Oswald in the doorway: the blog of the Oswald Innocence Campaign, by Ralph Cinque

How the story of LBJ and Rufus Youngblood came about \

I'm sure you've heard it; how Rufus Youngblood reached back and grabbed LBJ and pushed him down into the well of the car and then got on top of him. We are supposed to believe that as Ladybird and Senator Yarborough are sitting there, smiling and relaxed, enjoying the festivities, that two large men were lying over their feet and legs. 

If you look close, you'll see that they really were smiling and looking happy. Look at their expressions; then ask yourself if two men could be sprawled on the floor beneath them. 

So, how did this tall tale come about? It started when the photo-alterers who saw the original Altgens photo with LBJ crouching down, as low as he could, and looking pensive, nervous, and perhaps even guilty and in stark contrast to Ladybird and Yarborough. It probably looked like Ladybird and Yarborough were the married couple, and LBJ was the odd man out. They couldn't leave it, so they blackened LBJ out. It was a judgment call, and that's what they did. They must have thought that the way LBJ looked was incriminating. 

But then, how do you explain his absence? I don't know if they failed to consider it, or if they did consider it but proceeded anyway because it was a less bad choice than leaving him in. 

But, I know why the story became that LBJ was there sprawled on the floor. It placed him there and provided a reason why he isn't seen. But then, since it would seem cowardly if he did it for himself while ignoring his wife's safety, the story became that his SS agent Rufus Youngblood, acting in an official capacity as LBJ's bodyguard, did it without asking him. 

You see that story places LBJ in the car even though he isn't seen, and it removes the self-protecting coward angle.  What about the fact that it was physically impossible for them to do it, for two big men to fit in that space? Well, fortunately for them, few Americans think about what's possible. The story was declared, and it was celebrated with pomp and circumstance at the White House, where LBJ gave an award to Rufus Youngblood for acting boldly and decisively to protect the Vice President of the United States, who in mere seconds would be the President. The date was December 4, 1963. 

All this happened just because of the Altgens photo, but I can prove to you that it isn't true. That is, if you won't accept that Senator Yarborough said it never happened.  But, my argument is that you only have to look at the Altgens photo, and you can see that the VP car was still rounding the corner from Houston. The first shot, which struck JFK in the back, had just been fired, and probably less than a second before. 

Ladybird and Senator Yarborough are all smiles, oblivious to anything being wrong. So, how could Rufus Youngblood resort to such a drastic measure that fast? If the sound of the shot had just reverberated, his mind would still be asking, "What was that?" He couldn't possibly react that fast. None of the other Secret Service agents in the Queen Mary reacted that way. None of them reacted at all until after the fatal head shot when Clint Hill finally did what he did. But, the idea that Rufus Youngblood had just heard a noise and reacted to it by throwing LBJ down to the floor of the car and got on top of him, and that is a picture of 4 people?

You see how small the car was. Do you really think that there was enough room for two large men to be sprawled on the floor in front of them and behind the front seat? It's preposterous because it is physically impossible. And if it were possible, the people who were being affected by it (Ladybird and Yarborough) would react accordingly. The chance that there were two large men lying at their feet at that very moment is zero.