One of the troubles with the Warren Report is that it is so politicized much of it borders on mythology. Just reading it makes me wonder at their conclusions and after looking at some of the compiled evidence in the 26 volumes it is apparent that much of the evidence collected contradicts the final report.
Some of this falls on the heads of the lawyers. Many JFK researchers have much criticism to bestow on members of the legal profession for their machinations conducted for the Warren Commission. However, I've known quite a number of lawyers and one in particular, the late James B. Clayton was a friend and mentor of mine. From Mr. Clayton I learned a great deal about lawyers and how they think and operate. Mr. Clayton told me many things. Once he said to me, "Always know the answer before you ask the question." Indeed, that is how one catches someone in a lie. It is in effect, the laying of a trap. It is the thinking of the moves ahead as in a game of chess. But one must know one's adversary well to succeed.
It seems to me a fundamental job of any attorney is to protect the interests of the client. Since they are in that mode, fundamental truths are not a priority. None of the staff lawyers working for the Warren Commission cared a wit about the truth. They couldn't possibly have. Not with all the scheming they had to do to hatch the fiction of a gunman acting alone. And the long gunman comes to us from another lawyer, John Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI. At this juncture, it becomes enshrined as the central myth of the inquest. In this instance, they were protecting the prestige of the government of the United States This becomes an endless cycle displayed repeatedly in every investigation that follows each major event from the Kennedy assassination, to the Oklahoma City bombing, to attacks of September 11, 2001 and everything that happens in-between.
From this, what we were told of Lee Oswald, the man, is fundamentally a myth.
Such as Oswald not being to drive a car. This is probably one of the easiest of things to prove about him. Check out pictures of Lee Oswald's hair. It was closely cropped. Professionally cut. And where did he go? To Shasteen's barbershop in Irving, Texas. He was seen driving up in a station wagon similar to the one belonging to Ruth Paine (Armstrong pp. 581-582). Cliff Shasteen recalls having numerous conversations with Oswald and said he was fond of showing up at the shop often, sometimes every couple of weeks. For some mysterious reason, he liked to have his hair looking freshly trimmed.
Cliff Shasteen related this information to FBI agent Barnwell Odom (the same FBI SA involved with the controversy over the acquiring of the stretcher bullet, CE-399). Agent Odom told Shasteen how that just didn't fit in with what they knew.
Of course agent Odom can't have Oswald driving as it raises a host of other questions. Such as, where did he learn to drive? Does he have a driver's license? If Shasteen is seeing Oswald driving up in Ruth Paine's car then she is lying when she tells the FBI and the WC that she was giving Oswald driving instructions shortly before the assassination. This all starts taking place in August. Oswald already knows how to drive. (It should also be noted here that Shasteen was not the only witness--so were the other barbers that worked in the shop.)
The next stop is the Sports Dome rifle range. There, employee Malcom Price sees Oswald driving up in a 1940's model Ford automobile at dusk in October of 1963 to have his rifle sighted (Armstrong p. 736). Oswald is seen multiple times arriving at the Sports Dome and he is always seen by witnesses driving there. This raises the question of where did Oswald get the automobile? Since he didn’t own one, who would loan him a car?
Mixed into this is the famous incident of Lee Oswald showing up at the Downtown Lincoln-Mercury dealership to test drive a red Mercury Comet. He is remembered by the manager and two salesmen. One salesman in particular, Albert Guy Bogard remembers his Oswald encounter vividly because he was the passenger in the car that Oswald test drove way too fast, 70 mph on a wet freeway. Oswald says he'll be back with $3500 to buy a car and never returns. Even Warren Commission cheerleader Vincent Bugliosi believes this happened and he is no fan of anything controversial in the case (Bugliosi, pp. 1030-1035).
Speaking of the driver's license, one witness claims to have seen it. That witness is Edward A. Brand, owner of an insurance company. He claims that Oswald came to his company on or around November 8, to inquire about car insurance and since he didn't own a car, Brand would not provide further information. He said that Oswald presented his driver's license in this encounter. Oddly it listed "Lee" as a surname. It should be pointed out that Oswald used a reversed name “O. H. Lee” for renting at the rooming house. This mixing up of Oswald's names is also used on many government documents relating to him (Ventura, Russell, p. 35).
The FBI classified Brand's account and it wasn't declassified till 1995 (Armstrong p. 756). Meanwhile, Bugliosi in his Endnotes (#1035) says this cannot be true since Oswald had no license (lame rejoinder Vince). If that is true, then why did the FBI classify this information for 31 years? Because this old dog can still hunt!
The FBI classified Brand's account and it wasn't declassified till 1995 (Armstrong p. 756). Meanwhile, Bugliosi in his Endnotes (#1035) says this cannot be true since Oswald had no license (lame rejoinder Vince). If that is true, then why did the FBI classify this information for 31 years? Because this old dog can still hunt!
So there you have it. A side of Lee Oswald's life that the government doesn't want the public to know. It's all out there. It's amazing the audacity of these people to take the witness testimony to this fact, publish much of it in the 26 volumes of collected evidence, and then publish a report that says Oswald could not drive a car. Then have their shills call anybody a conspiracy nut for looking up the testimony of the contrary witnesses and read the other side of the story.
It's all part of the mythology that the government built for their case. Lee Oswald is the lone gunman so he has to be a loner. As many have pointed out, what loner has a wife and kids? As Jim Garrison remarked, not only was Oswald not the lone gunman he was never alone. Indeed.
Sources
Bugliosi, Vincent, Reclaiming History and End Notes; Armstrong, John, Harvey and Lee; Ventura Jesse, with Russell, Dick, American Conspiracies
