On The Trail Of Delusion

[Richard Smith]

Neither the rifle or the Marxist publications in the photo are incriminating or crazy if Oswald never becomes a suspect in JFK's murder.

In the US of A where we love our guns, there's nothing weird or unusual about taking pictures with rifles. 

You mean posing with guns or posing with Marxist publications? Obviously, there weren't many Marxists in Texas in 1963 so that part would be odd. But even if it's odd, that alone doesn't make it incriminating.

I have friends who live in the south and like guns. Gun culture isn't taboo there like in the northern States.

I've seen lots of pictures of people posing with their guns or rifles. Again, something like that only becomes incriminating if the person commits of violent crime.

Admit that you don't have all the answers for a change.

We don't know why Oswald did it but there's no reason to assume based on no evidence, that he was mentally unstable at the time when the photos were taken.

Oswald isn't just posing with his guns like someone going deer hunting.  He is dressed in all black and prominently displaying Commie literature.  The imagery is very bizarre and troubling.  Have you come across any similar example from that same time period?  My guess is no.  If Oswald had not assassinated JFK, no one would have cause to be aware of his existence much less a few nutty photos taken of him.  So what?  They are plenty of kooks in the world who go unnoticed.  But we are not operating in some type of vacuum.  The evidence is cumulative.   It is Oswald's rifle found on the 6th floor.   He is the person implicated in the crime by the evidence.  Upon investigating the suspect, they find these bizarre pictures.  Do the BY photos standing alone mean that Oswald was guilty of the assassination?  Of course not.  But like his wedding ring, the BY photos are another brick in the cumulative wall of his guilt.  They are incriminating as they display a person with a thin grasp on reality who envisions himself as some type of political revolutionary willing to commit violence for the cause and holding the weapon used in the crime. 

The real irony for Oswald is that CTers have desperately attempted to rob him of the historical credit of his one notable achievement.  Assassinating the President.  And unfortunately for Oswald, he comes off even to those who accept his guilt as less like Che Guevara and more as some pathetic loser who blamed society for his disappointments and failures.  The BY photos are highly incriminating in that context.

[Jon Banks]

The real irony for Oswald is that CTers have desperately attempted to rob him of the historical credit of his one notable achievement.  Assassinating the President.  And unfortunately for Oswald, he comes off even to those who accept his guilt as less like Che Guevara and more as some pathetic loser who blamed society for his disappointments and failures.  The BY photos are highly incriminating in that context.

Oswald denied that he shot anyone.

I don't think Che Guevara or a true radical revolutionary would've claimed to have been a Patsy when caught.

Therefore, if Oswald killed Kennedy, it wasn't for political reasons. So the photos he took pretending to be a communist aren't relevant in my honest opinion.

[Patrick Jackson]

I was looking at BY photos a lot but only at JFK Revisted learned about the ring. Writing about normal and not normal, how do you think that this ring change happened? What do the LNrs think, why did he change the ring in three photos, what made him do that? Marina, wait I need to move the ring. Why?

[Martin Weidmann]

You are getting increasingly hysterical.  What "nutty" background did Oswald have?  Are you for real?  You mean the guy who defected to the USSR?  HA HA HA.  When these photos were taken Oswald was contemplating killing Gen. Walker and defecting to Cuba.  No one said it had anything to do with assassinating JFK.  More strawman nonsense.  This is real simple.  Even for you.  Forget about me and try to focus on the subject matter.  I know that is difficult for you.  Ready?  Do the BY pictures depict a "normal" pose for someone in Texas during the 1960s or not?   A man dressed in all black including a polo type shirt holding his rifle and displaying Commie literature.  Do you find that to be "normal" behaviour or not?  Don't get sidetracked.

Another incoherent rant. 

What "nutty" background did Oswald have?  Are you for real?  You mean the guy who defected to the USSR?

Oswald's trip to the USSR let's you speculate about why he posed for the BY pictures and assassinated JFK. Really? And you can actually say something this stupid with a straight face?

When these photos were taken Oswald was contemplating killing Gen. Walker and defecting to Cuba

And that would somehow would make him a revolutionary hero? To whom? Your speculations are getting out of control. How do you even know what Oswald was contemplating or not? The answer is; you don't! It's just another selfserving assumption. Besides, what evidence is there that Oswald was indeed the one who tried to kill General Walker?

Do the BY pictures depict a "normal" pose for someone in Texas during the 1960s or not?   A man dressed in all black including a polo type shirt holding his rifle and displaying Commie literature.

People do all sorts of weird and stupid things for all sorts or reasons. Why don't you first tell us was a "normal" pose for a Texan in the 60's would be?

[Richard Smith]

Oswald denied that he shot anyone.

I don't think Che Guevara or a true radical revolutionary would've claimed to have been a Patsy when caught.

Therefore, if Oswald killed Kennedy, it wasn't for political reasons. So the photos he took pretending to be a communist aren't relevant in my honest opinion.

Oswald wanted historical credit not legal responsibility for his heinous crimes.  It's not surprising or inconsistent with a political motive that he denied it to the authorities.  They were the cops so "let them figure it out" was his motto.  Are you really suggesting that photos of the person who is accused of killing the President are not "relevant" when they depict him holding the murder weapon and displaying Commie literature?  Nothing to see there?  Honestly, that is unreal.  Even most CTers disagree with that since they allege the photos were faked to make Oswald appear guilty (i.e. they were incriminating).  Oswald thought he had all the time in the world to come clean.  The one card that he still held after his arrest was his confession.  He wasn't going to give that up within 48 hours before he even had a lawyer to negotiate a deal to save his hide from Old Sparky.

[Martin Weidmann]

Oswald wanted historical credit not legal responsibility for his heinous crimes.  It's not surprising or inconsistent with a political motive that he denied it to the authorities.  They were the cops so "let them figure it out" was his motto.  Are you really suggesting that photos of the person who is accused of killing the President are not "relevant" when they depict him holding the murder weapon and displaying Commie literature?  Nothing to see there?  Honestly, that is unreal.  Even most CTers disagree with that since they allege the photos were faked to make Oswald appear guilty (i.e. they were incriminating).  Oswald thought he had all the time in the world to come clean.  The one card that he still held after his arrest was his confession.  He wasn't going to give that up within 48 hours before he even had a lawyer to negotiate a deal to save his hide from Old Sparky.

Oswald wanted historical credit not legal responsibility for his heinous crimes.

And you know this how? Talk to the dead much, do you?

Are you really suggesting that photos of the person who is accused of killing the President are not "relevant" when they depict him holding the murder weapon and displaying Commie literature? 

Of course, the photos are relevant, but maybe not in the way you think they are. What forensic evidence is there that the weapon Oswald is holding in the photograph is in fact the murder weapon or, for that matter, even the same weapon that was found on the 6th floor of the TSBD?

Even most CTers disagree with that since they allege the photos were faked to make Oswald appear guilty (i.e. they were incriminating).

Personally I think the photos are probably real, but the backstory is most likely bogus. How else can it be that a BY photo was found in George DeMohrenschildt's storage room, which not only was of far better quality than the others  but also had writing on the back from a person who was never identified. In a scenario where Oswald had the photos taken by his wife and developed them himself at his place of work, why would the quality of the photos not be the same for all the photos and why in the world would he give a copy to George DeMohrenschildt, if the latter had nothing to do with any of it. Do you know of many would be assassins who, after allegedly committing attempted murder, gives an incriminating photo of himself holding the murder weapon to a man he hardly knew?

Oswald thought he had all the time in the world to come clean.  The one card that he still held after his arrest was his confession.  He wasn't going to give that up within 48 hours before he even had a lawyer to negotiate a deal to save his hide from Old Sparky.

Are you psychic or just making stuff up because it's convenient?

[Richard Smith]

I was looking at BY photos a lot but only at JFK Revisted learned about the ring. Writing about normal and not normal, how do you think that this ring change happened? What do the LNrs think, why did he change the ring in three photos, what made him do that? Marina, wait I need to move the ring. Why?

Oswald wore two rings.  One on each hand.  This has been well documented for decades.  Just another example of Stone's dishonesty or ignorance.  He wore his wedding ring on his right ring finger per the "Russian" tradition (the inner band has a hammer and sickle - just another "normal" thing he did I suppose) and his US Marine Corp ring on his left hand.  You can see that in various pictures of Oswald.  He is wearing the USMC ring when arrested.

[Bill Chapman]

Taking pictures with rifles is "normal" in Texas. No one would think the photos are strange or incriminating if he wasn't accused of shooting the President. There are also photos of Oswald posing with a shotgun in Russia by the way.

Oswald was never diagnosed with any sort of mental illness. Dismissing everything he did as an example of "insanity" is just intellectual laziness on your part.

He did it for a reason. Just admit that you don't know why he did it. Almost no one knows why...

It was just a phase