I Always Doubted the Warren Commission
A Sixty Year Odyssey
November 22, 2023, marks the 60th anniversary of a significant event in American history, the Assassination of John F. Kennedy.
That’s the day, for a number of us, when we lost our innocence. The first Kennedy assassination is comparable to the transformative impact of September 11 on the world. These events have left a lasting mark on our collective memory. Such extraordinary moments possess a powerful capacity to upend and reshape the prevailing norms.
King Phillip Junior High School, Eighth grade English class, an average November Friday afternoon. Suddenly, a young messenger of doom bursts into the classroom dropping a bomb: Kennedy’s been shot. How could that be? Totally unexpectedly, reality cracked, life became an episode of the Twilight Zone. Before this, aside from the continuing cold war, everything was cruising along just fine, and then a moment later- everything's up for grabs. Fear and loathing gripped the country. Who did this. And if this could happen, what’s next?
This was uncharted territory for the U.S., a whole classroom of confused early teens staring into the void, girls crying, and then - school's out, just like that. For the next seventy-two hours, I was glued to the TV, riding a rollercoaster of nausea and disbelief. Kennedy was a beloved figure in American life representing a change in the existing order, emboldened by hope. After he was gone, it was the dark of winter. America has never really recovered. In many ways, the Coup succeeded.
As a fourteen year old, at the suggestion of my parents, I was consdering becomng a lawyer, maybe even running for office, one day. After Kennedy’s death, all that evaporated.
The plot thickened, dramatically, when Jack Ruby went full Wild West on Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV – a murder for all to see. Oswald, right up to his last breath, was shouting I’m just a patsy. And here we are, sixty years later, still asking: What really went down? Are we ever gonna get the straight dope?
After Kennedy got hit, the FBI was quick to paint Oswald as the lone wolf. G-man numero uno J. Edgar Hoover, playing his favorite role as the master puppeteer, said "case closed." Then the Warren Commission waltzes in, parroting this "single bullet" fairy tale, trying to slap a lid on any whispers of doubt. But what do we get instead, for the next six decades? An avalanche of whispers, theories spiraling about the why, the how of Kennedy's end, and this smog of cover-up, with the juiciest files locked away from us common folk, ‘til at least 2029. And dig this – after the Warren Commission does its song and dance, the FBI starts calling anyone daring to question them a bunch of tin-foil hat wearers, specifically, conspiracy theorists, the first use of that expression.
Sixty years after the JFK fandango, fueled by the internet, conspiracy theories are abundant and varied; it’s a wild, untamed jungle of the mind, where fact and fiction dance a chaotic tango.
The JFK Assassination theories stand as the granddaddy of them all where, sleuths and skeptics alike, dive into a rabbit hole of possibilities: Oswald as a lone gunman? Or was it a grander scheme with the CIA, the Mafia, or perhaps the Soviets pulling the strings? Was it possible Lyndon Johnson was involved, or George H.W. Bush of CIA fame, at the time?
Wait, there’s more theories coming your way. They’re as abundant as the options at a Vegas buffet.
There’s the 9/11 saga, a narrative that splits the world in two: the official story of Al-Qaeda's terror, and the shadowy tales of government orchestration or complicity.
How about a rocket to the moon – or did we? The Apollo Moon landings were a triumph of human endeavor or was it NASA’s grand illusion, as staged by Stanley Kubrick in a studio?
Enter the Illuminati and their New World Order dreams where a clandestine elite supposedly pulls the strings of global events, pushing us toward a dystopian future. If not those guys, maybe it’s Jews who are organzing and planning a takeover. After all, they have all the money.
Did I mention UFOs, UAPs, etc.? Area 51 stands as America's X-Files, its secrets hidden behind desert mirages. Are there alien spacecraft tucked away in its hangars? Or did they just come here for the Chinese food?
Chemtrails streak across our skies – mere exhaust, or a sinister cocktail of chemicals? Theories of mind control, weather manipulation, and more, paint a picture of a world under a covert siege.
Is that plan to cover the entire planet in asphalt still in process?
Flat Earth believers, vaccine conspiracies, the Global warming doubters…..stop the world, I want to get off.
By the way, if you seriously want to take the express train to the belly of the beast, jump over to TikTok and search for the conspiracy of your choice. Are you brave enough to hop on the wild ride of skepticism and belief? One must tread carefully, armed with critical thought and a discerning eye, for in the world of conspiracies, the truth is often stranger than fiction, and the fiction can be dangerously convincing.
On December 21st, three weeks after our national nightmare, the New Republic published “Seeds of Doubt.” This article was significant because it represented one of the first major journalistic inquiries that did not just accept the statements of law enforcement at face value. Instead, it compared these statements with direct observations and raised critical questions, thereby fueling public skepticism and debate about the assassination's true circumstances.
The article questioned the lone gunman theory and highlighted discrepancies such as the unusual trajectory of the bullet that caused Kennedy's throat wound, inconsistencies in witness accounts of the number of shots fired, and a mysterious hole in the presidential limousine's windshield.
Over the past half century, there have been many books, documentaries, and even Oliver Stone’s dramatic feature, “JFK,” which have questioned the findings of the Warren Commision and subsequent investigations.
A new documentary featuring the doctors at Parkland Hospital who treated the President and tried but failed to save his life, casts new doubts on the centerpiece of the Warren Commission’s findings, the single bullet theory, and the film raises serious doubts about whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in killing JFK.
If the Warren Commission is to be believed, two shots fired by Oswald from the Texas School Book Depository entered Kennedy from behind. The first bullet came through his upper back and out near his larynx, and the second entered the right side of his head and exited through his forehead. JFK likely could have survived the first shot, but the second proved fatal, and, though he was still breathing when he entered Parkland Hospital, a cardiac massage and tracheotomy did not take, and he was pronounced dead thirty minutes after the shooting.
I’ve studied these theories for nearly six decades. I’ve been to Dealey Plaza in Dallas twice, to see for myself. The Texas Book Depository is now a museum but I was still able to stand in the room where Oswald allegedly fired the shots at the moving motorcycle from a twisted side angle. Even for an expert marksman, this was a once in a lifetime shot.
But if not Oswald, who did it and why? The idea that the CIA wanted President Kennedy assassinated is one of the many conspiracy theories surrounding his death. For me, this is the most likely and I believe part of a Coup to actually overthrow the government.
The reasons are:
1. Bay of Pigs Invasion: Kennedy's role in the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, involving Cuban exiles and CIA support, led to theories of CIA discontent due to insufficient air support.
2. Vietnam Policy: Theories suggest Kennedy's potential withdrawal from Vietnam clashed with military and intelligence desires for escalated involvement.
3. CIA Tensions: Kennedy's tumultuous relationship with the CIA, especially post-Bay of Pigs, involved plans to drastically restructure the agency.
4. Secret Societies: Some theories propose Kennedy's intent to diminish or expose secret societies or covert operations, putting him against powerful government factions.
And then, there are theories that Federal Reserve was involved because Kennedy wanted to take the US off the gold standard.
It’s been a wild, twisted ride since November 22, 1963. Is this the end of the road? Hardly, we're not there yet, not by a long shot.
Brett, you must have been in 9th grade at KP because I was in 8th grade.