Playing the Victim"I'm Just a Patsy"LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION! Question: "Did you shoot the President?" Answer: No, they've taken me in because of the fact that I lived in the Soviet Union...I'M JUST A PATSY!" Was he? Or was Oswald playing the victim game for the press? It seems to me if we examine other incidents of Oswald's life, we see other events that are very similar to his "patsy" comment that serve as a means to manipulate others into thinking that he was being treated unfairly. His aborted suicide attempt in the Soviet Union can be seen as Oswald feeling victimized by the Soviet bureaucracy's refusal to allow him to extend his tourist visa. So what does he do? Writes a dramatic entry in his "Historic Diary" and slashes his left wrist, knowing full well that his Intourist Guide was to meet him that evening at his hotel. People that are serious about committing suicide generally insure that there act will not be discovered and that the means used would bring on a quick death. Keeping that in mind, I see Oswald's suicide attempt as nothing more than a manipulative act to stay in Russia. If he was truly serious about ending his life he would have slashed both his arms in an upward fashion. One bleeds to death quite quickly in this case. Instead he slashes one wrist and is discovered by his Intourist guide when he doesn't show up in the hotel lobby where he was supposed to meet her. Playing the victim work well for Oswald in this case because the KGB shipped him off to Minsk so as to avoid a possible international incident in the event he tried again...... While at the Soviet Consulate in Mexico City he tells three KGB officers that the FBI has threatened his life and was responsible for his unemployment. He brandishes a pistol during this meeting saying he needs it to protect himself from the FBI, and then in the course of this meeting sobs, "I am afraid...they'll kill me. Let me in!" (Passport to Assassination, page 77) Playing the victim this time doesn't work out for Oswald because he is denied entry into Cuba... Immediately following his arrest at the Texas Theater he exclaims that his civil rights are being violated and that he is a victim of police brutality. He asks the arresting officers, "Why are you doing this to me?," "I want my lawyer, I know my rights." Playing the victim after killing a policeman and attempting to kill another while in the Theater doesn't get him too far... And that takes us back to his patsy statement to the press...which he says in reference to his having lived in the Soviet Union. In other words, Oswald is saying that if he hadn't lived in the USSR he wouldn't have been picked up by the police but since he did he's being singled out unfairly and set up...more of the victim game. Does he tell his wife, brother or the authorities that he is a patsy or that he was set up?...no, because he didn't have an audience that might feel he is being victimized simply because he lived in the Soviet Union. If you have other video clips of Oswald being moved from Fritz's office on the third floor to the lineups downstairs, you'll hear more "poor me" statements. Such as "I don't know what this is all about," etc. Of course in his interrogation he lies and is blatantly arrogant to the authorities. But that's not the Oswald we see when he is in front of TV cameras and hordes of reporters. We see Oswald attempting once again to be the poor victim of circumstances. I'm just a patsy, indeed!
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