What a (small) Difference a Year Makes:
The "corrected" paperback edition of Case Closed
A followup by Martin Shackelford
Those who were waiting for Gerald Posner to display the "open mind" he
seeks in others, and correct the extensive falsehoods and distortions which
littered the pages of the original edition of Case Closed can stop holding
their breath. The "revised and updated" paperback edition has hit the
shelves, and not much has really changed.
AVOIDANCE: The hyperbole and lies familiar from the original are
present from page one of the "Author's Note" in this edition. Until he
arrived on the scene, conspiracy theories were "virtually unchallenged"
(except by the major networks, PBS, the wire services, the major news-
papers, and a long succession of books, many mentioned in his bibliography).
Since the major media, which have overwhelmingly defended the Warren
Report, "was overwhelmingly positive" about his book, its critics ("the
conspiracy community") must be close-minded; thus, he can avoid responding
to specific criticisms leveled at the book. So important is Posners' tome
that by attacking it, Harold Weisberg "found his first publisher" (it seems that
Dell (1), Canyon Books (2) and Carrol & Graf (3) are not publishers).
SELF-PITY: Readers able to continue wading through this mush find
Posner accepting comparison of himself to Salman Rushdie (wonder which
Ayatollah sentenced Posner to death?) because he received harassing faxes
and phone calls. He whines "I had mistakenly expected a debate on the
issues," failing to mention that he canceled just such an opportunity at
the 1993 ASK conference in Dallas (4), which his oft-cited colleague Jim
Moore attended for the second time.
DENIAL: He assures us he ommited things from the book only for the sake
of "brevity", and claims to have studied "all of the available evidence" on
all aspects of the assassination before reaching his conclusions (impossible
in the time he spent on the book, (5). "The remainder of the updated text in
this edition," he says, "has nothing to do with the contentions raised by
conspiracy buffs." In other words, he hasn't bothered to respond to any of
the criticism of false and misleading statements in the original book,
manipulation of sources, misrepresentation of photographs and films, blended
testimony, discredited myths, and biased selectivity is his choice of
witnesses (6). He can ignore this, because it is all part of a "concerted
counterattack" by critics with "almost a religious fervor."
RETURN OF THE AMAZING COLOSSAL EGO: Although he conceded in a statement
to Congress in November 1993 that he hadn't had time to examine the newly
released files (7), he assures us that nothing in the unreleased files
"alters the judgement reached in Case Closed," according to "individuals
who are familiar with the still-classified documents" (in his statement, he
identified these "individuals" as David Belin and G. Robert Blakey). Given
the fact that the already available evidence contradictory to his
conclusions has done nothing to alter his "judgement," this will come as no
surprise. He has already decided that his conclusions are "the only rational
judgement."
CHANGES: AN OVERVIEW: Posner has found nothing to change in the
Preface, first appendix, and five chapters of the book (8). He has made only
6 modifications in the text itself; the other 24 are all limited to
footnotes. Of the 40-plus books, numerous television programs, and many
articles which have become available since he finished his book, he finds
only 6 worth noting: Robert Groden's 1993 book (which he attacks without
naming it (9), interviews of Militant staffers by Hal Verb (which he cites
incorrectly (10) and without mention of Verb (11)), a CIA document found in
the Archives by John Newman (whose name is also omitted (l2), a
television show which featured him prominently ("Frontline: Who Was Lee
Harvey Oswald?"), JFK: First Day Evidence by Gary Savage (Posner attributes
authorship to Gary's uncle, Rusty Livingston, (13) and fails to mention the
inclusion of Jim Bowles' analysis of the acoustics evidence, which Posner
continues to list as an "unpublished manuscript" (14), and Passport to
Assassination by Oleg Nechiporenko. As seems to have been the case with his
original investigation, his research into the new books and sources appears
to have been "a mile wide and an inch deep."
OSWALD: Posner is quick to add new information that presents a negative
picture of Oswald (a tape recording on which he plays a murderer (15), a KGB
report that he made two bombs (16), and to delete or minimize reports
contradictory to his thesis (KGB reports that Oswald was a poor shot (17)).
THE C.I.A.: Having previously explained why the CIA didn't debrief
Oswald, Posner now explains why it makes no difference that they did (18).
He deletes the statement that "CIA officials have provided sworn testimony
that there was no De Mohrenschildt-U.S. intelligence relationship." (19)
Perhaps someone showed him the documents reported by Edward Epstein in
The Assassination Chronicles (20).
NEW EVIDENCE: Posner acknowledges the two photos showing Oswald and
David Ferrie at the same Civil Air Patrol cookout (one of them was featured
on the same "Frontline" program he was), though he questions their
authenticity, and dismisses their significance (2l). He also mentions more
witnesses who saw a bullet strike the Elm Street pavement (22).
"MAJOR" ALTERATIONS: The most extensive alterations to the text occur
on pages 183-185 of Chapter 9, as Posner incorporates new material from the
Nechiporenko book. When it is inconvenient to attribute a previous
Nechiporenko statement to Nechiporenko, Posner attributes it to "some
critics." (23)
The longest wholly new section of text incorporates material from JFK:
First Day Evidence, focusing on the trigger guard fingerprint evidence, also
included on "Frontline." (24)
SHORING UP FOUNDATIONS: Posner tries to shore up the credibility of
Charles Givens (25) and Tony Zoppi (26) in new footnotes, attacks Oliver
Stone's special effects work (27), and uses one sentence from Harrison
Livingstone's interview of Paul O'Connor (without naming the book in which
it appears) in an attempt to discredit O'Connor (28). The Warren
Commission's inability to prove the single-bullet theory is attributed to
the inadequate technology of the day (29).
PERSONAL ATTACKS: The patronizing remarks of the "who needs enemies"
doctor "friend" of Dr. Charles Crenshaw got a lot shorter in this edition
(30). Apparently live people are riskier to attack than dead ones.
MAJOR CORRECTION: In an expanded footnote (31), Posner concedes that
the computer work by Failure Analysis Associates was done for the American
Bar Association mock trial, that the company produced evidence "for both the
prosecution and defense of Oswald," but reverts to type by adding that "The
only technical breakthroughs were on the prosecution work, and they are
presented in this chapter." The defense work was "fundamentally flawed."
NON-CORRECTION: An expanded footnote on Rose Cheramie (32) mentions Lt.
Francis Fruge, but continues to ignore Dr. Bowers, and to selectively filter
the evidence to fit his argument.
RUBY: According to unnamed "experts on organized crime," the shooting
of Oswald couldn't have been a Mob hit, because Mob honcho Joseph Campisi
was one of the first to visit Ruby at the jail (33).
THE BIG LIE: A new footnote (34) explains that David Belin was
"virtually the lone public voice for the Commission by the 1980s." Virtually
apparently means except for Dan Rather, Gerald Ford, Alan Adelson,
Hugh Aynesworth, Michael Baden, Melvin Belli, Jean Davison, Dr. John
Lattimer, Priscilla Johnson McMillan, Jim Moore, Robert Oswald, and James
Phelan, to name a few that Posner includes in his bibliography.
SUMMING UP: The pattern of falsehood and distortion which made
laughable the original book's claim to have "closed the case" on the Kennedy
assassination is continued in this marginally "updated" paperback edition:
a disappointment, but hardly a surprise.
1 Whitewash and Whitewash II (1966).
2 0swald in New Orleans (1967).
3 Selections from Whitewash (1993).
4 Author's conversations with ASK personel at ASK 1993.
5 For a good summary on this topic, see Harold Weisberg, Case Open, pp.
31-34.
6 See, for example, my "Preliminary Critique" in The Investigator Number 5,
Weisberg's book cited in note 5, and various articles in The Fourth Decade
and Dateline: Dallas.
7 Lexis/Nexis transcript.
8 Chapters 1, 2, 3 (Oswald from birth to 1959), 8 (New Orleans part 2) and
10 (Dallas Oct-Nov).
9 Footnote, p. 81.
10 Verb was told the Oswald photo was discarded shortly after it was
received in April 1963; Posner states."It vanished after JFK's death."
11 Footnote, p. 108.
12 Footnote, p. 78.
13 p. 283.
14 p. 575.
15 Footnote, p. 59; did Oswald read Hemingway and Shakespeare
"enthusiastically," too?
16 Footnote, p. 70; as in many cases, he fails to credit a source here.
17 Footnote, pp. 66-67; expanded from the original footnote (original
hardback version p. 67).
18 p. 78.
19 p. 85.
20 Epstein, pp. 558-569.
21 p. 142.
22 Footnote, p. 324.
23 p. 184.
24 pp. 283-284.
25 p. 225.
26 p. 355.
27 p. 255.
28 p. 300.
29 p. 408; in his original note (hardback version p. 410), his
phrasing conceded the theory was unproven.
30 p. 312.
31 p. 318.
32 p. 444.
33 p. 397.
34 pp. 415-416.