause more of an explosion (while still maintaining conservation of momentum). Depending on how the explosion takes place fragments and fluids can go in many directions as once.
The only conspiracy theory that remains at all plausible to me is this. Oswald did all the shooting. He did this for his own reasons (impressing Castro) but was also encouraged by his Uncle or others with organized crime ties. Organized crime felt double-crossed by the Kennedys for reasons well documented. (Bobby went after them after the mob helped steal votes in Cook County, and helped plot the assassination of Castro.) So from their point of view a hit was fair justice.
The typical pro-conspiracy evidence, however, is bunk. The shot can be made, there is no "Badge Man" behind the white fence, the Umbrella Man was found and testified it was his form of silent protest, the magic bullet required no magic at all once you factor in the proper relative positions of the backseat and jumpseat, etc etc.
And don't forget that among professionals eye and ear witnesses are always highly suspect...not because they lie (although some do) but because human perception and memory, especially under stress, is not terrible reliable.
There was a death bed confession (from Trafficante? (sp?)) saying they wanted to kill the head of the snake (John) to kill the body (Bobby). Mobsters, however, have been known to spin tall tales to enlarge their legacy and reputation.
Last edited by
galanter_Archive on Sun Jul 01, 2007 2:28 pm, edited 2 times in total.
