Just common sense:

I've been to the "lair" and looked out the window, at The Spot. It is a very hard shot that forces the shooter to lean out of the window and aim at a very acute angle down the street, as the motorcade had already passed 40 yards or so down the street. Why shoot then and not earlier? When he could have done it when the shot was closer and much easier, and he could have stayed fully inside the dark window without having to expose himself that way? It makes no sense. Nor does the Oswald single-shooter theory.

It does make sense, however, to keep up the lie as long as possible. Even if everyone who was involved in the conspiracy is dead, it still makes sense... Because admitting that something so monstrous could have happened in our country, leads to other questions... Pointing to the possibility of other conspiracies, regarding other Earth-shaking events such as 9/11 .

No... They can never afford to let the truth about JFK's assassination out. It is too "dangerous". It could destroy what little trust in the government may remain; it forces too many people to re-evaluate their beliefs, and it exposes the possibility that we are not really in control of anything in this country.

by Steve Windisch (jibbguy) (17 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 360 comments [54 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 at 5:25:16 PM

A brief history of presidential commissions

The president periodically exercises executive authority to commission "independent" investigations into significant events of domestic concern.

An overview of several such commissions, The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (9/11 Commission) being the most recent, reveals a pattern and process that consistently achieves the same result.

1. An event occurs.

2. The public demands an inquiry.

3. In response to public demand, the president appoints a commissioner to investigate and the commissioner chooses a staff.

4. Throughout the lifetime of the commission, corporate media helps create an impression that the investigation is independent.

5. The commission issues subpoenas, takes testimony and generates headlines.

6. A huge body of evidence accumulates while many possible avenues of investigation are not considered by the commission.

7. The commission then reviews the evidence it chose to consider, arrives at conclusions, makes recommendations and publishe them in a final report.

8. Most people are satisfied with commission conclusions and recommendations while a minority is outspokenly dissatisfied with the commission’s conslusions/ recommendations.

9. The final report becomes government’s final word, the case officially closes and the event becomes buried in history; life goes on.

The Roberts Commission

On January 23, 1942, FDR appointed Supreme Court Justice Owen Roberts to head a commission to investigate events that led to the "surprise" attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

The Roberts Commission concluded that neither Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Husband Kimmel or his subordinate commanders were at fault for not being prepared to defend against the Japanese air attack that day.

The commission did not publicly consider the myriad of political and economic pressures FDR placed on Japan prior to the attack. In the months preceding Dec., 1941, FDR was politically provoking Japan into attacking U.S. interests while Japan was doing everything in its diplomatic power to avoid war with the U.S.

As late as October, 1941, Japanese diplomats had travelled to Washington, D.C., in an attempt to reconcile these issues.

Since the publishing of the Robert’s Commission Report and the end of WWII, documents have been declassified and witnesses have come forward. It is now known that FDR had prior knowledge of the attack and chose not to inform Pacific fleet commanders of the plan to attack their command.

The attack on Pearl Harbor resulted in an immediate declaration of war on Japan and, two days later, FDR implicated the Nazis in the attack and declared war on Germany.

Americans, who had re-elected FDR in 1940, largely based on his promise to avoid involving the U.S. in another European war, were suddenly ready to fight the Germans and the Japanese.

The Warren Commission

On November 29, 1963, LBJ appointed U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren to chair the commission which would investigatethe assassination of JFK. The Warren Commission concluded that President

Kennedy was killed by communist sympathizer Lee Harvey Oswald and there was no conspiracy involved (either foreign or domestic).

The Warren Commission also concluded that Oswald fired three shots from his position behind the president’s motorcade through a sixth-story window at the book depository building. According to the Warren Commission, one shot missed, one struck the president in the back of the head and the third shot, a "magic bullet," entered below JFK’s collar, exited his throat, took a left hand-turn, hit Texas Governor John Connelly in the right shoulder, continued on to shatter his right wrist and changed directions one last time to lodge in his left thigh.

This conclusion defies common sense, the laws of natural science, basic ballistics, witness accounts, expert testimony, forensic evidence and film footage taken immediately before, during and after the event. Since the movie JFK was released in 1994, most Americans no longer believe in the Warren Commission’s "lone-nut/magic-bullet" theory.

Warren Commission members Sen. Arlen Spector (R-Penn.) is still in the Senate and Sen. Gerald Ford (R-Mich.) became president.

Iran/Contra

The Iran/Contra scandal surfaced October 5, 1986, when a U.S. cargo plane was shot down over southern Nicaragua. Two crew members died but CIA operative Eugene Hasenfus was captured by the Sandinista army. Hasenfus’ capture set in motion what we know today as the Iran/Contra scandal.

Eight different investigations uncovered a bizarre web of intrigue among State Department officials, members of Congress, known drug traffickers, international arms dealers, mercenaries and military intelligence. Revealed was a botched attempt on the part of the Reagan administration to secure the release of U.S. prisoners held in Lebanon by supplying arms to Iranians at war with Iraq while raising money to support Contras attempting to overthrow the socialist Sandanista government in Nicaragua.

The first Iran/Contra investigation was led by former U.S. Senator John Tower who was appointed by President Reagan. The Tower  Commission’s final report of February 26, 1987, criticized President Reagan for improperly managing the affairs of state but barely scratched the surface of the scandal.

Congress began televising hearings for its own investigation on May 5, 1987. Out of the hearings came several indictments (which centered on lying to Congress and destroying evidence) and a few convictions, most of which were quietly overturned on appeal.

Later investigations revealed the large-scale trafficking of cocaine conducted with the assistance of the CIA. A few scapegoats were convicted and sent to prison.

The real scandal has never been acknowledged by the government: Tons of Contra cocaine was smuggled into this country, fueling the crack cocaine epidemic of the 80s.

The Starr Commission

Independent Prosecutor Kenneth Starr led the investigation into the activities of former governor and sitting President Bill Clinton. Starr’s commission led to the impeachment (but not conviction) of Clinton.

Though public perception was that Starr was independently investigating the president for a myriad of personal, professional and public transgressions, hindsight shows that Starr was prosecuting smoke screens— Clinton’s sexual escapades and the Whitewater land investment scam.

The investigation, which lasted nearly two years and cost some $49 million, resulted in a few convictions and Clinton’s disbarment. Not investigated was Clinton’s role in Iran/ Contra (Mena, Arkansas, was the central smuggling point for Contra cocaine while he was governor); not investigated was his relationship with known drug traffickers; not investigated were the deaths of some 60 people close to him, including White House Chief Counsel Vince Foster.

Conclusions

Each of these federally-commissioned investigations resulted in the publishing of reports meant to be the government’s final word on the events investigated. Each commission avoided legitimate avenues of inquiry that would likely reveal high-level incompetence or complicity. If no one questions the deficiencies when they are published, posterity will regard them as history.

The American public has demonstrated repeatedly, a remarkable willingness to lend legitimacy to sham/mock investigations that are infected with political conflicts of interest and cronyism, corrupted processes and pre-ordained outcomes.

In example after example, high-level and official investigations are conducted into crimes of stunning consequence as little more than child's games, and the pursuit of dark, hidden agendas will continue.

The attacks of 911 was the new benchmark - the die has been cast. Expect more.

by Michael McCoy (7 articles, 1 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 487 comments [26 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 at 4:27:33 AM

"FDR implicated the Nazi's in the attack and declared war on Germany"

I think you will find that FDR's Address to Congress on 11 Dec 1941 included the words

"On the morning of 11 Dec the Government of Germany, pursuing its course of conquest, declared war against the United States"

click here

by sliphoch (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 110 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 at 7:07:12 PM