This was excellent Michael. I can't wait to send it to my conspiracy theorist friend and watch him contort his thoughts into a pretzel to continue believing.
While it’s certainly not possible to claim conclusively that there were other gunman involved in the assassination of JFK or that Lee Harvey Oswald was part of a broader conspiracy, you also cannot claim conclusively that either scenario is untrue or even unlikely. There was a relatively well documented conspiracy involving the assassination: it was the US government trying its best to make sure Lee Harvey Oswald was considered a lone gunman and to put the entire event behind us. Because of this, critical evidence that might have been found and investigations that might have been made do not exist. Unless new evidence arises, it’s impossible to say what really happened, but it’s also fallacious to say what did. It’s also an absurd false equivalency to compare it to extreme and fringe conspiracy theories like those of 9/11 Truthers, Obama Birthers, and QAnon Trumpers.
There is a mountain of evidence to pick through, of which Shermer left out, ignored and, particularly, obfuscated. I would have to write a book to retort this piece. I will just show one detail which he completely blows. He says: "Then there’s the Parkland medical observations made by the attending physicians and nurses who could not seem to agree on the directionality of the bullets from the nature of the wounds. Some said that the throat looked like an entrance wound, thereby placing the shooter in front, not behind, Kennedy. Someone else reported that it was the back of the head blown off, not the side above the ears as the Warren Report says. And so on." This is bullshit as I make clear in blog post on one year ago. https://ramcduffwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/11/still-conspiracy-after-all-these-years.html
Another good book that shows no conspiracy is David Belin's Final Disclosure, 1988. One of 14 lawyers appointed to the Warren Commission, Belin (and another lawyer) was specifically tasked with investigating an aspect of the case: who shoot Kennedy and Tippitt. So he had access to witnesses early, when memories and evidence were fresh.
Cynics will claim a whitewash of course; the Warren Commission marking their own homework, but this is not the case, as through his investigating, Belin uncovers government and specifically CIA illegal activities and corruption, all detailed in the book.
I was interested to read of Vincent Bugliosi's question to the opinionated group of lawyers showing that few had read the Warren Report. I have found the same with the attempted assassination of Edwin Walker, a damning indictment of Oswald (acting alone), and that virtually no one I discuss the JFK case with is aware of it.
How those in power are able to have us all chasing our tails is that they have us psychographically profiled. They know that ~90% of people will accept their narrative while ~10% won't (this psychographic applying regardless of narrative plausibility) and they target us accordingly so for JFK they gave us two options:
Story A: Lone nut gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald
Story B: Cabal (with a number of red-herring story streams)
But these two options don't cover all possible hypotheses. What they used was a False Dilemma propaganda strategy which they often use, so very handy for the 90 / 10 psychographic phenomenon.
There's another option which only a very small percentage recognise and that is that the assassination was faked. Preposterous you say? No, not preposterous because in addition to their False Dilemma strategy they actually use a technique called Revelation of the Method (RoM) where they tell us the truth underneath the propaganda for both Story A and Story B. https://www.wakingtimes.com/revelation-of-the-method-predictive-programming-and-the-prime-directive/
Check out this conversation between Jackie and LBJ barely two weeks after the alleged assassination. Jackie sounds as if she's doing a sendup of Marilyn's OTT Happy Birthday to the President and not in the least like a grieving widow.
And we absolutely know that the story is cobblers because there is no still shot from the alleged "live" shooting of Oswald that matches the famous photo ... even remotely, just one of their many RoM signs. Check it out for yourself - it's so obvious from the "live" shooting that a photographer would not have been able to catch that open mouth shot as it lasts a millisecond and he's completely surrounded. Moreover, the configuration of people around him doesn't match - they're always generous with their signs.
With all the controversy over this sad event, there still is the question as to why the Government will not declassify the remaining JFK Documents.
According to the JFK Records Act, the remaining documents were to have been made public in their entirety by 17 October, 2017. However, in a surprising move, Trump bowed to the will of the National Security Establishment and kicked the decision down the road to 2021. Biden then buckled under as well, in the end giving the agencies themselves the power to decide when to declassify, in complete disregard to the legal requirements of the JFK Act.
At present, there is a lawsuit in process in the 9th Circuit Federal Court concerning the release.
The Government's continued intransigence in keeping the remaining JFK documents from the public will do nothing more than increase suspicion and distrust. As well as fueling even more popular myths and misconceptions. It should be noted that both "Case Closed" author Gerald Posner and "JFK" director Oliver Stone are on record in support of releasing the still classified files. Whether one believes in the Warren Commission or that there was a plot to murder JFK, this issue is something we can all agree on. Bringing these long secret records to light would go a long way towards putting an end to the trauma that began in Dallas 60 years ago.
Vincent Bugliosi wrote a book on the subject some years back whose title eludes me right now (I believe it was called “Denying History”
or something similar). It appeared to be out of print rather quickly, which was a shame, because it was a valiant effort toward debunking many of the conspiracy rumours surrounding the JFK assassination, but I encourage anyone reading and interested to look into it.
Used to be a big fan Michael but blown away FFS so disrespectful! Maybe time to assess your media presence before you do a Noam Chomsky. It happened to Sam Harris much too early
This was excellent Michael. I can't wait to send it to my conspiracy theorist friend and watch him contort his thoughts into a pretzel to continue believing.
Thank you once again.
While it’s certainly not possible to claim conclusively that there were other gunman involved in the assassination of JFK or that Lee Harvey Oswald was part of a broader conspiracy, you also cannot claim conclusively that either scenario is untrue or even unlikely. There was a relatively well documented conspiracy involving the assassination: it was the US government trying its best to make sure Lee Harvey Oswald was considered a lone gunman and to put the entire event behind us. Because of this, critical evidence that might have been found and investigations that might have been made do not exist. Unless new evidence arises, it’s impossible to say what really happened, but it’s also fallacious to say what did. It’s also an absurd false equivalency to compare it to extreme and fringe conspiracy theories like those of 9/11 Truthers, Obama Birthers, and QAnon Trumpers.
There is a mountain of evidence to pick through, of which Shermer left out, ignored and, particularly, obfuscated. I would have to write a book to retort this piece. I will just show one detail which he completely blows. He says: "Then there’s the Parkland medical observations made by the attending physicians and nurses who could not seem to agree on the directionality of the bullets from the nature of the wounds. Some said that the throat looked like an entrance wound, thereby placing the shooter in front, not behind, Kennedy. Someone else reported that it was the back of the head blown off, not the side above the ears as the Warren Report says. And so on." This is bullshit as I make clear in blog post on one year ago. https://ramcduffwhatever.blogspot.com/2022/11/still-conspiracy-after-all-these-years.html
Another good book that shows no conspiracy is David Belin's Final Disclosure, 1988. One of 14 lawyers appointed to the Warren Commission, Belin (and another lawyer) was specifically tasked with investigating an aspect of the case: who shoot Kennedy and Tippitt. So he had access to witnesses early, when memories and evidence were fresh.
Cynics will claim a whitewash of course; the Warren Commission marking their own homework, but this is not the case, as through his investigating, Belin uncovers government and specifically CIA illegal activities and corruption, all detailed in the book.
I was interested to read of Vincent Bugliosi's question to the opinionated group of lawyers showing that few had read the Warren Report. I have found the same with the attempted assassination of Edwin Walker, a damning indictment of Oswald (acting alone), and that virtually no one I discuss the JFK case with is aware of it.
How those in power are able to have us all chasing our tails is that they have us psychographically profiled. They know that ~90% of people will accept their narrative while ~10% won't (this psychographic applying regardless of narrative plausibility) and they target us accordingly so for JFK they gave us two options:
Story A: Lone nut gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald
Story B: Cabal (with a number of red-herring story streams)
But these two options don't cover all possible hypotheses. What they used was a False Dilemma propaganda strategy which they often use, so very handy for the 90 / 10 psychographic phenomenon.
There's another option which only a very small percentage recognise and that is that the assassination was faked. Preposterous you say? No, not preposterous because in addition to their False Dilemma strategy they actually use a technique called Revelation of the Method (RoM) where they tell us the truth underneath the propaganda for both Story A and Story B. https://www.wakingtimes.com/revelation-of-the-method-predictive-programming-and-the-prime-directive/
Check out this conversation between Jackie and LBJ barely two weeks after the alleged assassination. Jackie sounds as if she's doing a sendup of Marilyn's OTT Happy Birthday to the President and not in the least like a grieving widow.
https://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/prestapes/jklbj.html
And we absolutely know that the story is cobblers because there is no still shot from the alleged "live" shooting of Oswald that matches the famous photo ... even remotely, just one of their many RoM signs. Check it out for yourself - it's so obvious from the "live" shooting that a photographer would not have been able to catch that open mouth shot as it lasts a millisecond and he's completely surrounded. Moreover, the configuration of people around him doesn't match - they're always generous with their signs.
CNN footage of "live" shooting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6PcVCqg3tg&rco=1
Famous photo: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/30/james-r-leavelle-detective-handcuffed-to-lee-harvey-oswald-when-he-was-shot-dies-aged-99
If you don't agree that there isn't a match please let me know.
It's all kayfabe folks, all kayfabe.
With all the controversy over this sad event, there still is the question as to why the Government will not declassify the remaining JFK Documents.
According to the JFK Records Act, the remaining documents were to have been made public in their entirety by 17 October, 2017. However, in a surprising move, Trump bowed to the will of the National Security Establishment and kicked the decision down the road to 2021. Biden then buckled under as well, in the end giving the agencies themselves the power to decide when to declassify, in complete disregard to the legal requirements of the JFK Act.
At present, there is a lawsuit in process in the 9th Circuit Federal Court concerning the release.
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/candce/3:2022cv06176/402097
The Government's continued intransigence in keeping the remaining JFK documents from the public will do nothing more than increase suspicion and distrust. As well as fueling even more popular myths and misconceptions. It should be noted that both "Case Closed" author Gerald Posner and "JFK" director Oliver Stone are on record in support of releasing the still classified files. Whether one believes in the Warren Commission or that there was a plot to murder JFK, this issue is something we can all agree on. Bringing these long secret records to light would go a long way towards putting an end to the trauma that began in Dallas 60 years ago.
The psychology of belief is an intensely interesting and useful topic. Thanks for sharing, Michael!
Nice work, Dr. Shermer, as always.
Vincent Bugliosi wrote a book on the subject some years back whose title eludes me right now (I believe it was called “Denying History”
or something similar). It appeared to be out of print rather quickly, which was a shame, because it was a valiant effort toward debunking many of the conspiracy rumours surrounding the JFK assassination, but I encourage anyone reading and interested to look into it.
Blown away? Extremely inappropriate and disrespectful.
Used to be a big fan Michael but blown away FFS so disrespectful! Maybe time to assess your media presence before you do a Noam Chomsky. It happened to Sam Harris much too early