I agree, but Oswald made it home, then went back out onto the streets with his revolver, whereupon he shot officer Tippet and was eventually captured. Where was he going?
[QUOTE=Frank]
Oswald’s entire life demonstrates a complete inability to think ahead for more than five minutes at a time. No, he didn’t have an escape plan.
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This I disagree with. Oswald was delusional, but his dramatic plans were always planned out months (sometimes years) in advance. Before going to the Soviet Union, he had saved up money and read books for years, then got his mom to go along with a plan to claim hardship to get out of the Marines early, and had even enrolled in a European university to lend credibility to his student visa.
Before shooting General Walker, he had taken photos of the area, and probably had staked it out many times. He left detailed instructions for Marina, his wife, if he didn’t return.
Before he went to Mexico to try to enter Cuba, he had collected press accounts and letters of his political activism, in hopes of demonstrating his commitment to the Cuban cause.
None of these were done on a whim. Sure, Oswald was a drifter who couldn’t keep a job, but that reflected more on his anti-social weirdness, rather than an impulsive nature.
Killing JFK, while necessarily spur of the moment (since he didn’t have much notice of the event) strikes me as out of character for Oswald, at least in terms of the time he spent getting ready for it.
Of course he was a threat. He had already tried to kill General Walker (although the authorities didn’t know it). But, if the FBI had been aware of what information they had, then the Secret Service would have known that a pro-Soviet (and recently Pro-Cuba) malcontent was working in a building along the President’s parade route. That fact alone, in more modern times, might have inspired them to change the President’s route, or at least secure the building before they had a motorcade.
[QUOTE=jtgain]
So lets say that after passing the officer, Oswald goes to the restroom, does what he needs to compose himself, and finishes the day (or goes home with everyone else, I doubt that many textbooks were shipped that day) and then goes home.
The next morning wouldn’t he have been able to hop a plane pretty well scot-free? Or did they have an idea about him by then?
[/QUOTE]
I think the problem Oswald had was the rifle. He must have realized that he couldn’t dispose of it, and must have assumed that they’d connect it to him pretty quickly. He might have also assumed that it would be obvious where he had shot from (later conspiracy theories notwithstanding), so he felt an urgent compunction to leave the scene immediately.
The more I think about it, the more I think that Oswald didn’t really plan the event; as already stated, he just found out about the parade a day or so prior. But, I do think he probably envisioned himself standing trial, on a national stage, and figured that he’d be - if not exonerated - at least made into a political prisoner notorious around the world, and (in his deluded mind) made into a hero in the “Marxist” world.