James DiEugenio

Our web master got sick and this went up a bit late but its still worth reading. Joe is one of our best writers. https://www.kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/reflections-on-the-60th-anniversary-of-the-murder-of-president-john-f-kennedy

The Rivele stuff from Christian David blew up on Turner. This is why Turner then turned to Barr McClellan and his LBJ did it scenario in the second run through.

Perjury to a grand jury? And I love this one by Joe, its classic Ruth Paine: Ruth testified under oath she was deeply offended and upset when she discovered Lee had used her typewriter without her permission. LOL, the Commission was an object lesson in how to convict a dead man who did not have an attorney in absentia. Let us not forget what Billy Kelly said, if the Patriot Act would have applied, the Paines would have been waterboarded. Remember that is Bill, not me.

Dave, just remember what McCord said, if Helms went, every tree in the forest will fall.

Dave: Nice to hear from you. I think what you are saying is essentially what Morley's thesis was in Scorpion's Dance. In retrospect it is incredible how well disguised the war was between the two. I blame a lot of this on Woodward, Bernstein and Bradlee. Their stories had an inordinate influence over Sam Ervin. Which completely overshadowed the work being done by Howard Baker and Fred Thompson on the CIA angle. And Thompson's book At That Point in TIme was all but ignored. Another source that Hougan used was the Lucien Nedzi Report in the House. And that was pretty much deep sixed also. Woodward and Bernstein and Bradlee created a huge whirlpool that simply sucked everything into it, including Robert Redford and Alan Pakula. And it was that film that pretty much placed an imprimatur on The Three Amigos version of the scandal. And to me that was the worst part. Helms must have been laughing his butt off. After all he was getting reports about how Caddy's boss at the Mullen Company, Robert Bennett--a secret CIA asset-- was getting Woodward off the CIA angle and on to Nixon.

Nice one Sandy.

The CIA brought down Nixon with an almost fiendishly clever plot that, as Doug Caddy mentions, began with Hunt at the Mullen Company. And with McCord at the CREEP. Jim Hougan brilliantly outlined how this was done, including the lies Hunt and McCord told to hide the fact that they did know each other in advance. From the information I know of, Nixon did not buy the official story on the JFK case. And I find it interesting that two persons involved in the JFK case--Hunt and McCord-- ended up dropping the bomb on Nixon. In fact, Hougan begins his milestone book with a chapter called "Of Hunt and McCord." And the information is that they were both in Dallas on the day Kennedy was killed.

Jean: You ignored everything else in my post, and you did not even look up the testimony did you? Do you really think she did not know where her own sister lived? The reason Garrison asked the question was that they were keeping her occupation secret from him. And he said that to her and asked her why they would do such a thing. Well, now we know why they did it since, as Greg Parker discovered, her sister worked for the CIA for seven years. When you tie that in with all the other things about her family, inlcuding the Allen Dulles connection that Dulles kidded about afterwards, then that becomes interesting. Because it could explain why the Hootkins affair happened--before the assassination-- and why she cooperated with the FBI to disguise the Oswald MInox camera, after the assassination. And why the Buddy Walters files disappeared. Also, let me ask, Jean do you think Oswald was in Mexico City and at the Russian Embassy? Do you think he had a right to an attorney? Do you think that he felt he was a little man who could now be a big man after shooting JFK? If so why did he never say he did so? Why did he say he was a patsy? And why did his brother suspect the Paines were involved? As per Greg, he has become embarrassing on this issue. I mean if I had met David Phillips in 1975 before all the controversy with the HSCA, i probably would have thought he was a suave, sophisticated, debonair gentleman. But I would not think that after learning something about him. But apparently Ruth had a Beyonce style halo over her head when he met her.

Jean, If you really want to see some evasiveness look at the interview Garrison did with Ruth before the grand jury. In that one, she could not even remember the proper city or state that her sister lived in! In fact, she ended up misleading Garrison on that score. The point is simple I think and Max did a nice job on this in his film, which is still playing. As per Marguerite, she was the only person who actually tried to tell the truth about her son. Marina, Robert and Ruth and Michael all decided to go along with the tidal wave and discard Lee. Marina Oswald's testimony was so bad, that the junior lawyers on the Commission did not want to use her. If you want to read something funny read what Marina said about how Oswald got the rifle to the Walker home and how he hid it after. Even funnier is how Bugliosi tried to support this BS story. Then read Marina's first interview with the SS and you will see how she eventually succumbed to the FBI pressure and the threat of deportation. And let us not forget about that mysterious trust over a film that never happened from which she made quite a bit of money. Marina, Ruth, Michael and Robert were the people who decided to go along to get along. Marguerite stood up for her son and to get Mark Lane to defend him. And for that Aynseworth got a very good novelist to write a very vicious book about her. And Specter threatened Jean Hill with, if you do not cooperate, we will do to you what we did to Marguerite. So please, let us be clear about these characters and what they did and did not do.

Ben: I did not know that about Rob meeting with the likes of Brennan. Whew. I guess I should write about all this later on after the show has concluded.

That is correct Pat, it was those sources plus Gary Mack, as I recall. There is an interview on this subject coming out soon, where I get to go over the King mini series. I watched it for the second time for the interview. But there was no way i was going to read that doorstop book of his.

This is a really nice interview with Paul Bleau about the book. This podcast, That's Enough Outta You, is really one of the most distinguished ones out there. The host, Sean Kane, really read the book and asked some appropriate questions and Paul is a quite articulate guest. He wrote, or significantly helped, on two long chapters: one dealing with all the dissidents against the official story, many involved in the actual inquiries themselves, I think he came up with close to 90 persons. The other remarkable chapter he worked on was called 60 years of Obstruction of Justice. That chapter is a combination of a summary of standards of proof in all courts, and how neither the WC nor the HSCA had any standards; plus how each inquiry has been obstructed in some major way. The last being the ARRB. To my knowledge, those two subjects have never been gone over, at least not as comprehensively as this. Nice original work by Paul and Andrew. And thanks Sean.

I agree Ben. He really overstated the case, and IMO, he should not be doing this kind of thing. Another point, its like he does not even know who Sebastian LaTona was, or what the original autopsy says about the entry points in JFK and the fact neither wound was dissected. Which is unconscionable in a homicide by gunshot wounds.

Thanks Steven. Like I said it always helps when the interviewer is knowledgeable about the subject. She really let me get into the Horne/Gunn evidence about JFK's brain. Which Doug talked about in Pittsburgh. It was one of the best presentations there.

BTW, I would like to congratulate Paul RIgby on this. Paul digs up some of the most elusive yet valuable pieces of information on the web. He does not post that often, but when he does, it is interesting. This group, for instance, is out of Montreal. And I would have never heard of them if not for Paul.

A very good piece of work by Parker. How could both the WC and HSCA miss the significance of it all.? I especially like this: Hootkins was with him on two of those visits and Hootkins was solo on or about Nov 20 - a Wednesday - so probably after school or he took a day off.

Ben: How do you know that he is palsy walsy? Did I miss something.?

Parker replies again: Ruth Paine said Oswald never went to a barbershop when he was at her home in Irving and she never lent him her car to drive Ruth never denied he went to a barbershop in Irving. She advised that "she does not recall Lee Harvey Oswald going for a haircut on a weekend during October or November, 1963, and that she does not recall the location of any barbershop where Oswald ever obtained a haircut." The closest she came to saying she never lent him her car was when she said in testimony, "He was not a person I would have hired for a job of any sort, no more than I would have let him borrow my car." Again, you have to parse statements carefully because they on the important questions, her answers are never straightforward. In this case, the second part of her answer qualifies the first part. A person may as well say, "I am not the type of person to eat ice-cream, [at least not] any more than I would eat chicken. " Did Oswald get frequent, biweekly haircuts? "he got a haircut about every 2 weeks, and I don't think he ever went over 2 weeks" Oswald's physical description was "needs haircut" (FBI); "needs a haircut" (Fritz, DPD); "He [Oswald] never wanted to get a haircut. We would tease him about it because hair would be growing down his neck" (Roy Lewis, coworker with Oswald at TSBD); "some of the other male employees tease him and tell him he ought to go get a haircut" (Danny Arce, coworker with Oswald at TSBD). That he always looked like he needed a haircut is consitent with what Shasteen said: Mr. SHASTEEN. The fact is, he never did want his hair cut--he always wanted it to look like it was about a week old when he cut it Did Oswald get 5-7 biweekly haircuts in five weeks between Oct 4 and Nov 8, 1963? NO! As with all honest witnesses, Shasteen had a fallible memory, but was honest about when his recollection was uncertain. He had THREE CUTS there and THREE only. Mr. SHASTEEN. You know, that's--like I say, that's a saying--to point back, and you know, just to say that that is the first time this guy has come in here I just can't pinpoint the first time. In other words, it has been hard and I have tried to think, especially after I got that call yesterday evening to come over here. I tried to run that back through my mind and I wouldn't say when was the first time he was in there and of course we have talked about it--me and the barbers, and it seemed to me like there was a dead spot in there. Some time maybe a month or 6 weeks that we might not have saw him, be the first time I cut his hair, but the last three haircuts--it seemed to me like he was pretty regular. Mr. JENNER. What? Mr. SHASTEEN. He was pretty regular--at the last three. Mr. JENNER. So, if you had a dead spot, allowing for--let's say getting a hair-cut somewhere else occasionally, or not coming in precisely at the end of every 2-week period and having in mind that your present recollection is at least five or six occasions, that would run it back into the summertime? Mr. SHASTEEN. Yes; it was. In other words, 2 or 8 or 4 months that we had been seeing him, but I don't know just exactly to the date or nothing. Shasteen was simply trying to recall Oswald from prior to those three regular cuts and has a vague memory of someone from months prior who may have resembled the generic figure of Lee Oswald. His cuts were on or about Oct 11 or 12 Oct 25 or 26 Nov 8 or 9 Hootkins was with him on two of those visits and Hootkins was solo on or about Nov 20 - a Wednesday - so probably after school or he took a day off. Was Oswald almost black-headed? "Oh, he was dark headed--I wouldn't say he was real black, you know, what I mean, he wasn't jet black, but most people would call him black-headed. Oswald was not dark-haired nor did he look black-headed. Yet both Brennan in Dealey Plaza and a witness at the Tippit scene both described the suspect as having black hair - and by it's own admission, the WC concluded that that "this suspect was Lee Harvey Oswald." As noted by Shasteen in so many words, hair color is in the eye of the beholder and I'll add also in the biases of the reader. "Black but not real black" sounds pretty much like brown to me... Was Oswald meticulous about his hair? "We laughed about his saying, 'Take a 32nd', or he would say, 'Take a 16th off of the top', or something." No one ever commented on Oswald being meticulous about his hair. As noted above, Oswald was teased by his coworkers for being ungroomed with hair growing on the back of his neck. That's not being meticulous. It is saying don't take too much off. See above - Shasteen said he always wanted his hair to look like his cut was a week old. Did Oswald have a distinctive maintained hairstyle in which his hair was cut so short it would not lay down flat but was worn oiled and slicked back so that it almost stood up? "It was almost short enough to stand up but it was too long to stand up ... rough shod ... many times I thought, 'Boy, you sure ought to let this grow out up here where it will lay down and comb nice ..." This is not Oswald's hair at all. Oswald did not slick his hair back. Nor did Oswald's hair stand partway up. Oswald's haircut in all photos is a basic no-frills simple hair with a part combed down flat each way, not oiled and slicked back short enough that it had a half standing up fashion "look". From Shasteen's testimony. You see, hair is a funny thing--a guy can be dark headed and if he puts oil on it, he looks real black and if he washes the oil out it's got a smutty look and he never did wear much oil because about the only time he ever come in the shop, never had his hair combed and he never had any oil on it or nothing and naturally after we cut his hair and put a little oil on it, it made it look darker. Oswald's hair, to me mind, was too fine and thinning to stand up without oil or gel. Did Oswald have hairy black hair on his arms? "he had pretty hairy arms. I remember that about him, you know,. he had black hair on his arms." Oswald was never described as having hairy arms of black hair. He most certainly did have black hair on his arms. oswaldhairyarm.png Did Oswald wear huge oversized coveralls? "he had on some kind of coveralls, nearly every time he came in ... they buttoned down the front ... those old coveralls ... they were too big for him" Oswald had no coveralls in his clothing, nor are any known of Michael Paine, nor was Oswald ever seen wearing coveralls. As previously stated, he described them elsewhere in testimony as being army issue. Army issue + too big for Oswald + staying in Paine house = the coveralls belonged to Mike. Did Oswald have yellow shoes? "One morning early--it was a Saturday--he came in wearing old men's shoes. They were yellow w/flexible side sections--looked very comfortable." (HSCA) No such shoes in Oswald's belongings, no such shoes ever seen worn by Oswald. Indeed, that is a genuine mystery. What happened to those very very cheap shoes? Hmmm. If I owned a pair of flimsy dollar house shoes bought in a flea market, I shouldn't be surprised if they only last a month. Did Oswald make lots of trips across the border into Mexico? "I admired them [yellow shoes] + told him so + he said 'I'll be glad to get a pair for you. I got these in Mexico--only paid $1.60. I make lots of trips down there.'" (HSCA) Oswald did not make lots of trips over the border into Mexico. That is correct. He never. I believe this was another example of fallible memory. To the WC he said Oswald made trips to "Old Mexico". This had me going down rabbit holes for a while until I discovered that "Little Mexico" was close to the TSBD and that Houston also had a "Little Mexico". As will be shown in future work, Oswald made two trips to Houston looking for work. The "Little Mexico" in Dallas did have a number of show retailers. Probably the same in Houston. This is where he also no doubt picked up other bits and pieces allegedly obtained in Mexico. As a sidebar, "Little Mexico" is where Molina's chapter of the GI Forum used to meet. Did Oswald have a 14-year old son or accompany someone else's 14-year old boy? "Another time he came in with what appeared to be a 14 year old boy. During the boy's cutting, he (the boy) was talking politics and finally said this country wouldn't be right until the ni**ers get the same rights as the rest of the people. I asked him if that didn't sound like a Communist type gov't would work better + he said 'Yes!' That's when Oswald told him to 'Shut up!'. Neither one of them said another word. The boy never came back. It was his first + last time." (HSCA) Oswald never known to be in company of any 14-year old kid. Why is GD relying on what was said the HSCA? His earlier and more reliable statements were that the boy said nothing when with Oswald. His rant was when he went there alone a couple of days prior to the assassination. Also, according to Bert Glover, Shasteen had initially said the boy was 14 or 15. Did Oswald drive Ruth Paine's car to go on trips a few blocks away to the barbershop? "He drove Ruth Paine's car. She had a 1955 Chev, a 4 door sedan, I think. It was either lt blue or lt green--that part was faded quite a bit, but it did have a white top. He used to park it right over there..." (HSCA) This was not Ruth Paine's car. Ruth Paine had a 1955 Chevy Belair station wagon that was two-tone green, no white top. It was dark green over light green. Ruth Paine never lent Oswald any car to drive a few blocks walking distance to a barbershop biweekly. Again, Greg relies on HSCA interviews instead of what he testified to at the time. Mr. SHASTEEN. He drove that there 1955, I think it's a 1955, I'm sure it's a 1955 Chevrolet station wagon. It's either blue and white or green and white it's two-toned--I know that. He said it was blue and white or green and white two-tone. It was indeed, two-tone. Shasteen misremembered the light green as white. Did Oswald get his hair cut in Irving at all? Oswald got his haircuts near his rooming house in Oak Cliff, not on Friday evenings in Irving when he arrived in Buell Frazier's car to visit Marina and his child and baby at Ruth Paine's house. The Oak Cliff barber who cut Oswald's hair is identified, at 2005 North Beckley: https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=95673#relPageId=31. GD says Shasteen was mistaken. I say this guy was mistaken. Others can make up their own minds. But Shasteen accurately described Oswald getting haircuts that made him look like he still needed one. He accurately described his hairy arms. He accurately described Bill Hootkins. Except for mistaking light green for white, he accurately described Ruth Paine's car. Additionally, Oswald was known to frequent other shops in the same location. What did Warren Commission staff counsel think of Shasteen's story? Warren Commission staff counsel Jenner who interviewed Shasteen wrote in a memo of Shasteen's claim to have been the barber of Oswald: "This man obviously is imagining things. His story was made completely out of old cloth." (https://digitalcollections-baylor.quartexcollections.com/Documents/Detail/sightings-of-lho-nov.-1963-clifford-m.-shasteen/691160?item=691161) Jenner is now elevated to a fount of wisdom and truth? An appeal to reason Jim D., whoever that customer was, it wasn't Oswald and it wasn't Ruth Paine's car. For you to embrace this as some credible allegation against Ruth Paine for answering truthfully when asked about this is not helpful. GD, if Hootkins was not involved, an honest answer would have been "I know of no boy around the age of 14 who associated with Lee." Her answer specifically only referred to 14 year olds living in Irving. This answer very cleverly does not exclude the 15 year old Bill Hootkins who lived in Dallas. 998

Someone actually wrote me about that episode and said, did not Kennedy have a good relationship with Nkrumah? I said yes. She said you should see this episode on The Crown then because that is not what they are depicting. So I watched it and was really startled as to how bad it was. LOL, 😃 I won't ask who. I should add, when I see something like this presentation, and I get a note like I mentioned above, it makes me feel a bit better about the last 11 years of my life, in which I have spent excavating Kennedy's real foreign policy.

I am really glad you noticed the comparison which I did not actually name on stage. How Nasser, like JFK, could use his dry humor to neutralize his opposition. Bohrer's book I thought was the best of the RFK books of recent vintage. A shame more people have not read it. Like I said, the RFK of 1968 made his brother look like a moderate.

Tony, thanks for this interesting work. But then what do you make of Marina's take on the Furniture Mart episode?

This is pretty good I think. There are a couple of points I disagree with, but overall I think its an honest attempt to place JFK in historical perspective. Somebody wrote me about that episode she mentions in The Crown with JFK and his wife. I watched it and she is correct. It was almost like a cartoon which actually was the inverse of what really happened. Everyone should read that testimony by DeGaulle at 1:59:28. He was just as insightful as Castro on what really happened in Dallas. And he predicted what would happen afterwards concerning the cover up. Let me add, Paul should also be lauded for putting in that reply by De Witte. I knew that Hammarskjold was late in sending aid to Lumumba. I did not know he was trying to assuage the Belgians, however slightly. (Which would make the Russian criticism of him partly warranted.) But if De Witte is correct, that was a real mistake by Dag. And this made Kennedy's goal even harder to achieve. What happened in Congo, as Jonathan Kwitny noted, was a really overlooked epic tragedy. Let me quote the most eloquent passage in a fine book: The democratic experiment had no example in Africa, and badly needed one. So perhaps the sorriest, and the most unnecessary, blight on the record of this new era, is that the precedent for it all, the very first coup in postcolonial African history, the very first political assassination and the very first junking of a legally constituted democratic system, all took place in a major country, and were all instigated by the United States of America. (Endless Enemies, p. 75) I would not say that it was all on the USA, as the Belgians and British had a role in it. But it is important to note that Lumumba won an election, and that his government was part of a constitutional republic. Therefore, America was not supporting democracy as we said we are. Eisenhower requested the murder of a democratically elected leader and Dulles then allotted a budget of 100,000 dollars to do it, the equivalent of a million today. To say that the results of Lumumba's murder were disastrous is an understatement. And Jeff Sachs, in one of his most laudatory moments, addressed it on a visit over there.

I am glad Max put those file cabinets in his film. He did not put in the desk secretary issue since Chris Newton was having a very hard time of it since moving to California. I think you are referring to Luby's Restaurant with Mike Paine? That was really something.

GP replies to Doudna: GD's comments on clothing of Oswald at the barber shop. Shasteen testified that they looked like army coveralls with the sleeves cut off and were way too big. I believe they were army issue belonging to Mike Paine who was a few inches taller than Lee. I think he probably kept them in the garage to wear while tinkering to protect his clothing and Lee probably had the same thought in wearing them to then barbershop - save getting covered in hair. The yellow house shoes I think were probably purchased in "LIttle Mexico" in Dallas or Houston. Dallas Little Mexico was a short walk from the TSBD and did have several shoe stores. What happened to them, I have no idea. Let me add, this is what the great Malcolm Blunt thinks also. That Oswald bought these in Little Mexico. They were made to disappear after to mar Shasteen.

BTW Anthony, I showed that Nasser tape in Pittsburgh, the one about the Muslim Brotherhood and his dispute with them. People reacted like it was from the other side of the moon, the vast majority had not seen it. One guy said it was the highlight of the conference.