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2 comments about Stalin and the Kirov Murder.

1. Stalin hatched a devious plot to assassinate his comrade in arms Sergei Kirov. The " Congress of Victors" , that is the Congress of the Communist Party which celebrated the fulfillment of the First 5-year Plan, convened and secretly voted to have Stalin replaced. This was a secret protest vote against the brutality used enforcing Stalin's 5-year plan, which involved the starvation of 7 million in the Ukraine, millions more sent to the gulag to perish in slave labor, as well as millions of deportations of peoples to remote resettlement areas. All the while the Soviet regime was exporting grain in exchange for Western industrial expertise and machinery in order to comply with Stalin's massive heavy industrial buildup. It is for these reasons that the Congress secretly voted for Sergei Kirov to replace Stalin as the leader of the Bolshevik regime. Stalin's leadership was considered disastrous. Kirov was one of the most popular Bolshevik leaders, and therefore wa! ! s the choice of the Congress. Stalin had the vote falsified, and after the Congress adjourned, plotted to avenge himself against the 1000 members of the Congress and against Kirov personally. He plotted with his secret police, and then carried out an incredibly bold assassination of Kirov. He then launched one phony investigation after another in which he blamed the act of terror on different groups. He created an hysterical witchhunt atmosphere, which he used as the basis for his purges and show-trials of the thirties. All in all, there were four different phony explanations that were carefully laid out one after the other over time to explain Kirov's assassination. But the real criminal was none other than Stalin himself. During the purges of the thirties, almost every member of the "Congress of Victors" was murdered, thus earning them the title "Congress of Victims". This book puts the issue of Stalin's guilt, long suspected, beyond doubt, and is also ! ! a fascinating crime story. Robert Conquest is one of the to! p scholars of the Stalinist tyranny. Since the book was written before the fall of communism, the newly opened secret Russian archives will supply fascinating confirmation of this book.



2. As a brutal manipulator of people, there are few historical figures that can match Joseph Stalin. However, there was a time when he was not absolute ruler of Russia. There was a key point in the early thirties when the block of remaining old Bolsheviks seemed to be coming together with some of the newer figures to mount attacks on Stalin to reduce his power or even have him removed as leader. This opposition was jelling around Sergei Kirov, the leader of the Leningrad party and a member of the ruling Politburo. In 1934, Kirov was assassinated by a dissident party member, thereby removing the focus of the anti Stalin opposition.
   In this book, the author describes the events of the crime in great detail, including how, in a very short time, the witnesses also began dying, as well as those who witnessed their dying. After describing the events, Conquest goes to great lengths to present an even-handed reconstruction and finally conclude that the murder and subsequent deaths of all others involved were at the orders of Stalin himself. While you cannot help but admire his principles in avoiding any leap to the result, there is no question Stalin was the force behind the events and that conclusion can be reached well before the author does.
   In criminal trials, circumstantial evidence can be very convincing and in this case it is overwhelmingly so. The pattern of deaths and forced confessions of high ranking officials is clearly one that could not have been managed by anyone not possessing power on the order of Stalin. Having Kirov murdered was the first step in his final movement to absolute power and he of course succeeded, with consequences that destroyed many people.
   Stalin was responsible for the death of millions of Soviet citizens at the hands of their fellow citizens, all directly traceable to his policies. However, there is one death that stands out and made more difference than all the others. This is an account of how that death took place, and is an example of how power can be executed by a policy of execution. It is an excellent example of how the Soviet Union was governed under one of the most brutal men the human race has produced.

5 comments about Misplaced Loyalties: The Assassinations of Marilyn Monroe & the Kennedy Brothers.

1. I could not put this book down. It corresponded with everything I have previously reviewed on web sites.



2. Yet another "author" wastes time on speculation, rumour and rubbish. He does not have an interview with the grassy knoll shooter for the simple reason that there was no shooter from the grassy knoll.
   
   President Kennedy was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone; Marilyn died of an accidental overdose and Senator Kennedy was shot by Sirhan Sirhan acting alone.



3. Similar to "Gun of Dallas" by Herman. Connects the dots and ties all the strings together; however, some of the dots and strings are hazy. All the players are there; Jim Files, Mac Wallace, Sergio Arcacha Smith, the Umbrella man, LBJ & Nixon. Premise seems to be that JCS and government agencies belives JFK was a threat to National Security; due to his pillow-talk with all his mistress,and his peace initiatives toward Russia. All and all, not a bad book.



4. This book is a strange hybrid of fact, fiction, research and imagination, and unfortunately it blurs the lines between them all a good deal more than it should. It's fine to imagine what Bobby Kennedy "might" have said to his wife about Marilyn Monroe (good sleazy fun), but the book doesn't take any greater pains to prove whether any of its "facts" are true either. Do you care? Not if you're reading the book as fiction, but then one gets to long for all those pesky novelist's tricks like narrative, description, realistic dialogue, and psychological insight.
   
   I'm afraid the book comes up short either as a full-blown novel or as a serious work if history, but hey, it's still great guilty fun. Read it for titillation and you won't be disappointed!



5. This book was enertaining, but unbelievable. Of course, the Kennedy part may have more convincing if the author had actually gotten the date of Marilyn Monroe's death correct. Pretty much a waste of time.

No comments about Retired Dallas Police Chief Jesse Curry Reveals His Personal JFK ASSASSINATION FILE Limited Collectors Edition.

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No comments about Conspiracys [sic]: Unravelling the assassination of Malcolm X.

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5 comments about Truth Withheld: A Survivors Story - Why We Will Never Know the Truth About the JFK Assassination.

1. This book finally helped me to finally understand what really happened within Warren Commission and the FBI to create a 40 year controversy. A well documented book with many FBI documents.



2. Finally, someone who DOESN'T claim to know who killed President John F. Kennedy, although he was there. He was even hit! James Tague is one of the last surviving witnesses to the horrible events of November 22, 1963, and his book "Truth Withheld: A Survivors Story - Why We Will Never Know the Truth About the JFK Assassination" explains with conviction why the murder will undoubtedly recede into history unsolved.

   James Tague's day began innocently enough, until traffic and his curiosity made him park his car beneath the triple underpass in Dealey Plaza to watch Kennedy's motorcade. As JFK's limo approached him, the shots rang out, and Mr. Tague's cheek was hit. From that moment on, Tague's life--and America--changed forever. Mr. Tague describes in vivid detail his interrogations--by the FBI and the Warren Commission, among others. And Mr. Tague conveys his sense that something wasn't right. It's difficult to dismiss his story.

   The book leaves one with an eerie feeling, like some insiduous creature lurking in the darkness behind your back. This must have been very difficult for Mr. Tague to relive and recount, and we should be grateful that he did.




3. Tague was a salesman whose car got caught up in the massive traffic james enveloping the Dallas downtown area on the morning of November 22, 1963. Reading his account of that strange, fateful day, we begin to see for the first time how the darkness that surrounds us is due to a combination of factors which collided with a crash. Tague is a likeable narrator and gives you the feeling that he is a reliable witness, though in the back of your head you are always thinking, well he was the top car salesman ion the South, how honest could he really be ha ha? He befriended Harold Weisberg, one of the guys who came to Texas steeped in conspiuracy theory, and Tague's recollections of his late friend are somehow touching and direct in their simplicity. It is plain that Tague cared for his friend and that his 2002 death left him with a hole in his affections. So it wasn't just a collaboration between Kennedy aficionados, it was an abiding friendship.
   
   Tague was injured during the assassination! Not severely, but enough to cause quite a commotion. A bullet came out of the grass and shot into the curb he was standing on, leaning all his weight on the stone that exploded into his face. Good thing he wasn't wearing short pants!
   
   The strange thing is, the Warren Commission was keen to discredit Tague, even though he was one of the more upstanding witnesses to the Kennedy assassination. There's no arguing with people whose minds are made up ahead of time.
   
   NOT THAT Tague is sure about what happened that day. There was no smking gun left at the crime. Oh wait, yes there was! in TRUTH WITHHELD, one of the last people to still be alive to tell his tale finally does so, complete with several interesting photographs which which challenge your eyesight and your "received wisdom." What happened? Who did it? When did suspicion harden into the cold wax of reality's seal? Tague knows the answers to some of these questions, and for the rest, he's refreshingly honest and refuses to pull empty answers out of his ass. I saw Oliver Srone's JFK and thought he went wway too far, impugning the good name of some and glancing right over the obcious points he might have made. Tague takes a middle balance, and his shot through the ambuscades just may be the most accurate of all.
   
   As other reviewers note, there is something creepy about this book, with its hidden menace, as though Lovecraft were present that day in Dealey Plaza.



4. Good, but ULTIMATE SACRIFICE the best book ever
   While I thought this book was worthwhile in many respects, ULTIMATE SACRIFICE is simply the best book ever on the JFK assassination.Still, worth your time.
   
   Vince Palamara-JFK/ Secret Service expert (History Channel, author of two books, in over 30 other author's books, etc.)
   Pittsburgh, PA



5. James Tague, the Author of "Truth Withheld" is far more important to history than most realize.
   You see, BEFORE they learned about James Tague, the Warren Commission were going to tell us that President Kennedy and Governor Connally were hit by seperate bullets, which of course proved conspiracy in the case, although the Commission were going to try and work around that whole "conspiracy" talk, since they were created to find a lone gunman, regardless of the evidence, in order to protect us from nuclear missiles 90 miles off the coast of Florida in a country called Cuba. However, in a way, it would have "sold" the Commission's lone gunman theory better if they had never learned about Tague, because Tague posed a serious problem to the Commission....one that would force the Commission to theorize something so nonsensical that it essentially proved conspiracy by it's mere absurdity. It was only AFTER they learned about Tague, that the Warren Commission were forced to put "square pegs in a round hole", and lamely tried to explain how one bullet could have went through the bodies of BOTH Kennedy and Connally..........how a bullet could have gone through the bodies of two grown men, turn in mid-air multiple times, break a rib and a radius (wrist) bone, and then come out in nearly pristine condition with NO RESIDUE OF BLOOD, BONE or SKIN, thus one of the most ridiculous theories in the history of U.S. Politics was born...... the theory that ONE "magic bullet" caused 7 wounds to Kennedy and Connally.
   We know by the Commission's own timing of the gunshots in the assassination, based on the film shot by Abraham Zapruder, that a piece of junk mannlicher carcano rifle could not have fired fast enough to account for BOTH Kennedy and Connally's wounds, and their actions after being wounded. The importance of this cannot be overstated: IF ONE GUNMAN DIDNT HIT BOTH KENNEDY AND CONNALLY WITH ONE BULLET, THEN THAT MEANS THAT THERE WERE TWO GUNMEN FIRING FROM BEHIND THE MOTORCADE, BECAUSE ANY GUNMAN USING THE MANNLICHER CARCANO COULD NOT HAVE FIRED TWO BULLETS IN THE SHORT TIME SPAN BETWEEN WHEN KENNEDY WAS HIT AND WHEN CONNALLY WAS HIT.
   ADD TO THIS, ATLEAST ONE GUNMAN IN FRONT OF THE MOTORCADE, ON THE GRASSY KNOLL, AND WE NOW HAVE AN ABSOLUTE MINIMUM OF THREE GUNMEN!!
   
   Since they were created to find a lone gunman, the Commission had to "get" one bullet to do what no other bullet in history has ever done. And the great magic bullet myth was born.
   
   All because James Tague was hit by a piece of deflected concrete, near the Triple Underpass in Dealey Plaza, that hit been struck by a bullet that MISSED the motorcade completely. Although James Tague would obviously have liked to have been standing someplace else that day, he unwittingly made one of the most important contributions to American history: If it wasnt for Tague's story, the Commission would have had a bit more flexibility in their "lone gunman" theory, and more Americans probably would have believed them at first. And while the true evidence in the case would have probably come out eventually, because of James Tague, the Commission was forced into a corner, and had to announce a theory so foolish, that to disbelieve the theory, meant conspiracy, by definition (I.E. atleast TWO gunmen involved in the assassination .......not taking into account gunman #3 behind the picket fence on the grassy knoll.)
   *As a sidenote, Tague was among the majority of witnesses who heard atleast one shot fired from the grassy knoll.*
   
   To be able to read a book by a man who is the only one, besides Kennedy and Connally, to be injured due to bullets being fired in Dealey Plaza on that infamous day, is a rare opportunity. He is truly a survivor.......because he felt the wrath of assassins' bullets that day......thus Tague felt the wrath of the men who killed Kennedy. And by choosing to stand where he did, to watch the motorcade, Tague unknowingly was one of the biggest reasons why those assassins werent able to hide their complicity in the Kennedy killing. Because, they could only hide their complicity in the assassination if the government let them do so, and Tague made that impossible for the Warren Commission to do.
   
   Because of James Tague, Americans were made aware of the fact that, until they were forced to do so, EVEN THE WARREN COMMISSION THEMSELVES DIDNT BELIEVE THAT ONE BULLET HIT KENNEDY AND CONNALLY. Thus even the Warren Commission themselves believed that Kennedy and Connally were hit by seperate bullets, which meant that the Commission believed that a conspiracy took the life of America's 35th President. Whether they understood the implications of the seperate bullets striking Kennedy and Connally before James Tague became known to the Commission, only they know. The Warren Commission were formed "to close doors, not open them", so they had to try and pin it on a man who was eating lunch at the time that Kennedy was killed. But that's another story and I dont have room to discuss it here.
   
   As stated before, James Tague unknowingly threw a large wrench in the Commission's machinery. The rest is.......... "history". As we know, "History, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, so certainly be careful what your eyes behold".

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