How to Interpret the JFK Files

The evidence that Oswald acted alone remains almost entirely unchallenged. But the behavior of others on the periphery and the manner in which our government acted to control information gave rise to countless conspiracy theories. All of the redactions, bogus secrecy, etc., are reducible to three categories of official reaction to the facts and records: (“They” refers to whatever government entity was involved.)

1. They did not make good use of what they knew.
2. They missed stuff they should have known.
3. They were doing other things that they should not have been doing.

Hence redactions and overclassifications. The same great minds that designed the Bay of Pigs invasion were apparently reaching out to mobsters who wanted to recover their Cuban holdings, plotting the assassination of Castro, making extensive and possibly unlawful use of diplomatic cover, and not efficiently sharing nor acting upon intel involving Oswald.

John Donovan, my high school teacher and later my mentor during my stint as a teacher, had been a Marine lieutenant and Oswald’s commanding officer in Okinawa. He recalled bull sessions in the radar facility in which Oswald exhibited the traits of a self-educated man—bright, opinionated but not fully aware of the incompleteness of his take on many things. (He had no doubt that Oswald or virtually any other Marine of that era could have accurately made those shots from the Book Depository window.)

John was interviewed by Edward Jay Epstein, who then hired him to help find and interview about a dozen individuals. A rather high percentage of those who agreed to meet had fatal heart attacks, along with one fatal hunting accident, prior to the appointed time. Two others ducked further contact. Coincidence was not impossible. Nor did he conclude that this proved an assassination conspiracy. His take was that if any of these unlikely events were orchestrated, it probably meant that the investigation was wandering into a murky world in which there is a great deal to hide apart from any relevance to the JFK killing. (See, 1,2, and 3 above).

It was thought that Napoleon had stirred up more trouble than necessary with the execution of the Duke of Enghien. This inspired the famous quote: It was worse than a crime; it was a blunder that reflects the eternal attitude of apparatchiks and Deep State denizens in all times and places. Morality, national interest, truth and legality matter far less than avoiding adverse perceptions, political accountability and outright embarrassment no matter how many complications and misperceptions ensue.