Les Jones

> JFK Parallels to 2004

I've had an off-and-on fascination with the JFK assassination, its aftermath, and various conspirarcy theories. This political season has made me think of it more than once.

The parallels really jumped out today with news that New York state resident Lawrence Ward is being sought by the Secret Service as being a threat to George Bush and potentially John Kerry as well. Ward gave neighbors the keys to his house and said he wasn't coming back. He's known to have a rifle and a fascination with Timothy McVeigh, and sent his ex-wife a CD that discussed killing Bush and Kerry.

Abandoning his life is more or less what Lee Harvey Oswald did during his first assassination attempt. Most people haven't heard the story, but Kennedy was Oswald's second target. His first target was General Edwin Walker.

Oswald scouted Walker's house in advance, drawing maps and taking photos. On the day he set out to kill Walker, Oswald wrote a letter to his wife, Marina, whom he had met when he defected to the Soviet Union. Oswald was convinced he would be caught. The letter gave Marina instructions (in Russian; she couldn't read English well) on how to get to the jail, how much money they had, when rent was due, etc.

Oswald shot at Walker through a window. The glass deflected the bullet, which lodged in the wall. After the JFK assassination, investigators found the letter and Oswald's photos. They also matched the bullet from Walker's wall to the Mannlicher-Carcano rifle Oswald used to kill Kennedy.

So when Lawrence Ward told his neighbors he wasn't coming back, I think he was deadly serious.