> I just think the groupings you are talking about in the first part would not have been allowed by other elements in the ruling circles to off the pres for their own reasons alone, without being busted. Cuban exiles and Mafiosi did not have much weight. Mafia were not exactly in the ruling class, otherwise they wouldn' get such bad press. To kill the pres. and have it completely covered up had to come from sectors with more power, i.e. military-industrial complex and secret police. Also, Soviets were much more of a concern than Cuba. The Cuban missile crisis was important because it was the Soviets involved.
I've enjoyed much of your discussion of the Kennedy assassination, Charles. It's important event that begs for more light and thought. But I disagree with several aspects of this.
Do you really think (1) the ruling class had such a preference for Kennedy over Johnson (that was the choice), and (2) that preference would outweigh their own interest in covering up the dirty deeds you, Max, and others have discussed, so that they would *not* have allowed rogue elements to wipe Kennedy without being busted? Kennedy with all those quasi-lefty Harvard intellectuals around him all the time. Who knows what dastardly, perhaps even anti-capital, scheme they might concoct, particularly if JFK got a second term and didn't have to run again. Johnson would clean house (and he did) and bring in all those go- along-to-get-along types he was comfortable with in Congress. And the press-the-war crowd (McNamara, Rusk, Bundy, etc.) weren't going to get much resistance from Lyndon.
No, for the most part the ruling class preferred Johnson to Kennedy. I say that not to introduce some argument that this was a coup to get Lyndon in there. But JFK, or anybody, was not protectable in Dallas-like public appearances. Any assorted rogue elements could have done it.
But more than that, elites wouldn't see wiping Kennedy as an attack on them.
Once the deed was done, the ruling class had *only* two interests: (1) preventing information antagonistic to its interests from getting out, and (2) coming up with an explanation for those who thought their vote mattered very much. Even if Kennedy was wiped by three guys from the mob, there was *no* interest in looking into that, let alone busting them.
Btw, the mob is a distinct wing of the ruling class, particularly in their relationship with the Kennedys. The whole Kennedy family, from the old man to Jack, to Bobby, had extensive dealings with them, many of which had turned sour by the early 60s. Think, for example, of the visceral, personal hatred Hoffa had for Bobby.
Point is, the assassination happened and the trail is pretty cold as to why and by whom. I think you're looking for an explanation that is too pat, too uni-dimensional. The ruling class doesn't have near the day-to-day, detailed control over matters you imply. But in crisis they can unite and react. The Warren Commission was a massive display of such, gathering the executive committee (Warren, Richard Russell, Gerald Ford, etc.) in one place to pull their sleight of hand.
RO