Wednesday, March 28, 2007

I haven't forgotten about E. Howard Hunt...

I know, I know. Some of you are oh so gently reminding me I promised to write about E. Howard Hunt. And I will. At a future break in my writing schedule, but that may not come very soon. But this should tide you over. I don't endorse this as the truth, but it's provocative and interesting and worthy of discussion, because if it's not true, then determining who lied to whom and why is an interesting and possibly fruitful investigation. Read E. Howard Hunt's purported confession re CIA involvement in the JFK assassination, per his son, in the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine.

I will say this. I've never found the LBJ thesis credible. I just don't believe LBJ would go to all the trouble to have Kennedy killed in his mad lust for power, and then bow out of his second term when all he had to do was kill another Kennedy, something that ultimately happened without his efforts. Never made sense. It makes more sense that whoever killed John killed Bobby to keep the coverup going. THAT makes sense.

More on these topics and more another time. I know, I'm a tease at times. But a girl's got to eat, and do laundry, and all those other mundane tasks that make up our existence. But when I'm caught up and fired up, you know I'll be spouting off again. Stay tuned.

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Tuesday, March 27, 2007

See "The Hoax" when it opens

Every now and then a little Real History sneaks into the cinema. The movie "The Hoax" tells the story of Clifford Irving's attempt to sell an "autobiography" of Howard Hughes written with or without the help of the man himself...

According to screenwriter William Wheeler, several people in a position to know think Robert Maheu, the CIA man chosen to head the Castro assassination plots, who also worked with Hughes for years, aided Irving in his project with the goal of getting that damning Hughes loan to Nixon info to the public. Seeing as the CIA was definitely working against Nixon during his second administration, this theory makes sense. Nixon had already lost his race for the Governor of California in 1962 when a $200,000 loan from Hughes to his brother was made public. When Nixon realized that the more recent Hughes loan to Nixon via Bebe Rebozo would be made public through Irving's book, the White House got very nervous. The film strongly implies this concern was a direct motivation for the Watergate break-in. As regular readers remember, this is my theory as well re the original reason for the break-in (but see my long article on Gerald Ford, Watergate, and the CIA for the reason why I think the break-in itself was sabotaged).

I won't say more as these are already spoilers, to some degree. But go see the film when it opens in April. Richard Gere has a blast playing this very colorful character, and gets to impersonate Howard Hughes in the process as well. The film has hilarious moments and other more provacative ones. But in the end, it's just great entertainment with a little historical flair.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

More disinfo re Bobby Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe

I imagine my inbox will soon be flooded with questions about this supposed "new" find re a document purporting to link Marilyn Monroe's death to Bobby Kennedy.

This is really old disinformation, and I know exactly why it's being recycled at this time. In a couple of months, a major new book is coming out about Bobby Kennedy so it's important from the CIA's point of view to do all they can to smear him and muddy the waters so anything that comes out later will be met with the question "but wasn't he involved in Marilyn Monroe's death?"

The only correct answer to that is no, no, and a thousand times no.

And what is this new claim even based on? If you read beyond the sensational headline "FBI file links Kennedy to Monroe's death" you will find the supporting evidence is all but non-existent:

Despite a disclaimer that it could not be sourced or authenticated, it was considered important enough to immediately circulate to the FBI's five most senior officers, including director J. Edgar Hoover's right-hand man, Clyde Tolson.

The report was in effect buried for decades as a classified document, and even the released version contains censored sections. Never before mentioned despite thousands of articles, books and documentaries about her death, it details aspects of Kennedy's on-and-off affair with the movie star, including sex parties and a lesbian dalliance, as well as her emotional departure from 20th Century Fox and descent into depression.
Right. "Never before" was it used in any book because NO DECENT RESEARCHER finds it credible!

This has all the markings of a blowback operation. The CIA plants stories like this abroad because they're met with appropriate disbelief when they start at home in a major newspaper. It's much easier to plant this and then have the Washington Post pick it up saying wow, someone at the Sydney Morning Herald found this credible - let's report on that too.

Classic BS.

In addition - at one point, I read a lot about Marilyn Monroe because she was fascinating and her death tragic. But after reading several accounts, it was clear to me that she had killed herself. She'd tried to before, several times. This was nothing new.

I'm hoping Jim DiEugenio will write about Hoover's acknowledgement of a disinfo effort to blame RFK for Monroe's death. He wrote something in Probe but could update with what he's learned since. If he does, I'll run it here or link to it.

And lastly - guess who one of the people behind this probably story is? The executor of William Bryan's estate, John Miner! He liaisoned from the DA's office to the coroners office during the sixties. He was the one who told coroner Thomas Noguchi that Noguchi's finding that the gun that killed Kennedy couldn't be more than an inch or two away was troubling, and suggested he move the gun further away (to fit Sirhan's much further away position). William Bryan, of course, is the hypnotist who famously told two prostitutes in Las Vegas that he had hypnotized Sirhan to shoot at Robert Kennedy. Why do I say Miner is behind this story? Because I heard him speak a year or two ago at a ceremony and he walked right up to this door but did not open it in a way that the audience would recognize. He hinted strongly, but never made the assertion. I was there, ready to pounce on him verbally in front of the LA Times and other newspeople if he had. Fortunately, it didn't quite come to that.

So please - I don't want any mails asking if this is true. It's not. It's unsourced bullshit most likely put out by the CIA, still the best suspect in the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, in an effort to besmirch him, to make looking into his death less interesting. Seriously. Don't fall for this crap.

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Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Focused elsewhere at present

Some of you have been kind enough to express concern at my slow rate of posts as of late. Just know that I still care, will always keep caring, but for a while I have to focus on some offline activities. I'll post when something moves me to the point of outrage or if I see some necessary action that could really help.

This particular week, however, I am engaged in none of my usual activities. I'm actually making a fan book for this amazing talent named Austin Miller who is competing on NBC's reality show "Grease: You're the One That I Want" for a role in Grease on Broadway. But shhhh, don't tell him. It's a surprise. I'm a huge fan of talent, but have rarely been a "fan." But I have to confess, I can't take my eyes or ears off this guy. He's got an incredible voice, he's a fantastically energetic dancer, and he's got a heart that just comes right through in all he does. And you know me, I'm a sucker for a big-hearted talent pursuing a worthwhile dream. So this week, I'm just being a fan. Sometimes it isn't about saving the world. Sometimes I have to stop and smell the roses too. ;D

I grew up in Musical Theater and it will always be close to my heart. I got to hear my other talented musical heartthrob last weekend as well -- Jason Robert Brown. His songs are full of intelligent insight into the human condition, and wrought with emotion. Seeing him perform his own work was, well, the only thing that could have caused me to nearly miss watching the live taping of Austin in Grease last week. Fortunately, I'm adept at, shall we say, pushing the limits of what is allowed (that's putting it very discreetly) and managed to see both JRB and Austin in a single day. Fortune favors the bold. And that's all I have to say about that! ;D