JFK Revisited: Through The Looking Glass

[Michael Davidson]

7 hours ago, Sandy Larsen said:

 

Yes it does.

Since WWI Russia/USSR has invaded and...

Occupied:  Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Afghanistan

Annexed:  Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Moldova, Crimea

 

You want me to walk you through it again ? 

[Denny Zartman]

Amazon tells me that the book version of JFK Revisited is currently the #1 best seller in Media Studies.

 

Congratulations to author @James DiEugenio on this fine achievement.

[James DiEugenio]

Thanks, did not know that Denny.

I think the PBD appearance I did may have helped.

BTW, its an interesting story how the book happened and you may not know about it.

Oliver has two lawyers. One for contracts, the other one for libel and copyright.  The latter took a look at the rough cut.  And she said, you better be able to prove all these things you are saying about these autopsy doctors.  So, the producer, Rob Wilson, called me up and said, Jim you have to annotate that part of the script for Oliver's lawyer. I will send you a transcript.  He then said, but whatever you do don't call her.  I said, why not?  He said, because she is 650 bucks an hour.

Man, I wish I had gone to law school.

But anyway, that is how the idea for the book came about.  I had to annotate that whole section of the film for Oliver's lawyer. But that is really a major part of the picture so I can understand her concern.  Thank God for the ARRB and their inquiry.  The American people can finally see what subterfuge there was at Bethesda.  

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by James DiEugenio

[Gerry Down]

1 hour ago, James DiEugenio said:

Thanks, did not know that Denny.

I think the PBD appearance I did may have helped.

BTW, its an interesting story how the book happened and you may not know about it.

Oliver has two lawyers. One for contracts, the other one for libel and copyright.  The latter took a look at the rough cut.  And she said, you better be able to prove all these things you are saying about these autopsy doctors.  So, the producer, Rob Wilson, called me up and said, Jim you have to annotate that part of the script for Oliver's lawyer. I will send you a transcript.  He then said, but whatever you do don't call her.  I said, why not?  He said, because she is 650 bucks an hour.

Man, I wish I had gone to law school.

But anyway, that is how the idea for the book came about.  I had to annotate that whole section of the film for Oliver's lawyer. But that is really a major part of the picture so I can understand her concern.  Thank God for the ARRB and their inquiry.  The American people can finally see what subterfuge there was at Bethesda.  

 

Who was she worried could sue over what was being said about the autopsy doctors - the US Navy or the doctors families?

[James DiEugenio]

Thanks so much for that Miles.  Patrick was pretty well informed I thought.

The thing about Mossadegh, I should have followed up on.

See after the cost/liability study, Kennedy strongly pressured the Shah for reforms: White Revolution.  You can look it up.

When Patrick said, "Well it didn't work."  I should have said, " Kennedy's withdrawal from Vietnam did not work either. Because he was assassinated. And LBJ altered the policy"

Same thing in this situation.  Unlike JFK, LBJ was quite close to the Rockefellers, especially Nelson.  We all know how that family backed the Shah for pure pecuniary reasons.  The pressure was now gone and Nixon was even worse. He had a business deal with the Shah. And the Shah sent him a crate of fine wines every Xmas.

 

So the Savak was allowed to run wild after JFK.  With the  1979 result.

 

 

[Gene Kelly]

On 12/3/2022 at 10:14 PM, James DiEugenio said:

Thanks, did not know that Denny.

I think the PBD appearance I did may have helped.

BTW, its an interesting story how the book happened and you may not know about it.

Oliver has two lawyers. One for contracts, the other one for libel and copyright.  The latter took a look at the rough cut.  And she said, you better be able to prove all these things you are saying about these autopsy doctors.  So, the producer, Rob Wilson, called me up and said, Jim you have to annotate that part of the script for Oliver's lawyer. I will send you a transcript.  He then said, but whatever you do don't call her.  I said, why not?  He said, because she is 650 bucks an hour.

Man, I wish I had gone to law school.

But anyway, that is how the idea for the book came about.  I had to annotate that whole section of the film for Oliver's lawyer. But that is really a major part of the picture so I can understand her concern.  Thank God for the ARRB and their inquiry.  The American people can finally see what subterfuge there was at Bethesda.  

 

Jim

Interesting how the book came to be ... one might simply assume the book was a follow-on to a successful movie, to somehow make more profit.  But it really evolved from a need to meticulously footnote for legal liability purposes.  One thing that I've learned from reading your work is to carefully annotate with footnotes and references, especially when treading in controversial waters.  I also apply this to judging the credibility of other authors ... if there are no references or footnotes, that's a red flag.  Sources are just as important - if not more so - as facts.

Gene.  

[James DiEugenio]

Thanks for that Gene.

I thought the book turned out pretty well.  It was not easy, because people tend to run off at the mouth in interviews.  And then I had to track down what they said.

But I think its a valuable reference that I have actually used myself of late.

 

And the interview excerpts, over 200 pages of them, I think are really valuable and interesting.  I wish we would have used more of Henry Lee.

[James DiEugenio]

I agree with that in the general sense of what Kennedy's death did to American foreign policy.  Richard Mahoney said the same to me about Stone's film, and how it showed how everything became militarized after that.  I think this is what led to the rise of the Neocons.  In both parties.

In Iran, I think there was an element of blowback to the insertion of the Shah over Mossadegh.   And how that led to 1979.  And also to what is happening there today. Which is really something.

After years of study on this, I think that if JFK and Nasser had lived, things would have been really different in the Middle East. 

[Joseph McBride]

COUP 53 (2019) is a great and revealing documentary by Taghi Amirani 

and Walter Murch about the 1953 CIA/MI6 coup that

overthrew Mossadegh. Amirani directed the film

and wrote it with Walter Murch, who

also was the editor. Murch is the world's

best film editor and sound designer.

Edited December 7, 2022 by Joseph McBride

[James DiEugenio]

I have to see that film. 

I think I will put it in my Day Runner for over the holidays.

My girlfriend will be out of town anyway.

 

[James DiEugenio]

I just checked the rating at Amazon again.

 

The DVD of JFK Revisited is back up to number 7.

 

This is approaching  five months after it was released.

[James DiEugenio]

Checking again, its back up to number four now!

I assume this is people buying it for Xmas as a gift.

But still, whatever the reason, its now over four months that its been released.

Pretty impressive I think,

[Micah Mileto]

On 1/21/2022 at 1:00 AM, Pat Speer said:

 

Are you sure that McClelland himself told you that there was nothing suspicious about the tracheostomy? Your website doesn't seem to mention it, even if it mentions McClelland saying the same thing on different occasions.