A dandy debunking of Harvey & Lee

[Guest Mark Valenti]

W. Tracy Parnell has a web site detailing just a portion of the numerous cans of whoop-ass he has opened on the Larvey theory. Parnell has been at it nearly since the birth of this daffy theory, and the site is a gem.

http://wtracyparnell.com/

And here's another bit of debunking:

http://jfkassassination.net/parnell/3key.htm

And another:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=4269#relPageId=14

Edited May 22, 2015 by Mark Valenti

[Steven Gaal]

And another:

https://www.maryferr...69#relPageId=14 // Valenti

=============================================

McAdams Parnell sitting in a tree K + I + S + S + I + N + G

-----------------------------

By James DiEugenio
Posted October 1, 2013
Apparently, Dave Reitzes has an uncontrollable urge to make a fool out of himself. During those distant, far off years when he did not buy the Warren Commission fairy tale, he was in the Barr McClellan/Craig Zirbel camp i.e. Lyndon Johnson killed President Kennedy. When he inexplicably switched sides, he then became allied with John McAdams and began writing on a variety of subjects, including Jack Ruby. But he began to concentrate on the New Orleans scene and became McAdams' water carrier on Jim Garrison. The problem was, he was about as good in this area as he was when he was backing his LBJ Texas conspiracy theorem. Which means, he was not very convincing, because the quality of his scholarship and insights is quite shoddy.
But that did not matter to John McAdams. Because the professor isn't really interested in scholarship or accuracy. Therefore, Reitzes fit the bill. One of the silliest and stupidest projects that the Dynamic Duo worked on was something called "One Hundred Errors of Fact and Judgment in Oliver Stone's JFK." What clearly happened here was that McAdams and his gang (which included Tracy Parnell at the time) were upset at the web site exposing one hundred errors of fact in Gerald Posner's pitiful book Case Closed. A book they championed even before it came out. So they decided to put together a web site to counter this humiliation. The problem was two fold. In the Posner instance, the authors collaborated with experts in each area of the JFK field and therefore the exposed errors are actually accurate. On the Reitzes creation there is no evidence that the author consulted professionally with anyone. Secondly, Posner was writing a non-fiction book. Oliver Stone and Zachary Sklar were writing a dramatic film. In the latter, one is allowed the use of dramatic license. One is not in the former. Yet Posner's book looks so bad today that it does look like he used dramatic license in the volume. (http://www.assassinationweb.com/audio1.htm.) Which is not what non-fiction writers are allowed to do. But which the Warren Report did all the time.

[Jon G. Tidd]

Steven Gaal,

Oliver Stone has made some OK movies IMO. "Platoon" depicts the dynamics of a small unit in Viet Nam far from accurately. Yet I suspect many unsuspecting Americans who have seen "Platoon" regard it as God's Truth as to the interactions in a small U.S. unit in Viet Nam.

"JFK" is like "Platoon". It has a story line. Fine. But one shouldn't regard it as The Truth.

"JFK" and "Platoon" are entertainment. At best, they get the audience thinking. At worst, they stifle thought.

[Steven Gaal]

"JFK" is like "Platoon". It has a story line. Fine. But one shouldn't regard it as The Truth.

"JFK" and "Platoon" are entertainment. At best, they get the audience thinking. At worst, they stifle thought. // Tidd

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VIA RECORDS ACT INCREDIBLE THOUGHT WAS STIMULATED // Gaal

CTKA (Sit-kah) is an activist group lobbying for full disclosure of all records relating to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
In 1993, in response to public outcry created by Oliver Stone's film JFK, Congress passed the JFK Act, a law requiring federal agencies to release all the remaining withheld evidence relating to the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. While some pretend the case is closed, the case can never be closed so long as the documents pertaining to the assassination and the investigations that followed remain locked away from public scrutiny.

Citizens for Truth about the Kennedy Assassination was organized as a result of the April 1993 Chicago Midwest Symposium on Assassinations. At the end of that conference, it was generally decided that the time had come to create a political action group, which would urge the executive branch of our government to re-open the unsolved assassinations of the 1960s-i.e., the murders of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King. CTKA endeavors to ensure that the Review Board fulfill its mandate to release all the remaining records pertaining to the JFK assassination; to amend the current Freedom of Information Act to render future covert actions more difficult to hide; and to urge the American people to discover the truth about their history.

==================

see http://www.ctka.net/pr700-stone.html

Edited May 23, 2015 by Steven Gaal

[David Andrews]

I was there, in that I was an adult when JFK came out and I remember the creation of the JFK Assassination Records Collection Act and the formation of the ARRB. But can someone briefly, in just a couple of major points, remind me of the most influential events in the "public outcry after JFK" that compelled Congress to create a law.

I'm not disputing Steven or denigrating anything - I just need to be reminded of exactly how "public outcry" changed the law and inspired a new investigation. It is perhaps useful for us all to examine who was involved and what they did.

Edited May 23, 2015 by David Andrews

[Steven Gaal]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/jfk/jfk.htm

JFK Assassination Records Board Ends Work; Issues Final Report

The Assassination Records Review Board, created out of a broad public conviction that the government was hiding important information, finished its work on Sept. 30, 1998. The Board collected and released thousands of previously secret government records about President John F. Kennedy's murder. The Board concluded that aggressive efforts are needed to pursue still more. Required by law to close its doors the agency said in a final 236-page report that its aggressive efforts frequently paid off, but that it is still worried that "critical records may have been withheld" from its scrutiny. The agency said it did not secure "all that was 'out there.' "

Final Report of the Assassination Records
Review Board September 30, 1998

Executive Summary from the Final Report

The Assassination Records Review Board was a unique solution to a unique problem. Although the tragic assassination of President John F. Kennedy was the subject of lengthy official investigations, beginning with the Warren Commission in 1964 and continuing through the House Select Committee on Assassinations in 1978-79, the American public has continued to seek answers to nagging questions raised by this inexplicable act. These questions were compounded by the government penchant for secrecy. Fears sparked by the Cold War discouraged the release of documents, particularly those of the intelligence and security agencies. Even the records created by the investigative commissions and committees were withheld from public view and sealed. As a result, the official record on the assassination of President Kennedy remained shrouded in secrecy and mystery.

The suspicions created by government secrecy eroded confidence in the truthfulness of federal agencies in general and damaged their credibility. Finally, frustrated by the lack of access and disturbed by the conclusions of Oliver Stone's "JFK," Congress passed the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992 (JFK Act), mandating the gathering and opening of all records concerned with the death of the President.

==============

also see

http://www.icij.org/blog/2013/11/50-years-after-jfks-assassination-brief-guide-reliable-sources

Edited May 23, 2015 by Steven Gaal

[W. Tracy Parnell]

W. Tracy Parnell has a web site detailing just a portion of the numerous cans of whoop-ass he has opened on the Larvey theory. Parnell has been at it nearly since the birth of this daffy theory, and the site is a gem.

http://wtracyparnell.com/

And here's another bit of debunking:

http://jfkassassination.net/parnell/3key.htm

And another:

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=4269#relPageId=14

Mark,

Thanks for mentioning my site and for the kind words-very much appreciated!

[W. Tracy Parnell]

And another:

https://www.maryferr...69#relPageId=14 // Valenti

=============================================

McAdams Parnell sitting in a tree K + I + S + S + I + N + G

-----------------------------

By James DiEugenio

Posted October 1, 2013

Apparently, Dave Reitzes has an uncontrollable urge to make a fool out of himself. During those distant, far off years when he did not buy the Warren Commission fairy tale, he was in the Barr McClellan/Craig Zirbel camp i.e. Lyndon Johnson killed President Kennedy. When he inexplicably switched sides, he then became allied with John McAdams and began writing on a variety of subjects, including Jack Ruby. But he began to concentrate on the New Orleans scene and became McAdams' water carrier on Jim Garrison. The problem was, he was about as good in this area as he was when he was backing his LBJ Texas conspiracy theorem. Which means, he was not very convincing, because the quality of his scholarship and insights is quite shoddy.

But that did not matter to John McAdams. Because the professor isn't really interested in scholarship or accuracy. Therefore, Reitzes fit the bill. One of the silliest and stupidest projects that the Dynamic Duo worked on was something called "One Hundred Errors of Fact and Judgment in Oliver Stone's JFK." What clearly happened here was that McAdams and his gang (which included Tracy Parnell at the time) were upset at the web site exposing one hundred errors of fact in Gerald Posner's pitiful book Case Closed. A book they championed even before it came out. So they decided to put together a web site to counter this humiliation. The problem was two fold. In the Posner instance, the authors collaborated with experts in each area of the JFK field and therefore the exposed errors are actually accurate. On the Reitzes creation there is no evidence that the author consulted professionally with anyone. Secondly, Posner was writing a non-fiction book. Oliver Stone and Zachary Sklar were writing a dramatic film. In the latter, one is allowed the use of dramatic license. One is not in the former. Yet Posner's book looks so bad today that it does look like he used dramatic license in the volume. (http://www.assassinationweb.com/audio1.htm.) Which is not what non-fiction writers are allowed to do. But which the Warren Report did all the time.

DiEugenio has some things wrong here. First, Reitzes did not "inexplicably" switch sides. His change to a lone assassin mindset was documented here:

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/parnell/dr1.htm

If anyone is interested, they can go to Armstrong's site at Baylor and search "Reitzes" to find emails and letters between the two that show the transition happening in real time, at least as it regards Harvey & Lee.

Finally, DiEugenio seems to lump me in with the "they" that he asserts was pushing Posner's book before it even came out. I can say for my part that I was not on the Internet until 1997 and was not part of any effort to "champion" Case Closed before it was published. Anyone that believes they have evidence of this should post it. Of course, it is well known that I wrote articles defending Posner after I started my site in 1998 but Case Closed came out in 1993.

[Greg Parker]

And another:

https://www.maryferr...69#relPageId=14 // Valenti

=============================================

McAdams Parnell sitting in a tree K + I + S + S + I + N + G

-----------------------------

By James DiEugenio

Posted October 1, 2013

Apparently, Dave Reitzes has an uncontrollable urge to make a fool out of himself. During those distant, far off years when he did not buy the Warren Commission fairy tale, he was in the Barr McClellan/Craig Zirbel camp i.e. Lyndon Johnson killed President Kennedy. When he inexplicably switched sides, he then became allied with John McAdams and began writing on a variety of subjects, including Jack Ruby. But he began to concentrate on the New Orleans scene and became McAdams' water carrier on Jim Garrison. The problem was, he was about as good in this area as he was when he was backing his LBJ Texas conspiracy theorem. Which means, he was not very convincing, because the quality of his scholarship and insights is quite shoddy.

But that did not matter to John McAdams. Because the professor isn't really interested in scholarship or accuracy. Therefore, Reitzes fit the bill. One of the silliest and stupidest projects that the Dynamic Duo worked on was something called "One Hundred Errors of Fact and Judgment in Oliver Stone's JFK." What clearly happened here was that McAdams and his gang (which included Tracy Parnell at the time) were upset at the web site exposing one hundred errors of fact in Gerald Posner's pitiful book Case Closed. A book they championed even before it came out. So they decided to put together a web site to counter this humiliation. The problem was two fold. In the Posner instance, the authors collaborated with experts in each area of the JFK field and therefore the exposed errors are actually accurate. On the Reitzes creation there is no evidence that the author consulted professionally with anyone. Secondly, Posner was writing a non-fiction book. Oliver Stone and Zachary Sklar were writing a dramatic film. In the latter, one is allowed the use of dramatic license. One is not in the former. Yet Posner's book looks so bad today that it does look like he used dramatic license in the volume. (http://www.assassinationweb.com/audio1.htm.) Which is not what non-fiction writers are allowed to do. But which the Warren Report did all the time.

DiEugenio has some things wrong here. First, Reitzes did not "inexplicably" switch sides. His change to a lone assassin mindset was documented here:

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/parnell/dr1.htm

If anyone is interested, they can go to Armstrong's site at Baylor and search "Reitzes" to find emails and letters between the two that show the transition happening in real time, at least as it regards Harvey & Lee.

Finally, DiEugenio seems to lump me in with the "they" that he asserts was pushing Posner's book before it even came out. I can say for my part that I was not on the Internet until 1997 and was not part of any effort to "champion" Case Closed before it was published. Anyone that believes they have evidence of this should post it. Of course, it is well known that I wrote articles defending Posner after I started my site in 1998 but Case Closed came out in 1993.

Whether it was inexpliacable or not, there are aspects to the switch which give pause.

[W. Tracy Parnell]

Hi Greg,

Could you elaborate on that? I am very interested in the subject after reading the letters and emails from Armstrong's files.

[Greg Parker]

It was supposedly private contact with Stephen Roy which caused his epiphany.

But how does someone go from believing in H & L to being a Lone Nutter? And not just a Lone Nutter, but a fierce defender of the faith. Does the sudden realization that one theory being wrong wipe out all the reasons you distrusted the official version to begin with?

Moreover, when you argue about X incident and you argue from a point of view of not having heard the counter-auguments previously - i.e. as if you are hearing them for the first time, when in fact, you are well aware of the them, it reeks of an agenda.

This is what Reitzes did in a debate I had with him about Ferrie's death. Unknown to me at the time was that a doctor had previously had the same argument with him on McAdams forum as I was now having with him. Never at any stage let on that he was aware of all the info I was providing.

FWIW, I think his belief in H & L may have been initially honest - but I don't believe his epiphany has that same ring of honesty about it.

[Greg Parker]

The good doctor kicked butt

http://reopenkennedycase.forumotion.net/t166-dr-pittelli-vs-david-reitzes-friends

[W. Tracy Parnell]

It was supposedly private contact with Stephen Roy which caused his epiphany.

But how does someone go from believing in H & L to being a Lone Nutter? And not just a Lone Nutter, but a fierce defender of the faith. Does the sudden realization that one theory being wrong wipe out all the reasons you distrusted the official version to begin with?

Moreover, when you argue about X incident and you argue from a point of view of not having heard the counter-auguments previously - i.e. as if you are hearing them for the first time, when in fact, you are well aware of the them, it reeks of an agenda.

This is what Reitzes did in a debate I had with him about Ferrie's death. Unknown to me at the time was that a doctor had previously had the same argument with him on McAdams forum as I was now having with him. Never at any stage let on that he was aware of all the info I was providing.

FWIW, I think his belief in H & L may have been initially honest - but I don't believe his epiphany has that same ring of honesty about it.

OK, I had never heard the part about Roy, but it makes sense because they share a similar area of interest. Thanks for the information.