The Kennedy Detail

[Pat Speer]

I took a quick glimpse at Gerald Blaine's book The Kennedy Detail today. It is, as Vince Palamara has warned us, a defense of the Secret Service's actions in November 1963. It is also--as admitted by the author towards the back of the book--a direct response to Palamara's writings on the Secret Service.

Now, that said, the book is probably not as bad as most CTs would think. While it writes off everything asserted by Abraham Bolden under the belief his having been convicted of a crime makes him utterly unreliable, and while it misrepresents the recollections of some of the agents in order to make the last two shots fired on President Kennedy seem well-spaced, it presents both sides of the "Kennedy ordered the agents off the car" angle pushed in the media. While the book does indeed claim that Kennedy preferred the men to keep their distance, it also spells out that this was never put in writing, that Kennedy's wishes were but one of the factors the agents were supposed to consider, and that the agents were allowed to use their own discretion in riding on the back of the limousine. It even points out that Clint Hill rode on the back of the limousine on four different occasions in the motorcade. So it's a mixed bag on this front.

On a few other points it's downright surprising. When discussing Kennedy's wounds, for example, it stays true to the original statements of Clint Hill, and says the head wound was on the back of the head. Even more surprising, in its piecing together of the statements made by the SS agents after the shooting, it actually presents a three shots, three hits scenario. Perhaps later in the book it claims Kennedy wasn't really hit by the first shot, and that he and Connally were both hit by the second shot. But I didn't see it. If the book does indeed push a three shots three hits scenario, then it suggests that Clint Hill, who wrote the forward to the book, (in which he claims he wishes everyone would just accept the Warren Report), and has appeared on TV with Blaine to support the book, doesn't actually support the Warren Report himself, as he doubts the single-bullet theory so central to its conclusions.

The book did have one other tidbit, upon which the credibility of the book can possibly be judged. In the chapter on conspiracy theories it claims the footage of an SS agent being left behind at Love Field shows an entirely innocent incident. Now, that's no surprise. But what was surprising to me is that Blaine claims the agent being waved off was not Henry Rybka--as purported by CTs, but Donald Lawton, who was always scheduled to stay behind at Love Field. Perhaps this is something which has already been discussed. If not, then well Vince P should go through his photo gallery and see if the man being waved off is Lawton or Rybka. If it's Rybka, well, then, he has the gun to blast Blaine out of the water.

P.S. I just noticed that William Kelly and Bernice had mentioned some of these points on an earlier thread. Perhaps the discussion of JFK's attitude towards the SS riding on the car should continue in that thread, and a discussion of the shooting scenario expressed in the book--three shots, three hits--should be picked up here.

Edited November 14, 2010 by Pat Speer

[Pat Speer]

Here is a typical TV interview from the promotional tour for this book. Notice how the really STUPID things are said by the hosts--filling in the blanks that this is an anti-conspiracy book--and telling outright lies about the difficulty of the shooting. They just can't wait to "teach" their audience the 'official" dogma, and completely IGNORE Blaine and Hell's refutation of the most cherished chapter of this dogma: the single-bullet theory.

Blaine and Hill on Morning Joe

Evidently this is not to be discussed. While touching on the "grassy knoll" and the "magic bullet", the co-host who'd supposedly read the book (who is this guy anyway?)immediately jumps over the fact Blaine and Hill dismiss the SBT to ask Blaine about the grassy knoll, and Blaine uses (of ALL the people in the world!!!!) Gary Mack to suggest the belief there was a shooter on the knoll is nonsense. Truly amazing.

Edited November 14, 2010 by Pat Speer

[William Kelly]

Here is a typical TV interview from the promotional tour for this book. Notice how the really STUPID things are said by the hosts--filling in the blanks that this is an anti-conspiracy book--and telling outright lies about the difficulty of the shooting. They just can't wait to "teach" their audience the 'official" dogma, and completely IGNORE Blaine and Hell's refutation of the most cherished chapter of this dogma: the single-bullet theory.

Blaine and Hill on Morning Joe

Evidently this is not to be discussed. While touching on the "grassy knoll" and the "magic bullet", the co-host who'd supposedly read the book (who is this guy anyway?)immediately jumps over the fact Blaine and Hill dismiss the SBT to ask Blaine about the grassy knoll, and Blaine uses (of ALL the people in the world!!!!) Gary Mack to suggest the belief there was a shooter on the knoll is nonsense. Truly amazing.

I don't think the TV hosts or anyone who has interviewed these guys has read the book, or even knows what is in there.

BK

[Pat Speer]

Here is a typical TV interview from the promotional tour for this book. Notice how the really STUPID things are said by the hosts--filling in the blanks that this is an anti-conspiracy book--and telling outright lies about the difficulty of the shooting. They just can't wait to "teach" their audience the 'official" dogma, and completely IGNORE Blaine and Hell's refutation of the most cherished chapter of this dogma: the single-bullet theory.

Blaine and Hill on Morning Joe

Evidently this is not to be discussed. While touching on the "grassy knoll" and the "magic bullet", the co-host who'd supposedly read the book (who is this guy anyway?)immediately jumps over the fact Blaine and Hill dismiss the SBT to ask Blaine about the grassy knoll, and Blaine uses (of ALL the people in the world!!!!) Gary Mack to suggest the belief there was a shooter on the knoll is nonsense. Truly amazing.

I don't think the TV hosts or anyone who has interviewed these guys has read the book, or even knows what is in there.

BK

The guy on Morning Joe who asked Blaine and Hill the questions claimed he'd read the book the day before. He also claimed the shots in Dealey Plaza were easy. He clearly read the book and rejoiced in its attacks on conspiracy theorists, while failing to note that the most important point in the book is that Clint Hill--the closest surviving Federal employee to the shooting, and a HERO to the vast majority of lone nutters--dismisses the single-bullet theory.

Here is a clip of Hill on Fox in which he makes his dismissal of the theory crystal clear.

Hill dismissing the single-bullet theory on Fox news.

Notice how the host is stupefied and has no follow-up question, such as "SO...you believe the single-bullet theory is nonsense?"

Edited November 14, 2010 by Pat Speer

[Bernice Moore]

Here is a typical TV interview from the promotional tour for this book. Notice how the really STUPID things are said by the hosts--filling in the blanks that this is an anti-conspiracy book--and telling outright lies about the difficulty of the shooting. They just can't wait to "teach" their audience the 'official" dogma, and completely IGNORE Blaine and Hell's refutation of the most cherished chapter of this dogma: the single-bullet theory.

Blaine and Hill on Morning Joe

Evidently this is not to be discussed. While touching on the "grassy knoll" and the "magic bullet", the co-host who'd supposedly read the book (who is this guy anyway?)immediately jumps over the fact Blaine and Hill dismiss the SBT to ask Blaine about the grassy knoll, and Blaine uses (of ALL the people in the world!!!!) Gary Mack to suggest the belief there was a shooter on the knoll is nonsense. Truly amazing.

I don't think the TV hosts or anyone who has interviewed these guys has read the book, or even knows what is in there.

BK

The guy on Morning Joe who asked Blaine and Hill the questions claimed he'd read the book the day before. He also claimed the shots in Dealey Plaza were easy. He clearly read the book and rejoiced in its attacks on conspiracy theorists, while failing to note that the most important point in the book is that Clint Hill--the closest surviving Federal employee to the shooting, and a HERO to the vast majority of lone nutters--dismisses the single-bullet theory.

Here is a clip of Hill on Fox in which he makes his dismissal of the theory crystal clear.

Hill dismissing the single-bullet theory on Fox news.

Notice how the host is stupefied and has no follow-up question, such as "SO...you believe the single-bullet theory is nonsense?"

:oit's still the old ''there was nothing we could have done, we didn't know''' still the big lie...

when will Vince be invited on the coffee break to reply... :D i think they all needed something in their coffee, or perhaps someone had doused it, whatever they all appeared to have suffered from the identical memory loss. their grey cells appear to be very muddled.;)thanks b

[William Kelly]

Here is a typical TV interview from the promotional tour for this book. Notice how the really STUPID things are said by the hosts--filling in the blanks that this is an anti-conspiracy book--and telling outright lies about the difficulty of the shooting. They just can't wait to "teach" their audience the 'official" dogma, and completely IGNORE Blaine and Hell's refutation of the most cherished chapter of this dogma: the single-bullet theory.

Blaine and Hill on Morning Joe

Evidently this is not to be discussed. While touching on the "grassy knoll" and the "magic bullet", the co-host who'd supposedly read the book (who is this guy anyway?)immediately jumps over the fact Blaine and Hill dismiss the SBT to ask Blaine about the grassy knoll, and Blaine uses (of ALL the people in the world!!!!) Gary Mack to suggest the belief there was a shooter on the knoll is nonsense. Truly amazing.

I don't think the TV hosts or anyone who has interviewed these guys has read the book, or even knows what is in there.

BK

The guy on Morning Joe who asked Blaine and Hill the questions claimed he'd read the book the day before. He also claimed the shots in Dealey Plaza were easy. He clearly read the book and rejoiced in its attacks on conspiracy theorists, while failing to note that the most important point in the book is that Clint Hill--the closest surviving Federal employee to the shooting, and a HERO to the vast majority of lone nutters--dismisses the single-bullet theory.

Here is a clip of Hill on Fox in which he makes his dismissal of the theory crystal clear.

Hill dismissing the single-bullet theory on Fox news.

Notice how the host is stupefied and has no follow-up question, such as "SO...you believe the single-bullet theory is nonsense?"

:oit's still the old ''there was nothing we could have done, we didn't know''' still the big lie...

when will Vince be invited on the coffee break to reply... :D i think they all needed something in their coffee, or perhaps someone had doused it, whatever they all appeared to have suffered from the identical memory loss. their grey cells appear to be very muddled.;)thanks b

Abe Bolden's resonse at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R25QSU0Y1TQTPD/ref=cm_aya_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1439192960#wasThisHelpful

The coverup continues, November 6, 2010 By Fmr. Agent Abraham BoldenThis review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover) I just finished reading the 448 page "Cover Your Ass" book by agent Blaine. As a former Secret Service Agent and the first African American to be appointed to the White House Detail, I was dismayed at the continued attempts by former agents to deny culpability in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The attack upon my credibility in the book, "The Kennedy Detail" was expected; but I was hoping that the former Kennedy body guards would show a modicum of contriteness in the book instead of trying to blame Kennedy's assassination on the President himself. Unlike the general reading public, I was an agent during the critical period on November 22, 1963. In my book, "The Echo from Dealey Plaza", I relate to the public what I saw while serving on the white house detail and the disrespect and hatred towards the President that I heard expressed by some of my fellow agents.

Although, Blaine refers my claims of racism in the secret service white house detail in 1961 as being unfounded, on page 25 of my book, I document by secret service file memo 3-11-602-111 the stark racism that prevented me from carrying out my protective responsibilities in Miami Florida. Mr. Blaine also states in his "cya" book that Agent Faison, who was the first African American permanently, assigned to the White House Detail in 1963 took issue with my "unbelievable" charges of racism in the secret service. If there was no racism in the secret service in 1963 then how is it that just eight years ago, 57 African American Agents filed a class action suit, (that is still pending in federal district court) charging overt racism by the agency.(see [...])?

Blaine and other agents can feed the public with the "cya" account of the secret service actions during the Kennedy area but I was there and was a witness to the incompetence, laxity of certain agents surrounding the president, the drinking and cavalier attitude among many of the agents on the detail, the references to President Kennedy as being a Ni---r lover and their disdain for his stand for racial justice and equal opportunity for All Americans. I was present among a few agents who were discussing the protection of President Kennedy in which the statement was made that if an attempt were made on the life of the President, they would take no action.

Blaine states in his book that I said that I discussed the conduct of my fellow agents on the detail with Chief James Rowley. I make no such claim. On page 45 of The Echo from Dealey Plaza, I specifically state that I discussed the problems of Kennedy's protection with Chief U. E. Baughman. I did not go to Rowley because I knew that he already knew of the conduct of the agents and would do nothing about it.

As far as agents being forbidden to ride on the special running boards of the presidential vehicle, that rumor was not circulated until "after" the assassination of the president. There was no official memorandum or other notification of such an order advising agents of this change in protective policy. This rumor is no more than a scandalous assertion put forth by agents who failed in their duty to properly protect the President of these United States.

Lastly, Blaine derides me concerning the Kennedy investigations that took place in Chicago during November, 1963; however, he has no knowledge of the chicanery that took place in the Chicago office of the secret service during that time. Unlike Blaine, I was there. I was there when in early November, 1963 the Chicago office of the secret service investigated a character named Echevarria. Echevarria stated that President Kennedy was about to be assassinated. I heard the investigating agent dictating the reports in early November, 1963. The investigation took place prior to the assassination in Dallas. On the afternoon of November 26, 1963, Inspector Kelly, SAIC James Burke,and representatives of the FBI had a meeting in the Chicago office of the secret service. Kelly and Burke were the lead investigators representing the secret service in Dallas prior to the assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald. The Echevarria investigation took place during the first two weeks in November. I was there in the office when the reports that had already been dictated by the investigating agents and typed by the secretaries were rounded up and banded in a single stack in the office of SAIC Martineau. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that these collected investigative reports were dictated by the agents PRIOR to the assassination of Kennedy. However, after Kelly and Burke ended their conference, these same reports were restructured and the dates of the investigation were changed to indicate that the Echevarria investigation was conducted AFTER the assassination and had reference to the concern for the protection of President Johnson as Blaine claims in his "CYA" book. I was there. I know what happened and Blaine may fool the general public, but he can't fool me.

Blaine refers to me as the convicted felon and uses that phrase in an attempt to discredit me and my autobiography, The Echo from Dealey Plaza. I may well be a convicted felon but I sleep well at night knowing that I did everything that I could do to save the life of President Kennedy. Can the agents standing on the running board of the follow-up car in Dallas, Texas and watching the president's head blown to pieces, say the same thing? I doubt it. They know the truth too.

[William Kelly]

http://politicalassa...abraham-bolden/

This review is from: The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Hardcover)

I just finished reading the 448 page "Cover Your Ass" book by agent Blaine. As a former Secret Service Agent and the first African American to be appointed to the White House Detail, I was dismayed at the continued attempts by former agents to deny culpability in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The attack upon my credibility in the book, "The Kennedy Detail" was expected; but I was hoping that the former Kennedy body guards would show a modicum of contriteness in the book instead of trying to blame Kennedy's assassination on the President himself. Unlike the general reading public, I was an agent during the critical period on November 22, 1963. In my book, "The Echo from Dealey Plaza", I relate to the public what I saw while serving on the white house detail and the disrespect and hatred towards the President that I heard expressed by some of my fellow agents.

Although, Blaine refers my claims of racism in the secret service white house detail in 1961 as being unfounded, on page 25 of my book, I document by secret service file memo 3-11-602-111 the stark racism that prevented me from carrying out my protective responsibilities in Miami Florida. Mr. Blaine also states in his "cya" book that Agent Faison, who was the first African American permanently, assigned to the White House Detail in 1963 took issue with my "unbelievable" charges of racism in the secret service. If there was no racism in the secret service in 1963 then how is it that just eight years ago, 57 African American Agents filed a class action suit, (that is still pending in federal district court) charging overt racism by the agency.(see http://www.npr.org/t...ryId=17358992)?)

Blaine and other agents can feed the public with the "cya" account of the secret service actions during the Kennedy area but I was there and was a witness to the incompetence, laxity of certain agents surrounding the president, the drinking and cavalier attitude among many of the agents on the detail, the references to President Kennedy as being a Nir lover and their disdain for his stand for racial justice and equal opportunity for All Americans. I was present among a few agents who were discussing the protection of President Kennedy in which the statement was made that if an attempt were made on the life of the President, they would take no action.

Blaine states in his book that I said that I discussed the conduct of my fellow agents on the detail with Chief James Rowley. I make no such claim. On page 45 of The Echo from Dealey Plaza, I specifically state that I discussed the problems of Kennedy's protection with Chief U. E. Baughman. I did not go to Rowley because I knew that he already knew of the conduct of the agents and would do nothing about it.

As far as agents being forbidden to ride on the special running boards of the presidential vehicle, that rumor was not circulated until "after" the assassination of the president. There was no official memorandum or other notification of such an order advising agents of this change in protective policy. This rumor is no more than a scandalous assertion put forth by agents who failed in their duty to properly protect the President of these United States.

Lastly, Blaine derides me concerning the Kennedy investigations that took place in Chicago during November, 1963; however, he has no knowledge of the chicanery that took place in the Chicago office of the secret service during that time. Unlike Blaine, I was there. I was there when in early November, 1963 the Chicago office of the secret service investigated a character named Echevarria. Echevarria stated that President Kennedy was about to be assassinated. I heard the investigating agent dictating the reports in early November, 1963. The investigation took place prior to the assassination in Dallas. On the afternoon of November 26, 1963, Inspector Kelly, SAIC James Burke, and representatives of the FBI had a meeting in the Chicago office of the secret service. Kelly and Burke were the lead investigators representing the secret service in Dallas prior to the assassination of Lee Harvey Oswald. The Echevarria investigation took place during the first two weeks in November. I was there in the office when the reports that had already been dictated by the investigating agents and typed by the secretaries were rounded up and banded in a single stack in the office of SAIC Martineau. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that these collected investigative reports were dictated by the agents PRIOR to the assassination of Kennedy. However, after Kelly and Burke ended their conference, these same reports were restructured and the dates of the investigation were changed to indicate that the Echevarria investigation was conducted AFTER the assassination and had reference to the concern for the protection of President Johnson as Blaine claims in his "CYA" book. I was there. I know what happened and Blaine may fool the general public, but he can't fool me.

Blaine refers to me as the convicted felon and uses that phrase in an attempt to discredit me and my autobiography, The Echo from Dealey Plaza. I may well be a convicted felon but I sleep well at night knowing that I did everything that I could do to save the life of President Kennedy. Can the agents standing on the running board of the follow-up car in Dallas, Texas and watching the president's head blown to pieces, say the same thing? I doubt it. They know the truth too.

MORE ON SS RACISM SUIT

Secret Service racism suit gets another day in court

Secret Service racism suit gets another day in court

Atlanta plaintiffs, others say promotions based on race, not merit

http://prince.org/msg/105/254563

By REBECCA CARR

Cox News Service

Published on: 12/06/07

A long-running federal lawsuit that alleges systemic discrimination against African-Americans in the U.S. Secret Service including the Atlanta field office could take a new turn on Monday.

The class-action suit with sworn statements from 58 African-American agents from across the country alleging that "a racially hostile environment" exists at the agency has languished for seven years.

The government has been sanctioned twice for failing to produce evidence in a timely fashion and refusing to produce evidence as required under civil procedure rules, records show.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah A. Robinson has ordered the government to produce evidence more than 20 times a number that far exceeds typical cases, legal experts say.

On Monday Robinson will hear arguments about whether to sanction the government yet again, this time for stating in sworn declarations that the service does not archive "unofficial" interpersonal e-mails when, in fact, it does archive them, according to court documents.

The delays have frustrated the plaintiffs, who allege that white agents routinely leapfrog over black agents despite higher scores on promotional exams, and black agents are sent undercover because it is assumed they talk the "street" language and where a white "good ol' boy network" prevails.

Cheryl L. Tyler, a former agent, said the Atlanta office was known as the "chocolate office" during the 1980s because 8 out of 75 agents were black.

Tyler shared an office with a white agent who called his child "dumb n-----" in her presence, according to her statement.

And white agents in the office openly talked about attending an annual whites-only "Good Ol' Boy Round Up" where law enforcement agents watched mock lynchings of blacks while eating their barbecue, Tyler said. In 1996, government investigators found that federal law enforcement agents from several agencies, including the service, attended the event, but none directly engaged in bad conduct.

The Secret Service has effectively blocked the 7-year-old case from moving forward by failing to release documents, testimony and communications, according to lawyers representing the plaintiffs, who seek to force the service to change its promotion system so that agents are promoted based on merit, not race and who they know.

Eric Zahren, a spokesman for the service, declined to respond to the plaintiff's allegations. He rejected the notion that the government has delayed the case by failing to respond to basic discovery motions.

"We have and will continue to approach all litigation in good faith," Zahren said. "We have always maintained that the only proper forum for resolution of legal and procedural disagreements between sides is in court."

300,000 documents turned over

Over the past seven years, the service has provided more than 300,000 documents in response to numerous motions filed by attorneys for the plaintiffs, Zahern said. In those documents, the government has tried, unsuccessfully, to get the case dismissed because "there is no genuine issue as to any material fact regarding plaintiff's claims concerning discriminatory testing, hiring, discipline and undercover assignments." Court documents say revealing too much information would thwart the mission of the Secret again."

And that is why, Summerour says, she won't give up the legal fight. She is home. She finally has her promotion. But she looks at the young African-Americans coming up the ranks and doesn't want it to happen to them.

"Make no mistake, if it takes another 8 years, if it takes until after I retire, I will see this through," she said.

30 years of discrimination?

In sworn statements filed with the court, black agents allege more than three decades of discriminatory practices. They say that while they now number about 10 percent of the service's estimated 2,500 agents, a "white man's network" keeps them from reaching the upper rungs of management. When the lawsuit was first filed in 2000 by veteran civil rights lawyer John Relman, the number of blacks in the top tier was said to be 4.2 percent. The service disputes those figures in legal documents.

The service declined to confirm those figures or to say how many blacks it has on its force today and how many of them are in senior management positions.

So far, the alleged discrimination has failed to undermine the mission of Secret Service Agent Reginald G. Moore, an Atlanta native who is the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Moore finds himself leading the service's African-American agents who want to end discrimination that he believes kept him from being promoted at least 140 times. In most cases the agent promoted was white, had less experience and a lower score on the promotions exam, he said.

But on a June day in 1999, Moore walked into the White House Joint Operation Center with the confident air of a man about to be promoted. Moore had recently completed his fifth high-risk mission overseas guarding then-President Clinton, long-considered a must to advance to the next level.

He had the acting supervisor title, complete with office, car and the keys to the entire White House complex. He had scored 97.03 out of 100 on the service's promotion exam. His evaluation glowed, stating that he "completes each and every assignment with the tact, diplomacy and professionalism consistent with the highest traditions of the Secret Service."

Everyone said the job would be his. Except it wasn't. As Moore entered the center that warm day, an agent looked up from his desk. The promotions list had been posted. "Sorry, just heard," he said. A white agent, who had scored about the same on the exam 97.27 out of 100 got the job even though he never served on the presidential detail.

Moore was ordered to train the new supervisor and report to work in Dallas, a move that require uprooting his pregnant wife and daughter. It was a turning point for Moore, an agent who had worked his way up through the service's ranks after graduating from the University of West Georgia in Carrollton.

He hired Relman and filed a federal lawsuit alleging discrimination against the some 200 black agents in the service in 2000. Seven years later, Moore is still fighting, despite winning a promotion to the highest level of the service, a GS-15.

Moore stays because he wants to ensure that the hiring and promotion policies are permanently changed to make it fair for black and minority agents in the future.

"I want to be sure that the good ol' boy network doesn't stop a black agent in the future," Moore said.

How often is "IT"..........as good as it looks?

ABC News:

http://abcnews.go.co...id=95967&page=1

Current and former agents suing the Secret Service revealed evidence today they say shows the agency has condoned and refused to stop racist acts.

During a Washington press conference this morning, attorneys for the 10 African-American agents who filed a class-action civil lawsuit in May said the agency has demonstrated a pattern of failing to follow up on allegations of racial discrimination over the last 20 years. The lawsuit alleges the agency has discriminated against the black agents through hiring practices, assignments, lateral transfers, promotion opportunities and bonuses. Further, they said, agents who have complained of discrimination have faced retaliation.

The agents including those assigned to protect the president and vice president revealed some of their personal experiences at this morning's press conference.

'It's Chilling'

Robert Moore, who retired from the service in 1993 after 22 years, described an incident he said occurred in the Houston field office. While returning by car from an assignment with five colleagues, one agent, a former Houston cop, used the "N-word" while telling stories about his time on the police force, Moore said. When he complained to authorities in his field office, he said he was told not to be so "thin-skinned."

"My evaluations were downgraded, and I was given demeaning assignments until I left that office," Moore said. "It's typical."

The attorneys played an audio tape of threats phoned in to a dedicated line at black agent Ken Banner's home in Philadelphia in 1990. Only Banner's colleagues knew the number, he says.

"You little n," one tape said. "You better leave Philly or you'll never leave alive."

"It's chilling for anybody to come home and hear that on a tape machine, much less on a tape machine dedicated to an employer," attorney David J. Shaffer said.

Leroy Hendricks, currently assigned to Vice President Al Gore's detail, described his first assignment while in the Springfield, Ill., field office advance work for Marilyn Quayle. He sat through a dinner with fellow agents and local police who told racial jokes all evening. "I thought it was an initiation," he said.

Attorney Ron Schmidt said black agents assigned to protect Gore complained about the racial atmosphere on the detail, but the agency would not divulge its report on the complaints.

'Good Ole Boys'

Shaffer also revealed new evidence of Secret Service members being involved in the "Good Ole Boy Roundup" in Tennessee.

The roundup has been described as a "whites-only" gathering of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and other federal law-enforcement officers and at which these agents discriminated against blacks by posting racist signs, wearing racist T-shirts, performing racist skits and playing racist music. The roundup was allegedly held annually in Tennessee over a period of 16 years.

"The roundup was the good ole boy roundup," Shaffer said, "and the good ole boys of the Secret Service still run this agency. They just do it covertly and secretly in private meetings held in Washington."

The lawsuit claims in two separate years a white Secret Service agent was elected president of the roundup, and one year an agent was elected, "Redneck of the Year."

At this morning's press conference, two agents who worked in the Atlanta field office said they knew of co-workers who attended the roundup and saw flyers promoting the event.

"They taunted me: 'You should come, you'd get a bang out of it,'" said former agent Janelle Walker Clark.

Atmosphere of Harassment?

In May, the 10 agents filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Secret Service.

The suit charging a pervasive atmosphere of racial harassment and retaliation against those who challenged the status quo seeks compensation for the agents; an injunction barring the Secret Service from continuing illegal discriminatory practices; and an order requiring it to reform its employment policies and practices.

Leroy Hendricks, currently assigned to Vice President Al Gore's detail, described his first assignment while in the Springfield, Ill., field office advance work for Marilyn Quayle. He sat through a dinner with fellow agents and local police who told racial jokes all evening. "I thought it was an initiation," he said.

Attorney Ron Schmidt said black agents assigned to protect Gore complained about the racial atmosphere on the detail, but the agency would not divulge its report on the complaints.

'Good Ole Boys'

Shaffer also revealed new evidence of Secret Service members being involved in the "Good Ole Boy Roundup" in Tennessee.

The roundup has been described as a "whites-only" gathering of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and other federal law-enforcement officers and at which these agents discriminated against blacks by posting racist signs, wearing racist T-shirts, performing racist skits and playing racist music. The roundup was allegedly held annually in Tennessee over a period of 16 years.

"The roundup was the good ole boy roundup," Shaffer said, "and the good ole boys of the Secret Service still run this agency. They just do it covertly and secretly in private meetings held in Washington."

The lawsuit claims in two separate years a white Secret Service agent was elected president of the roundup, and one year an agent was elected, "Redneck of the Year."

At this morning's press conference, two agents who worked in the Atlanta field office said they knew of co-workers who attended the roundup and saw flyers promoting the event.

"They taunted me: 'You should come, you'd get a bang out of it,'" said former agent Janelle Walker Clark.

Atmosphere of Harassment?

In May, the 10 agents filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia against the Secret Service.

The suit charging a pervasive atmosphere of racial harassment and retaliation against those who challenged the status quo seeks compensation for the agents; an injunction barring the Secret Service from continuing illegal discriminatory practices; and an order requiring it to reform its employment policies and practices.

Edited November 15, 2010 by William Kelly

[Bernice Moore]

http://www.ntxe-news.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=34&num=56336&printer=1

READ THIS CRAP; THEY MUST BE HARD UP TO BEGIN ADDING SUCH BALONEY...OR CONCERNED...

[John Dolva]

Does the book mention who among the detail was/were friends with SS Einsatzgruppenfuhrer Ewald Peters? (who was rehabilitated to the post of West German Chancellor Adenours and Gerharts Head of Security, in the US early november, early december, late december. Unmasked by East German Nazi hunters, arrested and suicided in early 64.)

edit add :it would be interesting if he was processed by Walker

Edited November 15, 2010 by John Dolva

[Pat Speer]

http://www.ntxe-news.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=34&num=56336&printer=1

READ THIS CRAP; THEY MUST BE HARD UP TO BEGIN ADDING SUCH BALONEY...OR CONCERNED...

Thanks, Bernice. That was most enlightening. While it's clear Mike Howard has a fuzzy memory--he claims he saw Marilyn Monroe--who died in 1962--at a party at which a 1963 Elvis movie was played--there could be more to it. His blurring of Oswald's letter to Connally, and his subsequent letter to Hosty, into a murder plan written in a journal...that was made to disappear by the FBI...is MOST convenient...

seeing as Howard was investigated by the FBI for spreading false rumors about the assassination, and, according to Howard's own brother, HAD LIED to the FBI about his spreading such rumors...

This guy's a royal jerk...or worse. It would have been beautiful if someone familiar with the case had stood up and nailed him in front of his audience...

From patspeer.com, chapter 4b:

A 2-9-64 article in the Fort Worth Star Telegram gives us even greater reason to suspect Givens had deliberately changed his story. According to the article, written by Thayer Waldo, a Secret Service agent had boasted that a negro witness, who "had been arrested in the past by the Special Services office of the Dallas Police for gambling" had come forward, and had claimed to have seen Oswald actually fire the shots that killed Kennedy. According to Waldo, who claimed to have sat in on a conversation between this agent and another man, the agent said "Wait till that old black boy gets up in front of the Warren Commission and tells his story. That will settle everything. Yes, sir. He was right there on the same floor, looking out the next window; and, after the first shot, he looked and saw Oswald, and then he ran. I saw him in the Dallas Police station. He was still the scaredest n I ever seen. I heard him tell the officer, 'Man you don't know how fast fast is, because you didn't see me run that day.' He said he ran and hid behind the boxes because he was afraid that Oswald would shoot him." As Givens was the only school book depository employee with a notable police record, and was also one of the very few to have seen Oswald in the hour before the shooting, the "negro witness" described in the article is most certainly Givens.

Since Givens never signed a statement or offered testimony describing these events, however, it suggests that either Givens had lied to the police, the agent was lying to Waldo, or that Waldo himself had embellished his story. Perhaps the agent, who Waldo would later reveal to be Mike Howard, had merely indicated that Givens' story was damaging to Oswald, and Waldo had filled in the blanks.

On 2-13-64 the FBI looked into this story. They contacted Jack Revill, a Lieutenant in the Dallas PD's Special Service Bureau. Revill told them the man described in the article was most logically Charles Givens. Revill told them that Givens had a history of drug use and “would change his story for money”. Revill told them, furthermore, that although he thought the character in the story was Givens, "that when Givens was interviewed immediately after the assassination, he stated he was not in the building at the time of the assassination." The FBI report then recounts Givens' earlier story that he went down for lunch around 11:30, and that, as he went down, he heard Oswald yell out and ask to have the elevator sent back up. (CD735, p295-296).

Months later, after Waldo's story was dredged up by Mark Lane as an indication the Secret Service had been planting false stories in the press, the FBI re-investigated. On May 28, 1964, the FBI wrote a report after talking with agent Mike Howard. (25H844-845). While Howard admitted that he and his brother, Deputy Sheriff Pat Howard, had had a conversation with Waldo, he claimed they did not know he was a reporter, and that they'd never discussed a negro witness to the shooting. On this same day Waldo signed a sworn statement backing his published version of the story. (25H846-848). A few days later, the Bureau contacted Pat Howard, and he admitted that he and his brother had told Waldo about a negro employee with a criminal record who had fled the building after the shots, for fear he would be implicated. (25H849-850) This is clearly a reference to Givens. If the Howards were telling the truth, and they just mentioned Givens because they thought his flight was an "amusing incident," it seems an incredible coincidence that Givens would shortly thereafter change his story and help the Warren Commission put the rifle in Oswald's hand.

Edited November 15, 2010 by Pat Speer

[Bernice Moore]

thankyou Pat for the information, it appears that mike has had a problem with telling stories for some time, i thought the same, wouldn't it have been grand if say vince had been sitting in that audience,but it appears they were all go alongs, interesting that both mike howard and charlie kunkel both ssa had been assigned to the dallas ss office kunkel had been transferred there in june, and it appears that they are somehow involved in the other paper bag package, information, see paul rigby's post chapter 7 ,from the book ''murder from within.'' and that in one story kunkel is in washington at the time of the assassination,i believe that is also from mike at that time, but there he was with the other package in dallas...thanks b

Edited November 16, 2010 by Bernice Moore

[John Dolva]

Does the book mention who among the detail was/were friends with SS Einsatzgruppenfuhrer Ewald Peters? (who was rehabilitated to the post of West German Chancellor Adenours and Erharts Head of Security, in the US early november, early december, late december. Unmasked by East German Nazi hunters, arrested and suicided in early 64.)

edit add :it would be interesting if he was processed by Walker

Perhaps the answer lies with the following? : ''Blaine rode on the rear of JFK's limousine in Germany in June 1963, along with fellow Texas trip veterans Paul A. Burns and Samuel E. Sulliman''

[Michael Hogan]

From miaminewtimes.com

JFK Secret Service Agent Breaks Silence: Oswald Acted Alone

by Sebastian Del Marmol

January 13, 2011

Excerpt:

New Times: You have said that the Warren Commissions findings--including that there was a single gunman--are accurate. Why are you so sure?

Gerald Blaine: I am totally convinced that the Warren Commission was correct in its findings. It did fail to call two key witnesses who could have testified to correct the "Magic Bullet" theory. The two were the follow-up car driver, Special Agent Sam Kinney, and the shift leader ATSAIC Emory Roberts. Both of these men were approximately 12 feet from the President, in the front seat of the follow-up car when the three shots were fired. Each of these agents saw all three bullets hit their mark. The driver never takes his eye off the presidential limousine since the cars stayed approximately 5 to 6 feet apart. Even though these men did not testify, there is so much evidence in the Warren Report and the supporting volumes of evidence that there is no doubt there was one lone shooter who fired three bullets from a perfect vantage point and all three shots found their mark.

Why then is there so much interest in creating or concocting conspiracy theories?

Conspiracy theory has become a "Cottage Industry", yet after 47 years there is not one solid piece of evidence that a conspiracy existed. Any good investigator knows that a conspiracy seldom lasts more than 60 days. In reality, except for the attempt on President Harry S. Truman that failed when two political nationals from Puerto Rico attempted to storm the Blair House in 1950, every assassination or assassination attempt against the Office of the President, (as well that of) Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, was committed by lone disturbed assassins.

The major reason the "Kennedy Detail" was written is to save history from these bizarre theories being mistaken as fact, otherwise they would have been the only testimony of what could have occurred rather than what did occur. No one would ever trust recorded history again. That is why the agents who were there decided to speak out and fill in the gaps.

Why do those theories sill hold so much appeal even today?

The unfortunate aspect of these theories is that each individual picked his own enemy to blame, be it the right wing, left wing, Cuba, Russia, CIA, President (Lyndon) Johnson, FBI, Secret Service, organized crime, military defense contractors, etc. These were followed up by Hollywood with Oliver Stone's movie JFK that combined them all in one movie. This started theories to cascade. The result is that our youth of today do not trust government, yet this very (month) a lone individual killed six individuals and seriously wounded a congresswoman. The end result will be that this individual had the same deficiencies that Lee Harvey Oswald did.

Nobody wanted to believe that one individual assassinated their dear president. It was the end of the era of innocence and the start of rebellion and mistrust that has grown progressively since that time.

What is the most misrepresented aspect of the assassination?

Just about every theory I have heard totally misrepresented the facts and the available evidence. When they started accusing deceased agents of being part of a conspiracy or of shooting the president either accidentally or on purpose, it was time to break our silence and present the facts.

[Don Jeffries]

Thanks, Mike, for sharing that.

This Blaine is a real piece of work. So the agents saw "all three bullets hit their mark?" So they never took their eyes off the limousine? So it is acknowledged that they were only 12 feet from the limo at the time of the shots? Did this disgraceful man even do any basic research about the assassination? Like Gov. Connally, he appears oblivious to the fact that the "three bullets hit their mark" assertion, and the dismissal of the SBT, alone repudiates the lone assassin thesis he is so beligerantly defending.

WHY is anyone defending trained professionals, who never moved a muscle towards the man they were sworn to protect, during the app. six seconds from first shot to last? Blaine is admitting they were only 12 feet from the limo; does anyone honestly think that none of these agents could traversed that distance before the head shot? Without realizing it, Blaine is condemning these agents for, at best, utter dereliction of duty. If they never took their eyes off the limo, and were only 12 feet away, they directly allowed the head shot to end the life of John F. Kennedy.

It's a real shame that the attention we've paid to this worthless book has helped it sell so well.

[Michael Hogan]

Thanks, Mike, for sharing that.

This Blaine is a real piece of work. So the agents saw "all three bullets hit their mark?" So they never took their eyes off the limousine? So it is acknowledged that they were only 12 feet from the limo at the time of the shots? Did this disgraceful man even do any basic research about the assassination? Like Gov. Connally, he appears oblivious to the fact that the "three bullets hit their mark" assertion, and the dismissal of the SBT, alone repudiates the lone assassin thesis he is so beligerantly defending.

WHY is anyone defending trained professionals, who never moved a muscle towards the man they were sworn to protect, during the app. six seconds from first shot to last? Blaine is admitting they were only 12 feet from the limo; does anyone honestly think that none of these agents could traversed that distance before the head shot? Without realizing it, Blaine is condemning these agents for, at best, utter dereliction of duty. If they never took their eyes off the limo, and were only 12 feet away, they directly allowed the head shot to end the life of John F. Kennedy.

It's a real shame that the attention we've paid to this worthless book has helped it sell so well.

I forgot to include the link to that article: http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/cultist/2011/01/jfk_secret_service_agent_break.php