[lbo-talk] "Left" Believers In Warren Report

Chip Berlet cberlet at igc.org
Tue Nov 25 13:43:30 PST 2003


Hi,

I am not talking about writers who complained about the investigative process or conclusions of the Warren Commission, which certainly were flawed, but an actual claim that a specific sector of the "military-industrial-complex" was to blame for the assassination of JFK. Other than claiming a cover-up, which was widespread, who were the earliest people to actually claim they knew who was behind the assassination. I am also not talking about people who blamed the assasination on Castro. That was always dubious.

Chip Berlet Senior Analyst Political Research Associates http://www.publiceye.org


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Joseph Wanzala [mailto:jwanzala at hotmail.com]
> Sent: Monday, November 24, 2003 8:19 PM
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Subject: RE: [lbo-talk] "Left" Believers In Warren Report
>
>
> Berlet asked: "Can you cite an earlier date for any written materials
> produced by the persons you named?"
>
> At the time of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Ralph
> Schoenman was
> Executive Director of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation.
> In early 1964,
> he formed and directed the Who Killed Kennedy Committee? In
> London with
> Bertrand Russell and other prominent figures. The Committee uncovered
> explosive documents, including files from the Dallas D.A.'s
> office that
> exposed the government cover-up. Your attempt to link
> left-wing epistemology
> about parapolitics (what you call 'conspiracy theory') to the
> Liberty Lobby
> or the John Birch Society is obtuse.
>
> Everybody conscious in America in November 1967 knew what
> their thoughts and
> suspicions were about the Kennedy assasination and did not
> need prompting by
> the John Birchers about what to think. And certainly forensic
> scientists
> such as Gary L. Aguilar, M.D., Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D. do
> not premise
> their findings on the work of the Birchers.
>
>
>
> Joe W.
>
> >From: "Chip Berlet" <cberlet at igc.org>
> >Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> >To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>
> >Subject: RE: [lbo-talk] "Left" Believers In Warren Report
> >Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 18:32:14 -0500
> >
> >Hi,
> >
> >A lot of conspiracy theories spread by people who see
> themselves as on
> >the political left start with the John Birch Society or the Liberty
> >Lobby.
> >
> >On the John Birch Society and conspiracism:
> >
> >See:
> >http://www.publiceye.org/tooclose/jbs.html
> >
> >
> >I write about this stuff in "Right Woos Left," espcially how
> Prouty and
> >Mark Lane started to work with the extreme right antisemitic Liberty
> >Lobby and its (then) publishing arm Noontide Press and the
> >Holocaust-denying Institute for Historical Review.
> >
> >Here is an excerpt:
> >
> >"The Oliver Stone film JFK stimulated nationwide interest in
> >conspiracies. Some right-wing paranoid theories are woven into the
> >film, not surprising since Fletcher Prouty was an advisor to
> Stone, and
> >the film's character 'Mr. X' was primarily based on Prouty.
> Several of
> >the film's themes echo conspiracist claims appearing in a John Birch
> >Society magazine article on the JFK assassination by Medford
> Evans. The
> >article was first published in September 1967 and was reprinted in
> >April 1992 in the Birch magazine The New American to catch
> the wave of
> >publicity around the Stone film. In the article, Evans
> discusses rumors
> >that Lyndon Johnson may have engineered the Kennedy assassination,
> >considers the assassination a coup d'etat. and suggest the American
> >Establishment had JFK killed. The publisher complains,
> however, that if
> >Oliver Stone is seriously trying to indict the CIA, defense
> >contractors, Big Oil, Big Business, the news media, and a host of
> >others, he errs in suggesting that the whole business was a
> right-wing
> >plot. These are not individuals of the Right.' "
> >
> >http://www.publiceye.org/rightwoo/rwooz9.html
> >
> >
> >September 1967 was a relatively early date for the circulation of a
> >full-blown conspiracy theory about the Kennedy
> Assassination. Can you
> >cite an earlier date for any written materials produced by
> the persons
> >you named?
> >
> >My point is that relying on material produced by the John
> Birch Society
> >or the (now defunct) Liberty Lobby is in itself evidence of shoddy
> >research techniques, even if you choose to set aside (I do not) the
> >antisemitic obsession of the material from Liberty Lobby.
> This was why
> >I stopped working with Daniel Brandt of Namebase--his
> refusal to even
> >acknowledge that Liberty Lobby and the Spotlight newspaper spread
> >antisemitic conspiracy theories. Brandt prefers to whine
> that he was a
> >victim of "political correctness" because Holly Sklar and I resigned
> >from his advisory board over this issue.
> >
> >Brandt's version of reality:
> >http://www.namebase.org/zipdir/ppost01.html
> >
> >In which Brandt trashes "Right Woos Left" and notes:
> >
> >"Berlet hand-delivered a letter to Stone dated January 16, 1992, in
> >which he called on him to 'distance yourself publicly from
> attempts by
> >racist, anti-Jewish and pro-fascist groups to use your film JFK as a
> >vehicle to promote bigoted theories claiming Jewish control of U.S.
> >foreign policy and the CIA.... You appear to have been misled by JFK
> >film advisor Fletcher Prouty regarding the extent of his cooperation
> >with the Liberty Lobby and other neo-fascist operations created by
> >Willis Carto. Willis Carto is infamous around the world as a leading
> >Nazi-apologist. Fletcher Prouty and two other critics of the
> CIA, Mark
> >Lane and Victor Marchetti, have forged deep and longstanding ties to
> >the Liberty Lobby and other Carto groups.'
> >
> >And damn proud of it, too.
> >
> >
> >Chip Berlet
> >Senior Analyst
> >Political Research Associates
> >http://www.publiceye.org
> >
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Joseph Wanzala [mailto:jwanzala at hotmail.com]
> > > Sent: Monday, November 24, 2003 5:36 PM
> > > To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> > > Subject: RE: [lbo-talk] "Left" Believers In Warren Report
> > >
> > >
> > > Neither the John Birch Society nor any right-wing group own,
> > > originated or have exclusivively propagated the idea that JFK was
> > > assasinated by a plot
> > > which involved elements of the state apparatus. There are any
> > > number of
> > > left-wing researchers and activists including Carl
> Oglesby, Bertrand
> > > Russell, Ralph Schoenmann, Peter Dale Scott, Josiah Thompson and
> > > John Judge who Stone consulted for his movie, along with people
> > > like
> L. Fletcher
> > > Prouty. Besides, just because a right wing reactionary scientist
> > > makes a claim does not mean you dismiss the data based on your
> > > ideological differences with him or her, the data is either sound
> > > or
> it is not.
> > >
> > > Joe W.
> > >
> > >
> > > >From: "Chip Berlet" <cberlet at igc.org>
> > > >Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> > > >To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>
> > > >Subject: RE: [lbo-talk] "Left" Believers In Warren Report
> > > >Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 16:12:30 -0500
> > > >
> > > >Hi,
> > > >
> > > >I'm sorry, Shane, I am confused. Are you supporting the
> John Birch
> > > >Society theory (picked up by Oliver Stone) that Kennedy was
> > > killed by a
> > > >conspiracy of the military industrial complex and that Jack Ruby
> > > >was part of the vast plot when he killed Oswald?
> > > >
> > > >Or
> > > >
> > > >Are you supporting the even further to the right theory that
> > > >Kennedy was killed by the secret global Jewish elites and that
> > > >their
> > > agent Jake
> > > >Rubinstein was part of the vast plot when he killed Oswald?
> > > >
> > > >It is so hard to keep up....
> > > >
> > > >Chip Berlet
> > > >Senior Analyst
> > > >Political Research Associates
> > > >http://www.publiceye.org
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > > From: Shane Mage [mailto:shmage at pipeline.com]
> > > > > Sent: Monday, November 24, 2003 1:26 AM
> > > > > To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> > > > > Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] "Left" Believers In Warren Report
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Doug wrote:
> > > > > >...Pretty much everything you need to know about how
> > > things work is
> > > > > >right in the open.
> > > > >
> > > > > Many of us have long known "pretty much everything you
> > > need to know
> > > > > about how things work." But the devils hide in the
> > > details, don't
> > > > > they? The *fact* that Kennedy was overthrown conspiratorially
> > > > > has been "right in the open" since day three (the smoking gun
> > > > > was literally seen worldwide in the hands of Jake Rubinstein
> > > > > alias Jack Ruby). But the details of who conspired, how, and
> > > > > why, remain secret. Do I "need to know" them? Until
> I do know,
> > > > > no-one has the right to tell me that I don't need to know.
> > > > > Likewise with the events around "9/11." But the need to know
> > > > > seems to me to be clearer and much more urgent.
> > > > >
> > > > > Shane Mage
> > > > >
> > > > > "Thunderbolt steers all
> > > > > things."
> > > > >
> > > > > Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 64
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > ___________________________________
> > > > > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >___________________________________
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> > >
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