'Back, and to the left'

Did you see the Times story on this the other day? (I'm sure you did.)

It was like 50 inches on the "toxic" right-wing political atmosphere in Dallas at the time. With like one throwaway line in the middle of it that noted, "Of course, Oswald himself was a leftist ..."

 

Was Oswald a Communist? Or was he a U.S. agent. Or double agent for the US and USSR? Hard to say, as the files of the relevant organizations are somewhat hard to access.

 

Don't know, but here's the gist of it:

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/21/21520758-accidental-assassin-jfk-theory-alleges-secret-service-agent-fumbled-gun

 

"It's not sexy. It's not rife with intrigue," said Bonar Menninger, a Kansas City journalist and a leading proponent of the theory.

Hee hee, he said Bonar.

 

Here's a portion of the letter LHO addressed to the Supreme Soviet in 1959:

You tell me.

 

For a Communist defector at the height of the Cold War, Oswald didn't seem to have any trouble re-entering the U.S. Makes one wonder.

 

Posted this a couple of years ago on the very subject.

I believe that a disgruntled loner, who was a failure at almost everything he tried, saw an opportunity to impress people that had rejected him, and took it.

I believe that a high-level, organized conspiracy to assassinate the President did not exist - that a coup d' etat did not take place in America.

I believe that a cover-up did take place - most specifically with the CIA and the FBI. This cover-up was done not for reasons of national security, but out of a desire to "CYA", and avoid revealing information that would have embarassed these two agencies.

I believe that if there had been a conspiracy, that John Kennedy's widow, his brothers, his aides, and his friends would have left no stone unturned in their quest to bring the perpetrators to justice.

I believe that despite all the rumor, innuendo, "what-if" scenarios, and speculation, that no concrete evidence exists that conclusively proves the existence of a conspiracy.

Finally, I believe that if anyone takes a good, hard, long objective look at the evidence, they'll come to the same conclusions.

 

LOL ... it took him only a year and a half. The Soviets, always doubtful he'd be of anything other than PR value to them, were more than happy to get him off their hands. He never was successful in renouncing his citizenship, so the U.S. authorities didn't have much choice.

LHO was a dweebish little punk. I know it's hard to wrap your mind around the idea that a dweebish little punk could pull off something like that, but that doesn't make it any less true.

 

Oswald would have been interesting in the social media age. He was very obviously someone with a lot of thoughts, and nothing to do with them. No outlet. He wanted desperately to be Somebody. He was disappointed when he got off the plane from Russia and was not met by a throng of reporters.

 

Join us next week for the next "Real Defectors from Flyover Country"!

 

A dweebish punk with a history of violent, antisocial behavior, who had been diagnosed (or thought to be) schizophrenic. That Oswald shouted "I'm a patsy" probably says less about a massive worldwide conspiracy and more about his own delusions. His life arc is less Master Spy and more Private Pyle from "Full Metal Jacket."

 

Selfie in front of the Dallas Bookstore Depository.