The Lone Assassin Question

[William Kelly]

And still we wait for someone to explain when Oswald first decided to kill the president.

It's such a simple question.

It's a simple question to which there is no answer, and to which there can amd never will be an answer.

If Oswald did kill the President, then there is an answer because at some point in time he had to make the decision to try to kill him, so there is an answer.

The real answer is that he made no such decision.

BK

[William Kelly]

And still we wait for someone to explain when Oswald first decided to kill the president.

It's such a simple question.

It's a simple question to which there is no answer, and to which there can amd never will be an answer.

If Oswald did kill the President, then there is an answer because at some point in time he had to make the decision to try to kill him, so there is an answer.

The real answer is that he made no such decision.

BK

If Oswald did kill the President, then there is NO answer. Only Oswald could give the answer, and as he's dead, there can never be an answer.

Duncan, While Oswald was still alive and being interrogated, Dallas DA Will Fritz said that he had planned to kill the President for months and planned on what he was going to say after he did it.

Now those who claim Oswald did it alone, such as McAdams et al., say that he had to decide after the motorcade route was announced, which narrows the time line down considerably.

Since we know more about Oswald than any other single person in the history of the world, who he was with, what he was doing, what he said and wrote, for practically every day of his life - it should be possible to pinpoint exactly when he decided to kill the President, if he did make such a decision.

If there is no answer, then that's probably because he never made such a decision.

And I find it very peculiar that those who believe Oswald is the lone assassin don't bother to determine what motivated him, why he did it, or even try to determine when he decided to kill the President, something that the Secret Service and others concerned with protection of the President should be concerned about.

Those least interested in even trying to answer the question are those who believe Oswald alone was resonsible for what happened at Dealey Plaza. If he alone was resonsible, then that should be the most important question, but it is the one that has thus far been avoided.

Those who say it can not be determined or we will never know therefore help exonerate him.

Bill Kelly

[Bernie Laverick]

And still we wait for someone to explain when Oswald first decided to kill the president.

It's such a simple question.

It's a simple question to which there is no answer, and to which there can amd never will be an answer.

If Oswald did kill the President, then there is an answer because at some point in time he had to make the decision to try to kill him, so there is an answer.

The real answer is that he made no such decision.

BK

If Oswald did kill the President, then there is NO answer. Only Oswald could give the answer, and as he's dead, there can never be an answer.

Duncan you are always a lot more meticulous than this. I regarded you as the thinking man's LNer - an urbane broadsheet compared to the tabloid rants we are used to on these forums. You alone convinced me that Badgeman is probably not real. I was impressed with your reasoning. But now this. It's a real slip up actually. In fact it's almost an outright gaffe!

You say it cannot ever be known. That only Oswald himself has the answer to when he decided to shoot the President. That there is no evidence he planned it at all. If there was surely you would be screaming it from the roof tops. But you say that there isn't.

You have therefore inadvertantly talked yourself into believing that there is not a scintilla of proof that Oswald made any assassination plans whatsoever. Is that correct?

No doubt we will hear the same dull-brained reasoning Duke referred to earlier...

"Oswald did it. He did it so he must have planned it at some time; who cares when?"

Oswald couldn't have fired three shots in the time available. The response: "Oswald did it. Only he did it so he must have had time."

Oswald could never have made it to Tenth and Patton in the time available. "Oswald did it, so he must have had time"

When your whole world view is diluted down to those three words, "Oswald did it", evidence and facts count for nothing. You say he did it but then you openly say there is not one piece of evidence as to when he may have planned it. Does it not interest you even in the slightest?

Given, as you so correctly say, we have absolutely no evidence of when he may have planned the deed could you maybe speculate as to when you think that may have been?

Good luck.

[Pat Speer]

And still we wait for someone to explain when Oswald first decided to kill the president.

It's such a simple question.

It's a simple question to which there is no answer, and to which there can amd never will be an answer.

If Oswald did kill the President, then there is an answer because at some point in time he had to make the decision to try to kill him, so there is an answer.

The real answer is that he made no such decision.

BK

If Oswald did kill the President, then there is NO answer. Only Oswald could give the answer, and as he's dead, there can never be an answer.

I'm actually with Duncan on this one. IF Oswald killed the President, all by his lonesome, we can not say for sure when he decided to do so. But one might assume he had some thoughts about it the day before, else he wouldn't have stolen some wrapping paper from the depository, and concealed this paper from his wife and Mrs. Paine. It also follows that he wouldn't have made up the curtain rod story, if he weren't already thinking of killing Kennedy.

If this is so, however, it also seems likely his FINAL decision came hours later, after Marina had rejected his overtures at reconciliation.

This is indeed what many LNs, including the Warren Commission, have tried to claim--that Oswald, suffering from an over-sized ego and an insatiable desire to be the BIG man--killed Kennedy (a symbol of both America's might and Oswald's personal impotence) because Marina wouldn't give him some. If this is so, then Marina is one of history's most notorious femme fatales--right up there with Helen of Troy...and Yoko.

I don't buy this, of course. While we don't know what Oswald was thinking, we can be pretty sure that he didn't smuggle wrapping paper out of the depository on the 21st.

[Duke Lane]

If I'm ever arrested and charged with murder, I want my defense attorney to hire Duke Lane as a consultant.

Got yer casket picked out yet, slim?

Thanks!

[Bernice Moore]

SOME BAG PHOTOS..B

[Duke Lane]

It's a simple question to which there is no answer, and to which there can amd never will be an answer.

If Oswald did kill the President, then there is an answer because at some point in time he had to make the decision to try to kill him, so there is an answer.

The real answer is that he made no such decision.

If Oswald did kill the President, then there is NO answer. Only Oswald could give the answer, and as he's dead, there can never be an answer.

Duncan, While Oswald was still alive and being interrogated, Dallas DA Will Fritz said that he had planned to kill the President for months and planned on what he was going to say after he did it.

Now those who claim Oswald did it alone, such as McAdams et al., say that he had to decide after the motorcade route was announced, which narrows the time line down considerably.

Since we know more about Oswald than any other single person in the history of the world, who he was with, what he was doing, what he said and wrote, for practically every day of his life - it should be possible to pinpoint exactly when he decided to kill the President, if he did make such a decision.

If there is no answer, then that's probably because he never made such a decision.

And I find it very peculiar that those who believe Oswald is the lone assassin don't bother to determine what motivated him, why he did it, or even try to determine when he decided to kill the President, something that the Secret Service and others concerned with protection of the President should be concerned about.

Those least interested in even trying to answer the question are those who believe Oswald alone was resonsible for what happened at Dealey Plaza. If he alone was resonsible, then that should be the most important question, but it is the one that has thus far been avoided.

Those who say it can not be determined or we will never know therefore help exonerate him.

Duncan is, I fear, quite correct: even if – IF – Oswald did the deed, alone or with help, it's virtually impossible to determine when he'd made the decision to kill the President. Presuming that he'd ever made the decision to kill POTUS, it's a fair proposition that he did not make a decision to kill JFK until he knew he had the opportunity; until then, it was an empty threat at worst, a pipe dream at best.

"I'll kill him when he rides by my building" is a far cry from "I'll kill the S.O.B. if I ever get the chance."

Of course, we'd have to establish that he actually did kill JFK (and Tippit) before we can move on to the point of trying to figure out when he decided to. The first hasn't been done, so the second is moot.

Not having an answer to the question is not the same as proving that there is no answer. Timothy McVeigh clearly made a decision to kill people (albeit nameless and faceless) in Oklahoma City; whether he decided to do so immediately after Waco or Ruby Ridge is relatively unimportant since, at best, all it does is establish "motive," which he's already said what that was. Motive, however, is not a necessary part of establishing guilt. It's less important than the LHO/JFK question since the opportunity to destroy the Murrah Building was a constant; the only variable was who, specifically, would be inside of it (which didn't apparently enter into the equation in that case).

So if we don't know if he made the actual decision to bomb the building, whether it was April or September, on a Saturday or a Wednesday, does that mean that he didn't make the decision? I think not.

One should take prosecutors' pronouncements with a grain of salt, always.

[Duke Lane]

As I just posted elsewhere, what is the evidence Oswald took the paper from Troy West and brought it home?

I went over this thoroughly in my Reclaiming History essay,Part 6.

As far as I can see, there isn't any. Not any step of the way.

Of course not. I don't think anyone suggested in seriousness that there was.

Here's a better question: if Oswald didn't hijack the paper - didn't have the means or the opportunity - who did?

[Pat Speer]

[

This is indeed what many LNs, including the Warren Commission, have tried to claim--that Oswald, suffering from an over-sized ego and an insatiable desire to be the BIG man--killed Kennedy (a symbol of both America's might and Oswald's personal impotence) because Marina wouldn't give him some.

This is so illogical it beggars belief. If Oswald did it for recognition why they hell did he deny it to his dying breath? Men like that shout their guilt from the hill tops because they want recognition for their "great deed." They don't run away from the scene, shoot a cop to avoid arrest and then refer to themselves as nothing but a lil' ole patsy right til the end.

I have made that very point dozens of times in my many online "discussions' with LNs. They usually counter with some derivation of Mailer's pathetic belief that Oswald was gonna play innocent all the way through his trial so he could prove to himself how much smarter he was than everyone. They neglect that Oswald had a long-time interest in politics, and that killing Kennedy for no reason--EVEN IF he got away with it--would not make him a BIG man, just a killer. If I point this out, some continue on the Mailer train and propose that Oswald PLANNED on killing Kennedy and getting away, but SCREWED UP and also killed Tippit, and that, having killed Tippit, he realized the purity of his intentions would be questioned. And that he then decided to try to lie his way out of it. Hogwash.