Fix the Bus

Lets’ talks about this, because a conspiracy on the order I believe in mandates that the shooters knew exactly where to set up ahead of time.

I don’t believe the conspirators figured out this assassination four days before Kennedy got to Dallas – when the parade route was announced.

I’m also not convinced that they had an inside guy on the planning team which apparently included many people.

Here are some of the key people:

1. Forest Sorrels, Special Agent, Secret Service, Dallas Office
2. Gerald Behn, SAIC of the Secret Service, White House
3. Winston G. Lawson, Agent Secret Service
4. Kenneth O’Donnell
5. Jesse Curry. Police Chief
6. Assistant Chief Batchelor
7. Deputy Chief N.T Fisher

Of course these were the operational people. They always operate within the context of the politicians. Politics trumps everything.

What matters most is that it was decided to have a luncheon at the Trade Mart as the last event before JFK’s plane took off. Prior to that there would be the motorcade though downtown. It doesn’t take a genius to understand that there is only one good way out of downtown Dallas assuming you are traveling westward.

When one views the parade route casually and doesn’t give it much attention, one can easily think: “Oh, they could have taken a million and one parade routes.” That is false thinking. There were only a few ways to accomplish what the politicians wanted to do. They wanted a motorcade, and they wanted a luncheon with the bigwigs. Their goal of course is to impress the President. You want a modern site that can hold a lot of people. You’re not going to host the President in some dingy old ramshackle building.

Once the decision was made to have the luncheon at the Trade Mart, the President’s fate was sealed. What the conspirators did was set the trap and then bring the President to it, not the reverse. The conspirators did not go to wherever the President might be. Such an event could not be practiced.

Therefore it was essential to select a place for the luncheon that would be close to the airport so that the luncheon would be the last event on the Dallas itinerary.

The planning of this itinerary took place over five months beginning in June of 1963. As time went by, the precise details were solidified.

Anther key point is that generally the politicians and power moguls set the overall agenda. This makes sense. You set out what you are trying to achieve on the trip, then you fit the itinerary to that. Therefore it is totally logical that the people in power were nudged into the agenda that was set.

Now, apparently there was a controversy as to what the initial site would be for the President’s luncheon. The two sites that were competing were the Women’s Center at the State Fair Grounds and the Trade Mart. Initially the Women’s Center was felt to be more secure, so this site was chosen on 11/5/63. This decision was reversed on 11/12/63 after advance men traveled to the two sites.

Now, this can bode well for the lone-nut theorists. Why, they ask would the conspirators have placed Oswald in the TSBD if the Trade Mart was not even known to be the chosen site? Good point. As I have stated before, you set a trap and bring the President to it. You don’t go looking for him. Okay, if the President heads down to the Women’s Center, the caper is off. That’s it.

Now, the conspiracy crowd can turn around and say: “Aha, the route changed. Clearly someone from the Dallas Citizens Council, possibly Earle Cabell (or maybe Sam Bloom), got involved, and had the route changed.” Good point, except that the lone nutters can come back and say: “Well, there might have been three or four good reasons why they did that. Maybe they wanted to showcase the Trade Mart. Maybe they felt the Women’s Center was inappropriate.” This is a good point, because the Women’s Center appears to have been outdated. The Trade Mart was newer and more exciting looking.

A key point here is that the parade route, and whether it was changed or not, does not prove or disprove conspiracy. We can only say what is likely to us.

Now, some have criticized Jim Garrison because he incorrectly stated that the route had been changed from a straight shot on Main to the more tortuous Houston-Elm route. Okay, Garrison was wrong. But then these lone-nutters take it too far by trying to trash every point made by Jim Garrison. Although the effort is understandable, it is also errant.

No one person can possibly get anything everything right about the Kennedy assassination. The material is too vast. Everyone makes mistakes. No one should be dismissed carte blanche because of a few errors.

Another thing: Everybody cherrypicks when talking about the JFK assassination. There’s nothing wrong with that.

***

Now, if Oswald only decided to kill JFK after the route was publicized in the papers on 11/18/63 and 11/19/63, then why would he need to practice with a rifle at the Sports Drome weeks earlier? What would be the point? In fact what would be the point of him having a rifle at all? He wasn’t a hunter.

The logical answer is that he purchased it to kill someone, someone important, maybe the President, yet JFK was nowhere on any regular person’s radar until well after LHO bought the rifle. Unless, of course he was on Oswald’s radar.

Another point worth mentioning is why Marina and Ruth and the kids did not visit Lee at work on 11/22/63. It’s not like the President comes every day. Nobody said anything to Lee about him being so close to where JFK was traveling the next day? It wasn’t part of the conversation at dinner the night before? I think in most families it would be – unless of course you aren’t just any ole family but instead a coven of intelligence agents.

***

When you consider everything, the best story is that Oswald was part of the team and that he did know prior to 11/18/63 where Kennedy was going to travel.

***

Here is a clipping from the Sixth Floor Museum Site.

You can see that the route is a loop running southwest from Love Field to Downtown, then west on Main to Dealey Plaza. The entire route was scouted ahead of the time by the Secret Service. They drove the route themselves and estimated a route time of 45 minutes.

Here is a closeup of Dealey Plaza.

Ironically John MacAdams on his site, in trying to trash Jim Garrison, helps seal the importance of the Elm Street route. He states that it was impossible to take a right hand turn from Main onto the Stemmons Highway. Apparently there was a concrete barrier there. This would surely be known to the conspirators. Had it been possible to make that right turn from Main to Stemmons, the Elm Street route would probably not have been chosen.

Knowing this, and given the proximity of Dealey Plaza to the Trade Mart, Dealey Plaza then became the ideal site for the assassination.

There were high buildings, open ground, less people, and a grassy knoll on high ground with a picket fence to hide behind.

The only obstacle would be to get the President’s team to accept this route.

And that they accomplished by gentle and forceful persuasion. It wasn’t difficult to do.

***

Here are three pictures of the Trade Mart as it was. The picture inside was taken on 11/22/63.

Now, where would you rather host the President? Some crummy old building, or a modern futuristic palace?

Copyright 2024 Archer Crosley All Rights Reserved