9-27 Unlimited Conspiracy Theories
By JAY MILLER
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Today is the anniversary of the 1964 release of the Warren Commission Report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
It isn't an occasion we observe but it is momentous in that it spawned scores of books and studies questioning the findings of that commission.
The Warren Report initially met with acceptance by the American public but subsequent investigations disputing the commission's findings have resulted in surveys showing as much as 80 percent of Americans having misgivings about the report.
Kennedy's assassination, for some reason, was accompanied by numerous other political assassinations or attempted assassinations both here and abroad.
The other assassinations included Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jack Ruby, Medgar Evers and Malcolm X. Gov. George Wallace was wounded for life and shots were fired at President Gerald Ford.
This rash of assassinations and attempts resulted in the creation of a U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1976. It held hearings for three years and in 1979 concluded that the assassinations primarily were by lone gunmen and not part of a conspiracy.
In the murder of President Kennedy, however, the House committee found both the original FBI investigation and the Warren Commission Report to be seriously flawed. It concluded that there was a "high probability" that two gunmen fired at the President and it was probable that a conspiracy existed.
It is unlikely we will learn much more about President Kennedy's death in future years unless we hear some deathbed confessions. We haven't heard any of those in the past 47 years so it's getting less and less likely.
Conspiracies are difficult to cover up. That is why the simplest explanation is usually the best. In this case, the simplest explanation is the lone gunman theory. Of course, that requires a two lone gunmen theory since one also has to conclude that Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, also acted out of completely personal motivations.
It is the hurried and botched investigations by the FBI and Warren Commission that leave so many questions unanswered.
American leaders were anxious to get the country back to normal as quickly as possible in order to allay any fears that more attacks were coming. So a quick investigation leading to a conclusion that there was no conspiracy was thought to be the answer.
But too many questions were left open. It also hurt the commission's credibility that the public does not want to believe that our nation's leader can be picked off by a two-bit malcontent.
That had been the case with previous presidential assassinations and attempted assassinations except for the first one. Several people were convicted and executed for involvement in the killing of President Abraham Lincoln. And that is remembered.
The Kennedy assassination wasn't the only time the government has made matters worse with an investigation appearing to reveal less than the truth.
The famous 1947 crash at Roswell produced an Army news release saying a flying saucer had been captured. That was followed the next day by an explanation that it was only a weather balloon.
That explanation was accepted by the American public for more than 30 years until people who had been involved began coming forward with information that the material recovered didn't look like a flying saucer or a weather balloon.
The current government story now is that it was a secret spy balloon being tested. Then, on the 50th anniversary of the crash, the military announced that the bodies were test dummies being dropped from airplanes. Bodies? Who said anything about bodies?
The probability is zero that whatever fell near Roswell was from another planet. It was probably something being tested by the German scientists who were shooting off rockets at what then was called White Sands Proving Grounds.
This was a test that didn't prove out and the Pentagon was so anxious to cover it up that any explanation would suffice. And it would produce unlimited conspiracy theories.
MON, 9-27-10
Syndicated Columnist
SANTA FE -- Today is the anniversary of the 1964 release of the Warren Commission Report on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
It isn't an occasion we observe but it is momentous in that it spawned scores of books and studies questioning the findings of that commission.
The Warren Report initially met with acceptance by the American public but subsequent investigations disputing the commission's findings have resulted in surveys showing as much as 80 percent of Americans having misgivings about the report.
Kennedy's assassination, for some reason, was accompanied by numerous other political assassinations or attempted assassinations both here and abroad.
The other assassinations included Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jack Ruby, Medgar Evers and Malcolm X. Gov. George Wallace was wounded for life and shots were fired at President Gerald Ford.
This rash of assassinations and attempts resulted in the creation of a U.S. House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1976. It held hearings for three years and in 1979 concluded that the assassinations primarily were by lone gunmen and not part of a conspiracy.
In the murder of President Kennedy, however, the House committee found both the original FBI investigation and the Warren Commission Report to be seriously flawed. It concluded that there was a "high probability" that two gunmen fired at the President and it was probable that a conspiracy existed.
It is unlikely we will learn much more about President Kennedy's death in future years unless we hear some deathbed confessions. We haven't heard any of those in the past 47 years so it's getting less and less likely.
Conspiracies are difficult to cover up. That is why the simplest explanation is usually the best. In this case, the simplest explanation is the lone gunman theory. Of course, that requires a two lone gunmen theory since one also has to conclude that Jack Ruby, who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, also acted out of completely personal motivations.
It is the hurried and botched investigations by the FBI and Warren Commission that leave so many questions unanswered.
American leaders were anxious to get the country back to normal as quickly as possible in order to allay any fears that more attacks were coming. So a quick investigation leading to a conclusion that there was no conspiracy was thought to be the answer.
But too many questions were left open. It also hurt the commission's credibility that the public does not want to believe that our nation's leader can be picked off by a two-bit malcontent.
That had been the case with previous presidential assassinations and attempted assassinations except for the first one. Several people were convicted and executed for involvement in the killing of President Abraham Lincoln. And that is remembered.
The Kennedy assassination wasn't the only time the government has made matters worse with an investigation appearing to reveal less than the truth.
The famous 1947 crash at Roswell produced an Army news release saying a flying saucer had been captured. That was followed the next day by an explanation that it was only a weather balloon.
That explanation was accepted by the American public for more than 30 years until people who had been involved began coming forward with information that the material recovered didn't look like a flying saucer or a weather balloon.
The current government story now is that it was a secret spy balloon being tested. Then, on the 50th anniversary of the crash, the military announced that the bodies were test dummies being dropped from airplanes. Bodies? Who said anything about bodies?
The probability is zero that whatever fell near Roswell was from another planet. It was probably something being tested by the German scientists who were shooting off rockets at what then was called White Sands Proving Grounds.
This was a test that didn't prove out and the Pentagon was so anxious to cover it up that any explanation would suffice. And it would produce unlimited conspiracy theories.
MON, 9-27-10
JAY MILLER, 3 La Tusa, Santa Fe, NM 87505
(ph) 982-2723, (fax) 984-0982, (e-mail) insidethecapitol@hotmail.com
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