Monday, May 26, 2014

Jim Fetzer on Revolution Radio

My history with JFK assassination research

16 comments:

  1. I was unable to follow most of Jim's presentation. I was unfamiliar with the names of the researchers and what the criticisms of Jim's work are about. My experience with the assassination started the day it happened. In those days, for you Baby Boomers and later generations, we did not have access to information. Everything was in print and we quickly found out the mainstream press did not carry anything critical of the Warren Report. We had to go to underground sources and tabloid style papers and magazines for that. You were lucky if you could find one like-minded skeptic in your social circle. Libraries could not keep JFK books on the shelves as people stole them. I think Harold Weisberg was the first to put out inexpensive paperbacks. He titled them "Whitewash" and they came out in editions I and II, etc.

    The real question concerning ordinary Americans was the treatment of Oswald--the violation of his civil rights and what I call "trial by media." Dead men tell no tales. The fact that Oswald never received a fair trial fueled the outrage and continued interest in the case for decades. The favorite scapegoat was the mafia in 90% of the books we now know were written or contracted by the CIA.

    There were a few comedians like Mort Sahl and Dick Gregory who took the cover-up and Warren Report inanities to the public in clubs. They, along with writers like Mark Lane and even Jim Garrison, appeared on late night talk shows which were live in those days. It wasn't until the late seventies with the House Select Committee on Assassinations that there was renewed interest and more accurate books.

    1983 was the twentieth anniversary and later in the eighties, Lane published "Plausible Denial" which to me closed the case as it fingered the CIA involvement and complicity. I did subscribe to CTKA "Probe" but there was too much detail and fighting over trivial things. I spent my time reading up on the activities of the CIA's involvement in overseas assassinations and destabilizations as well as domestic criminal activity at Waco, Ruby Ridge, OK City and WTC 1993.

    After fifty years, the record and history books still claim Oswald was the lone assassin. Isn't it about time researchers get together and destroy this myth instead of arguing over the magic bullet, the pristine bullet and all the other distractions offered up by the establishment.

    Oh, speaking of establishment--Robert Groden has sold out and maybe always was on their side but especially now that he has a job at the sixth floor museum.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ? Mae Brussell -JFK Assassination: The Nine Most Important Books- (9-12-83) - YouTube
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MrjRWCriIk

    The 26 volumes of evidence and witness testimony did not support the conclusions of the 500 page Warren Report gave rise to private investigation by writers
    _____________________________________
    THE NINE MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS ON THE JFK ASSASSINATION ARE RECOMMENDED BY MAE BRUSSEL

    "Oswald, Assassin or Fallguy," by Joachim Joesten
    "Rush to Judgement" by Mark Lane
    "Forgive My Grief I, II, III and IV," by Penn Jones (4 separate books published in different years on homicides of witnesses.)
    "Document Addendum to Warren Report" by David Lifton
    "Farewell America", by James Hepburn,
    "Who's Who in the CIA." by Julius Mader
    "Torbitt Document"
    "Assassination: Coincidence or Conspiracy," by Bernard Fensterwald

    http://www.jfk-online.com/farewell00.html
    JFK: Farewell America, by James Hepburn (pseudonym): French intelligence's Kennedy conspiracy theory: conspiracy president john

    This book is can be read online. It was once banned in the US. "Farewell America," Hepburn, Subjects such as Permindex. How and why assassinations take place, drug traffic, international corporations. Actions JFK was taking. Vietnam pull back

    ReplyDelete
  3. http://themysteriesofdealeyplaza.blogspot.com/2011/01/ten-worst-books-on-jfk-assassination.html

    The Ten Worst Books on the JFK Assassination (Chronological)

    1. The Warren Report (1964).

    The first official whitewash, the Warren Report represents the U.S. government's first attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of the American people. On the weekend of the assassination the new President, Lyndon Johnson, had recieved reports from the CIA's Mexico City station claiming that Lee Harvey Oswald had been seen conspiring with communist agents two months previously. Johnson, fearfull of a nuclear war with the Soviets, ordered Earl Warren to chair the Commission and "prevent the deaths of 40 million Americans." In other words: make sure the buck stops with Oswald.

    2. Marina and Lee by Priscilla Johnson McMillan (1977).

    Lee Oswald's murdered body barely had time to cool before Priscilla Johnson McMillan jumped on the scene to "befriend" his widow, Marina, and begin work on her official biography. As the only American jounalist to whom Lee Oswald granted an interview shortly after his "defection" to the Soviet Union, McMillan had a curious ability to be in the right place at the right time. Curious, that is, until the release of official documents revealed that the CIA considered her a "witting collaborator". The result was a book that even Marina would later dismiss as "full of lies."

    3. Case Closed by Gerald Posner (1993). 

    Oliver Stone's 1991 movie JFK sparked renewed and massive debate about the assassination and gave many people their first insight into the lies of the Warren Commission and the implausibility of the lone gunman theory. And then along came former Wall Street lawer Gerald Posner to save the day! The fact that Case Closed was brimming over with factual inaccuracies and misrepresentations did not stop the mainstream media from heaping unprecedented praise on the book and lauding Posner for "exposing" the critics. But as Flava Flav warned us, don't believe the hype.

    4. The Kennedy Contract by John H. Davis (1993).

    5. Killing the Truth by Harrison Edward Livingstone (1993).

    6. Oswald's Tale by Norman Mailer (1995).

    Norman Mailer claimed that he began writing his biography of Oswald with no fixed opinion about his guilt but to anyone with even half a brain cell this is obvious bullshit. Not only does he rely heavily on three anti-Oswald sources—the Warren Report, Case Closed and Marina & Lee—but he consistently interprets Oswald's actions in ways that conform to the official portrait and makes no attempt to deal with Oswald's obvious intelligence connections. As Harold Weisberg once said, this is not so much Oswald's tale as it is Mailer's.

    7. False Witness by Patrica Lambert (1998).

    [.........]

    10. Reclaiming History by Vincent Bugliosi (2007).
    Vincent Bugliosi's massive ego would never let him admit it, but Reclaiming History spectacularly fails to live up to its intention of settling the controversy. It fails because, despite Bugliosi's assurances that his only master and mistress "are the facts and objectivity," he commits the exact same sins of which he accuses the conspiracy theorists and adds a few more. He consistently fills his narrative with hypothetical instances in place of actual evidence and expects the reader to take his word for it. His book is practically brimming over with phrases such as "must have," "reason to believe," "most likely" and "probably." This over-use of the hypothetical may be standard practice in a court room, but it is not how history should be written. Far from sticking to the facts, Reclaiming History is far and away the most factually inept, theory driven and speculative book ever written on the Kennedy assassination.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What exactly is your problem with Livingston, if I might inquire?

      HT 1 and 2 opened my eyes to a lot of things and even if dude rambled on and got way off on some stuff, those books were very helpful and fascinating in many respects. At a time when research of any sort was getting real repetitive. Just before the dawn of the internet.

      Also known as the early Mesozoic for you younger folk

      He was one of the first people I remember to point the finger at Grodin as a co-opted assclown. That alone gets high marks from me.

      I never read the one on the list but I still have my first edition hardbacks of the first two. The reviews for the third book pound the guy for saying the autopsy photos we're faked, etc. Same stuff he was saying in the first two. Pretty much all the stuff we know to be true.

      How the hell does that put him on a ten worst list?

      If somebody knows a good reason for this, Id love to hear it

      Delete
  4. PS, I just want to say that without a picture of Oswald in the doorway of the TSDB and without the Zapruder film, there is no evidence Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy--no evidence he fired a rifle on that day and no witnesses placing him on the sixth floor at the time of the shooting. There is no evidence Oswald shot Tippet but plenty of evidence Oswald was set up as a patsy. Just the fact that the doorway photo and the Zapruder film were obviously tampered with indicates guilt and cover-up on the part of the authorities.

    ReplyDelete
  5. There is no credible and conclusive evidence that puts Lee Harvey Oswald on the sixth floor of the TSBD at the time shots were allegedly fired from that location on 22 November 1963.
    There is no credible and conclusive evidence. None.

    ReplyDelete
  6. That's a very good round up of trash literature on the topic Joan. I see you've been very generous here.

    ReplyDelete
  7. poorly backed conclusion is the weapon of choice for your enemies

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anthony Summers'
    newly revamped Conspiracy /The Kennedy Conspiracy
    "Not In Your Lifetime" (2013)
    is a superb book.

    ReplyDelete
  9. chris amundson said:
    What exactly is your problem with Livingston, if I might inquire?

    HT 1 and 2 opened my eyes to a lot of things and even if dude rambled on and got way off on some stuff, those books were very helpful and fascinating in many respects.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I never heard of Livingstone myself. I see his books are after my time in the early nineties. Oliver Stone's movie created new interest in JFK, long forgotten by many of us. Here is the review by a blogger. Sorry, I don't know him, but he did get some of the book reviews right.

    5. Killing the Truth by Harrison Edward Livingstone (1993).


    One of the most over-the-top, paranoid conspiracy theorists out there (and I do mean "out there"), Livingstone's third JFK book is a long-winded, badly written attack on those in the critical community he claims are "killing the truth" about the assassination. And by "killing the truth" he means not buying into his wacky nonsense. Those to whom Livingstone directs his delusionary ranting include Harold Weisberg, Oliver Stone, Mark Lane and Robert Groden. Hell, even the legendary Mary Ferrell is not spared Livingstone's misplaced wrath. A pathetic waste of time, effort and paper.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Looking up Robert Groden, I see I was wrong about his activities at the TSBD. I thought he was in charge of the museum, but see not that he is protesting outside of the building and getting in trouble with the city.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    http://www.jfkmurder.com/plazanews6.html
    Robert Groden goes 81-0 with Latest Win Against City Censors

    "Groden is a New York Times list best-selling author and in 1978 was the forensic photographic consultant to the Select Committee on Assassinations of the U.S. House of Representatives. The select committee was formed after Groden obtained a copy of the Zapruder film, which had been owned and suppressed by LIFE magazine.

    "When Groden got the film aired on television, a shocked national audience saw President Kennedy's head clearly slammed in the opposite direction it would have been pushed by a bullet from the sniper's perch on the sixth floor of the School Book Depository. The final report of the committee stated it had found evidence establishing "a high probability that two gunmen fired at President John F. Kennedy."

    "It is this version of things that Groden preaches in Dealey Plaza, often to large crowds of tourists who come from far and wide specifically to explore the facts around the assassination.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The JFK War: The Challenging Case of Robert Groden | Veterans Today

    Would these be the topics up for the debate Gary and Jim wish to have?

    Jim Fetzer said:
    Where we differ concerns the authenticity of the evidence, including the Zapruder film and the Altgens6, which appears to be consistent with his endorsement of the Altgens7, where the evidence I shall review suggests that he is wrong:

    (1) Groden denies the existence of a bullet hole in the windshield;

    (2) he defends a set of autopsy photos that seem to be fabrications;

    (3) he claims the Zapruder film is authentic, which may explain (1);

    (4) he maintains that the Altgens6 photograph is also authentic;

    (5) he denies Oswald was in the doorway during the shooting; but

    (6) he offers an alternative explanation of his location at the time;

    (7) which also implies that Lee cannot have been on the 6th floor.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Way way way too many books speculations rabbit holes, the extend of bad information, planted or inserted to make a few bucks or for any other reason. Sheer madness. It sure is interesting that Mr Bugliossi adds to the pie as he is a synonim for the rotten from the head judicial system in America. No one could get at it cause no one would know where to bite, that is until norwegian put the 911 template on it. With all respect Joan for all your research, it all belongs now where it should have always been, in the trash can. The starting point of all fakery events of the 20th centrury is now the hollywood template and one may just go from there. People who want to search through the trash could be warned. When it doesn't help such individual may later be advised to visit a doctor pending full cerebral appraisal. It is about time to make the jump as the perps are starting to throw out sophisticated video sims on the market to amuse themselves. Jim who is the beacon of truth, at least among pensioners, should consider the option.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Simon Pimon said:
    "No one could get at it cause no one would know where to bite, that is until norwegian put the 911 template on it.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    How can you put today's template on a fifty-year-old operation? They've changed the template many times since then and since 9/11 as well. Please tell us what has remained constant all these years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. because it's easier.

      imagine the discomfiture there would have been in the senate gymnasium when teddy used to share the whirlpool with arlen "the single bullet theory man"; if they had truly blown his brother's head off.

      http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/post/ted-kennedy-a-walrus-thune-a-movie-star-in-or-out-of-clothes-says-arlen-specter-in-new-book/2012/03/28/gIQAFNT

      Delete
  14. Nice Post!
    In case you want quick help and support for QuickBooks issues, call us at QuickBooks Customer Service Number 1-(855)-738-7873 and get optimal solutions to resolve QuickBooks problems.

    ReplyDelete