Judyth Vary Baker: Living in Exile

[James H. Fetzer]

JUDYTH WRITES TO ME ABOUT JACK AND DAVID:

NOTE: I believe powerful confirming evidence for Judyth's story may be found in Anna Lewis' reports of double-dating with Judyth and Lee in New Orleans, Ed Haslam's reports about having met a "Judyth Vary Baker" imposter, and Nigel Turner's documentary, "The Love Affair", which are all archived on my blog, "14 Reasons to Believe in Judyth Vary Baker", http://jamesfetzer.blogspot.com/2010/03/14...udyth-vary.html .]

Dear Jim--

Please know that I feel terrible about upsetting you or Jack or anyone. I have lost family members over this.

Please remember that history is at stake here. This is why I cannot give up, and I know you are the same way. I will never change. You can trust me.

However, it is painful to see how Jack is reacting. I have thought about it and will share with you what I think we are witnessing:

I found it unsettling that Jack did not notice the 10% distortion in the photos.

This is the very key to his situation.



What this tells us, logically speaking, is that this photo expert did not read any of the articles with the photos that you posted, after (at most) the first few lines.

Why?

Psychologically speaking, this is a case of cognitive dissonance (see below).

Jack avoids reading anything I post. Instead, he posts material he hopes will discredit me. He has to discredit me, Jim. (see below)

If he had read the article he would have known the photo was distorted.

Jack has resorted to a classic avoidance strategy that a person under great concern that he has made a big mistake typically resorts to if he feels it will destroy his reputation/self image/both.

It is so important that I am to be declared a hoax that it is impossible for him to change his mind.

I do not think Jack can help it.

He invested too much, for too long in 'two Oswalds' and Jim, I have not even begin to slice and dice this thing, for I know things he does not and will eventually get to them.



My strength is limited. Today I had another bad nosebleed that lasted for hours. It drains my strength.
I had tubes in my nose for months when a small child and my nasal membranes were badly damaged.

I hold no animosity toward Jack.

The problem we have is that if we present evidence, he is going to look worse and worse. Imagine his problem:
if I am not discredited, no matter what he does, he is discredited.

But the biggest problem is this: the truth must come out.

It is more important than me. It is more important than you ... It is even more important than Jack, and he knows it.

And more and more I blame Armstrong's sloppy research as I probe more into this -- with what I know. John Williams was told some things, so you will understand that I have kept silent on the Harvey and Lee matter for years.

Sadly, here’s what's going on with Jack, or otherwise he would have read the article where he said there was no difference between the two photos (10% distortion, as is caused by copying a copy of a copy of a copy of a photo...etc.)

Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, or by justifying or rationalizing them.[2] It is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology.

Dissonance occurs when a person perceives a logical inconsistency in his beliefs, when one idea implies the opposite of another. The dissonance might be experienced as guilt, anger, frustration, or embarrassment. The idea of "sour grapes"—from the fable The Fox and the Grapes by Aesop (ca. 620-564 BCE), where the fox decides that the grapes he is unable to reach are probably not ripe enough to eat anyway—illustrates an example of cognitive dissonance: desiring something, then criticizing it because it proves unattainable, a phenomenon that Jon Elster calls "adaptive preference formation."[1]



A powerful cause of dissonance is an idea in conflict with a fundamental element of the self-concept, such as "I am a good person" or "I made the right decision". The anxiety that comes with the possibility of having made a bad decision can lead to rationalization, the tendency to create additional reasons or justifications to support one's choices. A person who just spent too much money on a new car might decide that the new vehicle is much less likely to break down than his or her old car. This belief may or may not be true, but it would reduce dissonance and make the person feel better. Dissonance can also lead to confirmation bias, the denial of disconfirming evidence, and other ego defense mechanisms.

I'm sorry, Jim.

I had to show Greg Parker he was wrong about dyslexia and reading disabilities...We have to get to the truth, and Greg was wrong. I would not have brought it up if it were a matter of dispute. Lee and I discussed it on the basis of published journal articles, therefore, I was comfortable to bring it up. Greg said it was the 1970's, etc. And Asperger's as well--which you correctly identified as most improbable--again saves Lee Oswald's personality from being skewed from the truth.

This is why I chose to write the book in dialogue.

I have hope because you're the most intelligent researcher I've ever dealt with.

And even though it hurts -- I have lost two sons, my profession, my health over this. I pray Jack will
change, but I believe it is impossible...

Unfortunately for me and for the truth, Jack will have motivation to spread untruths about me everywhere, to stop his panic. Otherwise, he feels his reputation has been destroyed.

According to the theory, he will exit from the thread, retreating before he looks worse, but privately, he will go into action. He will circulate bad things about me to rescue his reputation. The theory suggests active campaign against me.

He is incapable of changing.

The one small hope is that he will view the documentary and will decide to call a truce. If he is capable of reading the information which he has avoided and will face it, if he is a great man, he will apologize and look honestly at everything.

But he is getting older and has used up so much energy; he may not have the strength to go through it all again.

This is why Lifton attacked me -- hoping he would not have to rewrite his book.

You have taken on a massive undertaking, but I assure you, I will not let you down.

You will end up being able to see clearly -- just as you do with the Zapruder film .

JVB