Part 1402 of my "JFK Assassination Arguments" series includes a variety of my posts and comments covering the period of July 1—31, 2026. To read the entire forum discussion from which my own comments have been extracted, click on the "Full Discussion" logo at the bottom of each individual segment.
MICHAEL T. GRIFFITH SAID:
If someone told me that they knew virtually nothing about the JFK assassination, that they wanted to understand all sides of the debate, and that they wanted me to recommend six books that would enable them to have a decent handle on the case, here are the six books I would recommend:
-- Last Second in Dallas, by Josiah Thompson.
-- The Hidden History of the JFK Assassination, by Lamar Waldron.
-- Inside the ARRB, by Doug Horne.
-- JFK Assassination Paradoxes, by David Mantik.
-- A Cruel and Shocking Act, by Philip Shenon.
-- JFK: The Smoking Gun, by Colin McLaren.
Which six books would you recommend?
JOHN CORBETT SAID:
I wouldn't recommend 6 books. The WCR [Warren Commission Report] is all that is needed to know the truth of the JFK assassination. If one wants to deal with the myths of the JFKA, they can read Reclaiming History by Vincent Bugliosi. He does a thorough job of demolishing those myths and addressing all the objections made about the WCR, at least the ones that had been invented up to the time he wrote the book. Newer and nuttier ones are being invented all the time.
Back when I first started studying the JFKA, I bought a sampling of conspiracy books -- Plausible Denial, Mafia Kingfish, and Best Evidence. What I learned from these books is that I should be more discerning in what I spend my money on.
CHARLES COLLINS SAID:
Yes! And I will add that Vincent Bugliosi’s huge book is worth at least five other books. So, I think essentially this should equal six books. 😉
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
I agree with what Charles just said. 😁
Here are 10 JFK Assassination books that I would recommend:
1. The Warren Commission's Final Report
2. "Reclaiming History" by Vincent Bugliosi
3. "Case Closed" by Gerald Posner
4. "Oswald's Game" by Jean Davison
5. "The JFK Myths" by Larry Sturdivan
6. "With Malice" by Dale Myers
7. "Kennedy And Lincoln" by Dr. John K. Lattimer
8. "November 22, 1963: You Are The Jury" by David Belin
9. "The Death Of A President" by William Manchester
And, of course, my own book (which provides a good overview of the case)....
10. "Beyond Reasonable Doubt" by Mel Ayton with David Von Pein
MICHAEL T. GRIFFITH SAID:
Wow, so you wouldn't recommend a single pro-conspiracy book to a newcomer...
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
That's correct, I wouldn't.
But if I was being forced at gunpoint by a foaming-at-the-mouth conspiracy fantasist to recommend just one conspiracy-leaning JFKA book, it would be this one by Gus Russo:
But there are some big problems with that book too, which I talk about HERE.
MICHAEL T. GRIFFITH SAID:
...and you'd recommend the Warren Commission's report to a newcomer but not the House Select Committee on Assassinations report.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
That's correct. And that's because the HSCA's Dictabelt-based conclusion that JFK "was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy" has since been completely discredited and disproven.
But the first five conclusions that we find on THIS PAGE of the HSCA's Final Report are things that should be read by everybody. (And those 5 findings have never been proven to be wrong.)
MICHAEL T. GRIFFITH SAID:
On a side note, did you not notice that the thread is about which six books you'd recommend to a newcomer, not which 10 books?
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
MICHAEL T. GRIFFITH SAID:
FYI, the 10 books that you list contradict each other on some key issues, such as the location of the rear head entry wound, the trajectory of the back-wound bullet, the location of the back wound, the position of JFK and Connally in the limo during the alleged hit of the single-bullet theory, and the 6.5 mm object on the autopsy skull x-rays.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
But each of those books does something that no pro-conspiracy book has ever done --- i.e., follow the actual evidence in the case to where it all leads—a single gunman named Lee Harvey Oswald—without resorting to conjecture, speculation, guesswork, and unsupportable claims of fake evidence.
David Von Pein
July 2-7, 2026
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Reprinted below are some excerpts from my website linked above:
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"Given the alignment of the two limo victims at the time of the shooting, plus the location of the only known shooter in Dealey Plaza, plus the fact that no bullets were found in JFK's body at all, plus the fact that a whole bullet which positively came out of the gun that was found on the sixth floor of the TSBD was found inside the hospital where the two victims were taken, plus the fact that the two injured limo victims reacted to an external stimulus at precisely the same moment in time on the Zapruder Film....I wonder how anyone in 2022 (or any other year or millennium) can be so blind as to not accept the Single-Bullet Theory as fact." -- David Von Pein [DVP]; September 28, 2022
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"If there is a suspicious fire, the [conspiracy-minded] kooks would investigate the firemen who respond, and ignore the guy with the wicked grin that smells of gasoline." -- Bud; November 22, 2007
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"The argument that Oswald was the tool of a high-level conspiracy does seem plausible, until one tries to fit it into the context these theorists always leave out -- the personality and background of Lee Harvey Oswald, the individual." -- Jean Davison; Page 25 of "Oswald's Game"
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"Conspiracy theorists can pretend all the evidence is fake if they want to. But, in my opinion, the evidence against Oswald could not possibly exist in the abundant quantities it exists in if Lee Oswald had been an innocent patsy.
In addition, Oswald's own actions are telling us a lot. Do CTers think Oswald's own actions and movements are "fake" too? Like when he twice lied to Buell Frazier about "curtain rods". And when he left the TSBD within minutes of JFK's shooting. And when he shot Officer Tippit within 45 minutes of JFK's murder. And when he fought like mad with the cops in the theater, while uttering things that drip with his guilt.
Those are actions I'm supposed to either ignore...or interpret as things that add up to Lee Harvey Oswald's INNOCENCE? Is that right? Come now. Nobody could examine Oswald's actions on BOTH November 21st and 22nd and come to the conclusion that Oswald was merely being used as a fall guy. Oswald's actions incriminate OSWALD, and no one else." -- DVP; February/March 2015
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"While one of the pieces of physical evidence could conceivably have been faked by an expert, there is no possibility that an expert, or team of super-experts, could have fabricated the perfectly coordinated whole. This brings to mind the recurrent theme in most conspiracy books. All the officials alternate between the role of "Keystone Kops", with the inability to recognize the implications of the most elementary evidence, and "Evil Geniuses", with superhuman abilities to fake physical evidence that is in complete agreement with all the other faked evidence." -- Larry M. Sturdivan; Page 246 of "The JFK Myths: A Scientific Investigation Of The Kennedy Assassination"
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"If you were put in charge of framing your lone patsy on 11/22/63, would you have placed three gunmen all throughout Dealey Plaza? Or would you have fired from ONLY the Sniper's Nest in the TSBD using only your patsy's gun?
And would you allow your patsy to wander around in the lunchroom at 12:30, where he's quite likely to be seen by people AT LUNCHTIME?
What if Oswald had called in sick on November 22nd? What then? Would the plotters have re-routed the motorcade to have it pass by Ruth Paine's home in Irving?" -- DVP; April 2007
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"Although the solutions proposed by [David] Lifton and [Michael] Eddowes are more farfetched than some, they use the same style of reasoning found in other conspiracy books. All these theories are based on unexplained discrepancies in the record. .... Alternative explanations and the overall pattern of the evidence are given little attention, if any." -- Jean Davison; Pages 274-275 of "Oswald's Game"
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"If firing those shots at JFK from the sixth floor (while using the Carcano rifle) was so utterly "impossible" (as many conspiracy theorists seem to think it truly was)....and if a large part of the assassination "plot" was to frame Lee Harvey Oswald....then why were the architects of the "frame-up plot" so reckless? Did they think (on 11/21/63) they could make people believe Oswald could really do the impossible?
In reality, of course, the shots from Oswald's sniper's perch were not difficult shots at all. All of the shots were under 90 yards. And even if LHO didn't use the scope, so what? He was trained to use a rifle in the military. And he compiled some pretty decent shooting statistics (while firing at targets a lot farther away than 88 yards). And he certainly didn't have the benefit of a four-power telescope to aid him when he attained the ranking of Sharpshooter in the Marines in 1956. So why would shooting at a target that was barely in motion at all (JFK's head), from a distance of under 90 yards, be such an arduous chore for a former Marine like Oswald?
In short, the notion that Oswald's shooting performance in Dallas on November 22, 1963, was more difficult than building the Pyramids is yet another conspiracy myth that was disproven decades ago. And yet the myth persists." -- DVP; June 27, 2015
David Von Pein
July 5-6, 2026
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LANCE PAYETTE SAID:
Even in John Orr's scenario, which has the bullet passing through JFK, nicking the windshield molding and exiting the car, but not hitting JBC [John B. Connally], there would have been a bullet whizzing through the car. It appears that Jackie and Kellerman also flinch noticeably in the same direction as JBC at the same time. Can we be certain that JBC's reaction, which is certainly noticeable, is a reaction to being hit?
LANCE PAYETTE ALSO SAID:
The issue is why JBC's shoulder raises abruptly. I noted that both Kellerman and Jackie seem to flinch - admittedly less - in the same direction at the same time. I further noted that when I whip around, my own shoulder raises noticeably. One possibility is that JBC's shoulder raised because he was hit by the same bullet that hit JFK; another possibility is that it was the natural consequence of him whipping his head around. I'm not arguing for one or the other, merely asking the question if we can be certain about the reason for JBC's shoulder movement.
JOHN CORBETT SAID:
Why do you look at the shoulder raise in isolation with JBC's other movements? The facts that his right arm flipped upward at precisely the same moment JFK's arms started upward and that he was sitting in front of and slightly to JFK's left which put him directly in line with a bullet exiting JFK's throat should be enough to convince a person with common sense that they were hit by the same bullet.
I'll never understand why people want to complicate the JFKA when the answers are all so obvious. It's as if people don't want a clear answer.
STEVE BARBER SAID:
It's both shoulders that rise, not one. They both rise, simultaneously. And Connally wasn't already turning his head when his shoulders moved upward. He is in the same position he was in the entire travel down Elm Street from the time he jerked his head to his right after having just turned his head to the left.
He jerked his head from left to right within 1/4 of a second, and so did JFK just before Connally did. The Zapruder film [un-spliced film] shows this vividly. Both men did the same exact thing, except JFK jerked his head a fraction of a second before Connally did. Watch the film.
Connally never changed his position, other than taking his right hand off the top of the side of the car just before the car starts to disappear behind the Stemmons Freeway sign. The first time Connally shows ANY change in his body position is when his facial expression changes and his shoulders raise immediately after the facial expression change, within the next Z frame.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
Exactly! And Connally's necktie does a little dance too:
More Zapruder Film clips here:
http://jfk-archives.blogspot.com/The Single-Bullet Theory In Action
ROYELL STORING SAID:
Gov Connally is beginning to turn around and face JFK. There is extremely little space between the Connally jump seat and the Limo door. Plus, in order to turn around and literally face JFK, Connally is forced to raise his right arm above his jump seat backrest. This is the RAISING that you are seeing. Connally is raising his upper body as he swings around to directly face JFK.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
And does your "cramped quarters" theory also explain the other things we see happening to Governor Connally at the exact same two-frame time period? Such as: The pained open-mouthed grimace that appears on JBC's face at precisely Z225. (Connally's mouth had been closed in frame 224, btw.)
And there's also the "Lapel Flip/Bulge" at Z224 as well. Did the cramped seating space cause the lapel to bulge out too?
Royell,
Are you, by chance, related to James R. Gordon (former owner of the Education Forum)? Because your SBT denial regarding Governor Connally sounds remarkably similar to his own.
Heck, James G. even went so deep into SBT Denial Mode during the course of
THIS DISCUSSION that he said he couldn't even see Connally jerk his right arm upward between Z225-226. (Now, that's what I'd called some Big-Ass Denial!)
David Von Pein
July 6, 2026
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DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
Lee Harvey Oswald told the police he rode on a bus on 11/22/63. But many conspiracy believers like the idea that Oswald never said any such thing to Dallas Police Captain Fritz during his interrogation.
Those conspiracists are always telling me: "We have no idea what LHO told the police, since nothing was recorded". And they say this despite these words being printed right there on Page 604 of the Warren Report:
"I [J.W. Fritz] talked to Oswald about his leaving the [TSBD] building, and he told me he left by bus and rode to a stop near home and walked on to his house. At the time of Oswald's arrest he had a bus transfer in his pocket. He admitted this was given to him by the bus driver when he rode the bus after leaving the building. .... I asked Oswald if he had ridden a cab on that day, and he said, "Yes, I did ride in the cab. The bus I got on near where I work got into heavy traffic and was traveling too slow, and I got off and caught a cab"."
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Now, given the fact that a paper bus transfer (with Cecil McWatters' distinct punch mark on it) is part of the evidence in this case, plus the corroborating testimony of witnesses like McWatters and Bledsoe and Whaley, should I really believe that the above quote written by Captain Fritz is nothing but a blatant lie? Incredibly, there are many conspiracy theorists who think I should.
DONALD WILLIS SAID THIS AND THIS.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
You're a bit confused there, Donald.
In his filmed re-enactment for David Wolper's "Four Days In November" motion picture in 1964, William Whaley provided no "confirmation" of what you claimed earlier at all. Just the opposite, in fact. Whaley confirmed that he took Oswald all the way to the 700 block of Beckley when he said this:
"And when I got over on North Beckley, comin' on to the intersection of Neely and North Beckley, he [LHO] said 'This will do fine'."
In Whaley's other 1964 re-enactment (for CBS-TV), he also confirms that he drove Oswald all the way to the corner of "Neely and North Beckley". That re-enactment can be found in my video below, which also contains Whaley's "Four Days In November" appearance as well).
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And, yes, Oswald did ride in the front seat of Whaley's cab on 11/22, which I've always thought was mighty odd. It seems very strange that LHO, who certainly would want to keep as low a profile as possible at that moment after having just shot the President, would have even wanted to sit in the front seat, right next to the cab driver. But he did. ~shrug~
Mr. WHALEY -- He said, "May I have the cab?" I said, "You sure can. Get in." And instead of opening the back door he opened the front door, which is allowable there, and got in.
Mr. BALL -- Got in the front door?
Mr. WHALEY -- Yes, sir. The front seat.
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BTW/FWIW -- That "front seat" thing is one of the very few mistakes made by David Wolper and Company in the "Four Days" movie.
More "Bus & Taxicab" Discussions HERE.
David Von Pein
July 8-9, 2026
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DAVID VON PEIN SAID THIS.
DAVID VON PEIN ALSO SAID:
My Common-Sense Reminder regarding Lee Oswald and J.D. Tippit's murder is repeated below, and it's something that should be posted in every single discussion about Tippit's murder:
GREG DOUDNA SAID THIS.
DAVID VON PEIN SAID:
In response to Greg's 11-item list of questions from his last post above....
#1. This is a very weak argument, when weighed against the large total number of witnesses who positively identified Lee Harvey Oswald as the gun-toting shooter near 10th & Patton, regardless of the type of haircut he had.
#2 and #3. See my above response. And #3 (re: hair color) is especially weak. The difference between "medium brown" and "black" is not too great.
#4. But it wasn't Larry Crafard who was arrested with a revolver on him in the Texas Theater. It was Lee Oswald.
And it wasn't Larry Crafard's own gun that was irrevocably tied to Tippit's murder (via the 4 bullet shells, two of which have a perfect chain of custody). It was Lee Oswald's.
#5. No, not at all. Because it's been proven (beyond all doubt, in my opinion) that the "Ross and Lamar revolver" was not the Tippit murder weapon.
And yes, I know you don't trust the conclusions reached by the authorities regarding the Tippit bullet shells. You smell a rat. But, IMO, when someone has to speculate about so much evidence being "switched" or "planted" or "manufactured by the DPD/FBI", that's going too far. Particularly so in the case of a murdered Dallas police officer.
It's unfathomable to me that anyone within the Dallas Police Department would have become part of some kind of cover-up scheme to frame an innocent man, all the while knowing they were allowing Tippit's real killer or killers to slip away and go free. It's ridiculous to contemplate that, in my view.
And if the bullet shells weren't "switched/planted/manufactured", then Oswald is guilty of killing Officer J.D. Tippit. It's as simple as that. And as simple as this too.
#6. No. The theory concerning "Carl Mather's car" is yet another red herring that goes nowhere.
#7. I will once again point out that 2 of the 4 Tippit shells have an ironclad chain of possession -- i.e., the two "Davis" shells, one being verifiably marked by Doughty of the DPD and the other being verifiably marked by Dhority of the DPD....
"On June 12, 1964, four .38 Special cartridge cases...were shown to Captain G.M. Doughty of the Dallas Police Department. .... Captain Doughty identified his marking on one of these cases. .... Captain Doughty stated this is the same shell which he obtained from Barbara Jeanette Davis at Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963." -- CE2011; Page 7
"On June 12, 1964, the same four cartridge cases...were shown by Special Agent Bardwell D. Odum to Detective C.N. Dhority, Homicide Division, Dallas Police Department. .... Detective Dhority identified his marking on one of these cartridge cases. .... He stated this is the same cartridge case which he obtained from Virginia Davis, Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963." -- CE2011; Page 8
(Also see Pages 266-269 of Dale Myers' book "With Malice"; 1998 Edition.)
#8. I think you're mistaken about Tippit's killer placing his "hands" on the car window (or window sill). As far as I am aware, witness Helen Markham always maintained that the killer (ID'ed by Markham as Lee Oswald, of course) folded his arms and placed his elbows on the window sill of Tippit's patrol car. So his fingers probably would have never been in contact with the car at all.
#9. There's not much doubt that the jacket found under the car behind the Texaco gas station was CE162, which was Oswald's gray zipper jacket, which was one of only two jackets that LHO owned at the time, with the other jacket being the heavier blue one which was later found in the Domino Room at the Book Depository.
There is even photographic evidence of a lightweight, light-colored jacket being held up by a policeman shortly after it was discovered on Nov. 22, 1963 (see photo below). And this jacket was found in a place that coincided perfectly with the route travelled on foot by Oswald that day.
We also know (without doubt) that Oswald was wearing a jacket when he was observed fleeing the Tippit murder scene, but just a few minutes later was observed without any jacket by Johnny Brewer. And yet conspiracists want to believe this isn't Oswald's jacket in the photo below? Come now.
Plus, there's the fact that the CE162 gray zipper jacket had some fibers in the sleeves that were consistent with the brown shirt Oswald wore on 11/22/63:
Sources used by author Vincent Bugliosi concerning fibers found inside the CE162 jacket:
89. FBI Record 124-10009-10499, FBI lab report from R.H. Jevons to Conrad, December 3, 1963, p.2.
10. Dallas Patrolman M.N. McDonald has always impressed me as a very forthright and truthful person. I have no good reason to think he is lying anywhere in this 11/23/63 interview:
11. If, as you seem to believe, Lee Harvey Oswald was not guilty of shooting Officer Tippit, do you have any idea WHY Oswald would have wanted to pull his pistol on the police officers in the Texas Theater? And WHY, if he was innocent of any murders on Nov. 22, did Oswald make those one or two seemingly very incriminating statements when he was apprehended -- "This is it" and "It's all over now"? (And Paul Bentley of the DPD, btw, said he heard Oswald utter both of those statements in the theater.)
Those utterances don't sound like the words of an innocent man just wanting to take in a movie on a lazy Friday afternoon.
And, IMO, no matter when it was that Oswald made those statements in the theater, those remarks (and his overall gun-wielding actions in the theater) still have "Guilty Of Something Pretty Serious" dripping from them. And I can't see how anyone can argue otherwise.
David Von Pein
July 1-13, 2026
