48 Hours to change the world

[Adam Johnson]

So i was having dinner with a group of friends a few nights ago, some of who knew i have enjoyed researching the JFK assassination for a long time now. I have been asked many times what i think happened,  who did it, etc etc many times. However on this night i got a Question that has floored me for the past few days...

One of my friends wives said  "Its the morning 48 hours before the assassination takes place and your in Dallas Texas, what would i do to change the world". She completely threw me...I'd never considered such a Question...what would i do, knowing what i know today in 2023, if by some miracle i found myself standing in the lobby of the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas at noon Wednesday November 20th, 1963.

I've given it some thought now...i had to decide a couple of things regarding what my actions would be, who would believe me, who would i be able to trust if i told them what i know today regarding what was going to happen. Could i trust people not to just have me locked up....would it be better to take matters into my own hands and try and eliminate several players by myself in that 48 hours.

Its a great Question....so what would you do? You've got 48 hours to change the world...

A.J

[Sean Coleman]

Time travel me to DP’s grassy field at 12.28pm with a deckchair, binoculars and a mug of coffee. Id then sit back and watch the NE window, the SE window, the TSBD doorway, the picket fence, the harper fragmant,  RCraig’s Rambler and then follow LHO - if these events happened as we’d like to think they did….

Unfortunately I’m not as emotionally attached to the JFKA as some, for me it’s the ultimate puzzle that needs solving, it’s addictive.

PS. Be careful creating parallel universes- saw it Star Trek once and everything went tits up……

 

[W. Niederhut]

This sounds like an episode from the old television show, The Time Tunnel.

Not knowing who all was involved in the plot, I'd probably try to contact someone in the Kennedy family, in addition to contacting the Secret Service.

(During my psychiatric career, I once had to contact the Secret Service about a mentally ill man who wanted to kill Bill Clinton.)

As a fall back, I'd probably try to create an obstruction to the motorcade procession into Dealey Plaza.

Edited July 14, 2023 by W. Niederhut

[Benjamin Cole]

9 hours ago, Sean Coleman said:

Time travel me to DP’s grassy field at 12.28pm with a deckchair, binoculars and a mug of coffee. Id then sit back and watch the NE window, the SE window, the TSBD doorway, the picket fence, the harper fragmant,  RCraig’s Rambler and then follow LHO - if these events happened as we’d like to think they did….

Unfortunately I’m not as emotionally attached to the JFKA as some, for me it’s the ultimate puzzle that needs solving, it’s addictive.

PS. Be careful creating parallel universes- saw it Star Trek once and everything went tits up……

 

If you think "classic cars" are those from the 1970s on, I have lost all respect for your judgement. 

After the 1950s, and maybe a few 1960s vehicles...oooof. 

My hope: As batteries get better and better, the obsession with drag coefficients will die down. Somebody will introduce bravura-styling again, and you can again buy a car that looks like it is on a mission to Mars. 

The end of bubble cars is coming! 

[Ron Bulman]

There was a similar thread on the forum 4-5-6 years back.  I think the time frame was different, maybe that morning.  With $100 in 1963 money what would you do to change history?  My reply drew a chuckle so to speak from at least one poster.

Go buy a gas can, fill it up, go to the back dock of the Texas School Book Depository at noon.  Pour it out, strike a match, throw it as I run.  (Back to the time Tunnel).  They wouldn't have driven JFK by a burning building with firemen and trucks attending would they?  I could say the Trammps did it.

 

 

[Adam Johnson]

After some thoughts on what i could personally do to physically stop the assassination,  my thoughts turned to who are my allies to protect JFK...i couldnt trust DPD or Sherriffs department,  local FBI and Secret Service would be a risk also trying to explain what i knew was going to happen. So my thoughts went to JFK's immediate friends/staff/colleagues. 

My decision was to spend the first 24 hours trying to reach Kenny O Donnell or Dave Powers... they would be in Houston Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, then onto Fort Worth Thursday night...maybe get a letter or note to them disclosing some events or names nobody outside their circle would know to peak their interest/gain some credibility and arrange a meeting. 

If that failed I'd still have some time to take matters into my own hands...

A.J

[Sean Coleman]

On 7/15/2023 at 2:55 AM, Benjamin Cole said:

If you think "classic cars" are those from the 1970s on, I have lost all respect for your judgement. 

After the 1950s, and maybe a few 1960s vehicles...oooof. 

My hope: As batteries get better and better, the obsession with drag coefficients will die down. Somebody will introduce bravura-styling again, and you can again buy a car that looks like it is on a mission to Mars. 

The end of bubble cars is coming! 

You

me

my wife

shes polishing my Pagoda 😍

Edited October 16, 2023 by Sean Coleman

[Mark Knight]

We all can fantasize about what we'd do, given the constraints.

48 hours prior: that's 12:30 pm CST on November 20, 1963.

Going back to Dallas, Texas. With 1963 money in the pockets of your 1963 clothes. But what clothes? Blue-collar work clothes? White-collar?

Would you have a car? Or would you have to buy one? If you bought one, what would it be? Would you want to stand out or blend in? Would it be a '58 Rambler or a '60 Chevy?

Assuming you had money, a car, and clean working-class clothes to begin with, what would you do? Maybe get a "lay of the land," by driving in and around Dallas and Oak Cliff, so that you had a better context of the places involved. That might get you to dinnertime on Wednesday the 20th. What then?

Maybe you stop at a phone booth [for privacy, so you won't be overheard] and anonymously call the FBI office in Dallas. But what do you say? Maybe something like, "I was in a park today [give them the name of a local park...just NOT Dealy Plaza] and I overheard two men talking. There were bushes between me and them, so I don't know what they looked like. But one of them said that someone was going to shoot President Kennedy on Friday when his parade [nobody would say "motorcade" until the media started using that term] went past Dealy Plaza. The other guy said that it seems like all hell would break loose if that happened, and the first guy said, 'That's the point.'" But then you tell the FBI that you want to remain anonymous because you're not sure if the two men saw you when you were leaving or not. Then hang up the phone.

Then call the SS office in Dallas with the same message.

You need somewhere to sleep, so you get a motel room. Then find somewhere to have dinner.

After dinner, maybe visit the Carousel Club and see if you could get some sort of vibe about Jack Ruby...discreetly, of course.

On Thursday, maybe do a walk around in Dealy Plaza, checking out the pergolas, and maybe even eyeballing the Grassy Knoll and the South Knoll areas. See if you can detect any signs of heightened security as a result of your phone calls. In the afternoon, park on Houston Street so you can watch Frazier and Oswald drive by on their way to Irving. 

You can't try anything too "vigilante" because 1) you might end up in jail yourself, and 2) whomever you choose to "stop" might not be the actual assassin. 

Maybe late at night, you break out one of the windows on the SE corner of the 6th floor of the TSBD, and then hightail it out of Dealy Plaza...?? [A BB gun [air rifle] might work...not too loud, and several well-placed shots would take out a pane or two.] Maybe that would cause the alleged sniper's nest to move elsewhere; maybe not.

On Friday morning, try to position yourself in a place where you could see what Lee Oswald carries, if anything, into the TSBD.

Then buy a movie camera and film, and find a spot in Dealy Plaza to view the motorcade passing.  If the FBI and/or the SS change up their security measures through Dealy, you'd have it on film. And be ready to GTFO of Dealy afterward, in case your warnings weren't heeded, hiding your movie camera to make sure your film didn't get confiscated.

The huge problem is, we don't know for sure from which direction the shots originated. we suspect this or that, but because the WC investigation wasn't as thorough as it could've been, we can't be 100% certain. So we don't know where any prevention measures might be effective. You might still witness the assassination in Dealy Plaza. Or the SS may have rerouted the motorcade. It's all still speculation on what might happen; there is no 100% sure "if/then" scenario we can play out.

 

[Adam Johnson]

Hi Mark, thats the intriguing nature of the question...what would each of us here as members/guests/readers of this forum do? You would expect most of us here, if dropped into this situation could remember a great deal of facts regarding the assassination...possibly a dozen or so names of key players around the Kennedy white house and a dozen or so suspected people who may have been involved in the assassination...

So the tough decision is....do you want to be a fly on the wall and watch history happen in front of you (perhaps take a few clandestine photographs at key locations at key times just for your own curiosity OR do you use your knowledge of events before/during/after the assassination and try and prevent it from taking place).

I just thought the Question " what would i do given that 48 hours prior opportunity " was an interesting challenge for all of us that visit this forum.....no doubt we would get many different pathways followed by many different people....i wish David Lifton was still with us, i would of loved to have read his reply to such a Question. 

AJ.

[Norman T. Field]

One might consider abducting LHO: no patsy to take the blame means no crime is committed.