JFK assassination: a hypothesis

I've long believed that Lee Harvey Oswald intended to assassinate John Connally, former Secretary of the Navy, because the Navy would not revoke his dishonorable discharge because of his defection to the Soviet Union.  Was his aim bad or did he think the man in the back seat was Connally?

Consider that when apprehended he denied shooting the president.  Was he lying or did he believe that he had killed Connally.  Jack Ruby cut short any investigation by assassinating Oswald.  That action also has a long swirl of speculation.

Given all the possible interpretations of events, is it any wonder that there is so much speculation about what really happened.  It sure makes the day for conspiracy hypotheses.  (I won't bless these hypotheses with the term "theory"; a theory has to have basis in proven facts,  not speculation.)

See “Op-Ed Lee Harvey Oswald’s little green book show JFK wasn’t the real target”, James Reston Jr., Los Angeles Times, 2016-11-22 for many more details

Je suis Charlie!

On n’a pas besoin d’en dire plus!

I am Charlie!

There is no need to say more!

If the United States were a Christian nation…

…it would follow the "second greatest commandment", "do unto others as you would have them do to you."

We do not want other countries invading us.
We do not want other countries assassinating our leaders.
We do not want other countries stationing troops in our country.
We do not want other countries dictating our choice of leaders.
We do not want other countries to have nuclear weapons.
We do not want other countries having bigger or more powerful militaries than we do.

And then there is, "for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword".

We can only be considered a peace-loving nation when the State Department has a bigger budget than the War Department.

Free enterprise is the wrong metaphor for large corporations

We have been hoodwinked into considering large corporations as examples of free enterprise, just like many of the small businesses that keep popping up.  A better way to consider large corporations is as monarchies.

Monarchies were rarely monolithic, top-down structures, but a complex arrangement of carrots and sticks.  Carrots could include favors of money or position.  Sticks could be actual assassination or character assassination.  If all else failed, monarchies would divert people with a war elsewhere and demand patriotism from all

Corporations give carrots of campaign contributions and hire politicians into lucrative jobs later.  Corporations have murdered strikers and sympathizers, but they have always financed and promulgated false information about those who disagree with their agenda.  Do you really think the "birther movement" was "grass-roots"?  And corporations are really "patriotic" when they support a war with all its profits from selling military equipment.

And to think that we make a big holiday of throwing off the yoke of a monarchy.

Wrong responses to a wrong action (re: Bhutto assassination)

Violence is erupting all over Pakistan in response to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. What does this prove? It may prove that people are distraught. It may prove that criminals and hooligans are using the assassination as an excuse to do mischief. It does prove that the many who had nothing to do with the assassination are going to suffer the actions of the few. The people who depended on buses are now going to have fewer buses because mobs have burned buses; these are most likely the poorer people. The middle class who had saved for a car now have lost much of their savings. People of all kinds who need the paychecks from their jobs are not going to be able to get to their jobs.

A more proper response would be vigils around the headquarters of those who preach hate.

Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif threatens to boycott the Jan. 8 election. A boycott of an election throws the result to those you oppose. A more proper response is to get out the vote. Make sure all your supporters show up. If you don't show up, you can't be counted. Make sure news outlets know your supporters are showing up. Make sure they are interviewed at polling places. Pakistan still has some media independence. See http://www.dawn.com

Hold the government's feet to the fire on the investigation. Provide all the information possible. Ask for frequent updates.

Hold the extremists' feet to the fire on their actions. If they truly believe in Islam, show how their actions are contrary to Islam.