I’m in the middle of reading Vincent Bugliosi’s (he of “Helter Skelter” fame) epic study of the JFK assassination called “Reclaiming History”. It’s an amazing book. Bugliosi goes to extents no one has ever gone before, and with the sharp-edged eye of a prosector, to look at all the evidence, individuals, and conspiracy theorists that have ever walked the planet to show beyond any shadow of a doubt that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the killing of JFK.

One of the biggest reasons, he writes, why the conspiracy theorists have had such a field day with the events that transpired on November 22, 1963, is that, at it’s most basic fundamental level, people just find it hard to believe that the lowest, most unbalanced, and seemingly least powerful of people could take down arguable the most powerful man on earth. People look at JFK and then look at Lee Harvey Oswald, and just can’t believe someone like him could do such a thing. Of course, the fact that the Warren Commission could have done some things better (which hasn’t helped), and, of course, you had Jack Ruby shooting Oswald so that he would never take the stand in a court of law (which again, people find stunning to believe to be the act of another lone gunman), but Bugliosi puts it all down, is not afraid to put his evidence up against every conspiracy author and possible alternative universe, and does it in a way that is both readable and understandable.

Reading about Oswald’s life, it might seem amazing to some that he could act alone in killing JFK, but rather than asking how, the better question is why not? After all, he was a confused social and cultural loner and loser, totally incapable of normal human relationships and feelings, a patholological liar who fantasized about achieving a greatness he was psychologically and fundamentally incapable of, with a history of violence in his marriage (sounds liike my former brother-in-law so far!), one failed assassination attempt (of an Army general) already under his belt, and a former Marine marksman who got himself in a unique vantage point where he could shoot unseen at a target that wasn’t difficult to hit.

I’ve never thought that Lee Harvey Oswald operated anything but alone in the JFK assassination, if only for this reason: given that most, if not all, human beings are incapable of keeping a secret to themselves (never mind a BIG SECRET like the JFK assassination would have been), if there had been a conspiracy, at some point over the past 44 years, SOMEBODY would have squealed. It might have been for money (a mega offer from the National Inquirer), revenge, or a deathbed confession borne out of a guilty conscience, but someone would have squealed by now. And we all would have read about it. Hell, we found out who “Deep Throat” ultimately was, didn’t we?

If, however, that isn’t good enough for you, I highly recommend “Reclaiming History”. After reading it, only the most foolish and most nutso paranoid conspiracy theorist would still believe that Lee Havey Oswald changed the course of human history by acting anything but alone.