Stories & Myths: The JFK Assassination, Vietnam, and Watergate

Learn how the assassination of John F. Kennedy led to nearly 20 years of tumult in the United States, including Vietnam and Watergate on this week's Stories & Myths with Dr. Craig von Buseck.
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Transcript
Good evening. Good afternoon.
Good morning. Wherever you are
tuning in from around the
world. We are so glad to have
you join us here tonight for
Stories and Myths yet another
episode of Stories and Myths.
I'm here with the uh Seafair
and Captain John C. Farrell.
So, John you decided to go with
the nautical theme this week.
Yes. I am that I'm my heart is
with those people who are being
affected with the by the
hurricane. Um oh, that's what
it was exactly. Yeah. It's kind
of your way. authenticity comes
through in a beautiful way. I
want you to know II. I'm glad
you appreciate that and have
noticed that um no. well,
you're always stressing the sea
so I was like, I don't I don't
want to just be boring and put
AC so I spelled it out for you.
I'm kind of like a pirate that
way. I'm stressing the sea
Alright, now, moving on. Yeah.
You know that voice you just
did. Yeah. Let's not revisit
that. You don't like my pirate
voice?
No. Well, it it will come out
when appropriate but for now,
we'll we'll it needs some work.
It needs some work. My pirate
voice needs some work maybe It
sounds like you just woke up
after like a long slumber and
you're you have like a fun on
my ship. The red pearl Yes.
Yeah. So, did you ever get that
fixed? That has the black
pearl? I have the red pearl.
Did you ever get that piece
that I was trying to help you
fix? that piece of on top of
your um of your car? Oh yes, I
fixed it that afternoon. Quite.
it took me all of 25 seconds I
think to finish and it took me
about 10 minutes to do just a
little bit. I have the I have
the pirate hands long of
gathering the jewels. It was a
really, really hot and that's
my. Oh, okay. That must be
it.
Yeah. Alright. What do what do
we have on top for the this
evening's episode of Stories
and Myths? Well, we are going
to talk about JFK and what he
meant to American history and
all the um his assassination
and um his involvement with the
Vietnam War as well as we're
going to
be talking a little bit about
Watergate and um some things
that have happened since then.
So, that's why on this program,
we've talked about the
nineteenth century and last
week, we talked about the
eighteenth century. So, I
thought it would be good for us
to come in to the twentieth
century Uh we're just a little
behind the times. We don't
know. It's it's a show about
history so uh. Right, right.
You never know where we're
going to talk about it. Yeah.
we're not talking about
yesterday.
Now this is uh before before I
were born. so Yes. So what What
is our first question? So, the
first question is um it's about
JFK. You say that he ran for
president If he ran for
president today, he would be
considered a conservative and
that is how much of the country
has shifted to the left. I was
wondering if you could explain
that statement a a little
Kennedy was a cold warrior. Uh
he believed in a strong defense
of the United States. uh
Kennedy. He cut taxes. Um he
believed in um in a strong
space program and he was a very
strong um he's very strong on
free enterprise. So, across the
board, uh Kennedy had positions
that are now considered
conservative that right back
then uh you know he was
considered a centrist or even a
liberal to a certain degree and
by certain members of the
country but today, Uh his
positions are the positions of
more conservative politicians
which shows how the country has
moved politically uh far to the
left Since that time. I believe
that part of the reason is uh
to his assassination which
started a series of uh things
in the country that uh broke
down the trust of the American
people in their own government.
and uh We are now really far
down that road to the point
there is distrust on both the
um both sides of the political
spectrum and it's a major major
problem but Ronald Reagan who
was a Democrat, he was a huge
fan Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Ronald Reagan was a Democrat
for most of his life. Oh, and
what he said in the nineteen
early 1960s. I don't remember
exactly what year that he made
the switch but when people ask
him, why did you switch from
the Democratic Party to
Democratic Party to the
Republican Party? He said, I
didn't leave the Democratic
Party. The Democratic Party
left me and um so today and
even during his presidency,
people called Reagan a far
right conservative uh but
Reagan's policies were not very
different from John F.
Kennedy's policies and they
were only 20 years different
That's what is hard to even
grasp. Uh looking back in
history because it seems like
Kennedy was so far before
Reagan but it was only 20 years
and if you count his
assassination, uh it was only
uh 17 years between uh
Kennedy's assassination and and
uh Reagan's um election uh 2017
and a half but still you know
um you know
it's pretty pretty remarkable.
Uh I take that back. No Exactly
seventeen because Kennedy was
killed in November of 73 or 63
and Reagan was elected in
November, November, 8 eighty.
So, 17 years Exactly. Uh we're
talking a little bit more about
about JFK assassination. So,
what are your thoughts on that?
Was it what was it a conspiracy
theory or um was there a lone
gunman? Well, let me ask you,
what do you think because most
people have an opinion
II. honestly, don't know what
to think II. think kind of like
what we're discussing today
III, think that there was
someone who was definitely
assisted um in the shooting. I
don't know if there was
necessarily more than one
gunman. Um I did read a
fictional retelling of it by
Don Delillo called Libra which
actually um so my my thoughts
on are kind of blurred with the
fictional retelling that Don
Delillo um wrote. It's
great, great novel. Um I read
it in grad school and um so
I've I don't I'm trying to
remember which which of the
facts are that and which of
them is part of the the Libra
book but um II think if there
if there was and I think
there's at least more than one
person involved whether there's
more than one gunman. I'd, I
don't know. Okay. So, my
opinion correct me, what's
that? I said, so, correct me.
Oh, no, no, no. I mean, no one
knows for sure. Right, Right.
Based on, I I've been to the
plaza. I've been to the uh
museum I've seen the snipers
nest there uh in the book
depository, I've stood on the X
uh which Uh pretty much they're
pretty sure that that was the
spot where Kennedy was killed.
I have studied and read about
the Kennedy assassination since
I was in college uh which was a
few years ago now and uh I am
convinced that it was a
conspiracy. I'm convinced that
there were at least two gunmen
and uh there are reasons for
that and I want to I want to
give some of those reasons and
and not just say well this is
my idea. So, First of all, um
there was uh it's pretty clear
that there was a gunman from
the back and most likely it was
Lee Harvey Oswald uh because
the first bullet went through
Kennedy's back and came out his
throat and um it hits uh
Governor Connolly in front of
him and uh they uh I'm sorry
the the the first bullet went
through his throat. The second
one went through his back and
hit Governor Connolly and
and that was considered what
they call the magic bullet but
then the headshot II cannot
believe that the headshot was
from the back and the reason is
that I have heard from almost
and you can can watch this on
YouTube. I've heard from almost
every medical doctor that was
in the emergency room at
Parkland and every single one
of them said the same thing.
They said that it was a fist
sized hole in the back of the
and then down the side of the
head, there was like a valley.
and there's a problem with that
in that the autopsy photos
don't match that and so you
have who's telling the truth Is
it the uh all the medical
doctors who all agreed and have
no reason to lie or is it the
government providing
photographs who possibly have
all kinds of reasons to lie and
There are a lot of things that
don't make sense. Don't add up
and look like conspiracy for
example, no one knows where the
brain of John F Kennedy is. Uh
no one knows. So, why was the
brain removed? Why were we not
able to examine the brain Um
the other major thing and there
are many different uh other
parts to this but without going
on too long, other major thing
that most people uh should
question is why did Jack Ruby
murder Oswald? Because there
was no way that uh Oswald would
be able to testify or give
evidence or led the government
investigators to any kind of
conspiracy. Um uh Ruby was
clearly connected to the Mafia
Uh he was a good old boy that
uh used to kind of uh take care
of the police in his uh very Um
uh there was a lot of
debauchery. Let's say that went
on in Jack Ruby's club uh with
uh dancers and prostitution and
drugs and alcohol and it was a
very seedy place. Why was Jack
Ruby allowed into that basement
of the police station II Don't
buy that. They just didn't have
as tight security back then. I
don't buy that. This was the
the so called murderer of the
president of the United States
and they let this bar owner who
owned a KanCan club just to
walk in to me. I just don't buy
that. It's just too convenient
for this man connected with the
Mafia to shoot and kill uh
Oswald on National TV Live to
shut him up. The other big
question that I have is When
you look the quote unquote
magic bullet which supposedly
some investigator found on one
of the gurney. It is almost
pristine and yet it went
through both Kennedy and
Connolly it hit Connolly Ribs
came out hit went through his
wrist bone and then went down
into his leg. Now, they have
reproduced that again and again
and again and never once have
they been to come up with a
bullet. that wasn't smashed to
hell, right? With all kinds of
bullet fragments all over the
place, right? Um so II think uh
you know, I think that it was a
conspiracy. I do believe that
there were people very high up
in the government who were
involved. I personally believe
that it was a combination of
the CIA and the Mafia because
the CIA Mafia uh in certain
places uh and you know, Whether
it was Italian Mafia, or just
organized crime, they would use
the Mafia to do hit shots to
keep themselves from being
connected to these
assassinations and so this is
something that we know this is
not conjecture. There's
evidence for that and so um
everything that I've heard and
and witnesses that I've heard
say that the plaza is your
classic triangulation that is
used in an assassination. It
was a perfect spot to bring at
least three shooters together.
So, I believe that you probably
had Oswald in the Snipers nest
in the book depository. You
probably had somebody behind
the picket fence on the Grassy
Knoll because immediately and
there's video of this
immediately after the shooting
policemen and a whole crowd of
people went running up that
grassy knoll after something
after someone. Who are they
going after? And you know that
those who believe the um the
Warren Commission report say,
oh, it was just echoes off of
the buildings uh but you know,
you had um they've been running
up the hill to get away from
the shots. Oh no. it was the a
police officer went up on his
motorcycle, laid his motorcycle
down and then kept running up
the the the uh this is all on
Youtube You can watch all these
videos are on Youtube and he
went after somebody and when
they got up there, uh somebody
flashed a badge and said, we're
with Secret Service and the cop
believed him and walked away. I
think they were probably
gunman. They're may very well
have been someone on the
overpass uh and then again,
there's a possibility that they
could have been in one of the
buildings either directly
behind or on the other side but
it was a perfect place to have
multiple shooters and um So,
who knows how that conspiracy
goes but I do believe that it
was a conspiracy and I think
that many people in um in our
country since that time you
know, lost faith. in our
government uh because they
believe that the government
lied that the government killed
the president. the the uh
elected president and that uh
the government has been
covering it up ever since but
the problem is is that in the
1970s a select committee of
congress opened up an
investigation on assassinations
and it didn't just include John
F. Kennedy and also included uh
Martin Luther King and Robert
Kennedy. I think possibly
Malcolm X and some others from
the 1960s but their conclusion
based on uh a recording that
came off of an open mic from
one of the uh motorcycle
officers. They had a sound uh
expert examine that and um
there were four at least four
and maybe five gunshots. Well,
there's no mathematical way
that Oswald could have gotten
off more than three. So if they
are Uh then there is a
conspiracy Now. um missus
Connolly uh she said that she
heard one gunshot then a pause
then another and another one
right on top of it. Well,
that's impossible if it was
just Oswald, he could not have
pumped and got a new uh bullet
into the chamber in that amount
of time and shut it off. So you
know her Her testimony was
ignored. There were dozens of
eyewitnesses in the plaza that
were never interviewed by the
Warren Commission. Now, anybody
with, you know, I have no axe
to grind on this other than I
want the truth and I want to
know that our government is not
lying to us that there wasn't a
you know, with with Lyndon
Johnson waiting in the wings
like like our friend said in
the JFK movie, right? Um I want
to know, I want to know that
our elections have integrity
and that our president isn't
removed by our own government
and so why were those people
who are eyewitnesses in the
plaza? Why did the uh
commission ignore them and
there's no answer that. And uh
and the arrogance that has been
shown not only by the people in
the uh commission but also the
the media. It's almost like the
media wanted to cover it up.
The media never really I'm
talking about the mainstream
media. They never really did in
depth investigations. They kind
of just swallowed the the uh
the Warren Commission hooked
the line and sinker but just
answer the question, why is
there a pic size hole in the
back of his head? You know, one
of the doctors. That's not an
entry word. That's an exit
wound. That's an exit wound,
right? You could not have an
exit wound in the back of the
head. If it was a lone gunman
up in the book deposit deposit,
one of the doctors said that as
he was uh as he came into the
room and was examining him a
large part of the brain fell
out of that hole and onto the
gurney Well, if it's uh an
entry room wound, it's going to
be this size. You can't have a
large part of the brain fall
out of an entry wound. So,
somebody to me is is lying.
Marlene Banks uh says could be
a lone gunman but a
conspiratorial act of more than
just one man. So. Well, that's
what I said. You know, who
knows but to me, there's far
more evidence of a conspiracy
than there is of a single gun
man, right? Um how did the
assassination of JFK? start the
country on the course? The
course of tumult for almost two
decades Well, uh I think it was
uh a series of things. One,
it's a shock. Uh it's a shock
to lose uh a not only your
elected president but also
someone in their 40s who has
two little kids who are running
around the president's knees
and everybody's in love with
this family. and you know, John
F. Kennedy and his wife,
Jacqueline, seemed to be young
and vibrant especially after
you know, you look at several
presidents before them. We're
all doy old men, you know, FDR
Truman to what, you know,
Dwight Eisenhower, they they
were not exactly the jet set,
any of them and all of a sudden
comes this, you know,
Forty-five or how old he was
young man full of Vim and vigor
with a great sense of humor. He
was one of our great
communicators and all of a
sudden like that, he's gone and
not only that but um many
Americans were very grateful
for the way that John Kennedy
handled the the Cuban Missile
crisis and they believe that he
uh most likely kept America
from getting into a war with
the Soviet Union which could
have turned into a nuclear war
could have have turned into
nuclear Holocaust and so Only a
year later, this young man is
gunned down in broad daylight
in front of hundreds of people
and thanks to the it was caught
on the film and so there's a
pretty good uh you know,
everyone pretty much has has
now seen this film or most
people have and so it was a
shock and I think that that
really caused a major shift in
the country but then what