CHANGES: AN OVERVIEW:
Posner has found nothing to change in the Preface,
first appendix, and five chapters of the book8. 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 it9), interviews of Militant staffers by Hal Verb (which he cites
incorrectly10 and without mention of Verb11), a CIA document found in the
Archives by John Newman (whose name is also omitted12), 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 Livingston13, 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list as an "unpublished manuscript"14), and Passport to Assassination by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 murderer15, a KGB report
that he made two bombs16), and to delete or minimize reports contradictory
to his thesis (KGB reports that Oswald was a poor shot17).
THE C.I.A.:
Having previously explained why the CIA didn't debrief Oswald, Posner now
explains why it makes no difference that they did18. He deletes the
statement that "CIA officials have provided sworn testimony that there
was no DeMorenschildt-U.S. intelligence relationship."19 Perhaps someone
showed him the documents reported by Edward Epstein in The Assassination
Chronicles20.
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 significance21. He also mentions more witnesses who saw a
bullet strike the Elm Street pavement22.
"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 Givens25 and Tony
Zoppi26 in new footnotes, attacks Oliver
Stone's special effects work27, 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'Connor28. The Warren
Commission's inability to prove the single-bullet theory is attributed to
the inadequate technology of the day29.
PERSONAL ATTACKS:
The patronizing remarks of the "who needs enemies" doctor "friend" of Dr.
Charles Crenshaw got a lot shorter in this edition30. Apparently live
people are riskier to attack than dead ones.
MAJOR CORRECTION:
In an expanded footnote31, 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 Cheramie32 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 jail33.
THE BIG LIE:
A new footnote34 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. 1Whitewash and Whitewash II
(1966)2 Oswald 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 (p. O 67).
18p. 78.19p.
85.20Epstein, pp. 558-569.21p. 142.22Footnote, p. 324.23p. 184.24pp.
283-284.25p. 225.26p. 355.27p. 255.28p. 300.29p. 408; in his original
note (p. O 410), his phrasing conceded the theory was unproven.30p.
312.31p. 318.32p. 444.33p. 397.34pp. 415-416.