Robert F. Kennedy saw conspiracy in JFK’s assassination

[avaistheone1]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by greatauntoftriplets (a host of the Latest Breaking News forum).

Source: Boston Globe



... He may have been the second most powerful man in government, but the assassin’s bullet that killed the president had also gravely weakened his brother. It would usher into the Oval Office the man he had aggressively tried to keep off the ticket in 1960, and then had belittled and ostracized for the three years that followed. There would be payback.

When McCone arrived from CIA headquarters, Bobby paced the lawn of his estate with him. As Bobby later told historian and aide Arthur Schlesinger, he asked McCone point blank if the CIA “had killed my brother, and I asked him in a way that he couldn’t lie to me, and they hadn’t.” McCone was a devout Catholic, leading many to believe that their shared faith was behind Bobby’s confidence in the CIA director’s candor. McCone, according to Schlesinger’s biography, “Robert Kennedy and His Times,” would come to believe that there had been two shooters in Dallas, though he didn’t think the American intelligence agency was in any way involved.

But McCone almost certainly didn’t know the whole truth. In the wake of the Bay of Pigs, the botched attempted invasion of Cuba orchestrated by the CIA, JFK had forced out the agency’s founding director, Allen Dulles, and replaced him with McCone, an outsider. At the same time, the president put his brother in charge of trying to ride herd on the powerful and unwieldy intelligence agency while also overseeing the administration’s interdepartmental Cuba team. The attorney general often began his days with meetings at CIA headquarters in Langley.

Bobby, said David Talbot, an investigative journalist and author of the book “Brothers,” thus became “JFK’s principal emissary to the dark side of American power.” That meant he knew, by this point, more about the underbelly of the CIA, especially in relation to Cuba, than did its own director. As a result, Talbot said in an interview, “Bobby Kennedy was America’s first assassination conspiracy theorist.”

Read more: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/11/24/his-brother-keeper-robert-kennedy-saw-conspiracy-jfk-assassination/TmZ0nfKsB34p69LWUBgsEJ/story.html

[grantcart]

1. Not news, not breaking.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/kennedy-memoir-talks-of-chappaquiddick-jfk-and-other-presidents/?_r=0

Here is Teddy's comments on both the Warren Report and RFK's emotional scars from the event

In the 532-page book, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Kennedy also said he has always accepted the official findings of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, an event that he said left family members fearing for the emotional health of his brother, Robert F. Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy that he often thought of one brother’s deep grief over the loss of another and said it “veered close to being a tragedy within a tragedy.”

[avaistheone1]

2. The Boston Globe and Google News disagree with you.

[IMG][/IMG]

I think you are confused. Your article is talking about Edward Kennedy's belief which is quite different than Robert Kennedy's view. Evidently Edward Kennedy bought into the Warren Report hook, line and sinker.
This excerpt is from your linked article.

In the 532-page book, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Kennedy (Edward Kennedy) also said he has always accepted the official findings of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, an event that he said left family members fearing for the emotional health of his brother, Robert F. Kennedy. Mr. Kennedy that he often thought of one brother’s deep grief over the loss of another and said it “veered close to being a tragedy within a tragedy.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/kennedy-memoir-talks-of-chappaquiddick-jfk-and-other-presidents/?_r=0

The NYT article you reference does not discuss Robert Kennedy's belief there was conspiracy in the assassination of JFK, where the article I am posting "Robert F. Kennedy saw conspiracy in JFK’s assassination"is central to that issue. The Boston Globe article states that Robert Kennedy did believe that there was a conspiracy.

[grantcart]

4. It is not a news story but is analysis of what someone thinks RFK's thoughts might have been

Post the latest news from reputable mainstream news websites and blogs. Important news of national interest only. No analysis or opinion pieces. No duplicates. News stories must have been published within the last 12 hours. Use the published title of the story as the title of the discussion thread.

The excerpt from Teddy Kennedy's book referenced the previously reported very emotional reaction that RFK had to the assassination, which you apparently believe is new news. It is not. His son stated made it clear 10 months ago:

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/14/robert_f_kennedy_jfk_conspiracy_theorist/

Robert Kennedy, it now appears, had some of the same doubts — but believed it would have been a “distraction” for him to talk about them. Kennedy himself was assassinated in June 1968, right after his victory in California’s Democratic primary.

Beyond the issue that this is clearly an opinion piece and not breaking it leaves the question hanging if RFK really believe that it was a conspiracy then why didn't he use his powers to confront it. The family was aware that for RFK there it was a deeply disturbing event for RFK. Given that Teddy wrote that it was disturbing that “veered close to being a tragedy within a tragedy" it is an indication that the family was deeply worried about RFK after JFK's murder.

[avaistheone1]

5. What?

Post the latest news from reputable mainstream news websites and blogs. Important news of national interest only. No analysis or opinion pieces. No duplicates. News stories must have been published within the last 12 hours. Use the published title of the story as the title of the discussion thread.

The Boston Globe is a reputable mainstream news website...about as reputable as you can get.
The assassination of a president is of national interest and particularly when one of the victim's brothers believes it is a conspiracy.
Evidently you did not bother to check for this article on google news. (See the google snapshot I included in response to my last post to you.) It was posted there within the last 2 hours within their news section..so it is timely.
The published title was used as the title of the discussion thread.

http://www.salon.com/2013/01/14/robert_f_kennedy_jfk_conspiracy_theorist/


Robert Kennedy, it now appears, had some of the same doubts — but believed it would have been a “distraction” for him to talk about them. Kennedy himself was assassinated in June 1968, right after his victory in California’s Democratic primary.

The above Salon article you are referenced as little to do with the article that I posted. Your article is a sketchy snippet that provided little information. The Boston Globe article I posted goes into detail discussing specific steps Robert Kennedy took, and specific people within the government and CIA he spoke with in terms of his belief that his brother was killed as a result of a conspiracy. The Boston Globe piece is not a psychological profile, nor is it an editorial. Since when have news stories not left questions hanging?? Many stories can not be tied up in a need bow for obvious reasons like the person we wish to have a definitive answer from is dead.

[Major Nikon]

7. It's not really surprising that RFK suspected a conspiracy

Certainly the family believed it right from the start. However, if anything I think this discounts the case of a lot of conspiracy theorists. It shows that RFK was intently interested in ferreting out any evidence of a conspiracy, and evidently found none.

[delrem]

10. Yah, I guess RFK found no evidence. He was shot, instead. nt

[Major Nikon]

11. He was out of office for almost 4 years when he was shot

Just sayin'

[Art_from_Ark]

13. He was a US Senator when he was shot

Not exactly out of office, but no longer in the Johnson administration.

[Major Nikon]

14. As AG he was the top cop in the nation

That was the office I was referencing and should have been more clear.

[Coyotl]

18. Kennedy was one step from winning the Presidency after the California vote that day.

Before i left Kennedy campaign HQ that night we talked with the primary campaign staff. They were confident we had cleared the last real obstacle to winning in November. That was 30 minutes before Bobby was shot.

[Major Nikon]

19. I'm sure this is true

But I'm not pretty sure a liquored up Palestinian with clear motive and intent who shot RFK in front of multiple witnesses makes for very good conspiracy theory material.

[HooptieWagon]

26. The author penned his opinion RFK thought it was a conspiracy.

Which is not fact, but opinion.

[jakeXT]

12. At least he called it a "shoddy piece of workmanship".

Robert F. Kennedy Jnr also said his father, Robert Snr, believed the Warren Commission report was a "shoddy piece of workmanship".

Mr Kennedy and his sister, Rory, were interviewed by Charlie Rose in front of an audience in Dallas as a year of observances begins for the 50th anniversary of the president's death.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/jfk-assassination-lone-gunman-was-not-1530871

[ucrdem]

3. This is very interesting, thanks!

The fact that Dulles was essentially running a private CIA, or returning to it, really does change the narrative.

[LuvNewcastle]

6. Good article.

The assassination, I believe, was carried out by the mob. I'm glad the article mentioned Carlos Marcello, who isn't mentioned enough in discussions of the assassination but who I believe is central to it. There were also some connections to some RWers in Dallas and part of the CIA, which is where Oswald comes in. Jack Ruby was who the mob sent in to clean up. A lot of good points in this article, though.

[magical thyme]

15. as I was reading the article, I was thinking Marcello...

and then came to this paragraph:

"Marcello ended up being acquitted in New Orleans the same day that the president was killed. While serving time later in life, he was caught on a federal wiretap confessing to an FBI informant that he’d had JFK killed, according to FBI files released under the JFK Records Act of 1992.Trafficante is also alleged to have made a deathbed confession of his involvement to his lawyer, expressing regret that maybe the gun should have been pointed at Bobby."

[INdemo]

21. I think you are correct to a certain degree

but I believe that the members of the John Birch Society were responsible or a part of the conspiracy. The mob may have assisted but take a look at all the powerful JBS members and financial backers then.,whose name do we see, for one Fred Koch,or H.H. Hunt very wealthy powerful men. JBS was headquartered in Dallas with many influential political members. This power group hated everything the Kennedy's stood for.
So many questions about how Oswald knew the route etc (which is mentioned in another post reply)
...If one would research the JBS and what its members stood for it is an awful lot like the Tea Party of today and of course backed by the Koch Brothers.

[Berlum]

8. N.B.

for sure

[dreamnightwind]

9. Thanks, excellent article - eom

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

16. HEY,

isn't that Ted Cruz to the right of Jackie??!!

[judesedit]

17. Inside job. How else would the shooter know the top on the limo would be down??? It was set up.

They never drove with the top down. And, btw, remember the wink by Albert Thomas to LBJ during swearing in on Air Force One shortly after JFK died? That spoke volumns to me. The powers that be are STILL trying to brainwash the facts away. Check out this link, too, if you're interested at all. redicecreations.com/article.php?id=16387

[hack89]

23. Big assumption on your part

How do you know Oswald knew about top?

There are plenty of pictures of JFK riding with the top down - it was not a rare event.

[Coyotl]

20. If there was no conspiracy, why does mob-connected Jack Ruby shoot Oswald?

How many other "If there was no conspiracy..." questions are all too obvious?

But what is really alarming is all the "If there was a conspiracy ..." questions that arise. Like, "Which Republicans did it?"

[7962]

25. Why I dont think Ruby was a planned operation:

The police made it known to the press when they were going to transfer Oswald. At the time this was supposed to take place, Ruby was still at his home. When he left his house he went to a Western Union office to do a wire transfer to one of his strippers who asked for money. By the time he went to the police station, across from where he did the wire transfer, Oswald was supposed to have already been gone. But they were late moving him because his questioning ran long.
I believe if all this was planned, Ruby wouldve been at the police station a lot earlier; when everybody else showed up. Not to mention the fact that he was "allowed" to die in prison years later. Seems like he would've been "taken care of" in prison long before that so that there would be no chance of him revealing the plot.
And a guy who owns strip clubs in a large city having mob connections is hardly suspicious.

[chuckstevens]

22. Operation Mongoose

The CIA/Mafia/Anti-Castro Cabal was powerless after the Cuban Missile ended with JFK declaring we would not invade Cuba and he shut down Operation Mongoose.

The Mob = RFK was prosecuting them even though they helped JFK win in 1960 and by 1963 it was clear that they were not going to get their "gold mine" Havana back.

The CIA - Felt betrayed by JFK for not providing US military support when the Bay of Pigs invasion floundered and by 1963, CIA Cold Warriors felt JFK was a wimp on communism, who was willing to work for Detente with the Soviets.

The Anti-Castro Cubans = 127 Cuban exiles were killed at the Bay of Pigs and 1,000's taken prisoner. They were knee deep in covert ops and would later turn up at the heart of the Watergate scandal.

Rogue elements of all three conspired to murder President John F. Kennedy.

Now forget all of what I just said. The idea that little Lee Harvey Oswald, on his own, was able to fire 3 shots with a bolt action rifle in 5.6 seconds at a moving target from the 6th Floor window of the Depository building, including the laughable "magic bullet theory" IS BULL SHIT!

There were at least 3 shooters period!

[Octafish]

24. RFK: ''I asked him in a way that he couldn’t lie to me.''

"But McCone almost certainly didn’t know the whole truth."

[Misskittycat]

27. San Diego Reader Interview with Jack Ruby's Rabbi

Last week's Reader (a free, S.D. weekly newspaper that is distributed everywhere and many San Diegans read) had a cover story interview last week with the now age-89 rabbi at whose Dallas congregation Jack Ruby occasionally attended, and who visited and counseled Jack Ruby after his arrest. It's a very long, in-depth article that includes additional investigative journalism into Ruby's alleged and actual underworld connections. Rabbi Hillel Silverman is very well-known. He went on to lead one of L.A.'s most prominent synagogues, Sinai Temple, on Wilshire Blvd. in West Los Angeles.

http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2013/nov/20/cover-kennedy-assassination-last-insider/

[greatauntoftriplets]

28. We're locking this because it's analysis, not news.

The fact that it shows up early in a Google search does not make it late breaking news.