04-06-2013, 12:54 AM
David, I'm not sure what your point is, but here's what I think happened. There were two groups, and a lot of things went wrong:
* The Plotters
A relatively small (maybe 100 or so) compartmentalized assortment of people, some of whom don't even know they're involved in a plot to kill the President. But the top plotters want to blame Castro and the KGB, not a "lone nut." They want to kill JFK with one shot, not a shooting gallery that wounds other people. They want Oswald to be grabbed and disappear, so they can claim he is hiding in Cuba. They want a war with Cuba and possibly the USSR. I also think the Tippit murder was piggy-backed onto the plot by some low-level people (crooked cops, local mobsters) without authorization from higher up. This is the danger of compartmentalized operations.
* The Cover-Up
A huge group, hardly any of whom are involved in the plot to kill JFK. Motivated by different reasons - to protect America's image abroad, to preserve domestic tranquility and faith in American institutions, and most of all to prevent a nuclear war if the "Castro and KGB did it" meme takes hold. They are the ones who decide on the "lone nut" solution. It takes them almost a year of putting out absurd stories about where JFK's wounds were located and how they were inflicted. The FBI produces CE399 in a water tank in their lab so it will match the Carcano, because the pointed-nosed bullet found at Parkland won't match. On and on the ludicrous cover story is cobbled together, wiping out everything the plotters had wanted people to believe.
* The Plotters
A relatively small (maybe 100 or so) compartmentalized assortment of people, some of whom don't even know they're involved in a plot to kill the President. But the top plotters want to blame Castro and the KGB, not a "lone nut." They want to kill JFK with one shot, not a shooting gallery that wounds other people. They want Oswald to be grabbed and disappear, so they can claim he is hiding in Cuba. They want a war with Cuba and possibly the USSR. I also think the Tippit murder was piggy-backed onto the plot by some low-level people (crooked cops, local mobsters) without authorization from higher up. This is the danger of compartmentalized operations.
* The Cover-Up
A huge group, hardly any of whom are involved in the plot to kill JFK. Motivated by different reasons - to protect America's image abroad, to preserve domestic tranquility and faith in American institutions, and most of all to prevent a nuclear war if the "Castro and KGB did it" meme takes hold. They are the ones who decide on the "lone nut" solution. It takes them almost a year of putting out absurd stories about where JFK's wounds were located and how they were inflicted. The FBI produces CE399 in a water tank in their lab so it will match the Carcano, because the pointed-nosed bullet found at Parkland won't match. On and on the ludicrous cover story is cobbled together, wiping out everything the plotters had wanted people to believe.