Early November seems to be one of the times of the year that I have trouble deciding on what historical events to write about that are deserving of commentary articles relating to current world events. Just considering the history of fascism, racism, corporatism, excess wealth and war-making (some of my favorite themes), this month seems to stand out. November 9 alone is the date of the surrender of General Robert E. Lee in 1865, the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm in 1918, the Nazi Beer Hall Putsch in 1923, Krystallnacht in 1938 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. November 10, 1489 is the birthday of Martin Luther, the great Protestant Revolutionary and anti-Semite that the Nazis revered. And then there is the November 11 date of Armistice Day, 1918, commemorating the end of the so-called “War to End All Wars”. (Armistice Day in the US has now had its purpose totally changed into a national holiday that is indistinguishable from Memorial Day that is called Veteran’s Day.)

Of course, this year the most important November date is the 22nd, the event that changed the course of world history - is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy in Dallas TX.. The assassination and subsequent  cover-up of the obvious conspiracy plot to get rid of the popular, left-leaning, peacemaker, anti-corruption, anti-organized crime president is a good example of how and why powerful anti-democracy groups conspire to orchestrate false flag operations, cover-up their deeds and create scapegoats to take the blame.

These powerful, ultra-rich, wealthy, and unelected anti-democracy groups have the motives, means and opportunities to accomplish treasonous acts and get away with them. They also have the resources (including control or ownership of media outlets, propaganda machinery, lapdog politicians, well-paid lobbyists and rafts of lawyers) to do the mind control, brain-washing and advertising to convince us naïve, ignorant and distracted folks to believe the Big Lies – laughing, as they say, all the way to the bank.

Since JFK’s assassination, there have been several copycat assassinations that have destroyed progressive movements that were offering hope for the war-weary, unemployed, impoverished, discriminated-against and down-trodden. These courageous progressive movements were seen as mortal enemies of psychopathic corporations and the ruling elite who worshipped at the altars of war and money.  These ruthless groups saw that their political and economic power were at risk of being taken away from them.  These wealthy conservatives were very willing to do whatever was necessary to keep things the way they always have been.

There is abundant evidence that these ruling elites (the 1%), along with help from their hireling enforcers in the FBI, CIA, NSA, Pentagon, Mafia and local law enforcement (often with the help of hired professional assassins) have often conspired to assassinate progressive leaders like Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr, Robert Kennedy and Paul Wellstone, and even some other minor prophetic voices who were equally courageous heroes who were also willing to sacrifice themselves by opposing the agendas of right-wing war-profiteers, weapons-makers, industrial giants, racists, organized crime, rabid anti-communists and other assorted quasi-fascist factions. All one has to do is look at the massive evidence that has often been recommended in any number of my past Duty to Warn columns. (Find some of them in the Reader Weekly archives at: http://duluthreader.com/articles/categories/200_Duty_to_Warn.

Just this past week, in an NBC interview, Secretary of State John Kerry let it slip on that he didn’t believe that Lee Harvey Oswald was the lone assassin of JFK. When pushed to elaborate, he refused, saying it was just a personal opinion. Similarly, a month ago, on PBS’s McClaughlin Group show, Pat Buchanan showed that he believed (contradicting the official story and affirming what large percentages of the informed American public suspects) that the World Trade Center towers were not brought down by fires, but were demolished by controlled demolition when he blurted out that “Al Queda blew up the Twin Towers” on 9/11/01.

I remember reading an interview of Richard Nixon that inadvertently revealed that J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI had been involved propagating the cover story that Lee Harvey Oswald was to be fingered as the “lone assassin”. Nixon had called up Hoover 20 minutes after Kennedy had been shot. Hoover,(head of the FBI, and devious above-the-law law-breaker himself, was a rabid racist and Kennedy-hater) told Nixon that “a commonist” (sic) was the one who had shot the president. Given the fact that Oswald had neither been found nor arrested for a couple of hours after the shooting, Hoover was essentially admitting that he had already been involved in a frame-up of Oswald.His statement represented foreknowledge of events that nobody else knew about and therefore Hoover was complicit in the crime - proving the truth of what Oswald was heard to say to journalists on national television the day before he himself was silenced: “I’m just a patsy”.

I write this essay to forewarn readers about the deluge of JFK retrospectives that are coming over the next few weeks leading up the November 22.  The mainstream media will be essentially telling us: “never mind about the conspiracy theories about who killed JFK, they are just coming from silly conspiracy theorists”; “don’t look at the evidence) (that demands a real independent re-investigation); “believe us ‘experts’ we know what is best for you”; “the issue is dead, the history books have been published  and everything has been neatly wrapped up, so don’t go rocking the boat”: “it was a demented lone assassin, rather than a plot, that killed Kennedy.”

To those who still have a skeptical and open mind: Be aware that most of the JFK coverage for the next two weeks (and, sadly, probably even from most of public radio) will consist of attempts to reinforce the official account that came out of the corrupted Warren Commission (eerily similar to what came from most of the corrupted 9/11 Commissioners). The selective testimony, the censored-out documents that didn’t fit with the foregone conclusions and the secretive way that the forensic evidence was handled by official government agencies after the JFK, MLK, RFK and Wellstone killings points to cover-up. And how Oswald, James Earl Ray and Sirhan Sirhan, the accused assassins of JFK, MLK and RFK were handled have all the fingerprints of economically, politically and militarily powerful groups manipulating the unwelcome truths of what really happened.

One of the best of a number of well-documented books that presents the evidence that contradicts the official Big Lies is JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters, written by James Douglass.

The remainder of this essay consists of extended excerpts from a book review of Douglass’ powerful Amazon.com book written by blogger Nick Anez (dated June 8, 2008). Anez does a wonderfull job of pointing out many of the painful realities about the JFK conspiracy as Douglas has uncovered them.

Anez writes: “Many excellent books have proven that the assassination of JFK was the result of a conspiracy. Douglass … scrutinizes the historical facts surrounding the assassination, from the creation of the CIA to the gradual obliteration of the freedoms upon which this nation was founded.

“This book is primarily the story of John F. Kennedy who changes from a Cold Warrior to an altruistic leader willing to risk his life to ensure that the world’s children will not become victims of a nuclear catastrophe. … the book is a tragedy because it gradually becomes obvious that each step he makes toward peace steadily increases the hatred of his enemies who will eventually betray him.

“It is also the story of the designated patsy, Lee Harvey Oswald. Moved around the country like a pawn by government agencies (as was the second “Oswald”), he was being set up as the scapegoat. … Simultaneously, the Soviet Union was being set up as the evil empire behind the assassination, along with its satellite Cuba.

“Douglass credibly illustrates the origin of the Crime of the Century. During President Truman’s administration, the CIA was empowered to be a paramilitary organization with unlimited powers. Truman’s successor, President Eisenhower, fell out of favor with the CIA when he planned a summit meeting with Soviet Premier Khrushchev. .... (Eisenhower) subsequently issued his warning about the ‘military industrial complex’ in his farewell address. But he didn’t defy ‘this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry.’ He left that task to his successor, JFK.

“The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba was planned by the CIA to regain control of the island and to re-open the casinos for organized crime. President Kennedy refused to provide air support for the Cuban brigade because he knew that he had been lied to by the Joint Chiefs of Staff and by the CIA; the invasion had been designed to fail without U.S. support but they hadn’t told this to JFK who refused to fall into their trap. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, JFK once again enraged the CIA and the Joint Chiefs by resisting their tremendous pressure on him to take military action which would have led to nuclear war.

“Following that crisis, JFK became intent on ending the Cold War by establishing a peaceful relationship with the Soviet Union. However, many CIA and Pentagon personnel believed that it was better to be ‘dead than red’ and that it was preferable to destroy civilization rather than let the Communists rule. They also knew that war generated billions of dollars for the arms industry. As a result, they would repeatedly subvert the President’s policies and isolate him within his own government. Enter some more despicable characters: Richard Bissell, Charles Cabell, Henry Cabot Lodge, Lyman Lemnitzer, Curtis LeMay and perhaps the most contemptible of all, Allen Dulles. Ironically, JFK learned to trust Khrushchev more than people within his own government.

“At American University on June 10, 1963, JFK spoke about his desire for world peace. He communicated his resolve to form a new relationship with Khrushchev. He spoke about the necessity of a pursuit toward disarmament. He related his intentions to establish a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. He acknowledged his country’s past faults and recognized the Russian people as wanting peace as much as the American people. … Though this extremely important speech was ignored in the United States, it was disseminated throughout the Soviet Union, per order of Khrushchev, who was prepared to respond favorably to JFK’s peace initiative. The speech also certified JFK’s death warrant. With so many powerful enemies opposing his policies and hating him, JFK didn’t have a chance as he was being maneuvered into the crossfire in Dallas.

“President Kennedy was aware of the power of his enemies and he knew the dangers facing him. But he persevered and mandated that all U.S. personnel would be withdrawn from Vietnam; he was determined to never send in combat troops even if this meant defeat. He also refused to intervene militarily in Laos. He exchanged private letters with Khrushchev, which infuriated the CIA, and secretly initiated plans to attain rapproachement with Cuba, which further incensed the Agency. Cuba’s Fidel Castro, whom the CIA hated as intensely as it hated Kennedy, was equally eager to begin an American-Cuba dialogue. In fact, Castro was meeting with a JFK representative when the President was murdered. JFK died a martyr and the forces of evil that killed him also killed his vision of peace.

“Lyndon Johnson, the CIA’s ally, assumed the presidency. He cancelled talks with Khrushchev and refused Castro’s pleas to continue the dialogue. He reversed JFK’s withdrawal plan from Vietnam as well as his plan to neutralize Laos. The military industrial complex took control of the country. The policy of plausible deniability led the way to assassinations of foreign leaders, the overthrowing of foreign governments and horrors committed all over the globe.

“If JFK had not been murdered, we would not have had the prolongation of the Cold War, the Vietnam War, Watergate, the purported War on Terror and the steady moral deterioration of America. Interestingly, one month after JFK’s assassination, President Truman wrote an article for The Washington Post cautioning about the threat of the CIA taking over America.

“The author meticulously examines the evidence and draws conclusions which ring with unassailable truth: (1) The CIA coordinated and implemented the assassination of President Kennedy, an act of treason which destroyed democracy in the U.S. (2) The Warren Commission was created to propagate lies to conceal the truth from the American people. (3) There has been a continued cover-up by successive administrations and their stooges in the mass media. (4) The murder of JFK is directly related to the current domination of the American people by powerful oppressors within a shadow government that will continue to insist that only sustained war can keep the country safe from its enemies, never admitting that they themselves are the supreme evil.

“This is an exceptional book that will be used by future historians to determine the truth about the assassination and how it changed America. And it will also be used to honor John F. Kennedy as a courageous president who believed in doing God’s work on earth. In doing so, he came into conflict with the Unspeakable and his life was extinguished.”