Thoughts on a bus trip

[Bob Prudhomme]

I guess my question to Alan really means, as I think you understand, the question of whether or not Oswald shot Tippet has nothing whatsoever to do with whether he rode a bus, got a ride with Ruby, or flew on Aladdin's carpet to reach the scene of the Tippet shooting. Or whether or not he killed JFK.

In order for the "lone bus ride" story to be fabricated, out of conspiratorial necessity, to preserve the lone nut theory, you have to have a alternative story to discredit. Oswald was arrested at 1:50. He had the transfer ticket in his pocket at that time (according to Summers, Eddows, Benson, ...) Roger Craig's version of events couldn't have become known to a "cover up team" until after Craig confronts Oswald in the post-arrest interrogation room (if you believe that happened, Fritz called Craig a liar on this point). If you don't believe that Craig confronted Oswald, you have an even later time to deal with, the time Craig wrote his statement and somebody read it.

Are you suggesting that a cover-up team knew that that planting a bus ticket on Oswald would be necessary prior to learning about Craig's story? (I know that there is a second wallet, complete with Oswald/Hidell ID, but that is a different level of prescience entirely.) Or that they somehow knew Oswald was going to claim he rode the bus, and wanted to back him up?

See, to my mind, the lone nut theory doesn't arise until LBJ and Hoover order it. Several days later. Far too late to plant a bus ticket in Oswald's pocket at his arrest.

I understand your reluctance to believe the crafty plotters sat around weeks before to engineer their sinister ploy, Mr. Phipps, but just because you believe that doesn't make it so.

*Plan A

Plotter A: It's essential that we create a scenario that our patsy gets away long enough to also be implicated in the demise of the slain officer across town too.

Plotter Z: No problem, we already have an escape route in place with means to implicate him along the way.

Uh, Oh moment: The initial plan of simply taking a bus becomes in jeopardy, because no bus was able to cover the distance to fit their timeline to encounter the slain officer, soooo, like any other creative script...Cut!, take 2

*Plan B

Plotter A: Our timeline via bus is in jeopardy.

Plotter Z: No problem, he merely gets on the bus (we'll confirm this with a bus transfer we'll plant, err find on him later under the guise of searching him again, but we'll now invent a phantom cab ride, take your pick of which driver is credit worthy, yada, yada, yada...but at least our timeline of events remains possible.

Uh, Oh moment: we better retract the story about him changing shirts, because if he really did how did the bus transfer magically pull a Mr. Scott to the shirt he changed into...

*Plan C

Plotter A: we'll simply say he put it in the shirt he changed into

Plotter Z: That's why you make the big bucks.

Uh, Oh moment: an intense struggle ensues in the Texas Theatre, the wrongfully accused has his shirt pulled this way and that way, torn here, there and everywhere amid ripped away buttons, but somehow looky here a pristine bus transfer (where have we heard that word pristine before?)...

*Plan D

Plotter A: never worry about that, the people will believe what our boys in the media tell them to believe.

Plotter Z: so, even amid all of that thrashing about in the Texas Theatre they will believe us?

Plotter A: Lighten up, it's only a bus transfer, no one, and I mean no one will give its condition a 2nd thought.

Uh, Oh Moment: People are much smarter than the plotters have given them credit to be.

You would think they would, at the very least, wrinkle it a bit to make it appear to have been in two shirt pockets and a fight at the Texas Theatre.