Rob Couteau

I just finished watching "JFK Revisited" and I have to say it was superb. It's really a moving testimony, tightly packed with all sorts of great information. The editing is tight, the message clear and crisp, the speakers are engaging and insightful, and -- thanks to Jim DiEugenio -- it features a neatly interlocking script that smoothly flows from one theme to the next. The film also highlights, in a very subtle way, the warm human dimension of President Kennedy. I would imagine that a viewer without any prior knowledge of the case will be able to follow it without any problems; while those who have been studying the assassination for decades will admire the manner in which everything has been artfully condensed into two fast-paced hours. Looking forward to seeing the longer, unabridged version. Jim, all your years of labor have paid off and you should take great pride in this project which will be seen throughout the world for years to come.

This essay from the European website Modern Diplomacy is the best and most comprehensive review of Oliver's film that I've seen so far. "In Cannes, Oliver Stone puts the spotlight on the US establishment for the murder of JFK." July 20, 2021, by Iveta Cherneva: The Cannes Film Festival awarded its Golden Palm award on Saturday which went to Titane, but there is another movie I want to talk about. “JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass” by director Oliver Stone premiered on the beach in Cannes last week and it has got to be the most memorable and most important movie that the Cannes Film Festival saw this year. Stone got on stage and told the quick story: the JFK assassination investigation files are still being concealed by the CIA and the FBI; Donald Trump was supposed to reveal the files last year, but he peddled back last minute, and the mainstream media have not covered Stone’s investigation contained in the documentary. “They were telling me I am making things up”, Stone shared with us on the beach in Cannes. He also voiced his frustration at the silence and lack of discussion of the JFK’s assassination. Half an hour into the movie, it became apparent why the mainstream media are not covering Stone’s investigation – he delivers a devastating critique of the US establishment for the murder of JFK and the coverup. Stone’s theory supported by facts is that the CIA and the Pentagon murdered JFK in a conspiracy and then the FBI covered it up. To date, no one has been prosecuted for the JFK assassination. JFK was famously opposed to the CIA’s subversive actions in Cuba as a result of the Bay of Pigs fiasco. The deceased President shut down operation Mongoose, a CIA ops camp of 10,000 people. JFK wanted to end the war in Vietnam. He negotiated with Khrushchev in the Cuban missile crisis seeking peace, and not conflict. He was a leader for black rights. All this did not sit well with the establishment. Stone delves into all the discrepancies and fake facts that made it into the Warren Commission report, which is the official version by the US government for JFK’s assassination. The movie traces the fight of New Orleans District Attorney, Jim Garrison to investigate the assassination and the way that he was smeared and targeted by the US government. The media helped. Stone delves into the official version, claiming that the man that was accused for JFK’s assassination, Lee Harvey Oswald, and who was consequently killed, was actually a patsy, a person appointed by the US establishment to be blamed for JFK’s murder. Oswald was a CIA operative, trained in the Russian language, who moved to Moscow to join the Soviet Union. Openly, he was a Marxist but only as a public façade. It was known in the CIA circles that Oswald was actually with them. Stone delivers a critique of the official version of the Warren Report, through the eyes of District Attorney Garrison, revealing that Oswald was interrogated for 12h after the assassination and there is no record of the interrogation. Oswald was a special CIA operative that got killed to cover up the truth of the assassination. He was no regular soldier despite what the official version says. Plenty of the FBI’s investigation is being shown to be just wrong and fabricated. The Pentagon oversaw JFK’s autopsy, and the medical doctors were not allowed to examine the neck. All of it smelled of a coverup. District Attorney Garrison is shown having a conversation with an official from the Pentagon’s black ops division, who tells him that everything around JFK’s assassination looks like a black op by the US government targeting the President. All the security measures around the Louisiana Avenue convoy in Dallas, Texas, were quite the opposite of what securing the parameter would have looked like. In Dallas, they would have never allowed a slow-down of the limousine or left windows uncovered. There would have been snipers everywhere. Anything that took place on the day of JFK’s assassination was a violation of standard operating procedures that would have never been allowed under regular circumstance. Stone shows that everything on the day of JFK’s assassination went wrong. Witnesses were pressured by the FBI to lie and change their testimony about how many shots they heard, and what they saw. 51 witnesses heard shots from a second location, which contradicts the US government lone-shooter official narrative. This is something that the FBI also wanted to conceal. Everything smells rotten, as shown by Stone’s documentary. Perhaps the mainstream media refused to cover Stone’s investigation because they are unwilling to face the truth about how ugly the US government truly is. Stone shows that there were many more than 3 shots, which is what the official US government version claims. The magic bullet theory according to which one shot must be responsible for multiple wounds and entries now looks like a laughable proposition. One has to wonder: how come American society has bought this for so long? There was definitely a second shooter, which means conspiracy. JFK’s body was taken away from the regular medical autopsy. The military confiscated the body. The Bethesda doctors appointed by the military found only 2 bullets but a pathologist testified that the President’s brain “had disappeared”. A doctor who testified later shared that he was told not to examine the neck. Pathologist had to examine all but he was told to examine just the head. An army general was directing the autopsy. More admirals were present at the autopsy and were giving orders to the autopsy doctors. The autopsy was completely tainted by the Pentagon. The public can’t see the record of the autopsy. The patsy Oswald was a Marxist-Leninist publicly who acted as someone who wanted to join the Soviet Union. Publically he was a pro-Castro person but he was connected to the CIA and the FBI. Stone reveals operation Mongoose which was a training camp for Cuban operatives working for the CIA and which Kennedy shut down angering the CIA. Oswald was a Cuban camp operative too. The FBI and CIA covered up that fact because Oswald was actually their operative. When Oswald defected to the Soviet Union, the State Department supported him. No one prosecuted him for defecting. He was a US government operative, as he was never investigated. Stone shows records of the idea within the intelligence community to take down JFK. Many on the right in fact, celebrated JFK’s assassination. Stone also traces the political murders around Oswald and the CIA operatives circle. Many political murders followed, which looked like accidents but were actually political murders, a part of the cover-up. Oswald’s wife, Marina was kept in detention for 2 months. After harassment, pressure and exhaustion she changed her story and supported the Warren Report official version. The Warren Report files remain classified, all on the basis of national security. Stone reveals that the witness statements were completely altered in the Warren Report. The FBI were lying and making everything up. The narratives were completely fabricated. Signatures were forged, showing the FBI as scammers and cheats. People were arrested in Dallas and were never seen again. There was no record of interrogation. They just disappeared. Oswald couldn’t have done the shooting but the FBI worked tirelessly to create an official version of the assassination which was full of lies and fabrications. The Warren Report sold “that crap” to the American public, in Stones words. Dallas’ mayor’ brother was deputy director of the [CIA] who JFK fired for the Bay of Pigs. The Warren Commission investigation’s lead was also someone that JFK had fired previously. The only person ever prosecuted for JFK’s murder and who was found not guilty, was Clay Shaw. He was involved with the CIA. Italy expelled a company that was a CIA cover-up business for espionage in Italy that Shaw was involved with. The CIA contractor Shaw was involved in the murder of JFK. At the time, Shaw’s connection to the CIA was blocked. Subpoenas of the CIA leadership were blocked. A CIA director later admitted that Shaw who was prosecuted for JFK’s assassination was indeed a CIA operative. The FBI covered up the fact that Shaw and Oswald knew each other, claiming in the official version that there was no connection between them, when they were both CIA operatives. The FBI covered up the fact that many witnesses said that Oswald and Shaw knew each other. Oswald met with the FBI two weeks ahead of JFK’s assassination. Stone reveals that the FBI also blocked extradition subpoenas. District Attorney Garrison was indeed very close. The US corporate media didn’t want to tell the truth that the CIA killed Kennedy which is a very plausible and believable theory. Stone’s movie turns the theory from just a theory into a well-founded narrative revealing all the crimes, the cheating and pressure committed by the FBI and the CIA, as a matter of normal practice. The movie is reverting and as sexy as a documentary gets. Stone’s movie needs more public support and discussion. The media should no longer keep their heads in the sand for these facts. Stone then shows that New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison’s investigation’s funding was cut off. He faced a lot of discrediting and smear efforts – anything to be stopped. He was asked to resign. His family faced psychological attacks. Garrison financed the investigation with his own funds. Garrison discovered that Shaw, Oswald, Ferre and everyone else involved were all CIA. Torture and political murder took place within the circle of all those involved. “Even the shooters don’t know who killed Kennedy”, is a memorable quote, underlying that Garrison did not find direct communication of conspiracy to kill the US President. Stone’s theory is that the JFK assassination was a black op carried out by the US establishment. Oswald as the lone killer was a fabricated story by the black op, and remains the official story of the Warren Report. The movie reveals that Oswald actually knew he was the patsy and that he would be blamed. There were no records of his interrogation. He didn’t get a lawyer. Then he got killed publicly as an enemy of the people. And case closed. The media takes it from there. The lie was solidified. Stone shares with the audience that Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were also killed by those that want war. JFK was dangerous to the establishment. He wanted to end the Cold War. He didn’t want to invade Cuba. He was bad news for the war-hungry establishment who were happy to get rid of him. They killed him because he wanted to change things. Stone reveals the ugly truth about America and the American government. And his version is totally believable and plausible. The CIA, the FBI and the Pentagon conspired in coup d’état and Lyndon Jonson was waiting on the sidelines. As the Cuban people are fighting for their rights today, it is worth remembering JFK’s leadership, and the way he stood up against the destructive US establishment when it came to Cuba. The US has been the most destructive force in Cuba. As we look at US policy towards Cuba today, it is clear that Biden is no JFK. Biden looks more like a Republican defending the embargo and less like the Democratic leader people would have wished to see. Keeping in mind the events in Cuba today, JFK stood up against all the subversion by the US government in Cuba. A congressional investigation concluded that JFK was killed in a “probable conspiracy”, contradicting the Warren Report version. Stone dedicated the movie to “the young who will keep the fight alive”, underlying that it might take another generation for the JFK files to be unlocked and revealed. https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2021/07/20/jfk-in-cannes-oliver-stone-puts-the-spotlight-on-the-us-establishment-for-the-murder-of-jfk/

A treasure trove indeed, and then there's his great sense of British wit. My favorite Malcom Blunt exchange so far: ALAN DALE: Ed Volz ... told Reeves [that] de Mohrenschildt was sleeping with Marina [Oswald].... MALCOLM BLUNT: You'd think he'd stay awake.

The statement is for real and is included in Thompson's marvelous book of letters: "Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967." (Which actually received laudatory reviews in mainstream media when it appeared in 1998.) According to the editors, it was written to the novelist William Kennedy and utilized the term "fear and loathing" "for perhaps the first time." The book also contains another reference to JFK that Hunter penned a few years later, which reads in part: "He [JFK] had a capacity for backing off and watching himself perform, and later commenting on what he’d seen and heard with a quick, half-sublimated sense of humor that often made him seem like a pillar of sanity in the thieving, swinish chaos of American politics. He seemed like the only man who knew what was happening, and although there was rarely any way to guess what he might decide to do about it, there was always the chance that he might find an opening to do something right." https://www.google.com/books/edition/Proud_Highway/MBZFIHiJgI8C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=am+tired+enough+to+sleep+here+in+this+chair,+but+I+have+to+be+in+town+at+8:30+when+Western+Union+opens+so+what+the+hell.&pg=PA420&printsec=frontcover

Thanks, Pamela!

I have it, and when I scan it I will send you a copy of the scans.

Hi Pamela, Dylanology: https://www.facebook.com/groups/476048012559597 Expecting Rain: https://www.expectingrain.com/ The Dylan/Kennedy Sensation, by James DiEugenio: https://kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-articles/the-dylan-kennedy-sensation Stanley Marks and Murder Most Foul! — A Sequel to “The Kennedy / Dylan Sensation”: https://kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-reviews/stanley-marks-and-murder-most-foul-a-sequel-to-the-kennedy-dylan-sensation The Stanley Marks Revival: https://kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-reviews/the-stanley-marks-revival-the-prophecies-of-murder-most-foul-and-two-days-of-infamy Black Op Radio Interview with Bobbie Marks: http://www.blackopradio.com/pod/black1021.mp3 Black Op Radio Interview with RC about Stanley Marks and MMF: http://www.blackopradio.com/pod/black1002.mp3

On December 20th the two biggest Dylan blogs (Expectingrain.com and Dylanology on Facebook) posted a link to Len's interview with Bobbie Marks. Last I checked Expectingrain gets 25K unique visitors daily and the Facebook Dylanology group has 43K members. These were the same two that posted our links to the various Dylan / Marks pieces on K&K.

Thanks Anthony! I was just thinking of you while I was thumbing through his book on Reagan, because the research you're doing would dovetail with so much of it. Just as there are at least two Jim DiEugenios churning out all that good stuff at K&K, there must have been at least two Stanley Marks. We will have to channel the spirit of Professor Popkin to ask him. Seriously it is pretty mind blowing that he ran all those businesses and pumped this stuff out at such a high rate, about one book every two years since 1967. He also wrote a regular feature column in the California Jewish Voice. This exists in microfilm in only three libraries, two of them university libraries that only students and faculty can access, but the third is the good old New York Public Library. When they reopen, I will be poking through the old canisters of microfilm to see what I can find.

Yes. I have them and am working on them right now. ("Coup d’État!" and "Yes, Americans".) In addition, I am in contact with the Copyright Office and the Library of Congress, each of which may have the only copies of his plays about the assassinations; and if I can get them I will reissue them as well.

Thanks for that Ron - and my vision's definitely worse than yours!

This one is also really neat:

This (below) is a copy of former ambassador John Cudahy's review of The Bear, which features a detailed synopsis of the book. As I mentioned in my Intro to the new MMF (which is greatly expanded from the essay that first appeared at Kennedys and King), The Bear was published by Dorrance and Company, a vanity press which nonetheless paid for the book's publication. The company was founded by Gordon Dorrance in 1920, after a book he was editing for Scribner’s failed to reach the publication stage, and he decided to publish it under his own imprint. In 1954, on the I Love Lucy Show, Mr. Dorrance was portrayed by the actor Pierre Watkin in an episode called “Lucy Writes a Novel.” Stanley's next book was commissioned by the Army but never appeared in any commercial press. (It's probably sitting gathering dust in an Army archive somewhere.) The remainder of his books were self-published under his own imprint: "The Bureau of International Affairs." In his books he speaks often of the Oswald Affaire, the Tippit Affaire, the Dreyfus Affaire ("affaire" spelled the French way). I suspect this has something to do with why he gave his imprint this name. (Maybe with a sly poke at the inadequate Bureau of J. Edgar.) Bobbie Marks said that Stanley was focused on raising a family in the 1940s and '50s, and was involved with various business ventures. But keep in mind he was blacklisted in 1944. As far as I know if was pretty difficult for a blacklisted writer to get published by a major publisher during this period. For example, after William Shirer was named in "Red Channels," he couldn't find work in broadcasting or journalism anymore. Simon and Schuster helped him out by hiring him as an editor, while he quietly worked on Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which was finally published in 1960 (with the help of editor Michael Korda). As far as we know, Stanley Marks didn't write again until he published Murder Most Foul in 1967. Then he kept knocking books off about once every two years. But even with the blacklisting consideration aside, not many publishers would have dared to publish his books from this period. He directly attacked Dulles, Hoover, the CIA, the FBI, and described the murder of JFK as a coup d'etat. It's also possible that after all those years of self-publishing he may not have wanted to relinquish any editorial control.

Glad to hear it Ron! Thanks and enjoy and let us now what you think.

Jim, I'm glad that you said that about Len, because he's another person who doesn't get the attention he deserves. This (below) is the bibliography on Stan Marks that I've been able to cobble together so far. Excerpted from our new reprint of MMF. And as Jim said, typed with two fingers (but at a really fast speed, according to Bobbie Marks) on an old Underwood manual typewriter. The remarks in quotes are taken from the dustjackets of the books: Books by Stanley J. Marks Since the Markses’ works on religion contain a powerful political dimension, they have also been included here. The Bear That Walks Like a Man: A Diplomatic and Military Analysis of Soviet Russia (Dorrance and Company, 1943). History of the U.S. Army and Military Science. (Circa 1945; most likely extant only in manuscript form in a U.S. military archive.) Murder Most Foul! The Conspiracy That Murdered President Kennedy: 975 Questions & Answers(Los Angeles: Bureau of International Affairs, September 1967). Two Days of Infamy: November 22, 1963; September 28, 1964 (Los Angeles: Bureau of International Affairs, March 1969). “A textbook for government agents, lawyers, professors, and students analyzing the methods of the Warren Commission.” “An analytical and legal study.” Coup d’État! Three Murders That Changed the Course of History. President Kennedy, Reverend King, Senator R. F. Kennedy (Los Angeles: Bureau of International Affairs, February 1970). A Time to Die, A Time to Cry (Los Angeles: Bureau of International Affairs, late 1970). “A three-act play concerning the three murders that changed the course of history: President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.” (Originally copyrighted February 19, 1968 under the title “A Murder Most Foul; or, A Time to Die, A Time to Cry” and described as: “A three-act play that reveals how a Chief of State was assassinated.” See Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. Library of Congress Copyright Office, 1971.) By 1981 this had been retitled Murders Most Foul! or A Time to Die, A Time to Cry (also renamed A Time to Die: No Time to Cry!) and was described as “A three-act play relating to the past, present, and future of the figures and events surrounding the murders of President Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Senator Robert F. Kennedy.” American Dream, American Nightmare (Los Angeles: Bureau of International Affairs, 1971). [We don't even know what this one is about, although it's listed in the House Select Committee on Assassinations Report, volumes 11-12, p. 695.] Watch What We Do … Not What We Say! (Los Angeles: Bureau of International Affairs, 1971). “An account of the present trend of the Nixon–Agnew–Mitchell–Southern strategy axis to the possibility of Orwell’s ‘1984’ being accomplished by 1972” (from the title page). Also described elsewhere as “guidebook” on Watergate. Through Distorted Mirrors! The Impact of Monotheism–One God–Upon Modern World Civilization, by Stanley and Ethel Marks (Los Angeles: Bureau of International Affairs, 1972). “A brief history of the Jewish people.” A Time to Die: No Time to Cry! or The Four-hour War A.K.A. World War III (Pasadena, CA: Bureau of International Affairs 1980). “A one-act, two-scene play dealing with reasons why nuclear war is inevitable.” This is a new piece that borrows its title from the author’s earlier work. Relying “heavily” on documents and statements made by Congressional leaders, the drama is largely a critique of the Carter Doctrine (which justified the use of military force in the Persian Gulf). The play is set entirely in the War Rooms of the Pentagon and Kremlin. The final page of this publication includes a bibliography and a suggestion: “If the world is still ‘teetering on the brink,’ relax and read something more relaxing.” The first book underneath this sentence is Philip Agee’s Inside the Company: CIA Diary. Three Days of Judgment! by Stanley J. and Ethel Marks (Bureau of International Affairs, March 1981). “A three-act play.”“A mystery-detective story, written in the form of a trial, that deals with religion” as well as with the CIA and Vatican politics. The Two Christs or the Decline and Fall of Christianity, by Stanley J. and Ethel Marks (Los Angeles: Bureau of International Affairs, September 1983). The Two Christs is based on secret Vatican documents that became available to the public in 1981, some of which expose the Church’s dealings with Mussolini, Franco, and Hitler. The author discusses the establishment of Christianity in the Roman Empire as well as the Reagan–Weinberger doctrine of a preventative nuclear first strike against the USSR. Published in the fall of 1983, Marks also explores the contemporaneous fears of nuclear apocalypse and Armageddon, and the possibility of extermination through the use of nuclear weapons and the widespread use of toxic materials. Judaism Looks at Christianity, 7 B.C.E.–1986, by Stanley J. and Ethel Marks (San Marino, CA: Bureau of International Affairs, 1986). “A bugle call summoning the American populace to withstand the insidious messages used by the ‘re-born’ fundamentalist leaders that appeal for a nuclear war against the ‘evil empire.’” A Year in the Lives of the Damned! Reagan, Reaganism, 1986 (San Marino, CA: Bureau of International Affairs, 1988). “The format is written in the form of a diary; each month is a chapter.” Jews Judaism and the United States or the Impact of Judaism upon the American People, by Stanley J. and Ethel M. Marks (San Marino, CA: Bureau of International Affairs, 1990). Yes, Americans, A Conspiracy Murdered JFK!, by Stanley J. and Ethel M. Marks (San Marino, CA: Bureau of International Affairs, June 1992). The Defeat, Dishonor, and Disgrace! The Reagan–Bush Regimes: 1981-1993, by Stanley J. Marks (Bureau of International Affairs, 1993). If This be Treason…! (San Marino, CA: Bureau of International Affairs, 1996). “The truth of how citizens Reagan, Bush, Casey, and their friends betrayed and destroyed the Carter administration in the 1980 presidential election.” “Dedicated to those who seek the spirit of truth and the spirit of freedom.” Justice for Whom? or, Is Justice for WASPs Only? How the WASP Justice System Worked in Five Trials (Los Angeles: Bureau of International Affairs, 1996). [“Five Americans” (including Oswald) “whose criminal or civil trials engaged the attention of millions of people.”] Judgment Day! A Play in Three Acts (registered for copyright in 1997). As of this writing, it is not known whether this is an original play or a retitling and reworking of one of Marks’ earlier dramatic pieces. Beginning in 1974, the Markses also authored at least five guide books on stock and business investment.

Thanks for the feedback, Chris, glad you're enjoying it!

And talk about having my work cut out for me. This is the back cover of Stanley's 14th book, an attack on the Reagan administration titled: "A Year in the Lives of the Damned! Reagan, Reaganism, 1986," published in 1988. He says it's "Written in the form of a diary, each month is a chapter." There is also one sentence in the book on JFK, where he quotes from JFK's inaugural: "If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich." Then Marks adds: "-- A 20th Century Radical: John F. Kennedy. The President of the U.S.!"

Jim, thanks very much for all this great feedback - will share it with Bobbie, who wanted to know what you thought. The book you asked about is called "Yes, Americans, A Conspiracy Murdered JFK!" published in June 1992. (I listed all his political books and most of his published essays in the reprint of MMF, in the section right after the photographs.) That was his last major work on the case. The one preceding "Yes, Americans" was "Coup d'Etat! Three Murders That Changed the Course of History" (Feb. 1970) -- his third JFK book. I am committed to getting these two out as well. Glad to hear you enjoyed the interview. And Len was very generous with his time.

Interview with Stanley's daughter and myself now live on Black Op Radio: http://www.blackopradio.com/pod/black1021.mp3

Thanks, Jim! And what a great idea on your part -- to have Bobbie Marks do the show with us. She was spectacular. Len wants to have us back on in February to discuss Two Days of Infamy.

Now available for the first time since March 1969:

Thanks, Jim! I just ordered the ebook. Listened to a bit of your interview with Poulgrain and Len last night, and it rekindled my interest in the case. A keynote in the whole matter of JFK's anti-neocolonialism and what Dulles was all about. For anyone interested in listening, this is the direct link: http://www.blackopradio.com/pod/black1019.mp3

Is the text of the new book any different from "The Incubus of Intervention" (the latter which I've read already -- a great book). Do I need to read both?

Thanks for sharing that, Richard. There certainly are a lot of intriguing things in Russell's book about Nagell.

Thanks, Pete! Al Rossi's new piece hosted at radical.org includes a nice mention of Stanley Marks and MMF toward the conclusion of the essay. But even for those not interested in Marks it's worth reading: a really brilliant scholarly meditation on the question "“Why are so many people against ‘conspiracy theory’?” The piece is titled: "The Necessary Rebuff of Conspiracy (Theory)" https://ratical.org/ratville/JFK/NecessaryRebuffOfC-T.html