12-10-2013, 06:53 AM
A splendid scholarly work and a great read October 11, 2013
By Joseph McBride
The best book on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (and there are many fine ones) remains Sylvia Meagher's 1967 ACCESSORIES AFTER THE FACT: THE WARREN COMMISSION, THE AUTHORITIES, AND THE REPORT. Meagher was a private citizen who took it upon herself first to compile a proper index to the Warren Report and then to dissect its findings piece by piece in as thorough and revealing an autopsy as has ever been done (and in stark contrast to the dishonest U.S. Navy autopsy performed on President Kennedy). The logic and lucidity of Meagher's counter-argument is devastating and breathtaking in its brilliance. So when I compare James DiEugenio's new book, RECLAIMING PARKLAND: TOM HANKS, VINCENT BUGLIOSI, AND THE JFK ASSASSINATION IN THE NEW HOLLYWOOD, to Meagher's masterpiece, that is the highest compliment I can pay to a book on the assassination.
The great public service DiEugenio provides us today is to do a relentless and deeply knowledgeable autopsy on another one of several attempts to replicate and rescuscitate the discredited Warren Report. This is the thoroughly specious, monstrously long, arrogant, and mendacious work by former prosecutor Bugliosi entitled RECLAIMING HISTORY: THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY. That ridiculous yet pernicious book, first published in 2007 and later whittled down to more readable dimensions, ostensibly served as the basis for the lamentable 2013 movie PARKLAND, a dishonest and shoddy attempt to rewrite Oliver Stone's impressive JFK, which was attacked for the wrong reasons. Critics of Stone claim he falsified evidence to exonerate Lee Harvey Oswald, when he was presenting and dramatizing actual evidence to replace the falsified "so-called evidence" (as Oswald himself called it) used by the Warren Report. Bugliosi, like Gerald Posner and other overrated fabricators, has tried again to hoodwink the public into believing the phony conclusions of the original Report. These disinformation specialists have not succeeded, since as many as eighty percent of the public are sharp enough to disbelieve the official version.
What DiEugenio does so well is to patiently read through Bugliosi's grotesque pile of lies and tear it apart piece by piece, showing the contrary and actual evidence that discredits his myriad errors and omissions. His prose, like Meagher's, is lucid, sober, and yet devastatingly mocking in a subtle way. RECLAIMING PARKLAND is a great read and will be even for someone who hasn't tried to climb through Bugliosi's jungle of prose and notes. DiEugenio is one of the most scholarly writers on the assassination. He has digested the wealth of material that has been revealed in the last two decades since the creation of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. And he has made himself familiar with all the other evidence brought forth by independent researchers in books, magazines, journals, and forums (including his own fine magazine, Probe). He writes entertainingly and incisively and is an excellent teacher about the assassination.
Any reader will learn a great deal of surprising information from RECLAIMING PARKLAND, on a wide range of important topics concerning the case. This is a book for both newcomers to the case and for seasoned researchers; succeeding in that double mode of address alone is quite a feat. And DiEugenio does a devastating job skewering Tom Hanks and his recent dud of a movie about the assassination, which spends half of its time misrepresenting key facts and the other half leaving out evidence that would discredit itself and show that Oswald was, in fact, innocent. The public is following Sam Goldwyn's dictum: "If people don't want to go see a picture, nobody can stop them." Or as Sam also said, "Go see it and see for yourself why you shouldn't see it." DiEugenio provides disturbing analysis of why filmmakers such as Hanks distort our history and how the CIA and other elements of the U.S. government have managed to get Hollywood to cooperate so thoroughly in that deception. A footnote: For those interested in more of what DiEugenio has to say, go to the Feral House website for parts of RECLAIMING HISTORY that his publisher suppressed, with further background on Bugliosi and Hanks and a section on the legend created about Oswald's non-visit to Mexico. See http://feralhouse.com/killing-jfk-the-50...sary-game/
By Joseph McBride
The best book on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy (and there are many fine ones) remains Sylvia Meagher's 1967 ACCESSORIES AFTER THE FACT: THE WARREN COMMISSION, THE AUTHORITIES, AND THE REPORT. Meagher was a private citizen who took it upon herself first to compile a proper index to the Warren Report and then to dissect its findings piece by piece in as thorough and revealing an autopsy as has ever been done (and in stark contrast to the dishonest U.S. Navy autopsy performed on President Kennedy). The logic and lucidity of Meagher's counter-argument is devastating and breathtaking in its brilliance. So when I compare James DiEugenio's new book, RECLAIMING PARKLAND: TOM HANKS, VINCENT BUGLIOSI, AND THE JFK ASSASSINATION IN THE NEW HOLLYWOOD, to Meagher's masterpiece, that is the highest compliment I can pay to a book on the assassination.
The great public service DiEugenio provides us today is to do a relentless and deeply knowledgeable autopsy on another one of several attempts to replicate and rescuscitate the discredited Warren Report. This is the thoroughly specious, monstrously long, arrogant, and mendacious work by former prosecutor Bugliosi entitled RECLAIMING HISTORY: THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY. That ridiculous yet pernicious book, first published in 2007 and later whittled down to more readable dimensions, ostensibly served as the basis for the lamentable 2013 movie PARKLAND, a dishonest and shoddy attempt to rewrite Oliver Stone's impressive JFK, which was attacked for the wrong reasons. Critics of Stone claim he falsified evidence to exonerate Lee Harvey Oswald, when he was presenting and dramatizing actual evidence to replace the falsified "so-called evidence" (as Oswald himself called it) used by the Warren Report. Bugliosi, like Gerald Posner and other overrated fabricators, has tried again to hoodwink the public into believing the phony conclusions of the original Report. These disinformation specialists have not succeeded, since as many as eighty percent of the public are sharp enough to disbelieve the official version.
What DiEugenio does so well is to patiently read through Bugliosi's grotesque pile of lies and tear it apart piece by piece, showing the contrary and actual evidence that discredits his myriad errors and omissions. His prose, like Meagher's, is lucid, sober, and yet devastatingly mocking in a subtle way. RECLAIMING PARKLAND is a great read and will be even for someone who hasn't tried to climb through Bugliosi's jungle of prose and notes. DiEugenio is one of the most scholarly writers on the assassination. He has digested the wealth of material that has been revealed in the last two decades since the creation of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. And he has made himself familiar with all the other evidence brought forth by independent researchers in books, magazines, journals, and forums (including his own fine magazine, Probe). He writes entertainingly and incisively and is an excellent teacher about the assassination.
Any reader will learn a great deal of surprising information from RECLAIMING PARKLAND, on a wide range of important topics concerning the case. This is a book for both newcomers to the case and for seasoned researchers; succeeding in that double mode of address alone is quite a feat. And DiEugenio does a devastating job skewering Tom Hanks and his recent dud of a movie about the assassination, which spends half of its time misrepresenting key facts and the other half leaving out evidence that would discredit itself and show that Oswald was, in fact, innocent. The public is following Sam Goldwyn's dictum: "If people don't want to go see a picture, nobody can stop them." Or as Sam also said, "Go see it and see for yourself why you shouldn't see it." DiEugenio provides disturbing analysis of why filmmakers such as Hanks distort our history and how the CIA and other elements of the U.S. government have managed to get Hollywood to cooperate so thoroughly in that deception. A footnote: For those interested in more of what DiEugenio has to say, go to the Feral House website for parts of RECLAIMING HISTORY that his publisher suppressed, with further background on Bugliosi and Hanks and a section on the legend created about Oswald's non-visit to Mexico. See http://feralhouse.com/killing-jfk-the-50...sary-game/