Do you believe?

Fifty-Five years ago on November 22, 1963, president John Fitzgerald Kennedy rode alongside his wife Jackie in a motorcade through the crowded streets of Dallas, Texas. The sun was out, the top was down, and everyone displayed the innocence of jubilant anticipation, but that all changed the minute bullets cut the air—one to his throat, the last to his head. Across America news broke out that beloved Jack Kennedy had been shot, and though some held a hopeful tune, initial reports were grim.

In a short matter of time police apprehended a suspect, twenty-five year old Lee Harvey Oswald, and then later came the worst: our president was dead. One thing I find most interesting about the event is how many unanswered questions there are and will continue to be, I'm sure, until full discloser.

Why were there so many conflicting stories, not only from the doctors in the emergency room, but those in the crowd who had first handedly seen a murder in real time? Why was the body taken away for a private autopsy, and why did the head wound exit/entry point move with various witness accounts? I'm far from being a conspiracy theorist, but I do believe there can be a small grain of truth in some of them. The biggest problem is lack of information, conflicting information, etc. It creates a slew of creative obsession. Why shouldn't we believe Oswald was the lone shooter? He had ties to the far right, he'd bought a gun, hid in a warehouse then later in a theater. All the markings of guilt and motivation were there. And yet he insisted himself to be a patsy--a Manchurian candidate--for higher forces.

When Texas nightclub owner Jack Ruby snuck into a private area a week later amid a congestion of police and newspeople, all hope for uncovering truth were lost. Then came the question of timing, why was LBJ's car paced a good length behind the president's limo? Why did he walk into the hospital following the others with an 'injured' arm, when in fact he hadn't been shot at all? Then the question of the gun, and the direction. Some heard shots from the grassy knoll--a spot located ahead of the motorcade--and saw a man run off. Some heard it from the top floors of the book depository. Why did the president's head pull back when hit, instead of forward, if the bullets had come from behind? Then that wound location . . .

I hate to say it, but count me in as one who doubts the Warren Commission Report. Something doesn't add up. Think about it, and get back to me. I'm open to all your 'theories.' Also, think about the repetition of such murders in the coming years. MLK, RFK, etc. In the meantime, let's remember the legacy JFK left, that of unity, peace and hope for humanity.

Happy Thanksgiving.