Manipulation in a Time of Tragedy

Haven’t written much on the Kennedy assassination in a while, I’ve been highly focused on advancing my career forward as a filmmaker. But I recently was watching the very well concocted mash-up series “Evidence of Revision”, a 10 1/2 hour, 6-part program primarily focused on the assassinations of JFK, RFK ad MLK, Jr. The series points out a lot of interesting and little seen aspects of the assassination. In particular there is a very interesting piece of news footage taken on the morning of JFK’s assassination wherein the man reporting, for no real logical reason, starts going into a long diatribe as to what might occur if Kennedy were to be shot. He also launched into a long bit of chatter about the assassination of William McKinley, the last US President assassinated before Kennedy. The film acknowledges how interesting this uninspired bit of dialogue was having come from nowhere and then only a couple hours later the President was killed. Researchers or people who understand the way that high end conspiracies like this work knows that a large amount of focus must be put on using the media to mislead the people. This long discussion about assassination and President McKinley can be referred to as an example of preparing the American public’s mind for Kennedy’s assassination. 

In the prevailing years when conspiratorial activity occurs, especially with the massive outcry on JFK’s assassination, which was the catalyst for what has become massive distrust in our government in the last 50+ years. In fact, now one of the primary things that the media is used for is alerting the public immediately that, oh, we all know those crackpot conspiracy theorists are going to come out and try and make some crazy theories about what happened just cause they have ulterior motives or a hatred of the government. This is being done again to try and adapt the public’s perception. They implant it in our minds that anyone who comes out against the often misleading official story will, in all certainty, be a wild lie. So it can’t be much of a shocker that now a days practically everyone in America is suspicious and distrustful towards our government, but when proven or even viable conspiracy theories come out against conclusions that this same government has reached the American public treats them like they’re crazy. Such borders on hypocrisy. But due to both the lack of education/ignorance of many people in America coupled with the fear that many of us have to accept that our government may be engaging in things even worse than what we already presume, this effort of immediately tainting the public against dissenting opinions is sadly very effective. I’ve engaged in deep research in a variety of different cases in which the government reached a specific conclusion that it’s fairly obvious were not accurate (to put it bluntly: cases wherein the government engaged in conspiratorial activity) and yet when I even bridge upon discussing what I haven learned with most people they brush it off acting like I’m an oddball even though I know more about these cases than they do. On the flip side, lots of those who actually listen to what I have to say I feel are easily swayed minds more than prepared to believe in just about any conspiracy theory if it’s interesting enough (a side which is also not preferable).

But as far as the real depths of sickness that people will go to in order to defend or cover up their actions, what really gets my goat the most were the words of Earle Cabell, who was the mayor of Dallas, Texas when Kennedy went through town and was assassination. Now, of course to save face, when interviewed he presented the notion that their police were as prepared as much as possible even though it’s known the police were told to be nothing but observers on Kennedy’s route when he passed through town. The motorcycle officers traveling near Kennedy were cut back and because they were told not to take part in the protection of the President their initial reaction to the shooting was a little slow. Only a handful of officers were quick to respond and those that responded the quickest all rushed towards the grassy knoll, not the Texas School Book Depository where the shots officially came from. But regardless of the truth, the head man of any big city is obviously going to do damage control for the situation. When Lee Harvey Oswald, the accused but not charged assassin of President Kennedy, was transported through the basement of the police station, surrounded by officers, and still left out in the open to be shot the police tried putting their spin on that as to how protected he was. It’s deceptive but understandable.

What sickens me the most about the actions of Cabell, which became commonplace and were spread out through the media, were who he held responsible for this shooting. I recall famed newsman Mike Wallace (one of the most overblown, deceptive douchebags in the history of news media - venting sufficiently completed) posed this same point after RFK was assassinated. The argument essentially was, after a supposed lone assassin killed a beloved figure, the finger of responsibility is pointed at the American people. When “Oswald shot Kennedy” that was our fault, our guilt and our burden. When “Sirhan killed RFK” it was the same thing. What’s wrong with the American people? That was essentially what Wallace said. Now it is astounding to be that in a time of national grief that the media and those in power would use that time to take the dagger jammed into our hearts and twist the blade. But that’s what makes this behavior so effective. When we are saddened and disheartened we are vulnerable and easy to be swayed. And I am so happy in growing up and becoming who I am that I was never manipulated by that kind of bullshit. Somebody does something to another person that is not my fault. If JFK, RFK and MLK, Jr. were truly the victims of lone crazed assassins, sure maybe the experiences they had, social issues they had, problems they had growing up and so on and so forth could have helped lead them to such actions, if they are the actions of one man than at most that man and those few who had great influences on that assassin are responsible, but this is not the responsibility of all people.

Cabell was one of the first to come out an say this killing was not the guilt of one man but the burden of guilt rests on the whole country. Now beyond the absurdity of taking advantage of a nation filled with sadness and apathy for the fallen President what sickens me the most is the reality that those who are making this claim in many cases are those who are involved in the cover-up; those who know that a small collection of powerful people in our government somewhere were the ones who killed a President that the bulk of everyday American people truly admired. So in turn, after being the ones solely responsible for the killing of our President, not only do they not hold the scapegoat solely accountable but they hold the very people that they robbed of a President responsible! That’s like being a drunk driver who swerves and kills a couple and then goes to that couples children and says, “Well, this isn’t just my fault but it’s really your fault.” Totally illogical! But you see, that’s the depths with which individuals will go in order to defend their stories and keep us in the dark about what really happened. And while certainly conspiratorial activities were going on in America before JFK, his assassination, again, is the one that sparked distrust in our government the likes of which had never remotely been seen before. One cannot be so honestly shocked that Richard Nixon was such a paranoid President who constantly had his cronies going out and gathering information on radical organizations and people who had a distrust towards him and his administration. Now a days distrust in government is so commonplace we often assume deception by them for practically everything they do. It’s of interest to note that this paranoid gathering of info often led to several unnecessary ventures by those supporting Nixon, one of which was the break in of the Democratic National Headquarters at the Watergate Hotel, an incident that sadly not too many of us really recall anymore. But that incident led to the first and only resignation by a United States President, and it was spawned by the sudden burst in distrustful Americans that exploded during the late 1960s (and Nixon was elected in 1968... only because RFK was assassination). On a brief side note, if you really want to get creeped out by Mr. Nixon, watch part four of the “Evidence of Revision” series. During a sequence discussing RFK’s assassination and the massive memorial afterwards they show footage of several people who are there. The last one you see is Richard Nixon processing through... with a big smile on his face!

So it’s important that we as a collective people really, truly start examining that which is said around us. When we are told something, just because it’s interesting and cool, don’t assume it to be fact. And for goodness sakes don’t trust what you are being told by the news media whether it’s on television, over the radio, through the internet, wherever. Don’t just presume you’re being lied to but use your logic. If you want to really know if there’s a conspiracy taking effect, watch the media closely after a major event and then see how things have changed two or three days later. Now sure there are inaccurate pieces of information that go around, but many major aspects of the real story come out initially and are then later covered up. Those are what changed over time. I know practically everyone I talk to say, “Oh yeah I don’t really trust the media”, but then you see these same people say, “Oh, well I know it happened cause I saw it on the news.” What? Make up your mind. This is not about completely believing or completely disbelieving what you are told but we all need to do more than just watch the news or glance at a newspaper and think we are informed. We just need to questions things, especially when we are being told what we want to hear because not only then are we the easiest to be manipulated by others but under those circumstances it is also easiest for us to manipulate ourselves. This is why we need to think things through and question them and you have to know that when the real shit is hitting the fan that such is a time when we are being deceived the most. You would be astounded how effective even a moderately intelligent and informed majority can be. 

CLIP FROM "EVIDENCE OF REVISION"; CABELL INTERVIEWS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xr4YqYmntA