# Peter Jenning's JFK Assasination Special **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 21, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447 "2003-11-21T04:13:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cholo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/1 "2003-11-21T04:13:53Z")
I just got through watching the JFK special on ABC and I must say it was very well done. I must say that I think it satisfied me regarding the lone gunman answer as put forth by the Warren Commission. I’ve read a few of the Conspiracy theory books floating out there but they always seemed to raise so many more questions than they answered. Tonight was different…all the evidence put forth by ABC really seemed pretty straightforward. I felt that they certainly cleared up a few myths regarding the assasination itself. What do you think? Convinced? ---
**Author:** ![Cholo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Cholo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cholo)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/2 "2003-11-21T04:17:12Z")
Oh man, I didn’t realize I wrote “I must say” twice. I must say that was a mistake. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![joshmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@joshmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joshmaker)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/3 "2003-11-21T04:21:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cholo \* > I must say that was a mistake. :dubious: Or WAS it? Curses! He must be in on it! ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/4 "2003-11-21T13:37:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cholo \* > \*\*I’ve read a few of the Conspiracy theory books floating out there but they always seemed to raise so many more questions than they answered. \*\* Does that disqualify them somehow? Not sure I understand your reasoning. Nah. I still just find it hard to swallow that one guy got off three shots (two of which were dead on, or nearly) with a bolt action rifle in six seconds. The Warren Commission arrived at what LBJ ordered them to arrive at. But even he didn’t believe it. Johnson was one of the biggest conspiracy nuts on the block. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/5 "2003-11-21T14:33:20Z")
I read Gerald Posner’s _Case Closed_, and it seemed to me to make a dispositive case that Oswald acted alone. This was the first explanation that I had read which convincinly debunked the criticism of the one-bullet hypothesis. Basically (and this was even more clearly shown on the ABC special), the bullet did not have to do any zig-zagging; once you place both Kennedy’s and Connolly’s bodies in the positions that the Zapruder film clearly shows that they were in, the bullet tracks line up perfectly with each other and with the sixth-floor window of the Texas Book Depository. QED. The fact that the bullet tracks passed only through soft tissue before striking Connally’s wrist accounts for the relatively small amount of deformation observed in the bullet, which was in no way “pristine”. The position of the head wound is such that it rules out any possibility that it could have been inflicted by a shot fired from the grassy knoll. The six-second window is the time between the first and second shots which hit Kennedy. The assumption is often made that the shot that missed was in between these two shots. Examination of the Zapruder film (which clearly shows that he flinched slightly at the sound of each shot) strongly suggests that the shot which missed was fired two seconds or so BEFORE the first of the shots which hit. This extends the time window to eight seconds, more than enough for a competent rifleman (which Oswald was, according to his service record) to make the shots. All of this (which was covered in detail in last night’s special) seems consistent with the conclusion that Oswald acted alone. It is certainly possible that Oswald was acting in concert with the Mafia, the CIA, the Cubans, the Russians, or the Martians. However, the burden of proof is on those who would assert the presence of a conspiracy. This is a textbook “extraordinary claim” requiring “extraordinary evidence”, and to date the conspiracists have only been able to put forth innuendo, speculation, and in many cases, outright fabrications. The closest that they have come is the analysis of the police radio recording, which seemed to suggest that four shots were fired. This analysis was dependent on the police motorcycle being located within fifteen feet of a particular location. This assumption has since been shown to be invalid. Hugh Aynesworth, a reporter who was in Dallas forty years ago, concluded a recent article on this subject with the following, which seems to sum it up pretty well: "Often I am asked why I do not believe there was a conspiracy in the JFK assassination. After all, most Americans do, according to several legitimate polls. I usually tell them I do not know if there was or there wasn’t. All I know is, there is absolutely no evidence of it. I’m still a reporter. Still looking for the evidence 40 years later. If it exists." ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/6 "2003-11-21T14:38:19Z")
I liked how they raked Oliver Stone over the coals—wonder if they tried to interview him and he turned 'em down? I’ve seen _Lee and Marina_ author Priscilla Johnson McMillan interivewed several times recently: notice how when you close your eyes she sounds intelligent and cogent and well-spoken, but when you _look_ at her, she seems to be a total raving loony? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/7 "2003-11-21T14:38:28Z")
Yes, actually, by raising more question than they answer, conspiracy theories do disqualify themselves. If you are allowed to give partial answers to a problem and don’t care if you ignore other equally salient pieces then you can give any answer to anything. Nothing needs to be true anymore, nothing needs to be complete or right or logical. You can wish any fantasy into existence, blame any villain you care to castigate, make any pronouncement that fulfills your ego. Conspiracy theories are always larger than the truth. That’s their downfall. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/8 "2003-11-21T15:06:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Moody Bastard \* > \*\*Nah. I still just find it hard to swallow that one guy got off three shots (two of which were dead on, or nearly) with a bolt action rifle in six seconds. The Warren Commission arrived at what LBJ ordered them to arrive at. But even he didn’t believe it. Johnson was one of the biggest conspiracy nuts on the block. \*\* Numerous re-creations have shown that a reasonably competent marksman could get off three accurate shots in the time allotted with relatively little difficulty. When the FBI tried it, half of their marksman actually shot faster than Oswald. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/9 "2003-11-21T15:53:07Z")
Overall, very good. Especially the half hour or so spent on shredding Oliver Stone’s JFK. Two minor complaints: 1. They used their computer model to trace a single bullet path from the two bullet wounds back to the specific window Oswald was in. I would have liked to have seen this reflect the inherent uncertainty in extrapolating data from grainy moving film shot from a single viewpoint. So more like a cone than a single line. 2. I thought the dictaphone rebuttal was unconvincing. Maybe just not enough time to cover it, but it amounted to “they said the cop would have to be in this circle and he wasn’t”. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/10 "2003-11-21T15:53:54Z")
T’was a good show, for all the reasons **BrotherCadfael** and others have illustrated. I would like to add one thing though… the show had a recreation of what Oswald would have seen looking through the scope and it animated through him making the shots. I’d never noticed this before but Jackie moved her head closer to Jack when she first noticed him in distress after the shot that went through his shoulder and out his throat. When that son of a bitch Oswald made the third shot that took off the top of Jack’s head, he couldn’t have helped but see Jackie in the scope a mere foot away from the president and looking right at him. Later, when he was caught he was smug, proud of himself. That was one cold, dedicated bastard. ---
**Author:** ![Breezy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b3f665/32.png) [@Breezy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Breezy)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/11 "2003-11-21T16:04:59Z")
I’m not sure this is the appropriate place, but the more I watch the footage, the more I notice that Jackie starts crawling out of the car immediately after the fatal shot to JFK. Did she ever comment about what was (for lack of a better term) going through her head at that time?? I’ve read several books about Jackie, but I don’t recall ever reading anything that SHE actually said about it. And I want to say that I’m not criticizing her in ANY way! God only knows what I would do in such a horrifying situation… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/12 "2003-11-21T16:24:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Breezy \* > \*\*Did she ever comment about what was (for lack of a better term) going through her head at that time?? I’ve read several books about Jackie, but I don’t recall ever reading anything that SHE actually said about it. /B] There’s a thread on precisely this topic in General Questions (the consensus is no one will ever really know what she was doing or why). ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/13 "2003-11-21T16:36:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SmackFu \* > \*\*Overall, very good. Especially the half hour or so spent on shredding Oliver Stone’s JFK. > > Two minor complaints: > > 1. They used their computer model to trace a single bullet path from the two bullet wounds back to the specific window Oswald was in. I would have liked to have seen this reflect the inherent uncertainty in extrapolating data from grainy moving film shot from a single viewpoint. So more like a cone than a single line. > > 2. I thought the dictaphone rebuttal was unconvincing. Maybe just not enough time to cover it, but it amounted to “they said the cop would have to be in this circle and he wasn’t”. \*\* In Posner’s book they do in fact show the probable trajectory as a cone. In fact as several cones, and when they adjust the body positions to match the Zapruder film, the cones come together almost perfectly. I agree, they did kinda rush the section on the dictaphone recording. I would have appreciated some more detail. However, it always struck me that the people who put forth the dictaphone analysis at the 1979 hearings asserted more certainty than what the analysis showed. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/14 "2003-11-21T18:08:56Z")
I didn’t see this special, but there was another one on CourtTV, Wednesday Night, that did spend a lot of time on the dictaphone recording. This special showed quite well that the perceived gunshots were nothing more than noise, and that in fact the recording was probably occurred almost a minute after the shooting. ACtually I have been convinced that LHO was the lone shooter when I read book title _Conspiracy of One_ that came out several years before the Posner book. It didn’t have the advanced analysis that Posner did yet it still managed to make an excellent case for LHO being the lone gunman. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/15 "2003-11-21T18:16:04Z")
Actually, I was struck by how much Oswald’s rather theatrical outrage at his treatment following the arrest sounded not unlike the bleatings of the A.N.S.W.E.R. types… ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/16 "2003-11-21T18:16:55Z")
I don’t know. Both sides cite experts. Neither side can answer every question with certainty. You need to remain open to both possibilities. One fairly realistic speculation, I think, that no one’s really addressed yet, and that many of the things conspiracy theorists point to as “evidence of a cover up” (the pitiful Secret Service detail, loss of valuable documents over the years, no records of Oswald’s interrogation, etc.), are simply fuckups that no one wants to own up to. Anyone who’s ever worked for a big company knows how quickly something can get swept under the rug when it spotlights someone’s incompetence. Ultimately, you’ll go with the theory you’re most comfortable with. “A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/17 "2003-11-21T18:20:03Z")
I believe I tripped over my own sentence structure. Not that a fellow can **EDIT** around here. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![merrily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@merrily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/merrily)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/18 "2003-11-21T18:35:43Z")
[http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/living/7218677.htm](http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/living/7218677.htm) Jackie was trying to retrieve a piece of her husband’s skull. I still can’t imagine what that day was like for her. ---
**Author:** ![TVS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@TVS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVS)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/19 "2003-11-21T19:54:50Z")
> [@](#): > > I liked how they raked Oliver Stone over the coals—wonder if they tried to interview him and he turned 'em down? I’ve heard that he doesn’t do a lot of interviews because he’s always asked to defend a theory that he doesn’t really agree with, but he felt made for a good story. I’ve always felt that the major media types have been a little unfair to Oliver Stone, just because he made a movie that was contrary to what they were reporting. Shortly after JFK came out, Walter Cronkite made a point of telling everyone who would listen that JFK was NOT factually accurate, and that it was by consequence NOT a good movie, and any reviewers who gave it a good rating were wrong. Facts aside: JFK was a good movie. It was not a documentary, or a news report, and made no claim to be an objective representation of facts. It was fictionalized, and it’s goal was to make people feel a little afraid and paranoid, which it did. It was well cast, and well acted. It was a masterpiece of editing, piecing different formats of film from different time periods together flawlessly. This alone makes it a technical marvel. These elements make it the work of a talented film director, not the ravings a conspiracy kook. I always kind thought that the news media was a little jealous that he gets to use artistic license, and they don’t. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2003, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447/20 "2003-11-21T20:04:19Z")
What bothers me about JFK is that it lionizes a scumbag and makes an innocent man look guilty. That bothers me, big time. There’s lots of literature that does this (Richard the 3 comes to mind) but at least there was a grain of truth to those tales. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-jennings-jfk-assasination-special/214447.md?page=2)