BOOK WORLD /• DECEMBER 12, 1993

the attention devoted to Al Lowenstein's Lowenstein's Al to devoted attention the

view was intended to. hope that, in time, time, in that, hope to. intended was view

lenges that reality, and nothing in my re- my in nothing and reality, that lenges

ciple, compassion and genuine accomplish- genuine and compassion ciple,

ment. Nothing in William Chafe's book chal- book Chafe's William in Nothing ment.

--extensive research—arrive at nothing more nothing at research—arrive --extensive

Alan Ehrenhalt responds: responds: Ehrenhalt Alan

the '68 campaign, and at the United Na- United the at and campaign, '68 the

in the drive to end the war in Vietnam and and Vietnam in war the end to drive the in

against Al Lowenstein, all of whom would would whom of all Lowenstein, Al against tions. tions.

in South Africa, in Namibia, in Mississippi, Mississippi, in Namibia, in Africa, South in

speech, which my father helped write. May- write. helped father my which speech,

tell him that my father made a difference— a made father my that him tell father helped inspire now work. He could could He work. now inspire helped father ate, where dozens of the young people my my people young the of dozens where ate, the country who worked with or debated debated or with worked who country the

talk to any of the hundreds of people across across people of hundreds the of any to talk

be he could visit the Congress or the Sen- the or Congress the visit could he be

where he will see on a large marble slab slab marble large a on see will he where part of Robert Kennedy's "Ripple of Hope" Hope" of "Ripple Kennedy's Robert of part

errors as it is with psycho-babble. psycho-babble. with is it as errors

haps he should go to Arlington Cemetery, Cemetery, Arlington to go should he haps

voice—of which Joe McGinniss might be be might McGinniss Joe which voice—of

ery quote Chafe uses must be molded, molded, be must uses Chafe quote ery

support this stunningly shallow "insight," a a "insight," shallow stunningly this support

nipped; tucked. and coddled to fit his own own his fit to coddled and tucked. nipped;

proud. The book is as replete with factual factual with replete as is book The proud.

600-page ode to brackets and ellipses—ev- and brackets to ode 600-page absurd. absurd.

second. Regardless of whether or not my my not or whether of Regardless second.

his life, this thesis is insidious, libelous, and and libelous, insidious, is thesis this life, his

father ever had homosexual experiences in in experiences homosexual had ever father

Johnson movement, to name a couple of ex- of couple a name to movement, Johnson

sionate commitments to important issues issues important to commitments sionate

amples, were, if Chafe is to be believed, ex- believed, be to is Chafe if were, amples,

cuses to be around young men first and pas- and first men young around be to cuses

volvement in the co-founding of the Dump Dump the of co-founding the in volvement

to South West Africa in 1959 and his in- his and 1959 in Africa West South to

ever did back to that point. My father's trip trip father's My point. that to back did ever

entire book relating everything my father father my everything relating book entire

ject. Chafe reached the conclusion that my my that conclusion the reached Chafe ject. father was a homosexual, and spends his his spends and homosexual, a was father

than a five-cent psychoanalysis of his sub- his of psychoanalysis five-cent a than

agree with Buckley's assessment of my fa- my of assessment Buckley's with agree say that—for what it's worth—he would would worth—he it's what that—for say

ther, even if he has managed to—despite to—despite managed has he if even ther,

Allard K. Lowenstein was a man of prin- of man a was Lowenstein K. Allard

As far as Ehrenhalt's own opinions, per-. per-. opinions, own Ehrenhalt's as far As

Never Never

Stop Stop

lellgEn. i i lellgEn.

Running Running

TOM LOWENSTEIN LOWENSTEIN TOM

trunk it it trunk

is, in order to to order in is,

Evanston, Ill. Ill. Evanston,

is fair to to fair is

-

r r

documents from New Orleans District At- District Orleans New from documents

give me credit for having unearthed missing missing unearthed having for credit me give

torney 's late 1960s' probe into into probe 1960s' late Garrison's Jim torney

found contradictions in their affidavits, "a "a affidavits, their in contradictions found prosecutor's tactic." Frank does not even even not does Frank tactic." prosecutor's

not dispute the witnesses' honesty, but only only but honesty, witnesses' the dispute not

Castro lea Castro

turer David Ferrie, Frank asserts that I did did I that asserts Frank Ferrie, David turer

Louisiana, where six witnesses later claimed claimed later witnesses six where Louisiana,

to have seen Oswald together with adven- with together Oswald seen have to

anti-Castro connections to that address (the (the address that to connections anti-Castro

by using their former address on his pro- his on address former their using by

desire to embarrass the anti-Castro activists activists anti-Castro the embarrass to desire

Cuban Revolutionary Council), and Oswald's Oswald's and Council), Revolutionary Cuban

strolled by it." Yet Yet it." by strolled

wald simply fancied that address as he he as address that fancied simply wald

Oswald's use of "544 Camp St." on some of of some on St." Camp "544 of use Oswald's

his pro-Castro leaflets by writing "that Os- "that writing by leaflets pro-Castro his

1953 "Youth House Psychiatrist's Report." Report." Psychiatrist's House "Youth 1953 book. He summarizes my discussion about about discussion my summarizes He book.

I cited both Hartog's testimony to the War- the to testimony Hartog's both cited I

Commission, "but not the psychiatrist's im- psychiatrist's the not "but Commission,

ren Commission and his conclusion from his his from conclusion his and Commission ren

pressions from 1953." Again, this is wrong. wrong. is this Again, 1953." from pressions

Kenatus Hartog's testimony to the Warren Warren the to testimony Hartog's Kenatus

That is why I rejected it. My reason for that that for reason My it. rejected I why is That

decision is explained in a footnote. footnote. a in explained is decision worth, after Roberts finally told the story, it it story, the told finally Roberts after worth,

changed "dramatically" with each retelling. retelling. each with "dramatically" changed the young Oswald that I cited only Dr. Dr. only cited I that Oswald young the

with Aynesworth. According to Aynes- to According Aynesworth. with

months. Roberts did not tell the story about about story the tell not did Roberts months.

the police car in the first two interviews interviews two first the in car police the more times during the following few few following the during times more

the day of the assassination, and then three three then and assassination, the of day the

Hugh Aynesworth interviewed Roberts on on Roberts interviewed Aynesworth Hugh death in 1966. However, regarding her sto- her regarding However, 1966. in death

ry about the honking police car, journalist journalist car, police honking the about ry

around 1:00 p.m. and then leaving with his his with leaving then and p.m. 1:00 around

day of the assassination until the time of her her of time the until assassination the of day

jacket is the same story she told from the the from told she story same the is jacket

erts' testimony about Oswald arriving arriving Oswald about testimony erts' serious research is to separate the good good the separate to is research serious

information from the chaff. Earlene Rob- Earlene chaff. the from information

to use her as a witness who saw Oswald Oswald saw who witness a as her use to leaving, wearing wearing leaving,

twic.e outside her house at 1 p.m. and honked honked and p.m. 1 at house her outside

when she reported that a police car stopped stopped car police a that reported she when

He states that I did not find her credible credible her find not did I that states He

nceper at at nceper

(5) (5)

(4) (4)

(3) (3)

When discussing an episode in Clinton, Clinton, in episode an discussing When

Frank asserts that in my discussion of of discussion my in that asserts Frank

L

Frank slights my research for the the for research my slights Frank

but that ten pages later I:was happy . . happy I:was later pages ten that but

fl

ets. ets.

uswaid's Dallas rooming house. house. rooming Dallas uswaid's

a a

jacket." A great pitfall of of pitfall great A jacket."

Case Closed Closed Case

details the the details

' fiat! '

sination; the Cuban Embassy staff who iden- who staff Embassy Cuban the sination;

tified Oswald; the picture of Oswald on his his on Oswald of picture the Oswald; tified

remembered him at the time of the assas- the of time the at him remembered

of the two Australian tourists who saw Os- saw who tourists Australian two the of

wald on the bus to Mexico and who clearly clearly who and Mexico to bus the on wald

toriography? Frank ignores the recollections recollections the ignores Frank toriography?

wald. Since when is novelty relevant to his- to relevant novelty is when Since wald.

visit to Mexico City—and dredges up the the up dredges City—and Mexico to visit

muddy theory that there was a second Os- second a was there that theory muddy terious episodes of Oswald's short life"—his life"—his short Oswald's of episodes terious

brings nothing new to "one of the most mys- most the of "one to new nothing brings

spiracy spiracy

shooter was Oswald, or if there was a a was there if or Oswald, was shooter

could not venture a guess as to whether the the whether to as guess a venture not could

shooter had the necessary time to fire three three fire to time necessary the had shooter

magic bullet was possible. Beyond that he he that Beyond possible. was bullet magic

shots from the rear, and that the so-called so-called the that and rear, the from shots

and did not address the question of conspir- of question the address not did and

cision. According to FAA's Dr. Robert Robert Dr. FAA's to According cision.

acy. I am not surprised at the jury's inde- jury's the at surprised not am I acy.

Piziali, all his work proves is that a single single a that is proves work his all Piziali,

what significance he implies by that, since since that, by implies he significance what

work by saying that the result of the ABA ABA the of result the that saying by work

the FAA work was only a part of the trial, trial, the of part a only was work FAA the mock trial was a hung jury. I am not sure sure not am I jury. hung a was trial mock

matter of public record. record. public of matter

refer to the 1992 ABA mock trial, which is a a is which trial, mock ABA 1992 the to refer the book is false. In the book, the citations citations the book, the In false. is book the

to FAA's work and Dr. Piziali's testimony testimony Piziali's Dr. and work FAA's to

FAA enhancements were commissioned for for commissioned were enhancements FAA

FAA's technological breakthroughs. breakthroughs. technological FAA's

Oswald mock trial, they only broke new new broke only they trial, mock Oswald

the prosecution. What is presented in in presented is What prosecution. the ground with the technological work done for for done work technological the with ground

Closed Closed ated the book's appendix about ballistics. ballistics. about appendix book's the ated

and not only did FAA check the accuracy of of accuracy the check FAA did only not and the defense and prosecution sides of the the of sides prosecution and defense the

Although FAA made presentations both for for both presentations made FAA Although they later assisted graphic artists who cre- who artists graphic assisted later they

my draft chapter on the single bullet, but but bullet, single the on chapter draft my

FAA and expressed interest in utilizing the the utilizing in interest expressed and FAA

work they had put togetherin the prosecu- prosecu- the togetherin put had they work ican Bar Association convention, I contacted contacted I convention, Association Bar ican

on ourtduring e mac t a o ee ee o a t mac e ourtduring on

Harvey Oswald, at the August. 1992, Amer- 1992, August. the at Oswald, Harvey

Jeffrey A. Frank writes that Posner Posner that writes Frank A. Jeffrey

Frank ends his discussion his ends Frank

The insinuation that I claimed that the the that claimed I that insinuation The

. .

of Oswald. Dr, Robert Piziali agreed, agreed, Piziali Robert Dr, Oswald. of

in the case. case. the in

is is

TV d d TV

a a

—en:, work presented presented work —en:,

completely accurate view of of view accurate completely

J c J

th th

GERALD POSNER POSNER GERALD

. .

of the FAA FAA the of

k ri ri k

New York York New

f L L f

con-

Case Case

" 46 pointed to the Texas the to pointed 46 "

itor, Book World, The Washington Post, Post, Washington The World, Book itor,

limitations, those selected for publication publication for selected those limitations,

daytime telephone number. Because of space space of Because number. telephone daytime

signed and include the writer's address and and address writer's the include and signed may be abridged. Address letters to The Ed- The to letters Address abridged. be may

Washington, D.C. 20071. 20071. D.C. Washington,

ers. Letters mast be typed. They should be be should They typed. be mast Letters ers.

' (Posner's 12 percent). One could just as as just could One percent). 12 (Posner's '

though it had been commissioned for him," him," for commissioned been had it though

Roger McCarthy told The Washington Washington The told McCarthy Roger officer of FAA. "It's just disappointing for a a for disappointing just "It's FAA. of officer sinuation" that there was a "fundamental "fundamental a was there that sinuation"

rassed, but apparently not Mr. Posner." Posner." Mr. not apparently but rassed,

Post's George Lardner, would be embar- be would Lardner, George Post's guy to go around representing this work as as work this representing around go to guy

not from me, but from the chief executive executive chief the from but me, from not

defense—of computer technology. The "in- The technology. computer defense—of

misrepresentation" of FAA's work comes comes work FAA's of misrepresentation"

small air patrol function in 1955. 1955. in function patrol air small

demonstration—utilized by prosecution and and prosecution by demonstration—utilized

showing Oswald and Ferrie together at a a at together Ferrie and Oswald showing prosecutor's side of what was meant as a a as meant was what of side prosecutor's

ner acknowledges that he wanted only the the only wanted he that acknowledges ner

served. Posner had evidently yet to see the the see to yet evidently had Posner served.

Orleans Civil Air Patrol, where they'd both both they'd where Patrol, Air Civil Orleans

photograph on PBS' recent "Frontline," "Frontline," recent PBS' on photograph

tion that he never met Oswald in the New New the in Oswald met never he that tion

Carlos Marcello) did not know one another. another. one know not did Marcello) Carlos Posner is so determined to keep Oswald and and Oswald keep to determined so is Posner

Ferrie apart that he accepts Ferrie's asser- Ferrie's accepts he that apart Ferrie

Such selectivity is typical of his methodol- his of typical is selectivity Such

Camp Street" address on Fair Play for Cuba Cuba for Play Fair on address Street" Camp

handouts, and his insistence that Oswald and and Oswald that insistence his and handouts, David Ferrie (who worked for mob boss boss mob for worked (who Ferrie David

shots came from the Depository, and 29 29 and Depository, the from came shots ogy. ogy.

tion of why Oswald may have used the the used have may Oswald why of tion

percent believed they came from elsewhere. elsewhere. from came they believed percent

from both the Depository and the knoll, and and knoll, the and Depository the both from another direction; direction; another 20 believed they came from the knoll alone alone knoll the from came they believed 20

well have written that 27 percent believed believed percent 27 that written have well

171 witnesses were interviewed. Of these, these, Of interviewed. were witnesses 171

pository alone; 29 believed they came from from came they believed 29 alone; pository

area pain of ore 'mom inc inc 'mom ore of pain area

76 did not pinpoint a direction for the shots; shots; the for direction a pinpoint not did 76

be aware of Posner's arithmetic. According According arithmetic. Posner's of aware be to the House Committee on Assassinations, Assassinations, on Committee House the to

Book World welcomes letters from its read- its from letters welcomes World Book

As for Failure Analysis Associates, Pos- Associates, Analysis Failure for As

Similarly, Posner returns to his explana- his to returns Posner Similarly,

As As

for for

the "12 percent," readers should should readers percent," "12 the

six six

believed shots came came shots believed

-

School BobtrDe School

grassy grassy

"544 "544

2 "• "•

nal my to use Mt HS 3 WI MeSS WOO 55W • •/ ova. JA-1•11,".4.111•15 Id leaving, wearing a jacket. In his cu- of a one-man angel of death. Early in the 1 wooden pprtrait of the young Oswald book, he writes: "On my first official day, I rayed with far more insight by Priscilla sent to Washington a list of witnesses I on McMillan'in 'Marina and Lee and planned to interview • . William Pawky in Don DeLillo's fictional Libra), the was near the top of that list. Exactly one r cites Dr. Renatus Hartogs's psychi- week later, jPawleyl, in bed in his mansion testimony to the Warren Cornelis- on Miami Beach with a nervous ailment, put -but not the psychiatrist's impressions a gun to his chest and committed suicide,{. 1953. . . Then: "A week before I had scheduled.to doing this sort of thing, Posner avoids call (exiled Cuban president Carlos' I'd* for liversions and inevitable blind alleys au interview, lie went to the side of his Mi- asrinate4Ricschut he also turns awar ami Beach home, sat in a chaise outside the the veil retrinyAtiriea -of the case. garage and shot himself in the heart." lie concedes tI4E finding the address And, finally: "About four hours after I had Camp Street" on Oswald's Fair Play been there [George de Mottrenschildcal :uba handouts in New Orleans is in- daughter told him of my visit and gave him ing; it was, after all, also the address of my card shortly afterward he said be 3annister, a former Hit agent, who had was going upstairs to rest. What de Mob- o various right-wing and racist causes. renschildt then apparently did was take,a ier user of 5.14 Camp was Bannister's .20-gauge shotgun • . • barrel in his mouth, time a :sociate, David Ferrie, who ru DONAL 114001149 leaned forward and pulled the trigger." FBI reconstructions for the Warren rid with anti Castro Cubans and for Maybe it's something in Fonzi's manlier. Commission to approximate the telescopic boss Carlos Matcello. But while Posner Like many researchers, Fonzi is struck by view of the assassin sles that Ferrie and Bannister were a the way things seem to dovetail, the some- :ige and memorable pair of associates," times startling coincidences. After all, it, is kes Oswald out of their orbit by reject- closed but 'murky. To seal the argument true enough that Oswald's closest friendlin estimmly that they knew each other that one bullet struck Kennedy and Gov. Dallas was the enigmatic White Russian.de ;upposing that 'Oswald simply fancied --a sine quit non of the lone- Molirenschildt and that de Mohrenschildi iddress as lie strolled by—and had no assassin theory—Posner uses computer-en- had been a friend of the Bouvier family and ble ties to it. hanced material developed by the San Fran- known Jacqueline Bouvier as a little girlJt nilarly, after Posner recounts that the cisco firm Failure Analysis Associates. Yet is fascinating, but what can it possibly e Select Committee found a link be- Roger McCarthy, the firm's CEO, has since mean? n Oswald and Ferric in New Orleans to expressed outrage over.what he calls a "fun- :4, reilible and significant," he attacks the damental misrepresentation" of the data— 01 isinterested witnesses who saw them including an implication that the work was UCH LINKAGES (though Apt her in a small Louisiana town. He does commissioned by Posner. hi fact, McCarthy That particular out.) are what propel lispitte these witnesses' honesty but told The Washington foil's George Lardner Peter Dale Scott, a professorqOf r buds contradictions in their early that the company's work was developed as a English at Lieukeley and an assassi- vita—a prosecutor's tactic. demonstration of technology for the Amer- nation theorist for more than two decades, .r dues he bring anything new to one of ican Bar Association and was used in the Scott seems to know. almost everything nost mysterious episorles in Oswald's course of a mock trial of Oswald. The result that is publicly known about the murdecof life: a trip in Mexico City in late Sep- of that mock trial was a hung jury. OK. Ile writes with authority and in a er 1963. Posner acknowledges' that One virtue of Posner's hook is that it re- strangely clel.mited, lucid prose. Perhapd it theorists believe that the man who plies to critics who have had free, and often is because he knows almost everything that repeated visits to the Cuban and So- irresponsible, rein with the subject, and in lie has an irresistible impulse to connect embassies. there might have been an the course of it lie assails such Ilieorists.as almost every [Nue. :tor—an indication that a plot was Gaeton Fonzi. Some of these lies have absorbed other . "The issue is a fertile nne," Posner Fonzi worked as an investigator far the students of the case—such as those of Jack "because of several factors, including House Select Cammittee, and his particular Ruby 141 such orgailizeil crime figures..as nificani CIA blunder that the Agency obsession, then AIM HOW, is Maurice Bishop, Lewis Mt Willie, who insuaged the Tropi- ever completely clarified." The rig ghtly 'a sheilowy figure who he believed ran assas- cana nightclub in Havana—connections that 23-year-old Oswald was described in a sination plots against . Bishop 'the House Select Committee fomid impor- ■pe as "approximately 35 years old, also founded the guerrilla group Alpha 66, tant hut that the more an athletic build, about six feet tall, which continued to conduct raids on Cuba or less ignored. 't a receding hairline." A CIA photograph after the 1962 missile I tot S.4'011. hi I 1 Mil lxrnrrres, in his book, to he of Oswald shows a man who was Fonzi, when he worked for the Ilinise iiicreasingly 1:h:of trolling mil endless lswald—hut matches that description., committee, became friendly with Antoido linkal,es –:ill lo support his "deep politics" Jerome, reported voile recordings of Veciana, the leader of Alpha hei, who told theme, %hit lr is that the American century ild made at the time have been lost, Fonzi this story: In September 1963, he is unfatironiably corropt. Ultimately, Scott ugh a staff member of the Warren visited Dallas and saw Bishop together with appeals to gm altruist the hem!. In one pr- nission heard one as late as 1t164. . ("I did not look up," sage, too g to some in full, he manages this, of course, may be a simple accu- Fonzi' writes in his excitable way. "In my to connect Ruby to Candy Bar r, the stripper t ion of bureaucratic botches (e.g., mis- i mind, I fell off the chair.") Fonzi was partic- and "protegee" of gangster Mickey Coin. hing a photo with someone else under ularly eager to prove that Maurice Bishop Barr in tarn is connected In the Bobby Bak- 'Malice, as the tIA said), but it makes was the same person as David Atlee Phil- er scandal through friends ol Baker. They nit linked speculation, particularly if you lips, a former chief of CIA operations in • are connected by marriage to one Maureen a conspiratorial bent. Posner does not Latin America and the man who headed the Bitter, whip would later become known as that inclination, which is probably a CIA unit in Mexico City during the time of (taetal) Ma Dean, after marrying John thing in a project of this sort_ But his Oswald's reported visit. Dean. of Watergate fame. s• nise to what is most baffling is simply Alas for Fonzi, Veciana would not confirm After a while, these connections become little evidence that annoys him and find !that dual identity. When Fonzi, in his role as a source of wonderment, though not per- in the messengers who hear it. Blouse investigator, brought Phillips arid haps as Scott intended. This is the sort of the end, Posner leaves the case not Veciaria face to fare, Veciana said, "'No, Airing that gives EkeptiCIIIIII 3 bad name. ! • F. A, We • • The Magic Bullet

By Gerald Posner

6ONSPIRACY BUFFS HAVE YEARNED FOR 30 YEARS for a witness able to supply conclusive evidence about what happened in . We now have that witness, thanks to technological advances. Computer enhancements of the famous home movie of JFK's motorcade by , as well as scale re-creations using computer anima- tion, have settled key issues with a precision unattainable by the Warren Commission in 1964 or the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1978. They establish — • That Oswald had ample time to fire three shots. ■That one of the shots—dubbed the "magic bullet" by skeptics—did indeed pass through both John Kennedy and John Connally. • That no second gunman, on the grassy knoll or anywhere else, fired any shots into Kennedy or Connally. The first issue is timing. In 1964, the FBI's les' I firing of Oswald's 0 Mannlicher-Carcano rifle determined that a minimum of 2.25 to 2.3 Bullet that seconds was necessary between shots to operate the bolt and re-aim. hit JFK and Since the first bullet was already in the rifle's chamber and ready to fire, Connally: true size that meant Oswald had to operate the bolt action twice. According to the Warren Commission, the fastest he could have fired all three shots was 4.5 seconds. The House select committee, in its 1977 reconstruction tests, reduced the time necessary for three effective shots to 3.3 seconds. The borne movie made by Zapruder, a Dallas dressmaker, serves as a time clock for the assassination. By figuring when the first and last shots took place, it is possible to know how much total time the shooter had. The third shot is the easiest to pinpoint. On the , the president is hit in the head at frame 313. No matter what number of shots they heard, the witnesses were almost unanimous that the head shot was the final one. Determining the lime of the first shot —the start of the assassination clock—is hard-

ADAVIED 1%0141111E FORT IICOAIINO ROOK "CASE CLOSI:11: I.EE I IARVEY OSWALD AND 111E ASSASSINATION OFJ.F.K- aY OERAI.1) POSNER. 0 10,03 ILIY GERALD POSNER, P1.1111.1511E1) 13Y RANDOM 11011SE INC.

U.S NEWS ,S MIR itErtiRr. Alt ;sr '39 /SEM EMBER 6. EMI as NANNAL fl, onvt JAMES H. LESAR

ATTORNEY AT LAW 018 F STREET. N.W., 1.10014 509 WASHINGTON. D.C. 20004

TELErHome4202/ 393-1921

January 4, 1994

Mr. Harold Weisberg 7627 Old Receiver Road Frederick, MD 21701

Dear Harold, I appeared on Fox Morning News with Gerald Posner sometime in November. After the show he took me aside and told me, "look, I know the case isn't closed." He said, in essence, that the title was intended to be provocative. Also that he had had some conver- sation with George Lardner in which he asked Lardner whether he would be bothered if the title had been "Case for the Prosecution" instead of "Case Closed," and Lardner said no. He also told me that his goal was simply to get Oswald back into the picture, saying "he hasn't been there for the past 30 years." As I understood it, he would be satisfied if he succeeded only in getting the question of Oswald's guilt back into the debate. You may want to check with Paul Hoch on this, as he told me he had explained this position to Hoch. After the Fox show, I appeared with Posner on an Irish talk show by telephone. This was probably a week or two after the Fox show. During the course of this show I noted that Posner had told me that he knew that the case is not closed. Posner did not dis- pute my statement.

Enclosed is a copy of the memo in which the FBI proposes to give the HSCA a copy of the Dallas field office files on JFK being made available to you--if all else fails. I think this is one of the documents you recently asked me for. Very hastily. Best regards to you and Lil

something not said of Kennedy. Kennedy. of said not something

complish much that was memorable and both men had had men both and memorable was that much complish

death at the hands of a gun-wielding left-wing crackpot was was crackpot left-wing gun-wielding a of hands the at death

shot down by a madman. Neither President lived to ac- to lived President Neither madman. a by down shot

were paying him much mind. McKinley, who also met his his met also who McKinley, mind. much him paying were

ever. McKinley ranks a few notches higher than Kennedy: Kennedy: than higher notches few a ranks McKinley ever.

The former, after all, guided the United States to victory in in victory to States United the guided all, after former, The about on a par with James A. Garfield, who, in in who, Garfield, A. James with par a on about

was not the same after he was compromised by his role in in role his by compromised was he after same the not was

who also was called the "martyred President" until the coun- the until President" "martyred the called was also who

alism it has scarcely deviated from since. since. from deviated scarcely has it alism the Credit Mobilier railroad bond scandals. On the other other the On scandals. bond railroad Mobilier Credit the hand, Garfield at least was a model husband and father. father. and husband model a was least at Garfield hand,

a war that committed the nation to a course of internation- of course a to nation the committed that war a

tled escutcheons. Garfield's reputation for financial probity probity financial for reputation Garfield's escutcheons. tled

try forgot he'd ever existed_ In historical importance, how- importance, historical In existed_ ever he'd forgot try

cocaine wars or another panacea du jour. jour. du panacea another or wars cocaine

any of the things we've subsequently learned ailed him, he he him, ailed learned subsequently we've things the of any

'Mow that the nations dime has gulped on the occasion occasion the on gulped has dime nations the that 'Mow

would be as profoundly unknown as William McKinley, McKinley, William as unknown profoundly as be would

or manifest a mindless solidarity on behalf of free trade, the the trade, free of behalf on solidarity mindless a manifest or

Clinton on those occasions of state when political shades shades political when state of occasions those on Clinton

he can thank Oswald for it Had he died a natural death from from death natural a died he Had it for Oswald thank can he

IN IN

from the past are summoned to get a bill through Congress Congress through bill a get to summoned are past the from

another nondescript, one-term President. standing in that that in standing President. one-term nondescript, another

as much to his killer as he did to his father and his father's father's his and father his to did he as killer his to much as

money. Without Lee Harvey Oswald, I.F.K_ would just be be just would I.F.K_ Oswald, Harvey Lee Without money.

palsied row of ancient former Chief Executives behind Bill Bill behind Executives Chief former ancient of row palsied

heart but die bowel. If truth be told, the slain Kennedy owes owes Kennedy slain the told, be truth If bowel. die but heart

please excuse a few impolite noises emanating not from the the from not emanating noises impolite few a excuse please

Yet 30 years after Garfield's death, not even historian; historian; even not death, Garfield's after years 30 Yet

As an historic figure, Kennedy deserves to be ranked ranked be to deserves Kennedy figure, historic an As

Whatever lasting celebrity Kennedy has been accorded, accorded, been has Kennedy celebrity lasting Whatever

of the 30th anniversary of John Kennedy's murder, murder, Kennedy's John of anniversary 30th the of

By Nicholas von Hoffman - - Hoffman von Nicholas By

r/ r/

1881, 1881,

was also also was

mot-

Oswald's Oswald's

greatest of us, die with the same predictability and for the the for and predictability same the with die us, of greatest

same reasons as cockroaches. The thought that our comings comings our that thought The cockroaches. as reasons same

after the assassination are called the time that television came came television that time the called are assassination the after other bugs get away. So the search for a rational killer, a a killer, rational a for search the So away. get bugs other

driven by emotions and motives on behalf of a cause- we can can we cause- a of behalf on motives and emotions by driven

grandiose ones are frequently mentioned Over the last few few last the Over mentioned frequently are ones grandiose of age, but that's certainly a modest observation. More More observation. modest a certainly that's but age, of

of life as that of a bug getting zapped by the fumigator while while fumigator the by zapped getting bug a of that as life of weeks we've been told again and again that it was in No- No- in was it that again and again told been we've weeks

and goings are so meaningless is too much to bear. bear. to much too is meaningless so are goings and

so crazy and so unpredictable that a psychotic jerk could could jerk psychotic a that unpredictable so and crazy so

been invested with an overarching importance. The days days The importance. overarching an with invested been

by real political enemies in a real conspiracy. No matter how how matter No conspiracy. real a in enemies political real by

pelled that other homicidal loony to murder John Lennon. Lennon. John murder to loony homicidal other that pelled

gunman (or gunmen) K not Oswald. who pulled the trigger. trigger. the pulled who Oswald. not K gunmen) (or gunman thereby ending the life of a handsome. glamorous young young glamorous handsome. a of life the ending thereby

much of a tragedy, his death made sense and had meaning. meaning. had and sense made death his tragedy, a of much

or apprehended The fact that no person with any plausible plausible any with person no that fact The apprehended or

buy himself a cheap gun and get off a couple of lucky shots. shots. lucky of couple a off get and gun cheap a himself buy Sd why is Kennedy still hanging around to bother us?_ us?_ bother to around hanging still Kennedy is why Sd connection to the foul deed other than Oswald has has Oswald than other deed foul the to connection

way of refusing to accirs to refusing of way

federates in the conspiracy to murder Abraham Lincoln, was was Lincoln, Abraham murder to conspiracy the in federates

murderer with a political motive, no matter how vile, is a a is vile, how matter no motive, political a with murderer

understand if not approve. To this day, the mishmash inside inside mishmash the day, this To approve. not if understand

all but unknown unknown but all

the living is partially accounted for by the near-religious con- near-religious the by for accounted partially is living the

President. At least John Wilkes Booth. if not all his con- his all not if Booth. Wilkes John least At President.

faced has done nothing to discourage the belief that it was was it that belief the discourage to nothing done has faced

-

cOMMENTARY cOMMENTARY

victim held by many that his real killer has never been named named been never has killer real his that many by held victim

'r Th 'r

Lincoln truly was a martyred President, criminally slain slain criminally President, martyred a was truly Lincoln

For the same reasons, perhaps, the deadly event itself has has itself event deadly the perhaps, reasons, same the For

Kennedy's death didn't It was as random an extinction extinction an random as was It didn't death Kennedy's

People haven't been able to swallow the idea that life is is life that idea the swallow to able been haven't People

e condnuing intrusioriof .1.F.IC's ghost into the world of of world the into ghost .1.F.IC's intrusioriof condnuing e

cabeza cabeza

remains as incomprehensible as what im- what as incomprehensible as remains

by 1931, three decades after his murder. murder. his after decades three 1931, by

' pt that we human beings. even the the even beings. human we that pt '

ever ever

sur-

day of Kennedy's assassination is recognized. After the the After recognized. is assassination Kennedy's of day

olent and untimely death, is what we fix on. For President President For on. fix we what is death, untimely and olent

bedded, what else is there to fix on other than the time and and time the than other on fix to there is else what bedded,

starts up again pure and unsullied, so that she may once more more once may she that so unsullied, and pure again up starts John F. Kennedy, now chiefly remembered for the whores, whores, the for remembered chiefly now Kennedy, F. John

sprang up. but it certainly didn't last for 30 years. Garfield Garfield years. 30 for last didn't certainly it but up. sprang

deaths of the first three, a trade in morruarial memorabilia memorabilia morruarial in trade a three, first the of deaths

trollops, bobbysoxers, hookers and rich society ladies he he ladies society rich and hookers bobbysoxers, trollops,

and McKinley soon dropped out of memory because they they because memory of out dropped soon McKinley and tarts. strumpets, bimbos, actresses. casual office workers, workers, office casual actresses. bimbos, strumpets, tarts.

was and what he did. For the author of the Emancipation Emancipation the of author the For did. he what and was

didn't bulk large enough. Lincoln was a different story, re- story, different a was Lincoln enough. large bulk didn't

of the Depression and yet again after Pearl Harbor. In fact, fact, In Harbor. Pearl after again yet and Depression the of

Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address. his life, not his vi- his not life, his Address. Gettysburg the and Proclamation with an ever regenerating hymen who, ever revirginized, revirginized, ever who, hymen regenerating ever an with

our lost innocence. It was said of the Great War, that disil- that War, Great the of said was It innocence. lost our be violated by the tragedy of history. history. of tragedy the by violated be

mariner of his demise? demise? his of mariner

The The

cynicism and disbelief. The death of Kennedy is repeated- is Kennedy of death The disbelief. and cynicism

it has been said so often that America figures to be a girl girl a be to figures America that often so said been has it

transition from a golden age to an epoch of dross. dross. of epoch an to age golden a from transition

membered not for how and when he died but for who he he who for but died he when and how for not membered lusioning crusade of 1917-i 1917-i of crusade lusioning

most of this century marking time lines and remarking on on remarking and lines time marking century this of most asked asked

rising generation of young idealists dropped into a state of of state a into dropped idealists young of generation rising

ly described to us as the passage across a time line, an abrupt abrupt an line, time a across passage the as us to described ly

the metaphor seems absurd in our sexually licentious times. times. licentious sexually our in absurd seems metaphor the

pulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden_ By this crime, we are are we crime, this By Eden_ from Eve and Adam of pulsion

vember of 1963 that "America lost its innocence," although although innocence," its lost "America that 1963 of vember

morally at least and we went to hell in a hand basket. as a a as basket. hand a in hell to went we and least at morally

that the day Kennedy was murdered. America fell apart. apart. fell America murdered. was Kennedy day the that

to wander and labor in pain, mystification and sin. It is said said is It sin. and mystification pain, in labor and wander to

Though we have had four murdered Presidents, only the the only Presidents, murdered four had have we Though

Maybe so, but American social commentators have spent spent have commentators social American but so, Maybe

murder and its aftermath are made equivalent to the the to equivalent made are aftermath its and murder

to infer, a once-pure America was henceforth fated fated henceforth was America once-pure a infer, to

8: it it 8: was said again in the shock shock the in again said was