says Vincent Bugliosi, one of America's leading prosecutors, who has spent 21 years writing a 1600-page account that comes with 954 pages of footnotes on CD-ROM. The following two paragraphs are an extract from an article in the Sydney Morning Herald 14 May that came via Tom Shipman in Washington and The Telegraph in London.
In 1.5 million words the man who helped jail cult killer Charles Manson and wrote a book declaring OJ Simpson guilty, claims to demolish the childlike reasoning of conspiracy theories that variously blame the Mafia, the CIA....etc. The author endorses the conclusions of the official inquiry, the Warren Commission, and claims Oswald was as guilty as sin. There is not one speck of credible evidence that Oswald was framed or that he was a hit man for others in a conspiracy to murder the president.
Bugliosi's technique is to expose the doublethink and distortions of the conspiracy theorists. "The majority of them knowingly mislead their readers by lies, omissions and deliberately distorting the official records," he writes, providing dozens of examples of selective quoting and wrongheaded deductions. Most Americans appear to be taken in - polls show that 75 per cent remain convinced that there was a conspiracy.
Well there you go! 1.5 million words and 954 pages of footnotes can't be wrong - or can it?
Thank You for your post. I had the honor of meeting Mr. Vincent Bugliosi at my law school in Chicago, Illinois in the late 1970's while he was pushing his book, Helter Skelter, about Charles Manson and the Tate-LaBianca and related murders that Manson and his crew perpetrated. While he is a good attorney, and intelligent, he was already a legend in his own mind.
What attack in all of those words, 1.5 million words, and 1600 pages with 954 pages of footnotes, does he use against The House-Senate Subcommitee on Assassinations Report that overrules the Warren Commission Report ? The Assassinations Committee met for a very long time, had subpoena power, and interviewed live withnesses.
Once again, I would like to re-remind everybody that The Warren Commission was overruled by The House-Senate Subcommittee On Assassinations. The Warren Commission IS NOT THE FINAL OFFICIAL WORD ON THE JFK ASSASSINATION, EVEN FROM THE U.S. GOVERNMENT.
Also, there are three types of lies:
1. Lies.
2. Damned Lies.
3. Statistics. And in the legal community you bury your opposition with worthless research, and useless footnotes, just like Eaglesham and Vernon do. Bugliosi will get along great with Eaglesham and Vernon. Instead of statistics, Bugliosi probably resorts to his tried and true method of appointing himself self proclaimed expert by throwing a mountain of meaningless research and interpretive analysis at you.
As I know better than most, you can't get much real information out of books and footnotes when it comes to actually who and what was involved in Murder, Conspiracy to Commit Murder, and Conspiracy to Cover-Up Murder.
I will read both reviews, then add this book to the bottom of my list of books to read.
That being said, Christen, Thank You for your post of a noteworthy book, even if I totally disagree with it before I touch it. I still like to know what is out there, and who is saying what about what.
Finally, I additionally appreciate your follow-up posting about there being two (2) different types of reviews. Good work, followed-up by Great Work.
Bugliosi either talks out of his ass or is on someone's payroll. I haven't read his book, nor do I intend to. From the looks of it, it's a me too work. Too is Posner.
Bugliosi would avoid any public debate on Oswald's guilt.
Thanks Bruce but I'm just an observer who greatly admires the efforts of Wim, yourself and others in trying to expose what really happened that day in Dallas.
The pro review reads like something Bugliosi would have written for his dust jacket. The anti effort is a scathing review from Publishers Weekly, with a final sentence stating that Posner made most of those points more concisely in 1993. Your comments about VB look right on the money to me.
It terms of Bugliosi, ironically, he believes that the RFK assassination was a conspiracy if memory serves me correct. He also has a great book regarding the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, which allowed the U.S. to be "led" by the incompetent and delusional George W. Bu$h. Bugliosi places the outcome of that election on the right leaning Supreme Court in the United States. In terms of Posner, the man is a total joke. Oswald is exactly what he said he was...a patsy!
I mentioned on another thread that the book would make a good door jam
Who is going to read 1600 pages of flawed information as we have the real story here beyond any reasonable doubt?...
The critics are blasting his book.. saying its tiredly repetative with rehashed compiled info and intense digging detailed descriptive commentary on his own...
I went to the bookstore just to see what the book looks like, and its apparently not stocked yet..I don't believe its going to be a bestseller
