Valid Materialist Theory

Rob Schaap rws at comserver.canberra.edu.au
Thu Jan 27 12:24:17 PST 2000


G'day Roger,


>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.

Did you ever read leftie-lawyer Mark Lane on the Warren Commission? That bloke really knew how to research! And manages to scream 'conspiracy' without looking one bit a black chopper type (although I remember erstwhile friend Stanley Aronowitz criticising him for it in *The Sixties Without Apology*). The Warren Commission was an absolute outrage ('sleight of hand' implies they exhibited the dexterity of a magician, and it was not nearly that impressive), and I am stunned its members got off so lightly. Both its processes and findings have carried the last thirty-six years through sheer hegemonic power (perhaps one manifestation has been the enduring identification of suspicion of conspiracy with laughable lunacy), for the thing itself was eye-rollingly pathetic.

Cheers, Rob



More information about the lbo-talk mailing list