Forces of history vs. Forces of man

You probably had a history teacher who explained that history is governed by large powerful forces. For example, he would explain, if Adolph Hitler had not been born, it would not have mattered: another dictator would simply have taken his place. Liberals, like that history teacher, believe their world is governed by these large impersonal forces, not individuals. I think that this is an important reason why Democrats have had such a hard time accepting that JFK was assassinated by a lone nut-case rather than some large powerful conspiracy. If JFK had been killed by a vast mafia-Cuban-CIA-Corporatist conspiracy, that would fit their ideas over the battle of historical forces. To have him killed by a 24-year old Lee Harvey Oswald would be an insult to their view of the world order.

Consequently, many are likely to be unhappy that Vincent Bugliosi has written a massive (1,600 pages plus notes on CD) book on the JFK assassination which concludes that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. The New York Times, in its review of the book, writes:

Bugliosi is refreshing because he doesn’t just pick apart the conspiracy theorists. He ridicules them, and by name, writing that “most of them are as kooky as a $3 bill.” Bugliosi calls the dean of conspiracy buffs, Mark Lane, “unprincipled” and “a fraud.” He quotes Harold Weisberg, the author of eight conspiracy-themed books, admitting that after 35 years of research, “much as it looks like Oswald was some kind of agent for somebody, I have not found a shred of evidence to support it.”

On the other hand, some will likely maintain that Bugliosi and the NY Times are in on the conspiracy....