I wouldn’t presume to argue with Ross Douthat’s negative appraisal of the Kennedy presidency (“The Enduring Cult of Kennedy,” column, Nov. 27), although labeling those who view that presidency in a favorable light as cultists seems rather shrill, and I won’t bother arguing with his characterization of John F. Kennedy as a cold warrior who would have only deepened our involvement in Vietnam, because in light of Kennedy’s murder, such a conclusion is blatant speculation.

What I do argue with is his assertion that Lee Harvey Oswald killed the president because of Oswald’s Marxist beliefs, and the concomitant conclusion that the highly volatile political atmosphere of Dallas (and the entire Deep South) thus had nothing to do with his actions. This is as ridiculous as the old canard that guns don’t kill people, people kill people.

Like many conservative writers who look at that day in Dallas, Mr. Douthat has concentrated on Oswald’s political actions and statements, and ignored the man’s severely damaged personality. Conspiracies — like the one that resulted in the death of Abraham Lincoln, or the one that almost resulted in the death of Hitler — are political.

Lone gunmen like Oswald act for other reasons, no matter what they may say in an effort to look rational. If Oswald really was politically motivated, why did he not take responsibility for the murder at some point during the 40 hours between his arrest and his own death at the hands of Jack Ruby? Surely if his prime motivation had been political, he would have thrown up his hands and said, “Yes, it was me, I rid the world of the capitalist warmonger.” (Timothy McVeigh is a good case in point for this sort of behavior.)