Fix the Bus

Many preposterous theories  have been proposed as to who mechanically pulled off the assassination of JFK.

Some say it was the mob. Names range from Santo Trafficante to Carlos Marcello to Charles Nicoletti.

Others say it was the CIA.

Still others blame the Cubans and the Corsican Brotherhood. 

Even freelancers are given the opportunity to be the man of the hour.  Eugene Hale Brading comes to mind.  You could even throw in Joseph Milteer.

With all these names and possibilities being thrown about, we should talk about why these men should not be considered worthy at all.

Let’s begin with the mob.  

Santo Trafficante and Carlo Marcello did not get to where they got to by being stupid.  They were extremely shrewd men, cold calculating men, not given to impulsiveness.  It’s a sure bet that none of these men would risk themselves or their organizations by trying to take out the President.  And if Allen Dulles asked them to, they would kindly tell him to find another sap and fall guy.  Secondly, they would have to get such an undertaking approved by the Commission, and there is no way the Commission is going to approve this hit for the same reasons as listed above. Carlo Gambino was nobody’s fool.

Another problem, a glaring problem, really,, is why the mob would involve Oswald.  How did Oswald fit into the equation?  Is there any evidence that Oswald was in close contact with the mob which typically keeps things close to the vest and works through Sicilians.  

Well, of course, there is Uncle Dutz, right? And his mother.  And many others who LHO grew up with in New Orleans – people like Emile Bruneau.  It would seem that Oswald had a wealth of Mob connections as did most anybody who grew up in New Orleans – then and now.

So what?

The assassination in Dealey Plaza was a precision event.  It wasn’t just a bunch of guys showing up with guns.  Does the mob do coordinated and timed hits like this in the open air in full public view? Or do they take out people who are either sitting in automobiles (Angelo Bruno), restaurants (Carmine Gallante), and houses where the public is not generally watching. Remember the JFK hit took place in full public view where people were waiting to see JFK. They had their cameras out. Did the Mob have a plan for confiscating cameras? How were they going to accomplish that?

Sure, Marcello and Trafficante probably did want JFK out of the way; but so did a lot of people. Get in line here. That doesn’t mean they did it. A lot of people speak bluster out of frustration.

It’s not enough to just mention phone calls that Jack Ruby, may have placed to different shady characters. It’s not enough to talk about Oswald‘s uncle, Dutz Murret, being an associate with Nofio Pecora.  Those are nice things to know, but they don’t cut the mustard.

Oswald grew up poor in New Orleans around shady characters.  In fact, it was probably impossible for him to avoid these people while he was growing up.   It’s only natural that when he needed help, he reached out to the people he knew.  When Oswald was jailed in New Orleans, he called to his Aunt and Uncle’s house.  His cousin, who answered the phone, reached out to a family friend, Emile Bruneau.  There’s nothing suspicious there.  These were the people and the world he was born into.  Quite frankly, Lee Oswald was dealing with a Marcello associate – his mother –  every day of his life from the day he was born.  Are we to now link everything in Oswald‘s life with Carlos Marcello? Was Carlos Marcello responsible for the peanut butter and jelly sandwich that Oswald ate when he was 12 years old

Jack Ruby most likely  called Nofio Pecora’s  office in New Orleans to resolve a labor dispute.  Maybe it had to do with his stripper Jada.  There is nothing incriminating going on here.  It doesn’t prove anything. 

Various researchers use these links as evidence that Marcello could have reached into Oswald or Ruby in order to control them, in order to assassinate the President.  Well, there’s nothing wrong with suggesting that such might take place.  Still, though, you have to back that up with common sense thinking and some sort of consistent logical methodology as to why this could have taken place.  It’s not enough to just mention loose associations.

Let me give an example.  Jack Ruby’s visit to Eugene Hale Brading at the Cabana Motel, his visit to the Hunt offices, and his call to Pécora are viewed as concrete evidence that something must’ve been going on, that Jack Ruby was planning something.  Well, that might imply that Jack Ruby’s role at the plan’s outset was to kill Oswald – which is an absurd implication. It’s absurd because one would have to ask why Jack Ruby would desire to  forfeit his entire future and life by killing Oswald at point blank range . Generally, murderers and crooks don’t do that; they  try to get away.

It makes much more sense to believe that Jack Ruby  was fully brought in to the picture after Oswald was not killed in the Texas Theatre.  That still might be consistent with Jack Ruby participating in the planning of this assassination.  But then one would then have to ask precisely what Jack Ruby’s role was in this assassination. Why would he be invited in at all?  What did he contribute?  A fall guy?  Well, Jack Ruby may not have been successful, but he did grow up on the rough streets of Chicago.  Surely he had the street smarts to know if he was going to be set up.

Furthermore what does Jack Ruby gain in helping the Mob kill JFK?  What does he get out of it?  We can understand what Santo Trafficante might gain; but how about Jack Ruby?

How about the ex-pat Cubans?  Well, as one of the Cuban ex-pats stated, ““We Cubans cannot keep secrets..” And that says it all right there.  In addition to that, the Cubans were much too emotional about JFK.  The last thing you want, in taking out the President is someone who is emotionally involved. Emotions cloud performance.

Additionally why would Cubans take out the President when doing so might bring heat upon themselves and their desire to ouster Castro?  For what would happen if they were unsuccessful?  That thought would be going through their minds in October and November of 1963.

Technically did they have the skills to take out JFK in the way he was taken out?

How about the pro-Castro Cubans? Why would Fidel Castro kill JFK? What would he gain? He stood more to gain by having JFK alive. JFK by instituting a no-invasion policy would seem to him a more workable President for positive relations with the US. How could it be a winner for him to have LBJ as President?

How about the Corsican Brotherhood?  Well …. The main link between the Corsican Brotherhood and our CIA – us – would be Lucien Coneiin, a French American, who had trained with the Corsican Brotherhood. The problem with the Corsican Brotherhood theory is that Lucien  Conien had his hands full overthrowing President  Diem in Vietnam during the months of September and October of 1963.  It sure seems likely to me that if you were going to hire the Corsican Brotherhood, Lucien Conein  would be involved.

A hit like the Kennedy assassination requires months and months of training. It’s not something you undertake on a lark.

Yes, there are definite associations between Jack Ruby and  the underworld. There also loose associations between Lee Oswald and the underworld.  One can also find definite associations with a Oswald and the Cuban community.

Unfortunately associations, are just that:  associations.  Lacking any hard-core evidence, they would have to be a sound logical reasoning behind these groups, being chosen as the group to conduct the assassination.

It isn’t just a matter of coordinating the assassination, but the cover-up as well.  

Who would have the ability to cover up the assassination.  Only the government of the United States.  And why would they do that if they weren’t involved?  

Given that they were involved, and that the oligarchy sanctioned this hit, through consensus that was ultimately communicated to Allen Dulles and Richard, Helms, who would Dulles and Helms likely to turn to?

Emotional Cubans who can’t keep secrets?

Emotional mobsters who don’t have experience in precision hits?

The Corsican Brotherhood whose top US liaison is occupied with affairs in Vietnam?

Wait a minute, what about Eugene Hale Brading?  He was in Dallas the day before.  He was also found outside the Dal-Tex building on 11/22/63.  Plus he apparently met with HL Hunt on 11/21/63, and maybe Jack Ruby was at the Cabana Motel the same motel he was the day before the assassination..    Clearly he must have had a role, right?  

Let’s not forget that he was an associate of Jimmy Frattiani, and he had other known mob connections.  

Pretty damning, right?  Too much of a coincidence, right?  

Well, his mob connections bring  us to the same questions we asked before about the Mob. Would the Mob take this project on?  Or is Santo Trafficante too smart for that?  

How about this instead?  The real perpetrators wanted to make sure there were  plenty of red herrings and false passage ways for people to chase after so that the spotlight would be taken off them.  So to accomplish this, why not invite a few mobsters and right-wingers to the party, and make sure that they get caught while there?

Tell me, why of all the hundreds of people mingling about Dealey Plaza that day was Eugene Hale Brading selected out?  If he hadn’t been caught, would anybody be giving him the time of day? And would why anyone care if Jack Ruby visited the Cabana motel on 11/21/63?  And how do we know that Jack Ruby was just told to go to the Cabana motel to meet someone else there that day?  And how do we know that Ruby was not also told to visit the building HL Hunt occupied not to meet Hunt, but someone else?

Maybe Jack Ruby was just another useful dupe who was used to connect the Mob with the assassination.  Maybe he was intended to be another member of the supporting cast who was promoted to a starring role after Oswald was not gunned down in the Texas Theater.  Does that make sense?  Jack Ruby was intended to be the useful dupe to cement the Mob as the culprit.  He would be the guy to link Marcello and Trafficante via Lewis McWillie to Brading, Frattiano and even more mob contacts.   Yes?

Anthony Summers in his book, Not in Your Lifetime, throws everything including the kitchen sink at Jack Ruby in an attempt to connect him with the Mob and the Cubans – who I assume he believes are responsible for the assassination.

He even has Jack Ruby leaving the Texas Coast in a boat to deliver guns to Cuba. It’s a speculation of course on his part – and a fascinating one – but it’s hard for me to imagine Jack Ruby ina skipper’s cap piloting a boat a thousand miles on the high seas. What does Ruby know about boats? What does he know about navigation? He grew up in Chicago. He’s a city boy. For that matter, what does Jack Ruby know about rifles? Is he an arms dealer? Those guys make big bucks.

Continuing on, where did Jack Ruby get the arms? Where did he get the money for the arms? How about the boat? Was it Jack Ruby’s boat? If it was, where did he get the money for that boat? Now, if it wasn’t Jack Ruby’s boat, why would he be there? What purpose can a landlubber serve on a boat moving across the Caribbean except to get in the way? These are all questions a good defense attorney might ask, and rightfully so, for nobody accused Jack Ruby of being rich. And why would the Mob rely on Jack Ruby, who was not a particularly successful man, a. man who was impulsive and quick to get in fights?

If you were Carlos Marcello, would you turn to Jack Ruby for anything? Unlikely. As Lewis McWillie noted in one interview regarding Santo Trafficante: Jack wasn’t in his league.

Nevertheless, writers like Anthony Summers insist on pounding that connection home.

There is no doubt that Ruby knew crime figures such as RD Matthews and James Dolan who were more hardened criminals in the Dallas area; but knowing is not the same as collaborating on an assassination. Frank Sinatra knew many NYC mafiosi; was he involved in day to day NYC hits? Unlikely as Sinatra was an actor and a singer who devoted all of his working life to that. Similarly Ruby was a nightclub owner who devoted much of his attention to that albeit somewhat unsuccessfully.

Since associations are important to Anthony Sutton though, we may as well implicate Sinatra in the assassination of the President because he knew Tony Zoppi, who knew Jack Ruby , who knew Joseph Campisi, who knew Santo Trafficante.

Summers also mentions that Jack Ruby’s psychiatrist, after he was incarcerated, stated that Jack had “considerable guilt about the fact that he sent guns to Cuba; he feels he helped the enemy and incriminated himself.” According to Summers, Ruby told the psychiatrist, “They got what they wanted on me.”

Summers does not specify who the psychiatrist was. Is he talking about Louis Jolyon West, the CIA psychiatrist of MK Ultra fame? West stated that Ruby had experienced a psychotic break. If that was indeed the case, then why should Ruby’s statements about running guns to Cuba be held as credible.

Here you can read about Dr. West by searching his name alongside Jack Ruby.

Summers continues his assault on Jack Ruby by pointing out his multiple trips to Cuba in 1959 one of which was to visit Lewis McWillie at the Tropicana Hotel. McWillie, Summers points out, was the manager of the Tropicana. Well, that may not be so. McWillie was a pit boss which sounds like less of a manager to me. That aside, Summers jumps to the conclusion that because Ruby made multiple trips to Cuba, he must therefore be a courier for the Mob. As to why Trafficante and Marcello would trust a nightclub operator to perform this important job part time is not discussed.

Moving on, Summers points out that jack Ruby made phone calls to Irwin Weiner – a bail bondsman in Chicago and a close associate of Jimmy Hoffa and Alan Dorfman. As it turns out, according to Weiner, Ruby was only a causal acquaintance of Weiner’s. Weiner had met Jack Ruby in the past,, but was more friendly with Jack’s younger brother Earl, who he had grown up with in Chicago. Ruby was apparently calling Weiner to help resolved a labor dispute.

Robert Barney Baker, Hoffa’s roving ambassador or violence (according to RFK courtesy of Summers) in his interview with the Warren Commission, states that Jack Ruby had called him about a labor dispute with AGVA. This seems logical, and it seems in keeping with Rub’s desire to be a “big man” as Lewis McWillie pointed out.

Okay, maybe thy are all lying here. How can we prove it though one way or the other?

Well it is difficult to prove because these men were all associated with the Underworld.

In fact Jack Ruby did have childhood friends with buys who grew up to be important Underworld figures.

Dave Yaras and Lenny Patrick, close childhood chums of Ruby, grew up to be big hit men for Sam Giancana in Chicago. These en are not the kind of men who are likely to incriminate themselves. They will have a desire to not tell the truth about Jack Ruby if Ruby did indeed take out Oswald at the behest of the Mob.

With all that stated, though, let us ask a question: If the Mob knew that they were going to take out the President, and that Jack Ruby, might have to take out Lee Oswald, why would they have contact with him, knowing that the federal government or any decent prosecutor could access their phone records? Surely they were aware that a prosecutor could access their records, right?

How about this instead. The Mob knew nothing about JFK’s hit, but Jack Ruby did. Maybe Jack Ruby while not told the full plan was asked to place calls to Weiner, Baker and others so as to implicate the Mob.

Now, if there was all this evidence against the Mob, why did the Warren Commission do nothing about it? If they really thought the Mob did it, why not do something? Anything. In fact the federal government did nothing. Why is that? This was their big chance.

The bigger problem with the Mob-Did-It theory though is that it is not consistent with the assassination itself or the Tippit shooting. Does the Mob take out people ina precision timed manner in which front and back shooters must be timed out and coordinated? Why would the Mob involve Oswald, a non-Sicilian? If LHO was to be the patsy, why didn’t the Mob take him out before he got arrested while leaving incriminating evidence? How did they let it get to that point? Was this seriously the plan? To let LHO get away so that Ruby could be called in at the last moment to dispatch of him?

What makes more sense is that Ruby was recruited by a CIA planner to a) implicate the Mob, and b) recruit a police officer who would be useful to the planner, c) be the eyes and ear within the DPD, and d) act as a fall-back shooter should LHO not be gunned down at the Texas Theater.

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