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Who changed the motorcade route?


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14 hours ago, Vince Palamara said:

Hi, David!

Please see my latest post

Secret Service Agent Floyd Boring…is very interesting, indeed. 

Hi Vince:

A few hours ago, I completed a very careful reading of your entire write-up of Floyd Boring. I don't know how you manage to keep track of all these different details.  Quite an accomplishment.  And I really liked the video where you countered Clint Hill's statement(s) that he never received, or didn't bother to read, your letter, with you holding up a copy of the "return receipt" (which he signed).  

Hill deserves credit for racing to the limo on 11/22/63, but a lot of his behavior since then has not been particularly admirable.  Also, and as I'm sure you remember, Clint Hill apparently made a series of notes about 11/22/63; and during the period when he was seeing a psychiatrist, he was apparently advised that for sake of his mental health, he should destroy those notes; and so, he said (to Brian Lamb's considerable astonishment, as I recall) that he destroyed his notes! (Shades of Dr. Humes!)

 Wouldn't it have been great had there been a serious Grand Jury investigation of all these issues and not the shallow and superficial questioning done by the Warren Commission?  And had there been such an event, you would ave been ideal as an informal "advisor."   What I found most interesting--and truly shocking--was your reporting about the Manchester materials at Wesleyan. And their statement that some of these key interviews won't be released until "2067". FYI: Around 1985, I attended the "Hofstra Conference" on the JFK Presidency.  Dave Powers and others were there, and so was William Manchester. I vividly recall a scene in one of the reception areas, where William Manchester stood, surrounded by a circle of eager listeners (mostly students) and stating, quite forcefully, words to the effect that "I had so much information "against" Lyndon Johnson that, had it been released at the time, it could have prevented him from being re-nominated for the presidency in Atlantic City (referring to the August 1964 Democratic National Convention held in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  Manchester never spelled out the specific of what his "information" was--just that it would ave prevented LBJ from being re-nominated.

DSL

6/3/2018 - 5:25 AM PDT

South Orange County, California

 

Edited by David Lifton
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9 hours ago, David Lifton said:

Hi Vince:

A few hours ago, I completed a very careful reading of your entire write-up of Floyd Boring. I don't know how you manage to keep track of all these different details.  Quite an accomplishment.  And I really liked the video where you countered Clint Hill's statement(s) that he never received, or didn't bother to read, your letter, with you holding up a copy of the "return receipt" (which he signed).  

Hill deserves credit for racing to the limo on 11/22/63, but a lot of his behavior since then has not been particularly admirable.  Also, and as I'm sure you remember, Clint Hill apparently made a series of notes about 11/22/63; and during the period when he was seeing a psychiatrist, he was apparently advised that for sake of his mental health, he should destroy those notes; and so, he said (to Brian Lamb's considerable astonishment, as I recall) that he destroyed his notes! (Shades of Dr. Humes!)

 Wouldn't it have been great had there been a serious Grand Jury investigation of all these issues and not the shallow and superficial questioning done by the Warren Commission?  And had there been such an event, you would ave been ideal as an informal "advisor."   What I found most interesting--and truly shocking--was your reporting about the Manchester materials at Wesleyan. And their statement that some of these key interviews won't be released until "2067". FYI: Around 1985, I attended the "Hofstra Conference" on the JFK Presidency.  Dave Powers and others were there, and so was William Manchester. I vividly recall a scene in one of the reception areas, where William Manchester stood, surrounded by a circle of eager listeners (mostly students) and stating, quite forcefully, words to the effect that "I had so much information "against" Lyndon Johnson that, had it been released at the time, it could have prevented him from being re-nominated for the presidency in Atlantic City (referring to the August 1964 Democratic National Convention held in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  Manchester never spelled out the specific of what his "information" was--just that it would ave prevented LBJ from being re-nominated.

DSL

6/3/2018 - 5:25 AM PDT

South Orange County, California

 

Thanks a lot, David; much appreciated.

I am baffled by Manchester's materials being tied up all that time; crazy. That is very interesting indeed about Manchester.

Vince

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49 minutes ago, Vince Palamara said:

Thanks a lot, David; much appreciated.

I am baffled by Manchester's materials being tied up all that time; crazy. That is very interesting indeed about Manchester.

Vince

Question - was it the Kennedy family that locked up Manchester's materials? You have to wonder about Jackie's info being unavailable until 2067, and whether the family could change this.

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6 minutes ago, Paul Brancato said:

Question - was it the Kennedy family that locked up Manchester's materials? You have to wonder about Jackie's info being unavailable until 2067, and whether the family could change this.

 

6 minutes ago, Paul Brancato said:

Question - was it the Kennedy family that locked up Manchester's materials? You have to wonder about Jackie's info being unavailable until 2067, and whether the family could change this.

I don't know the details, but I feel certain that the family could get much --if not all--of this changed.  I think the "hot spot" is Jacqueline Kennedy's interviews with Manchester in the Spring of 1964; but there are many other interviews that I would like to see, and at some point, I was thinking of writing a letter to the proper appropriate authority.

DSL

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On June 2, 2018 at 12:46 PM, David Von Pein said:

No, what we really have here---with respect to the motorcade route---is a natural and logical and ordinary and non-sinister decision being made by the United States Secret Service (in conjunction with the Dallas Police Department) to take President Kennedy's motorcade down Elm Street in Dallas, Texas, in order to get the Chief Executive from Main Street to the Stemmons Freeway and then on to the Trade Mart.

It is the conspiracy theorists of the world who insist upon turning ordinary happenstance into a massive pre-planned conspiracy plot.

And to think, as many conspiracy theorists do, that the very ordinary and non-conspiratorial way in which Lee Harvey Oswald became an employee of the Texas School Book Depository in mid-October of 1963 (a full MONTH before the Dallas motorcade was even finalized) can somehow be turned into an act of "conspiratorial planning" is not reasonable thinking at all, in my opinion.

Plus, there's this very important "motorcade-related" article [below] that appeared in the Dallas Morning News exactly one week before the assassination, which paints a dim picture for there being any motorcade drive through downtown Dallas AT ALL on 11/22/63. Do some conspiracists (like David Lifton) think this 11/15/63 article is nothing but a lie or a ruse, just to throw people off? Or do some CTers really believe that a plot to murder the President on Elm Street in Dallas wasn't even conceived until AFTER this newspaper article was published on November 15th?....

11-15-63.png

"Dallas sponsors of a luncheon said they expect President Kennedy to travel between the site and Dallas Love Field by the most direct traffic artery. They see little chance that the President will change his plans to include a motorcade through Downtown Dallas." -- Dallas Morning News; November 15, 1963

 

 

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On 6/2/2018 at 12:46 PM, David Von Pein said:

No, what we really have here---with respect to the motorcade route---is a natural and logical and ordinary and non-sinister decision being made by the United States Secret Service (in conjunction with the Dallas Police Department) to take President Kennedy's motorcade down Elm Street in Dallas, Texas, in order to get the Chief Executive from Main Street to the Stemmons Freeway and then on to the Trade Mart.

It is the conspiracy theorists of the world who insist upon turning ordinary happenstance into a massive pre-planned conspiracy plot.

And to think, as many conspiracy theorists do, that the very ordinary and non-conspiratorial way in which Lee Harvey Oswald became an employee of the Texas School Book Depository in mid-October of 1963 (a full MONTH before the Dallas motorcade was even finalized) can somehow be turned into an act of "conspiratorial planning" is not reasonable thinking at all, in my opinion.

Plus, there's this very important "motorcade-related" article [below] that appeared in the Dallas Morning News exactly one week before the assassination, which paints a dim picture for there being any motorcade drive through downtown Dallas AT ALL on 11/22/63. Do some conspiracists (like David Lifton) think this 11/15/63 article is nothing but a lie or a ruse, just to throw people off? Or do some CTers really believe that a plot to murder the President on Elm Street in Dallas wasn't even conceived until AFTER this newspaper article was published on November 15th?....

11-15-63.png

"Dallas sponsors of a luncheon said they expect President Kennedy to travel between the site and Dallas Love Field by the most direct traffic artery. They see little chance that the President will change his plans to include a motorcade through Downtown Dallas." -- Dallas Morning News; November 15, 1963

 

DVP: That's a very fine article that you have posted (above); and it occupies a special place in my own filing system.  

Unfortunately, it only tells "half of the story," and in writing this, I'm wondering whether you are aware of that--i.e., unaware of the "other half."

Let me lay it out here, in highly synopsized form; and in writing this, I'm "giving away" a small (but important) piece of research I was going to delay until the final release in Final Charade, but--candidly--I'd rather see the "gen pub" (as my old associate, Jones Harris, used to say) properly informed, than hang on to certain insights and experiences the value of which declines with the passage of time. So. . in that spirit, here goes:

1. Premise: Governor Connally was not involved --as a conspirator (i.e., "before the fact")-- in the murder of President Kennedy. He did, however, choose the luncheon site. . . and the luncheon site (being the terminus of the Dallas motorcade) ...was a critical factor in determining the route of that motorcade. So. . how to explain this situation? Was all this the result of coincidence?  If not, what is the explanation?  Specifically:  what was Gov JC's state of mind--what was his intent--when he behaved in this manner, and played such a crucial role in lobbying for (and getting his way) in choosing the Trade Mart as the luncheon site?

2. The answer is to be found by carefully reconstructing the chronology, and the article you have posted only tells part of that story--i.e., the "first half."

3. Governor Connally was --essentially--in charge of the Texas trip (and this situation prevailed starting on November 8, 1963); but. . he was very much against "slow moving" (or "political") motorcades.  

4. You will find his position--and his attitude, in general--spelled out in great detail in the November 22  1967 issue of LIFE, in which he appears on the cover, along with the title of the very detailed essay that he wrote inside, bearing the title "Why Kennedy Went To Texas" (from recollection).

5.  Read that article and you will understand how Gov JC viewed a slow moving ("political") motorcade--the chance for a political figure (and especially a charismatic President as Kennedy) to make momentary eye contact with thousands of people along a motorcade route. Governor Connally is quite explicit in describing the power of a political motorcade--delving (almost at a "micro" level) about how this "eye contact" process works, and why it can be (and was, in the case of JFK, who had an almost "celebrity status") so effective.

6. Now to the bottom line: Governor JC was willing to "play the good host" on this five-city Texas trip; but he did not wish to increase JFK's political power, in his own state. And he certainly didn't want JFK to be "picking up support" (my quotes) in what was "his" (JC's) political base.

7. Consequently, for that reason--and, in general, because of security considerations--Governor JC was against such slow moving (read: "political")  motorcades.  Now, on to the "luncheon site decision."

8. Governor Connally--as the key honcho organizing this trip--wanted the Trade Mart as his preferred venue, and he spells out why, in detail, in that LIFE Magazine article. It was an "upper class" venue (again, my quotes), and --in his view--he was giving JFK the opportunity to make a political pitch to the businessmen of Dallas, a group that contained some people that saw him as some sort of ogre, an enemy of business, a view with which he (JFK) certainly did not agree. (Remember: he was JFK's Secretary of the Navy, and the two had a perfectly reasonable relationship). And so where does all this lead?  What is the point I am now going to make?  Simply this:

9. Governor Connally fully intended to have his cake and eat it too.  He was given assurances that, on this Dallas visit, there would be no--I stress "no"--political motorcade; no "slow moving" downtown motorcade.  Consequently, when he was lobbied--almost certainly by LBJ (via Bill Moyers, who was JFK's Deputy Director of the Peace Corps) --and very possibly, also, by Eugene Locke, of the Locke law firm)-- to select the Trade Mart as the luncheon site, that was (a) perfectly  fine with him; and (b) he was quite satisfied that the luncheon site decision he was making had nothing --absolutely nothing--to do with it being the terminus for a motorcade. Because, in terms of the information available to Gov. JC (and completely aside from anything that might appear in some newspaper article, there was not going to be a motorcade. Period. 

10. So. . the word was leaked to the press, and the result was the Dallas Morning News story that you have cited, and reproduced: "Tight Schedule/ JFK Motorcade Seems Unlikely."  All of that must have been quite reassuring to Connally, because a "motorcade" (i.e., a "political motorcade") is exactly what he did not want.  This brings us to the events of November 14 and November 15, when the Dallas Police Department was "test driving" the motorcade route; while the press was being told there would "be no motorcade" (!).

11. It was in this context that Connally made the luncheon site decision--completely out -of-context of there being a motorcade.  I cannot overstate the importance of this point, so let me repeat it: Governor Connalliy's selection of the Trade Mart as "the luncheon site" was completely out of context of there being a motorcade. It was just a luncheon site, to which JFK was to go --in whatever vehicle--and at ordinary highway speed (and, BTW, which would certainly not involve the 12 mile loop to downtown Dallas, Main Street, out Stemmons etc.). It would have followed whatever the simplest route would be from Love Field to the Trade Mart. But then.  . within 12-24 hours . . everything changed.  So. . . what happened?

12. The very "next day"--i.e., the day after the DMN article you published above--there appeared a second article, again, in the Dallas Morning News, and this one bore the headline which (in effect), read: "Oops. . Change of Plans. . there will be a motorcade after all!"    That ("second") article, from what I can tell, was the first time Connally would have realized that something weird was going on, and that there would in fact be a motorcade ("after all"") and that--in fact--the decision that he had made vis-a-vis the luncheon site had something to do with determining the route of that motorcade. So. . what did Connally do?

13. In Final Charade, I will present "the rest of the story."  He got very upset and tried to call off the trip.  Specifically, he tried to reach out to Kennedy through someone he knew, and who he believed JFK trusted, and convey his own belief that he not come to Dallas. That attempt proved unsuccessful. Meanwhile, Lyndon Johnson stepped in and attempted to influence JFK in the opposite direction--sending Bill Moyers to Austin, on a late night/early morning flight, to meet with Gov JC and Nellie, while they were having breakfast (this is on Friday, 11/15 or Sat., 11/16) to reassure JC, and to get him to "back off" (my quotes) and to go along with the plan.  I know quite a bit about the details, but here's the key point I want to make . . 

14. The DMN exhibit which you so proudly published, in your post, is only "one half" of the story. If you will "move forward" (in your clipping file), you will find the story that follows, just 24 hours later.  In my files--which are either in storage right now, or on another computer--I have both stories, spaced 24 hours apart. The first says "No, there will be no motorcade" (and that's the one that  you have posted); the second one says "Yes, there will be a motorcade (after all)" --and that's the one that  is needed, to complete the picture; i.e., to lay the foundation for the complete picture. FYI:  I prepared an exhibit of these two stories, and I call the situation the "no motorcade"/"yes motorcade" situation.  Its historical significance, I believe, is that it reveals the manner in which Governor Connally was manipulated (i.e., lobbied) to use his very considerable influence to choose the Dallas Trade Mart  as the luncheon site, without realizing that he was choosing the terminus for a slow-moving "political" motorcade, one which would traverse the downtown area --east-to-west--along Main Street.  (And when he realized this was, in fact, the case, he surely felt a sense of betrayal, and attempted to call off the Dallas trip. I have considerably more information about this situation, and there is one final point I wish to make, and that concerns the HSCA.

15. The HSCA and their investigation of the "trip planning" behind the Dallas trip.

Much of what I have described above I knew "decades ago" (by 1975), and I had a pretty clear picture of what was going on.  So when Congress voted--in the fall of 1976--to have this "second investigation" of the JFK assassination, I wanted to make darned sure that I shared these insights with the appropriate person who had responsibility for that part of the investigation, so that they would not accept as fact some superficial nonsense published in the Warren Report, and miss the opportunity to investigate what I (now) viewed as "the underlying reality." I spoke with someone knowledgeable on the HSCA staff, and determined who was in charge of the area of whatI called 'trip planning."    That person was Attorney Belford V. Lawson,  III.

Some background: Lawson was the son of a famous black civil rights attorney, and he had a most unusual background and education.  He went to Groton, and then to Harvard (for his BA) and to Univ of PA for his law degree. 

I met with Lawson in January 1977 (approx., I'm writing this from memory) and the meeting lasted for several hours.  I didn't just talk about "the Dallas parade route decision"; rather,  I urged him (and the HSCA) to view JFK's Texas trip in in a more "global" fashion; i.e..,  its entirety--pointing out that it was a five-city trip, with two motorcades in each city (an inbound motorcade, and an outbound).  Focusing on the concept of "redundancy," I pointed out that there was a considerable amount of "redundancy" built into this "five city/10 motorcade" two-day Texas trip,  and urged the HSCA (besides examining the Dallas trip planning very carefully)  to also take a more "global" view, and view it from that perspective--a five-city trip with ten motorcades, in the space of about 2 days. I referred to this as deliberate "Quintiplication" and specifically, focused on one of the "other" cities--San Antonio--as being a site which may have served as a "backup" for Dallas.  Lawson made notes, appeared to take seriously what i was saying, and subsequently wrote a multipage memo to the file. But, . when it came to the actual language in the HSCA Report, and the volume which dealt with trip planning, he proved to be a complete cop-out.  He pushed aside many of the details that I provided (and believe me, I provided plenty) and wrote that everything connected with Trip Planning, no matter what, could be explained as the result of ordinary "political" considerations.  

Lawson was plenty smart. He surely understood the implications of what I was saying (and, for the record, I tied it into my then unpublished autopsy research, without getting too specific).  But he just wasn't going to "go there." He wasn't going to do it.

The whole experience with Lawson was somewhat irritating because I sensed, from the outset, that what I was proposing--in effect, a political murder that was designed to look like a quirk of fate -- was simply too radical for him to take seriously.  Lawson subsequently wrote an elaborate and detailed "trip planning" memo (for the files) which did include much of my information; but he used dismissive language in dealing with it.  Lawson's internal memo  was released, along with thousands of other documents, in the aftermath of the 1992 JFK Records Act,  and one quote that I remember him using in that memo was that the Dallas motorcade was "uniquely insecure."     I believe that Doug Horne, to whom I explained this entire situation (and in considerable detail) quotes liberally from Lawson's memo in his five volume work IARRB.

PERSONAL CONCLUSION:

I bring up this whole business--and everything I have written here (under my point number 15) --because, in my opinion, one cannot truly understand the JFK assassination, and how the motorcade route was coordinated with LHO's location, without first understanding that this was a five-city trip with 10 motorcades; and secondly, the manner in which Governor Connally was manipulated so as to choose the Trade Mart as the luncheon site, without having any idea that he was choosing the terminus for a motorcade.

CORRECTION. . (6/4/18; 10:20 AM PDT): I did not mean that Governor Connally was "manipulated so as to choose the Trade Mart as the luncheon site." What I meant to convey was that Governor Connally, who definitely wanted the JFK luncheon site to be the Trade Mart, had no idea, when he lobbied for that choice, that he was (in fact) choosing the terminus for a Dallas motorcade  Sorry for my poor choice of words. DSL

 As I told Lawson when we met in January 1977. . .:  IMHO, given the fact that JFK was in ten motorcades in two days, he was like a duck in a shooting gallery, and I didn't believe that was an accident. Rather, a considerable amount of (what in reliability engineering is called) redundancy was "built into the system."  And that was no accident.

DSL

6/3/2018 - 5:10 PM PDT

Slightly edited, 7:30 PM PDT

South Orange County, California

 

 

Edited by David Lifton
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"He tried to reach out to JFK through someone he knew, and who he believed JFK trusted, and convey his own belief that he not come to Dallas".  Stanley Marcus?  No matter who this was if JFK knew this persons source was Connally...no wonder he wanted him in the limo with him, as "insurance" (he maybe thought)?  JFK knew JC was LBJ's "boy" so to speak so if he was trying to warn him off under the table...

I've thought for years LBJ had prior knowledge and was possibly used.  Not that it was his idea or that he organized or planned it.  That his connections in Texas, Dallas in particular were used through him.  Between Mayor Earle Cabbell being a CIA asset since 1956 and LBJ's connections (E.G. D A Henry Wade worshiped him*) they had the DPD covered.  Many know LBJ profited form the assassination, what was happening in Washington the day of it, that he could have been indicted and faced prison.  The Newsweek or Time issue about LBJ that was scrapped/pulled because of the assassination.  Or just possibly being dropped from the 64 ticket.  Instead he was given a chance to obtain his life long goal of becoming President.

I figured JC did LBL's bidding willingly.  I never considered no parade was a possibility, I thought the trip was political and JFK wanted all the exposure he could get, hence his ignoring others who advised him against going to Dallas.

I don't understand how San Antonio could have been a backup to Dallas when it happened the day before.

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On June 2, 2018 at 12:46 PM, David Von Pein said:

 

I was just thinking in more "general" terms, and the earlier stages of the planning. Also, fyi, San Antonio (originally, or at least, in a prior format) was on Friday morning.  Another factor: if there was really terrible weather in Dallas. . but you're correct, by 11/21, all of that was irrelevant. didn't mean to confuse.  DSL

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DVP:  

Either I didn't word my post carefully enough, or you are misunderstanding what I intended to say.

In any event, you are attributing to me beliefs which I do not hold.

Let's go over this once again. . . :

I completely agree that Governor Connally wanted the Trade Mart. He didn't have to be persuaded or "manipulated" to want the Trade Mart. As he himself said, that building (or that facility) was modern and "magnificent" (his word) etc.

The "manipulation"--or manipulative quality--to this transaction (and to which I was referring)--was that Governor Connally had no idea, when he pushed the Trade Mart as his choice, that it was (i.e., would be) the terminus for a motorcade.

To repeat: Governor Connally did not know there would be a motorcade at the time he made the Trade Mart decision.

Indeed, he had been assured there would be no motorcade--just a normal trip from Love Field to the Trade Mart, a luncheon, a quick trip back to Love Field, and then the flight to the last stop, Austin, Texas.

(And, by the way, this same deceitfulness occurred on 11/22/63, on the flight from Fort Worth to Dallas, when Gov JC was, once again, assured--while the plane was in flight (from FW to Dallas)-- that there would be "no motorcade," only to see the opposite, when he deplaned, and could see the cars all lined up for a motorcade.) 

But let's go back to the period of 11/15-16/1963. .  :

Please review what you have posted and modify (or remove) all this stuff which miss-states my position and belief, and is the basis for your misguided suggestion that I believed that Gov JC was "lying through his teeth" or anything of the sort.   I never said any such thing nor do I believe any such thing.  (And I have no idea why you wrote that).

Let me repeat my basic belief, which I thought I had stated quite clearly: When Gov. Connally selected the Trade Mart as the luncheon site (11/14)--and by that I mean when he "lobbied" for it, because technically, the final decision was made in Washington, by Kenny O'Donnell et al)--he [JC} had no idea that there would be a political motorcade from Love Field, through the downtown area, and out to the Trade Mart. He was just selecting a luncheon site, period, and was quite proud that the "magnificent" Dallas Trade Mart would be the location for that speech. That's what he wanted; that's what he got.  (For a brief period, he was pleased; a happy camper). 

That's my belief, and I stand by that statement. 

Furthermore, when he (then) found out--and this occurred within the first 24 hours after the "official announcement" was made, by the White House, that there would be a "downtown motorcade" and that JFK would be delivering a "luncheon speech" at the Trade Mart after that motorcade--he was quite unnerved, if not downright upset. Because, IMHO, it was then that he realized that a motorcade had been tacked on to the itinerary (a motorcade he definitely did not want); and that's when he must have realized that his "best efforts" to select what he believed to be an appropriate "presidential" luncheon site had been used  (or "utilized") to determine the terminus of a motorcade route. 

DVP: This is not "rocket science} and Governor Connally did not have to be a chess grand master to "see" and to understand what had happened. He "got it" and he "got it" rather quickly.

And (may I ask). . . What is so difficult to understand about this situation?

It has all the overtones of "bait and switch."

The terminus of the motorcade was the luncheon site.  

Connelly believed --quite honestly, and in good faith--that he was picking a luncheon site, not a motorcade terminus.

At no point did I ever say that Governor Connally was "lying through his teeth" --about anything!   And I do not understand why you are making any such claim.

DVP: You are so hyper-vigilante in attempting to detect (and refute)  anything that has the slightest hint of conspiracy that you (falsely) attribute to me beliefs that I do not hold; apparently, you have twisted my position into something entirely different than what I believe. 

Read again, carefully, what I have written, so that you will understand the (somewhat subtle) nature of what was going on here: 

What nobody told Governor Connally was that there was a covert agenda in play; and that the Trade Mart "selection" (which he no doubt sincerely wanted) would be the (or "a") determining factor in selecting a motorcade route; i. e., in determining the "geometry" (if you will) of the Dallas parade route.

Only after it was announced that there would be a Dallas motorcade did he realize that he had been "played," and that his selection of the luncheon site (and the geometry of the Dallas parade route) were intertwined, i.e., were closely related.   DVP please note: I was not present when Gov. JC had his "Oh  -_ _ _!" moment; his epiphany; I can only tell you that he was--without a doubt--quite upset; and that Bill Moyers then had to be sent, from Washington, D.C. to Austin, to meet with the Governor and his wife at an early morning breakfast at JC's home (on the morning of either 11/15 or 11/16), in order to calm him down.  And it didn't quite work, because, within 36 hours, Gov JC was attempting to "reach out" to JFK to inform him about what had happened, and--apparently--to get him to cancel the trip.

If you don't misread my sentences, what I have attempted to communicate is pretty elementary.

Governor JC did not lie about anything; he was quite plain spoken about what he wanted--and what he did not want.

And he did not want a "political" (slow moving) motorcade through the downtown area of Dallas, a political extravaganza with tens of thousands of people cheering on the President.  He probably also had "security" concerns about such a motorcade. Governor JC  made his views very clear, and tried (but failed) to achieve his political goals.

Instead, JFK got his "political" motorcade, and Governor Connally's "worst fears" (from a security standpoint) suddenly materialized, when he heard shots ring out.

And, btw, that's when he spontaneously  exclaimed (according to his own [and his wife's] WC testimony), "Oh no no no, they're going to kill us all!"--or, if one goes with the Manchester version (which undoubtedly came from his exclusive interview(s) with Jacqueline Kennedy)- - -  "Oh no no no! They are going to kill (or "shoot") us both!"

DSL

6/4/2018 - 12:25 AM PDT; modified, 6:40 AM

Edited by David Lifton
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David

I find your systems engineering analogy to be compelling.  Viewing Dallas not as isolated, but rather as part of a system or process (with redundancy, diversity, and failure considerations).  A five-city series of motorcades in just two days.  One wonders who the teams were in San Antonio, Houston and Ft. Worth, and why those "events" did not transpire or go forward.

Ironically, Jacqueline Kennedy rarely traveled with her husband on political trips but decided to fly with him to Texas (her first public appearance since the loss of son Patrick).  Extending this thinking, were there plans prior to Texas, such as when JFK traveled west, at the end of September, speaking in nine different states in less than a week?

Gene

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What I don't understand is why they had to go down Main St. anyway.

The plan was to go down Harwood and cross over Elm in order to turn right on Main. The motorcade could just easily have turned right on Elm and avoided that hairpin turn at Dealey Plaza.

I've decided that the intent was to draw more people onto Main St. so that the merchants could sell more stuff.

Either that, or they didn't want JFK to have to drive past the Giant Eyeball.

That's pretty scary if you ask me.

 

Harwood.jpg.5bb173705e6193e828e718384f13980c.jpg

 

Steve Thomas

Edited by Steve Thomas
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On 6/3/2018 at 6:40 AM, Ron Bulman said:

Maybe all of us are missing the mark here, me included.  Some may have been led to believe the route went straight down Main to jump the curb to Elm or on to Industrial, but it was changed, for them on the 21st or 22nd.  I still can't say that some were not convinced of this at the time after reading this thread.

The mark we may miss is possibly why was the TSBD chosen as a site for the patsy, and in turn Dealy Plaza for the assassination itself.  If the assassination was a intelligence and/or military operation it was pre planned.  Possibly (likely?) months in advance at upper levels.  

The TSBD was empty in early 1963.  Owned by Harold Dry Hole Byrd, cousin of Richard E Byrd, South Pole explorer, descendent  of British Royalty.  Texas oil man, Dallas and Houston petroleum club member as well s suite 8F and founder of the civil air patrol whose members included Oswald and David Ferrie.  Major owner of Ling Temco Vought aircraft company who profited greatly from the assassination through it.

In came text book companies.  Some reputedly used as CIA fronts, in the course of influencing History learned by the public in schools, among other uses.

Byrd went to Africa on his first ever hunting trip there in late November 1963.  I've read, though I don't remember by who or how reliable it is, that when asked why he went on the African hunting trip he said he didn't want to be in Dallas when Kennedy was killed.  He reportedly had the window frame of the "snipers nest" removed from the TSBD after he got back and moved to his home as a trophy.

Was the TSBD chosen because it was made "available" because it was on the most likely route from Main to Stemmons Freeway if a parade down Main street to the Trade Mart if JFK could be convinced to do both the parade and speech?

 

Ron, here it is in fact the answer to your excellent post

 

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As always, we await some enterprising bilingual member to translate this, or find a way to get google to do so. 

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