CBS News Reports Inquiry: "The American Assassins" (1975)

[Douglas Caddy]

CBS REPORTS INQUIRY

"The American Assassins"

Part I

Lee Harvey Oswald and John F. Kennedy

as broadcast over the

CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

Tuesday, November 25, 1975

10:00 - 11:00 PM, EST

With CBS News Correspondent Dan Rather

PRODUCED BY CBS NEWS

http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg%20Subject%20Index%20Files/C%20Disk/CBS-TV%20News%20Special%20American%20Assassins/Item%2001.pdf

[James DiEugenio]

I wrote about this extensively in my article for Bob Parry, "How CBS News Aided the JFK Cover Up".

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/04/22/how-cbs-news-aided-the-jfk-cover-up/

But what I did not know then was this: Dan Rather hosted this pile of crapola because Walter Cronkite refused to do so.

Well, with Walter, the third time was the charm.

Danny Boy OTOH, he never saw a JFK cover up show he did not like.

Edited July 1, 2016 by James DiEugenio

[Michael Walton]

From his Wiki page:

There is at least one glaring error in Rather's 1976 book: "Within an hour of the arrest the police disclosed that a paraffin test of Oswald's hands and face showed that he had fired a gun."[14] Lee Harvey Oswald had been arrested in Oak Cliff at 1:55 p.m. Texas time, but the paraffin test was not administered until 8:55 CST, according to expert Pat Speer, who has explained the tests done and their results.[15] [16][17] In his autobiography, he also claims to be one of the first to see the Zapruder film showing the assassination and the first to describe it on television.[18] The film was never shown on television to the general public, and Rather reported the fatal headshot as forcing Kennedy's head to be thrown violently forward, when it was thrown backwards. This report is sometimes included as part of conspiracy theories which purport that the direction in which Kennedy's head moved supports one theory or another.

Yes, Dan, it *does* support solely a conspiracy which is why you didn't mention it on live TV on 11/25. I've viewed dozens and dozens of gunshot wounds to the back of the head online, sometimes at point-blank range. For what it's worth, I don't enjoy watching these clips and I do it only for JFK case research. It is a horrible sight to see. But in every single instance I have not yet seen any shot - at all - force the person's body to violently slam backward like Kennedy did as seen in the Zapruder film. And all of these shots originate from the rear of the head.

So in mind, this supports only one conclusion and that is a shot from the front - and probably one that was not too distant from the limo - which violently pushed his head and body against the seat of the car.

I don't think Dan's head shot description was an innocent mistake or an accident either.

[James DiEugenio]

One of the things I liked about the movie Truth, was the portrayal of Rather by Robert Redford, who is an underrated actor.

He played him as more or less an average guy who had been elevated onto a stage and position that was too exalted for him.

Which is more or less, the big problem we have had in this country with our big name nightly news anchors. In no other country I can think of, are they allowed to wield the power, or take down as much money as in the good ole USA.

Rather took over for Cronkite and made more dough than Walter but yet, CBS Nightly News slowly lost its number one position under Rather. Until it actually was third in the ratings.

[James DiEugenio]

To me, this sums up Dan Rather and his career:

[Michael Walton]

This is a great book. It's not all about Rather but about how the network (all of them actually) went from reporting the news to fluff pieces...as in "Look at the puffy pink puddle walking down the street with Ms. Poodey."

Though CBS really screwed the pooch on the assassination even when it was supposed to be reporting "hard news."

https://www.amazon.com/Who-Killed-Cbs-Undoing-Americas/dp/0312915314