Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (May 27, 1976)
Portland Observer Thursday, May 27, 1976 Page 3 The Kennedy assassination: A case thaï will not die by Peter hale Scott iMltor'x Note: Thia is the first in a eerie, of two article, by Peter Dale Scott, a proleaaor ol English at the University ol (alllornia, Berkeley, and one ol the country's leading scholarly exports on the John F. Kennedy assassination. He has authored or edited numerous articles and books on covert politics, foreign and domestic, including most recently “The Assassinations, Dallas and Beyond" Ran dom House, 1970.) B E R K E L E Y . PNS The beginning of the end of twelve years of national schizophrenia about the Kennedy assas »¡nation may be at hand. For the first time, a national political leader, Senate intelligence committee chairman Frank Church II)., Idaho), has publicly confirmed what polls have indi cated a majority of Americans have long believed: There was an official cover up. Both the C IA and FBI withheld relevant information from the Warren Commis sion. Never before has there existed such a com plete divergence betw een official U.8. government dogma ■ "Oswald acted alone" and public belief. But the key question remains: Will some form of cover up merely replace past ones? W ill the new intelligence oversight committee proposed by the Church committee choose a broad re opening of the assassination and cover up, or a narrow investigation not chai lenging the W arren Commission finding that Oswald acted alone, but merely looking into his motives? The Senate intelligence committee has already voted to recommend the latter. Whether the momentum of an unraveling cover up will carry it further now that the unmentionable has been mentioned remains uncertain. It is certain that the past twelve years have seen one obstruction after another. For a decade, except for a brief interlude in 1966 67, the national media stuck doggedly with the lone assassin dogma. When Lyndon Johnson speculated in a 1969 CBS interview that Oswald might have been part of an international con spiracy, that portion of the interview was deleted, and not broadcast until six years later. CBS said that Johnson's assassins lion remarks had been suppressed in the "interests of national security." Yet public opinion resolutely refused to accept the official findings of the Warren Report. Some of the reasons are obvious: The improbability of the events them selves, climaxed when Oswald was mur dered on T V by an equally improbable "lone assassin," Jack Ruby; the incessant work of the W arren Commission critics, whose lists of anomalies and misrepre sentations produced a whole new.genre of literature in the counterculture of the late 1960s; that counterculture itself, largely the product of the national divi sion over the Vietnam war. which gua ranteed that critics like Mark Ijin e would find a ready following on the college campuses of all 50 states. All of the work by critics might h»ve become a private curiosity, as remote from political realities as the ongoing doubts about the murder of President Lincoln, had it not been for two intriguing developments. The first was the fact of the cover up itself, which served to glamorize the question of an assassination conspiracy. I t soon became w id ely known, for example, that Time Life, having bought for a large fee the film of the assassina tion by a bystander, Abraham Zapruder, was making the Zapruder film totally inaccessible. Bootleg prints of the Zap ruder film began to circulate and draw large crowds. The choking off of Jim Garrison's investigation in Ixiuisiana, a development still shrouded in b itte r co n tro versy, heightened the impression that truth was being deliberately obscured. The second development, and perhaps the decisive one, was W atergate. W ater gate established as a fart that cover ups. “in the interest ol national security," could be ordered by the W hite House and carried out by the C IA and FBI. Worse, the W atergate investigations failed to uncover precisely what it was that Nixon, and the C IA and the FB I all had been working to cover up. The transcript that led to the President's resignation spoke only in guarded terms of the "Cuba thing," the "whole Bay of Pigs thing," which would “make the C IA look bad" and be "very unfortunate for the country." What all this was about has never been disclosed. Hut nearly the only thing that Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby had in common was a shared interest in Cuba, at a time when the C IA and the Mafia were collaborating to assassinate Fidel Castro. And Frank Sturgis, one of the six W atergate burglars, had been named in Warren Commission documents as the author of false stories about I>ee Harvey Oswald. The national investigation into W ater gate was followed swiftly by a lifting of an informal media embargo against talk of 8n assassination conspiracy. In July 1973, shortly after the first Senate W atergate hearings, the Atlantic Month ly quoted President Johnson as saying, “I never believed that Oswald acted alone." For the first time, conferences and meetings about assassination conspira cies began to receive oblique mention in the national press. A bootleg Zapruder film print was screened for the press at one conference, then shown on late night television. SPREADS TO CIA By 1975 the cancer of W atergate had spread to the C IA itself and the presi dential commission chaired by Nelson Rockefeller to investigate the C IA had been established. The Rockefeller Commission acquired as its executive director an Iowa lawyer named David Belin, whose last public service had been as staff counsel for the Warren Commission after which he had become the Commission's most persistent and controversial defender. Belin was chosen for the Rockefeller Commission post by President Gerald Ford, who besides Belin was the only member of the Warren Commission to w rite a book defending the report. Daniel Schorr, then the CBS reporter on C IA activities, has since disclosed that about this time Ford told a W hite House luncheon with editors of the Now York Times that he had had to choose the Rockefeller Commission members very carefully, because “there was the danger that the commission would trip over matters a lot more sensitive than domes tic surveillance.” When asked which matters, Ford re plied, "Off the record, like assassina tions." Schorr surmissed later that "the whole panoply of the Rockefeller investigation was to keep attention focused on the C IA ’s domestic surveillance, which had apparently leaked from a 1973 internal report of the C IA . hoping to keep under wraps other more dangerous parts of the same report." Schorr broke part of this story in February 1975. In response, the Rocke feller Commission announced that it might investigate C IA involvement in foreign assassination plots, and President Ford added later that, although the Warren Commission might "take a look at it - the problems.” Hut when unanswered questions about a C IA aspect to the Kennedy assassina tion were raised before the Rockefeller panel, Belin - rather than investigating them referred them to the C IA itself for a possible reply. That reply was never made. Instead, the Rockefeller Commission chose to ignore nearly all the work of the long time Warren Commission critics - including the charge, since proven cor reel, that the C IA withheld relevant material from the W arren Commission - responded only to charges that Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis had both been present in Dallas on November 22, 1963, aired recently in the media. This was in keeping with the last minute decision, with all of the press now w atching closely, to drop from the Rockefeller report its intended chapter on foreign assassination plots. Someone, either President Ford or Vice President Rockefeller, decided instead to turn all this assassination material over to Sena tor Church's committee. I t is not yet clear whether all of this material has been released or if some of it will now be transmitted either secretly or in public form to the proposed Senate intelligence oversight committee. An attempt to narrow the investigation to Oswald's motives - particularly his ties to Cuban premier Fidel Castro - may have been behind an informal C IA memo of May 1975 by C IA counsel Ray Rocca. Rocca eleven years earlier had been the C IA liaison to the W arren Commission. The memo, in response to discussions with Rockefeller Commission Director David Belin, speculated that Oswald might have acted in response to a public speech by Fidel Car.ro. in which Castro allegedly threatened President Kennedy. In the words of the 27 page Rocca C IA memo, “the purpose of this review undertaken by Mr. Belin's request, is to reconsider Lee Harvey Oswald's activity in the assumption that as an avid newspaper reader he read the Castro warning and threat.” This language in turn followed the guidelines of President Ford's remarks of April 1975, which reemphasized Oswald's role as the assassin and then recom mended that the Rockefeller Commission might look at the probability of "the VU »VH »< JVM HY k V A lH K l involvement of anybody or anybody as a group in the assassination" - implying the involvement of Castro. Then in November 1975, Belin made a highly publicized call to reopen the assassination inquiry to see whether "there is any credible evidence of a foreign conspiracy ." He stressed that, in his opinion, this would not upset the Warren Commission conclusion that Os wald acted alone. A few days later. Ford made a similar statement. CATALOG OVERSTOCK Wards Bargain Centers PRE-HOLIDAY SALE 12%-92% off SAVE ‘1 WESTERN-LOOK BOY’S SHIRT SAVE 2.91 47 REGULARLY 4.59 Authentic Western styling sets today’s pace. Wards sale-prices ’em within your budg et. Longwear polyester- cotton; no iron needed. Sizes 10-20. BOYS’ 3.59 SWIM TRUNKS 2.47 A th letic sty le w ith bold s trip e . 2.99 BI-CENTENNIAL BELT H e a v y vinyl w ith enam el buckle. 1.97 49.99 CRYSTAL CHANDELIER 29.97 12x14” . B a sk e t-sh a p e l-lig h t. TWIN, FULL, QUEEN-SIZE WASHABLE CHENILLE SPREAD YOUR CHOICE 2.97 The Association honored I)r. Jackson, often referred to as “Ma Jackson" or “that N A A C P lady," in the fourth of a series of 100 markers dedicated to Black American pioneers. An A S A LH research committee head ed by Dr. Roland C. McConnel, Chairman of the Morgan State College Department of History, reports that Lillie Mae Car roll, born in Baltimore on May 25. 1869, was a descendant of Charles Carroll, signer of both the Declaration of Inde pendence and the United States Consti tution. and John Bowen, a free African chief. President of the Baltimore Branch of the National Association for the Ad vancement of Colored People for 35 years, she increased the N A A C P mem bership from 2,000 in 1935 to nearly 18,000 by 1946, making the N A A C P the largest civil rights organization in Mary land. Through the NA A C P, Lillie Jackson used seven successive law suits in the Maryland Court of Appeals to open the University of Maryland Schools of Law. Medicine, Pharmacy. Dentistry, Nursing, DR. JEFFREY BRADY Soys: "Do Not Put O ff Needed Dental Care’’ Enjoy Dental Health Now and Improve Your Appearance Come In A t Your Convenience Open Saturday Morning • No Appointment Needed • Complete Cooperation On All Dental Insurance Plans • Complete Dental Services Union or Company Dental Insurance Coverage Accepted On Your Needed Dentistry Park Free Any Park 'n Shop Lot HOURS: Weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sat., 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. DR. JEFFREY BRADY, DENTIST SEMLER BUILDING S.W. 3rd & Morrison St. Portland, Oregon Take Elevator to 2nd Floor 3rd St. Entrance Phono: 228-7545 the Graduate School of Sociology and the Undergraduate School of Engineering 0935-1950) in her fight against segrega tion. Her work with the N A A C P resulted in successful campaigns to employ Blacks as cab drivers, bus drivers, firemen, police men, and other municipal and state employees, as well as employees in the private sector. Municipal swimming pools, tennis courts. State Parks, and beaches were desegregated through a series of suits won in the Supreme Court 0954). setting a precedent for the entire nation. D r. Jackson and the N A A C P led successful fights against police brutality, and supplied bail and legal defense for some 300 student sit-in leaders and freedom riders. A fter 35 years of leadership in the civil rights struggle, Lillie Jackson had re ceived commendations on local and na tional levels, which included an honorary Doctor of Humanities from Morgan State College 0956). When she retired from the N A ACP 0970), D r. Jackson founded Freedom House, Incorporated. Begun as a federa tion of inner city neighborhood leaders to combat crime and juvenile delinquency, it has grown to assist the community with problems of housing, health and youth employment. Credited with a reduction of neighborhood crime, Freedom House, Incorporated conducts a Summer Job program and a day camp. The dedication of the plaque was conducted with the cooperation of the Mayor's office, City of Baltimore, and the hundreds expected to attend. The two-year historical project was made possible by a grant from the Amoco Foundation, Incorporated. As a result of this joint A SA LH Amoco Foundation Bicentennial program, the first bronze marker was placed at the birthsite of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, founder of A S A LH and "Father of Black History," in New Canton, Buckingham County, Virginia. Yhe second plaque was dedicated to American educator Dr. H. Councill Tren holm at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama, and the third was dedicated to Louis “ Satchm o” A rm strong, known internationally as the "King of Jazz," in Armstrong Park, New Orleans, Louisiana. 3.97 3.97 59 97 REGULARLY *88 2.91 OFF. Button tufting, nosag seat Hardwood frame, polyurethane foam pad ding. Velvet or tweed. 3 97 Historical marker honors Dr. Lillie Jackson REG. 9.88 TRADITIONAL SWIVEL ROCKER 5.97, CRISS-CROSS SCUFFS S oft vinyl; cu sh io n insole. 6 97 Fringed, medallion design, in 4 colors. 7.88 drapery, 7 2 x 6 3 ,............................... 8.88 drapery, 7 2 x 8 4 ,.................... .. FASHION WEDGE LEATHER SANDAL W A S H IN G T O N . D.C. The Associa tion for the Study of A fro American Life and history (A S A LH ) presented a bronze marker which was placed in honor of I)r. Lillie Mae Jackson, May 25th at Freedom House, located at 1234 Druid Hill Ave nue, in Baltimore, Maryland. The key question is now whether the new Senate investigation will follow the narrow course sketched out in the past year by Belin, Rocca and Ford - three men who shared responsibility for the original W arren report - or open a far-reaching probe into both the assas sination and the cover-up. N E X T : A close look at the collabora tion between David Belin and Ray Rocca. and why the Rocca memorandum was intended to resurrect the possibility of involvement of Fidel Castro. SAVE »22 REGULARLY 6.88 5-BAND RADIO Womens' popular plat form style is smart for walking tall in cool fash ion. Suede wrapped wedge; man-made bot tom. In tan. medium width, 5-10. 1697 REG. 39.95 Handle. carry strap, earphone jack, antenna and batteries included. DISCOUNT FASHIONS VAUGHN ST. 2nd FLOOR 92% OFF! 8.97-*23, ASST. DRESSES Womens and teens sizes; cotton, poly, wool. 1.92 2.91 OFFI6.88, WOMENS’ TUNIC TOPS Sleeveless. 100% polyester............................. 3.97 •2 O FFI5.99, WOMENS’ PULLOVERS Sleeveless. 100% p o ly e ste r .......................... X97 •5 O FFI14.88, MISSES PANTSUITS Summer styles-great b u y ! ............................ 8.97 *2 OFF! 7.88, MENS’ SLACKS 100% polyester, easy c a r e ............................ 5.27 PATCHWORK DENIM AND STRIPED CORD GAD-ABOUTS BARGAIN ANNEX ONLY FURNITURE AND APPLIANCES 147,.297 •94 OFF! 574.95,21-CD. FT. REFRIG. Top freezer auto, icemaker......................... 479.97 *99 OFF! 299.95, KING BEDDING SETS Firm mattress. Great comfort-save! . . 199.97 40% OFF! 21.88, DINETTE CHAIRS Metal frames, vinyl cushion...................... 12.97 •9 OFFi 79.95,18’’ ROTARY MOWER 2-stroke Tecumseh e n g in e .......................... 69.97 •37 OFF! 66.99, HURRICANE LAMP Antique style; w/nightlight in base 29.97 REGULARLY 2.99-6.99 Choose totes, shoulder styles, jazzed up with shiny buckles, big patch pockets and hardware. Carry-it all, in durable denim! 6.99, pocketed travel b a g ................................2.97 6.99, laundry bag in striped c o r d ............2.97 2.99, Z ip-top shoulder b a g .......................... 1.47 4.99, patchwork denim k n a p sa ck ............2.47 2.99, strapped, sip -top hip hugger . . . . 1.47 SOME ITEMS: Scratched, dantad. 1-2 of a kind. Subject to p rio r ta le . No phone or m ail orders, please! Just say, “Charge it!” kVA VAUGHN ST. STORE 27th end N.W. Vaughn BARGAIN ANNEX Across st from Vaughn St. store Open M on and F r i 9 3(7 to 9 30 Sun 11-5; other day». 9 30-5:30 i Open M o n and F ri 9 30 to 9 00 Sun 11-5, other day», 9:30-5 30 WALNUT PARK STORE Union Ave. at K illingsworth Open F rid ay night. 9 30 A M H P M Sun 11:00-5 00. other day». 9 30-5 30 |
