I don't think LBJ did it, I know he did!

[James DiEugenio]

BTW, here is my latest take on the media cover up of who was responsible for the Indochina mess.

https://kennedysandking.com/articles/thomas-d-herman-smooches-halberstam-and-sheehan

As one can see from Mr. Herman's bit of MSM propaganda, even after Newman, Douglass, Goldstein and Kaiser, they are still spin drying the war as:

1.) JFK really escalated the war

2.) Halberstam and Sheehan were somehow journalistic heroes, and

3.) What LBJ did was a natural continuance of what President Kennedy had done.

Plus, off of his last volume, i am going to wager that Caro will do the same in his final volume.

Edited October 12, 2019 by James DiEugenio

[Ron Bulman]

2 hours ago, James DiEugenio said:

What LBJ did with NSAM 273, and to Robert McNamara and then NSAM 288, and the whole planning for the war in the summer of 1964 while saying he would not escalate is a story in and of itself.

And I really mean that.  Someone should do a film about it.  Because that is how the Pentagon Papers started.  LBJ knowingly reversed Kennedy's withdrawal policy and he then lied his head off about it to try and shift the blame to JFK.  It does not get any worse than that if you ask me.  Propagandists like Halberstam and Sheehan then tried to say that it was really McNamara's War.  When, in fact, by 1966 McNamara knew that Rolling Thunder was not working and he was showing signs of depression and anxiety disorder.  There were days when he would go into work and stand behind a curtain and weep.  

And this is how the Pentagon Papers started and this is why he did not tell LBJ about what he was doing.  In the Gravel version of the PP there is a 30 page section entitled Phased Withdrawal.  Which neither the NY Times nor W Post printed. And it was not in the Beacon House version either.  The fact that the editor, Leslie Gelb was given access to it, shows that even suffering mentally as he was, McNamara understood what had happened.  It was after this that McNamara expressed his disagreement with LBJ and the JCS on further expansion.  And this was before Tet.  See, if you ask me, Ellsberg was not really the central protagonist for the PP.  And what Spielberg and Hanks did with McNamara in their movie was  a disgrace.  Compounded by what they did with Kate Graham, who LBJ confided his escalation plans in during the summer of 1964. That is why I say, it would make a really good mini series to tell the whole story of what really happened.  And BTW, this is all BEFORE Ellsberg.

There is no doubt that LBJ was in on the cover up.  And I also would not at all be surprised if he and Hoover were aware of what was in the wind either.  I mean they were great friends who had a mutual interest in seeing the Kennedys gone. I mean you know what Hoover did on Saturday?  He went to the racetrack with his buddy Tolson. 

That's deep Jim, thanks.

Didn't Hoover live across the street  or a house down from LBJ during his Senate years?  They hosted each other for supper on weekends occasionally?  Read that somewhere, don't remember the source   Katherine Graham around the corner or next street over? 

Edited October 12, 2019 by Ron Bulman

[James DiEugenio]

Thanks Ron.  yes, from what I have read Hoover and LBJ lived in close proximity to each other..

Do not know about Kate Graham.

IMO, it is very hard to imagine that Hoover did not know Kennedy was going to be killed.  I mean just look at all the warnings they were getting in the second half of 1963. And what kind of FBI director goes to the racetrack the day after the president is killed.

A DIrector who understood it was going to happen and was now in on the cover up.

[Ron Bulman]

On 10/12/2019 at 2:30 AM, James DiEugenio said:

Thanks Ron.  yes, from what I have read Hoover and LBJ lived in close proximity to each other..

Do not know about Kate Graham.

IMO, it is very hard to imagine that Hoover did not know Kennedy was going to be killed.  I mean just look at all the warnings they were getting in the second half of 1963. And what kind of FBI director goes to the racetrack the day after the president is killed.

A DIrector who understood it was going to happen and was now in on the cover up.

That may well be a key statement. I've wondered for some time if Hoover didn't know something was in the wind in advance, but did nothing.  For his own preservation, given the powers that be above him?

Doesn't relate but boosts view's?

Full screen of course.  I wanna know for sure... 

https://www.bing.com/search?q=wild+thing+song&form=PRUSEN&mkt=en-us&httpsmsn=1&refig=fb12c70cf45745738ce0bb21fdd89e96&sp=3&qs=AS&pq=wild+thing&sk=PRES1LS1EP1&sc=8-10&cvid=fb12c70cf45745738ce0bb21fdd89e96