Inspired by the references in this thread I bought a copy of Case Closed- I had to order it as it was out of print.
It certainly is compelling and whilst I was never a conspiracy theorist, I can’t understand after reading it how anyone can maintain that Oswald wasn’t the gunman acting alone.
Has anyone read any other of his books? Any recommendations? (I’m thinking of “Why America Slept” however there are a number of his I would like to read).
I also enjoyed KILLING THE DREAM-James Earl Ray and the Assasination of Martin Luther King jr. He does for the MLK murder what CASE CLOSED did for JFK. I wish he would write one on RFK. Are there any good debunking books on RFK?
I read Rush to Judgement (pro-conspiracy), by Mark Lane, and then I read Case Closed. I thought: Well, it looks like Oswald really did do it. Then, I re-read RtJ; Oswald was a patsy. Posner basically throws up a lot of smoke, and misdirection, but he does have a compelling writing style.
Plus, he has the same barber that Captain Kangaroo had. I can’t look at him when he’s on TV.
Both sides of this argument (Oswald alone, Oswald a patsy) have enough information to “prove” their case. And when a book is written that support either side, those that lean toward the conclusion they are looking for are more likely to think it’s a great work.
I am a firm believer in the patsy theory. I don’t think I’ll ever find out what happened in my lifetime, and I doubt the truth will ever come out. Even if Oswald did it, I don’t think there is compelling evidence that would convince me, unless there is a home movie out there somewhere showing him shooting from the 6th floor.
there are videos on youtube which prove that the THREE shots came from the window of the building that OSWALD worked in.
there is a video that proves that yes, it was possible, and not that difficult, to get from the 6th floor to the 2nd floor lunch room in 90 seconds (it took 47 seconds in the test and the guy they used was not even out of breath)
they also proved that it was possible for a man to walk (not run) from the rooming house to the place where the cop was shot to death in UNDER 15 minutes which could put Oswald at that location also.
When I watched these videos (and read Case Closed) I realized that even though there were extremists who hated Kennedy, that the truth is Oswald, an abusive and emotionally disturbed egomaniac pulled the whole thing off.
And as for Jack Ruby, he had many many friends on the Dallas Police Force because he catered to them at his club with free booze and women. He could come and go (which he did all weekend) as he pleased.
He also showed up MINUTES before he shot Oswald. He had just left a Western Union business minutes before. If he was a hitman he would have been there at 10 am waiting like all the press was.
I used to be convinced it was a conspiracy, now I am almost sure it was Oswald, an attention seeking, disturbed, VERY screwed up by his mother loser.
ps Coincidentally, just yesterday , I watched “Executive Action” on you tube, a ridiculous film about the assassination which would have had to have HUNDREDS of people in on the conspiracy. The kicker was when they were asked if instead of killing Kennedy, they could just dig up dirt, and they said they couldn’t find any. HE WAS FUCKING ANY WOMAN WHO WAS BREATHING, and they couldn’t dig up any dirt???
Oswald did it.
To be sure, I was definitely going to add something along those lines, but I couldn’t think of anything vicious enough to express the utter contempt for that haircut! If you can call it that. :eek:
It’s worth giving the recent doc “JFK: Three Shots That Changed America” a look-see. They pull out rare archive footage and it showed that immediatly after the shooting that a) some witnesses definitely heard shots (plural) coming from the grassy knoll (although it wasn’t called that at the time), and b) it was obviously part of some conspiracy (that from a news anchor). So, those ideas pretty much took root from the get-go. They even have an on-the-scene (practially) interview with Abraham Zapruder!.
Listening to the House Select Committee hearings (I love NPR!) I heard a fellow testify that he had been on the “grassy knoll” and, having just gotten out of boot camp, he was familiar with the sound of live fire passing over his head. He hit the dirt. I’ve tried to find his testimony online but haven’t yet. OTOH, the acoustics in Dealey Plaza are odd.
It’s also been noted that Ruby, who loved his little dog more than anything, left it behind in his car, parked outside, while he went into the basement garage of the Dallas police HQ. Would a Mob killer have done that, knowing he would immediately be arrested after shooting Oswald? Looks far more like he acted on a momentary impulse when the opportunity arose.
Incidentally, when Oliver Stone made Wild Palms (aired in 1993, but set in 2007), he included, as an in-joke, a brief scene in which he was interviewed on a news program. The interviewer says something like, “How does it feel to be so fully vindicated by the recently-released secret papers on the JFK assassination?” :rolleyes: 
I haven’t read Case Closed, but a smart and very well-read friend of mine, long a Warren Commission skeptic, found it quite persuasive.
As a companion to Posner’s “Case Closed”, you might enjoy Bugliosi’s “Reclaiming History”.