DOCSLIB.ORG

Moyers' Journal Reaches for Peace in 'Holy War'

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Moyers' Journal Reaches for Peace in 'Holy War' ,VEMBER 19, 1993 this week is that the valuable Wilt; gets lost in the avalanche. And the TV REVIEWS problem with missing the good work is that it Is only in the past year that a truly meaningful inves - Moyers' Journal Reaches Ligation of the epochal crime has been possible. Like "Frontline's" eeeniful - port Tuesday, "Who Was n_ to Har- for Peace in 'Holy War' vey Oswald?," CBS' "Who Killed JFK? The Final Chaptei" Ot. 9 (, he New Holy War," the T tonight on Channels 2 and 8) latest edition of "Bill benefits from new access to KGB Moyers' Journal" (at 9 files and authorities, recently re- tonight on KCET-TV Channel 28; 8 leased documents and a variety of p.m. on KVCR-TV Channel 24). articulate viewpoints -dominated displays, in full relief, hopelessly by Gerald Posner, whose new book uncompromised beliefs and stances debunking all conspirau; theories, between Christians on the right "Case Closed," is all the rage. and gays and lesbians on the left. Indeed, instead of week, Somehow, though, Moyers' re- this is really Gerald Posner week, port concludes with a glimmer of and Posner really has the ear of hope, the possibility that a passion- host Dan Rather. It's tea bad for ate center may emerge in the CBS, though, that "F'ronliine" beat debate over Christian ethics and them to the story by several gay rights. days—as well as the same conclu- Perhaps the last place the center sion, that there is no hard evidence will hold is Colorado Springs, to support anything other than that where the Colorado initiative Oswald acted alone. A lot of those known as Amendment Two—pre- who figure prominently in the venting gays and lesbians from "Frontline" study, such as Posner claiming discri m I natio n — began. and insightful journalist Priseilia It's where Moyers comes to talk to McMillan, repeat their views for all sides in a still-raging debate. Rather. He's in his favorite role, the Of course, for those more prone thoughtful liberal outsider trying to tune in CBS than PBS, some of to understand everyone. this will be startling. Oswald's More deeply though, Moyers— mother, Marguerite, is filmed lying without stating it—comes to the heart of Christian fundamentalist that son Lee wasn't found to be country as a practicing Baptist and emotionally disturbed. Rather's lifelong Christian himself. What claim that CBS has proceeded with slants his report isn't politics, but its own investigation since 1963 is his desire to search for a Christian supported with fascinating tests. middle ground in a secular nation. including showing marksmen hit- He finds reasonable people all ting a target simulation of the around: In the newsroom of the moving limo. CBS' report shows some class by Colorado Springs Gazette-Tele- not mentioning that its weekend- graph; with a devout but hardly long, commercial-free broadcast of fanatic fundamentalist like Rev. Kennedy's state funeral and burial Bernie Kuiper, who articulates the fundamentalist position on homo- marked a historic turning point in sexuality as thoroughly as possible; TV news journalism and for CBS in particular. It will come in for with Betty and Lynn, a church-go- ing, Christian lesbian couple; and strong criticism, however, in offer- among non-fundamentalist Chris- ing the impression that all of the key assassination conspiracy theo- tians chagrined at the extremism of some of their fellow faithful. ries—was it the Mafia? the CIA? It is with this latter group that a the Cubans? the Soviets? —are dialogue has begun with local gays quickly dismissible. TN:: is appar- and lesbians, and with it, the ently Posner's influence, but the struggle to explore whether bibli- unanswered questions, especially cal doctrine, American polity, fam- those regarding Mafia ties to both ily-based values and individual Oswald and his killer, Jack Ruby. rights can be commonly held. Moy- New Data Unfolds in are simply ignored here. ers, the believer in a Democratic Still, there is something deeply Christianity and a clear separation `Who Killed JFK?' affecting about watching Walter of church and state, doesn't express Cronkite nearly cry or camera as he obvious problem with so a good deal of hope. But there is he recalls the week'7,. events. He many films, movies and docu- some, he suggests, as long as T feels the social earthquake, the decent people can talk to one mentary investigations of the Ken- loss, to this day. Journalists are another. nedy assassination coming at us humans, after all. —R.K. — ROBERT KOEHLER .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • New Data Unfolds in `Who Killed JFK?'
    New Data Unfolds in `Who Killed JFK?' he obvious problem with so Of course, for those more prone T many films, movies and docu- to tune in CBS than PBS, some mentary investigations of the Ken- this will be startling. Oswald's nedy assassination coming at us mother, Marguerite, is filmed lying that son Lee wasn't found to be this week is that the valuable stuff emotionally disturbed. Rether's gets lost in the avalanche. And the claim that CBS has proceeded with problem with missing the good its own investigation since i9Ki is work is that it is only in the past supported with fascinating tests. year that a truly meaningful inves- including showing marksmen hit- tigation of the epochal crime has ting a target simulation of the been possible. moving limo. Like "Frontline's" eventful re- CBS' report shows some class 1):) port Tuesday, "Who Was Lee Har- not mentioning that its weekend- vey Oswald?," CBS' "Who Killed long, commercial-free broadcast of JFK? The Final Chapter" (at 9 Kennedy's state funeral and burial tonight on Channels 2 and 8) marked a historic turning point in benefits from new access to KGB TV news journalism and for CBS in files and authorities, recently re. particular. It will come in for leased documents and a variety of strong criticism, howevel • in offer- articulate viewpoints--dominated ing the impression that all of the by Gerald Posner, whose new book key assassination conspiracy theo- debunking all conspiracy theories ries—was it the Mafia? the CIA? "Case Closed," is all the rage.
    [Show full text]
  • Sophistic Synthesis in JFK Assassination Rhetoric. 24P
    DOCUMENT RESUME ED 400 532 CS 215 483 AUTHOR Gilles, Roger TITLE Sophistic Synthesis in JFK Assassination Rhetoric. PUB DATE Apr 93 NOTE 24p.; Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (44th, San Diego, CA, April 1-3, 1993). PUB TYPE Reports Evaluative/Feasibility (142) Speeches /Conference Papers (150) Historical Materials (060) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Higher Education; Historiography; Popular Culture; *Presidents of the United States; *Rhetorical Criticism; *Rhetorical Theory; *United States History IDENTIFIERS 1960s; *Assassinations; Classical Rhetoric; Garrison (Jim); *Kennedy (John F); Rhetorical Stance; Social Needs ABSTRACT The rhetoric surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy offers a unique testing ground for theories about the construction of knowledge in society. One dilemma, however, is the lack of academic theorizing about the assassination. The Kennedy assassination has been left almost exclusively in the hands of "nonhistorians," i.e., politicians, filmmakers, and novelists. Their struggle to reach consensus is an opportunity to consider recent issues in rhetorical theory, issues of knowledge and belief, argument and narrative, history and myth. In "Rereading the Sophists: Classical Rhetoric Refigured," Susan C. Jarratt uses the sophists and their focus on "nomos" to propose "an alternative analytic to the mythos/logos antithesis" characteristic of more Aristotelian forms of rhetorical analysis. Two basic features of sophistic historiography interest Jarratt: (1) the use of narrative structures along with or opposed to argumentative structures; and (2) the rhetorical focus on history to creative broad cultural meaning in the present rather than irrefutable fact,about the past. Jarratt's book lends itself to a 2-part reading of Jim Garrison's "On the Trail of the Assassins"--a rational or Aristotelian reading and a nomos-driven or myth-making reading.
    [Show full text]
  • The JFK Assassination and the Politics and Culture of Conspiracy Theory
    A Paranoid Style? : The JFK Assassination and the Politics and Culture of Conspiracy Theory Joseph Broadbent Degree of Masters of Arts by Research University of East Anglia School of American Studies January 2014 This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any information derived there from must be in accordance with current UK Copyright Law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution. 2 Abstract This thesis analyses the phenomenon of conspiracy theory, using the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as a case study. Doubt is the root cause of conspiracy theory, stemming from both the innate biases all humans exhibit, and a traumatic experience – in this case the assassination of JFK. This thesis argues that conspiracy theories are created and take hold because of a predisposition toward conspiracy theory, a misinterpretation of a central piece of evidence, such as the Zapruder film, and agency panic, where dispossession causes one to feel as if their agency is under threat. Conspiracy theory can provide believers with many emotions which appear to the individual to not be available elsewhere, namely closure, comfort, control, and a sense of leisure. Using the assassination of JFK, this thesis examines the role of conspiracy theory in modern American society. It weighs up the benefits of conspiracy theory, such as it is an example of free speech and it can aid transparency, with the negatives: that it can possibly cause harm to its adherents and their dependants because of a belief in ends justifying the means.
    [Show full text]
  • 1/ 6 --12/ 2A3 M O B T O W N BEAT and a Teenage Oswald Together at A
    which drew heavily from Posner's work), and Texas School Book Depository. Previously, Case Closing? their conclusion, as Newsweek declared confi- only a palm print on the barrel of the rifle was dently, was that 'the Warren Commission was identified positively as Oswald's; conspiracy probably right.' In other words--go home, thinkers maintained that Dallas police could As Media Rush to Final folks, there's nothing to see here. have planted the print. Faint fingerprints on The eagerness to line up behind case closers the rifle's trigger guard could not be seen dear- Judgment on JFK such as Posner may be in part a backlash to the ly enough to use for identification purposes, Assassinologists Brace conspiracy frenzy that followed the release of until a former Dallas police officer named .* Oliver Stone's 1991 film, JFK But there seems Rusty Livingstone recently remembered that he Last Stand to be a very real need in the media to use the had a set of original photographs of the trigger- 30th anniversary to put the story to rest once guard prints in his closet—they'd been there In the midst of all the television hoopla sur- and for all. An air of finality pervaded all the for 30 years. rounding the 30th anniversary of the JFK assas- TV movies and special reports that littered the Vincent Scalice, former head of the New sination last week, the PBS series Frontline network schedules last week. York City Police Department's latent finger- aired an exhaustive three-hour documentary (9 Even Gerald Posner himself is a little sur- print unit, reexamined the photos (in 1978, p.m., November 16) dissecting the life and prised by all the attention he's getting.
    [Show full text]
  • The Inventory of the Gerald Posner Collection #1684
    The Inventory of the Gerald Posner Collection #1684 Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center Posner, Gerald #1684 3/29/05 Preliminary Listing I. Research Materials. Box 1 A. Re: HITLER=S CHILDREN: SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF LEADERS OF THE THIRD REICH TALK ABOUT THEMSELVES AND THEIR FATHERS; files may include printed material, manuscripts, photographs, notes, proofs, interview transcripts. 1. AAssorted Kids,@ includes printed material and manuscript notes. [F. 1] 2. ADagmar Complaint.@ 3. ADanitz.@ 4. ADrexel.@ 5. AGeneral.@ [F. 2] 6. AGoring.@ 7. ALarry=s Draft.@ 8. ANazi Letters Received.@ [F. 3] 9. ANazi Letters Sent.@ 10. ANiklas Frank.@ [F. 4] 11. APhotos.@ 12. ARolf Mengele.@ 13. ASaur.@ 14. ASaur@ (continued). [F. 5] 15. ASchacht.@ 16. AScheer.@ 17. AStauffenberg.@ 18. ATax Forms.@ 19. ATranslators.@ [F. 6] 20. AWolf.@ 21. AWolf Hen.@ 22. Untitled, re: Random House and Nazis; includes photographs. [F. 7] 23. Untitled, re: corrections for manuscript. [F. 8] 24. Untitled, re: photographs. [F. 9, E. 1] 25. Transcript of interview with unidentified Nazi prisoner. [F. 10] 26. Photocopies of personal records of Karl Haushofer, and Albrecht Haushofer; includes letter to GP, 7/12/90. 27. Miscellaneous articles re: Nazis. B. Re: KILLING THE DREAM: JAMES EARL RAY AND THE ASSASSINATION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.; files may include printed material, correspondence, photographs, interview Posner, Gerald (3/29/05) transcripts.[Note: JER = James Earl Ray; MPD = Memphis Police Department; NYT = New York Times] Box 2 1. AAcknowledgments.@ [F. 1] 2. AAds.@ 3. AAG Report Post-Pub. News,@ includes sub-file: AAG Report.@ 4. AAG Talk With Huie.@ 5. AAliases,@ includes sub-files: a.
    [Show full text]
  • Gerald Posner Explores the Enduring Riddle of Jfk's
    SEPTEMBER 5, 1 9 9 3 S. F. c#( CASE CLOSED Lee Harvey Oswald and The Assassination of .1F.K By Clerairi Posner GERALD POSNER Random House; 607 pages: $25 EXPLORES THE REVIEWED BY PATRICIA MOLT [ti his exhaustiKve accdount.of the John ENDURING RIDDLE ;Fitzgerald OF JFK'S DEATH -,---_ appears at first to be an honest and painstaking effort to sort through moun- tains of material and establish, once and for all, who shot JFK and why. That Gerald Posner, the critically praised author of "Mengele" and "Warlords of Crime," conciudes that the Warren Commission, for all its mistakes, was right — Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK and acted as a. "lone assassin" — may sound absurd in the face of questions raised by other honest and painstaking ac- counts. That Posner's very title, "Case Closed," arrogantly dismisses every other work on the subject may fur- ther alienate some readers. But in his 600-plus pages of investigation, including new interviews and studies involving computer enhancements, sonic digitizers and neutron activation, Posner does at times present a convincing argument. But then, they all do. The problem for readers is which authors to believe about which details. For ex- ample, one of the earliest critics of the Warren Com- mission, Bolinas private detective Josiah Thompson, wrote In "Six Seconds in Dallas" that 52 percent of the See Page 10 rifle experts shooting Mannlicher Carcanos like the one But they don't explain why the driver of the limousine JFK Oswald allegedly used have demonstrated that after Os- slowed the JFK/Connally
    [Show full text]
  • Pu Rsuitof Re Cordsand in Form At
    CHAPTER 7 PU R S U I T O F RE C O R D S A N D I N F O R M AT I O N F R O M NO N- FE D E R A L S O U R C E S I firmly believe that the Board has an obligation to seek out assassination records from all sources; public and private. The goal of Congress in passing S. 3006 was to ensure broadest possible disclosure of the records relating to the assassination. The fact that a document exists only in private hands should not deter the Board in any way from seeking to compel its transmission to the National Archives.—Judge Tunheim at the Review Board nomination hearings. Through fair and impartial application of the criteria developed by the Review Board and keeping in mind always the express purposes of the enabling legis- lation, I believe that the Review Board should be as aggressive as it needs to be to achieve disclosure of relevant records. That also applies to records held by private citizens...—William Joyce at the Review Board nomination hearings. A. PURSUIT OF RECORDS AND PAPERS FROM A P news reports of President Kennedy’s PRIVATE CITIZENS AND ORGANIZATIONS assassination, Lee Harvey Oswald’s arrest, Jack Ruby’s shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald, The Review Board actively encouraged pri- and President Kennedy’s funeral. Barnes, a vate citizens and organizations who pos- San Francisco-based A P reporter in 1963, sessed assassination records to donate them obtained permission from his editor to keep to the JFK Collection to make the collection the wire copy, which would otherwise have as historically rich as possible.
    [Show full text]
  • 30 Years Later, TV Re-Embraces JFK Medium That Made Camelot Cashes In
    VOLUME 244 • NUMBER 138 56 pages 35 cents rn ente os nsragands beyond x0 mile from Bonne T8orton otot MONDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1993 30 years later, TV re-embraces JFK Medium that made Camelot cashes in By Joseph P. Kahn ea's ongoing JFK love fest becomes GLOBE STAFF a full-fledged JFK film fest, as much of that old Camelot magic — and or 30 years, the question heartache — is recaptured for a con- F has gnawed at the coun- temporary audience in documentary, try's conscience. Who docudrama and miniseries form. All . shot John F. Kennedy? told, more than a dozen Kennedy-re- For the next seven lated specials will air during this days, television viewers will get a time period, including at least seven video-land, cable-ready answer: major new prime-time offerings. Everyone with a production bud- What will he found all over the get, a bankable script and access to TV dial are images that simulta- the Abraham Zapruder parade- neously deify and debunk the mem- route assassination footage has now ory of our 35th president, in ways shot a JFK retrospective. that may surprise even the most Beginning today and continuing jaundiced viewer. Rarely glimpsed through next Monday, the 30th anni- footage of Kennedy the charismatic Lee Haney Oswald after his capture. versary of Kennedy's death, Ameri- JFK, Page 8 John F. Kennedy on campaign trail. classified CIA files, "Frontline" probes deeper into the Oswald saga than any film before it. political rivals is so dramatic. A Among its discoveries are impor- brooding Nixon played piano at his tant new information on Oswald's • JFK own birthday parties.
    [Show full text]
  • Crimes Committed by Terrorist Groups: Theory, Research and Prevention
    The author(s) shown below used Federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Justice and prepared the following final report: Document Title: Crimes Committed by Terrorist Groups: Theory, Research and Prevention Author(s): Mark S. Hamm Document No.: 211203 Date Received: September 2005 Award Number: 2003-DT-CX-0002 This report has not been published by the U.S. Department of Justice. To provide better customer service, NCJRS has made this Federally- funded grant final report available electronically in addition to traditional paper copies. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. Crimes Committed by Terrorist Groups: Theory, Research, and Prevention Award #2003 DT CX 0002 Mark S. Hamm Criminology Department Indiana State University Terre Haute, IN 47809 Final Final Report Submitted: June 1, 2005 This project was supported by Grant No. 2003-DT-CX-0002 awarded by the National Institute of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. This document is a research report submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. This report has not been published by the Department. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .............................................................. iv Executive Summary....................................................
    [Show full text]
  • A Tale of Two Posners Richard A
    A Tale of Two Posners Richard A. Posner Public Intellectuals Harvard 2001 David J. Garrow udge Richard A. Posner is without has dismissively criticized as “sloppy” and doubt the dominant legal intellect of this “slapdash.”5 Jage. The good Judge Posner authors Dinah the cat is unlikely ever to seek analytically impressive opinions for the United retribution for her depiction in the pages of States Court of Appeals for the Seventh The New Yorker, but scores if not hundreds of Circuit1 and oftentimes writes thoughtful and self-imagined “public intellectuals” will now erudite books.2 But, alas, the good Judge have an easy time making fun of Posner’s Posner is not the only Posner, for the bad Judge embarrassingly bad eÖort at providing a send- Posner not only has the audacity to tell a up of their egotistically unworthy endeavors.6 portraitist for a national magazine that he, like Reviewer after reviewer has weighed in on his beloved cat, Dinah, has “a streak of what a methodological hash Posner has made cruelty,”3 but now he has gone and published a of his subject while attempting to assemble a volume entitled Public Intellectuals: A Study of group portrait of those who merit inclusion in Decline,4 which the New York Times Book Review what might be viewed as potentially august David J. Garrow is the Presidential Distinguished Professor at Emory University School of Law and the author of Liberty and Sexuality: The Right to Privacy and the Making of Roe v. Wade (rev. ed. 1998) and Bearing the Cross (1986), a Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
    [Show full text]
  • Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK by Gerald Posner: a Preliminary Critique by Martin Shackelford
    Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK by Gerald Posner: A Preliminary Critique by Martin Shackelford DEJA VU: In 1964, the Warren Commission, after 8 months of studying the JFK assassination, published a book purporting to solve the case; they got virtually uncritical media support and coverage, but they were wrong. In 1966, after three years of studying the JFK case, Mark Lane published a book purporting to solve it; he got mountains of media coverage, but he was wrong. In 1980, after 17 years of studying the case, David Lifton published a book purporting to solve it; Time magazine devoted two pages to his book, and he got a lot of television coverage, but he was wrong. In 1993, after 2 years of study, Gerald Posner published a book purporting to finally resolve the issues in the case, and US. News & World Report devoted 27 pages in a special issue on the book, and he is getting a lot of television coverage. He, too, is wrong, but the media seems fonder of his version than Lifton's: he says the Warren Commission was right. As he later notes, "An increasing amount of published work is a dangerous mixture of good information with a liberal dose of falsehoods. Sifting out the truth is increasingly difficult for those not well versed in the facts."1 Unfortunately, the same may be said of his own book. BLURBS: Posners book is highly praised on the dust jacket by Tom Wicker, a longtime Warren Commission apologist who in 1979 wrote an introduction to the House Select Committee on Assassinations report (NY.
    [Show full text]
  • US Government Protection of Al-Qaeda Terrorists and the US- Saudi Black Hole 米政府によるアルカイダ擁護と米・サウジアラビ アのブラックホール
    Volume 11 | Issue 29 | Number 1 | Article ID 3971 | Jul 28, 2013 The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus US Government Protection of Al-Qaeda Terrorists and the US- Saudi Black Hole 米政府によるアルカイダ擁護と米・サウジアラビ アのブラックホール Peter Dale Scott and suspected Islamic terrorists, to any incipient protest movement that might challenge the policies of the American war For almost two centuries American machine. government, though always imperfect, was also a model for the world of limited government, Americans have by and large not questioned having evolved a system of restraints on this parallel government, accepting that executive power through its constitutional sacrifices of traditional rights and traditional arrangement of checks and balances. transparency are necessary to keep us safe from al-Qaeda attacks. However secret power Since 9/11 however, constitutional practices is unchecked power, and experience of the last have been overshadowed by a series of century has only reinforced the truth of Lord emergency measures to fight terrorism. The latter have mushroomed in size, reach and Acton’s famous dictum that unchecked power budget, while traditional government has always corrupts. It is time to consider the shrunk. As a result we have today what the extent to which American secret agencies have journalist Dana Priest has called twodeveloped a symbiotic relationship with the governments: the one its citizens were familiar forces they are supposed to be fighting – and with, operated more or less in the open: the have even on occasion intervened to
    [Show full text]