# JFK Assassination Controversy **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 15, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511 "2017-04-15T16:55:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/21 "2017-04-15T20:30:33Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > **Why should we care about JFK?** > Old news, Dude. > Let it go. Wow. I just read something in Great Debates that changed my mind on something. I’ve long believed that we’ll never know the whole story behind the assassination of “jfk”\*… But you’ve got a point. I think I WILL let it go. Finally… If it came out that a cadre of Cubans bought LBJ a bassett hound so that Marilyn could sneak Joe DiMaggio into the Book Depository with help from known Magic Bullet inventor Grassy Noll… it’d be fascinating, but it really wouldn’t change anything. We’d still have Donald with his tiny finger on the button… - I think we could start a Lower Case Truther Movement based on why the OP doesn’t capitalize jfk half the time… ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/22 "2017-04-15T20:47:52Z")
> [@saturncomet](#): > > Can you explain why there is a mis match between the official xrays and official autopsy photos. > > They were released at diff times. > > You can not have intact skin and missing bone on jfks head at the same location with out suspicion being drawn- namely the rt forehead area. Recent analysis of the autopsy photos and forensic and ballistic recreations show that it is more likely that the mismatches are due to errors in handling or bad memory of some of the ones that reported many of the inconsistencies. [https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/north/2013/11/21/years-later-beverly-forensic-pathologist-examines-evidence-jfk-assassination/p2uA8QQEAQN8Y2qaZMNCyJ/story.html](https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/north/2013/11/21/years-later-beverly-forensic-pathologist-examines-evidence-jfk-assassination/p2uA8QQEAQN8Y2qaZMNCyJ/story.html) > [@](#): > > Cummings had a strict limit on how long he would be able to examine the materials, he said. > > WGBH > > ``` > ‘Once I saw those photographs, it became very clear what had happened to President Kennedy.’ > > ``` > > “When the door closed, I knew I only had two hours. I just sat down and looked at the photographs,” he said. “I treated it like any other gunshot wound case.” > > The president’s clothing has been kept in a deep cold storage, Cummings said. > > “It looks pristine. I could not believe it was 50 years old. It’s so well-preserved, “ he said. > > With the X-rays and photos spread before him on a table, Cummings wrote notes about fracture patterns, lacerations, bruising, and other injuries to the skull. > > “The quality is fantastic. Once I saw those photographs, it became very clear what had happened to President Kennedy . . . It was a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. Based on the fracture pattern, we can say there was no shot from the side or the front.” > [@](#): > > “Cold Case JFK” ended a week of being shown nationally on PBS stations Wednesday, and the episode is still available online. > > “Thousands of people have made up theories about the assassination, and most of them are not experienced or qualified,” said Rush DeNooyer, director of the TV program. “We thought, ‘It’s been 50 years. Let’s see what some real, qualified science can tell us about what happened.’ ” One link to that NOVA show can be found here: [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbXQdAVpuL8) ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/23 "2017-04-15T21:06:27Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Because it utterly changed the course of US and world history, and understanding that yes, goddammit, one lone nut CAN do that is an important lesson to remember. Agreed. Also, it’s history, in general. We like learning stuff about the past. If a new cache of Napoleon Bonaparte’s papers surfaced from some dusty old archive…we’d be delighted! It would be great! If some brand-new evidence (ha!) came to light regarding LHO – maybe the Russians have some old KGB file on him that hasn’t been released yet – that would be interesting. Surely not earth-shaking. Maybe not even of interest to anyone other than assassination afficionados (which includes people who accept the conventional account, as well as conspiracy nuts.) It would be historical…and that’s good! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/24 "2017-04-15T21:15:06Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > JFK, & those who worked with him are dead. > > … > > And children. > And siblings. Well, actually, JFK’s sister Jean is still alive, as is his daughter Caroline. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/25 "2017-04-15T21:32:11Z")
I have never believed that the assassination was the work of a single gunman. Who the other one was and who, if anybody, was in a wider conspiracy is something I don’t need an opinion on. The best book I ever read on the subject was “Six Seconds in Dallas”. One question: If Oswald was the lone gunman, why not begin shooting when the motorcade was on Houston St, heading toward the TSDB? Why wait till it was on Elm, heading away, if not to coordinate shots with a second gunman in place? One thing is clear, regardless of the actual circumstances of the assassination, the Warren Commission investigation was a farce mandated to collect evidence to fit the theory rather than creating the theory after viewing the evidence. ---
**Author:** ![saturncomet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@saturncomet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saturncomet)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/26 "2017-04-15T21:33:15Z")
Has brian ekers viewed the horne videos I left a link to. if not do you plan to ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/27 "2017-04-15T21:33:58Z")
Maybe your president can set up another commission to determine that, yes, it was little Hillary behind the Grassy Knoll. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/28 "2017-04-15T21:51:39Z")
> [@saturncomet](#): > > Has brian ekers viewed the horne videos I left a link to. if not do you plan to I do not, until and unless you can summarize what exactly your alternate theory is. It’s not enough to try to point out some imagined inconsistencies. How was Kennedy’s head propped up for the pictures… seriously? They put something under his neck, duh. His “forehead bone” was missing or whatever? So what? Besides, the fact that you won’t put in the effort to proofread yourself for grammar and punctuation suggests a lack of respect. If your first language is not English, I would make allowances. ---
**Author:** ![saturncomet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@saturncomet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saturncomet)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/29 "2017-04-15T22:02:44Z")
Friday, March 23, 2012 What happened to JFK’s body? A cover-up “on the fly” by Jim Fetzer (with Douglas Horne) [deleted by Bone] ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/30 "2017-04-15T22:05:04Z")
I suspect our new friend has gigabytes of cut-and-paste argument for us. Yay. ---
**Author:** ![saturncomet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@saturncomet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saturncomet)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/31 "2017-04-15T22:09:13Z")
The mortician’s description of the wounds during his interview with Joe West, which Roy Schaeffer obtained from him and transmitted to David W. Mantik, M.D., Ph.D. “My reason for postulating this is the interview I conducted of Dr. Dick Davis of the AFIP […] [deleted by Bone] ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/32 "2017-04-15T22:11:10Z")
If the East Germans had a wall that big, Berlin would still be divided. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/33 "2017-04-15T22:33:54Z")
Can anyone summarize the important points in that Wall O’ Text? If I start reading it now, I’ll miss Easter brunch. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/34 "2017-04-15T22:45:30Z")
> [@digs](#): > > Can anyone summarize the important points in that Wall O’ Text? > > If I start reading it now, I’ll miss Easter brunch. Summary–it’s the same old same old, that we’ve read from dozens of Kennedy Conspiracy Hobbyists before. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/35 "2017-04-15T23:31:25Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Summary–it’s the same old same old, that we’ve read from dozens of Kennedy Conspiracy Hobbyists before. Most of that copy pasta comes from someone reading David Lifton, best reply against the bizarre multiple casket, body altering theory comes from Thomas Powers, Gerald Posner, Vincent Bugliosi and others. > **[David Lifton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lifton)** > > David Samuel Lifton (September 20, 1939 – December 6, 2022) was an American author who wrote the 1981 bestseller Best Evidence: Disguise and Deception in the Assassination of John F. Kennedy, a work that puts forth evidence that there was a conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy. > Lifton grew up in Rockaway Beach, New York. He graduated from Cornell University's School of Engineering Physics in 1962 and thereupon enrolled in the University of California, Los Angeles to work on an advance degre... > [@](#): > > Thomas Powers gave a critical review of the book in New York magazine stating: “There are a lot of curious theories about what happened to John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, but none quite so bizarre as David Lifton’s, a theory that makes all previous speculation about the president’s murder… look like the work of dull and sober men.”[14] Powers’ review was particularly harsh on Lifton’s publisher, adding “Lifton is not to blame for this travesty” and asserting that Macmillan owed an apology to everyone involved in the transport of Kennedy’s body from Dallas to Washington.[14] Reviewing the book for The New York Times, Harrison Salisbury wrote: “…no one before Mr. Lifton has constructed a theory so complicated, so quirky, in such violation of every law of common sense and reason.”[15] > > Discussing some of the books espousing a conspiracy in the assassination of Kennedy, Stephen E. Ambrose wrote in 1992: “Mr. Lifton argues that the conspirators who killed Kennedy got possession of Kennedy’s body somewhere between Dallas and Washington, then removed his brain and otherwise altered his body and wounds to support a single-gunman theory. Mr. Lifton’s account of how this was done is almost impossible to follow, almost impossible to believe and almost impossible to refute.”[16] > > Author and lawyer Gerald Posner has described Lifton’s book as “one of the most unusual conspiracy theories” that “relies on an elaborate shell game involving rapid exchanges of coffins, a decoy ambulance, and a switched body shroud. He contends that once the body (of President Kennedy) was stolen from Air Force One, a covert team of surgeons surgically altered the corpse before the autopsy later that day…purportedly…so the autopsy physicians would determine the bullets that hit the President were fired from the rear…thereby sealing the case against Oswald.”[17] Vincent Bugliosi devoted twelve pages to Lifton’s theory in his 2007 book, Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy.[7] **Bugliosi prefaced his comments stating that the “theory is so unhinged that it really doesn’t deserve one word in any serious treatment of the assassination”, but that he was “forced to devote some time to talking about nonsense of a most exquisite nature” due to the number of people who treated it seriously.[7]** > > There were many negative reviews from the major-media outlets, noting poor documentation and spurious claims. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/36 "2017-04-16T00:06:03Z")
“Join Date: April 2017” I believe that about sums it up. Lay off the ganja, **saturncomet.** Nobody cares about your incoherent ramblings and cut and paste bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511/37 "2017-04-16T00:12:27Z")
> [@saturncomet](#): > > Friday, March 23, 2012 > > What happened to JFK’s body? A cover-up “on the fly” > > by Jim Fetzer (with Douglas Horne) > > [deleted by Bone] Please observe fair use guidelines and copy/paste sparingly. I’ve edited multiple posts as a result. * * * > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Assuming you’re capable of logical thought, … Please dial it back - this is unnecessarily inflammatory. * * * None of this seems like original content by the OP so I’m closing this thread. If there is a desire to have actual discussion with original ideas feel free to start another thread. [/moderating] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jfk-assassination-controversy/784511.md?page=1)