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“Political language…is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”
— George Orwell, 1946
EVERYTHING MR. EMORY HAS BEEN SAYING ABOUT THE UKRAINE WAR IS ENCAPSULATED IN THIS VIDEO FROM UKRAINE 24
ANOTHER REVEALING VIDEO FROM UKRAINE 24
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FTR#1273 This program was recorded in one, 60-minute segment.
FTR#1274 This program was recorded in one, 60-minute segment.
Introduction: This broadcast continues our visits with Jim DiEugenio–author of Destiny Betrayed and JFK Revisited–selected by Oliver Stone to write the screenplay for his latest documentary.
In these broadcasts, we are additionally privileged by the participation of Dr. Gary Aquilar, one of the experts featured in the Stone/DiEugenio documentary, as well as being one of the ground-breaking figures in the ongoing inquiry into the medical evidence in the assassination.
Dr. Aquilar highlighted the deep professional compromising of people who filled “expert” roles in the various medical examinations, the involvement of a number of them as “experts” in other, important intelligence-connected cases such as the assassination of Martin Luther King.
In particular, Dr. Aquilar parsed the inconsistencies in a review of the medical evidence in the JFK assassination case that was instituted by then Attorney General Ramsey Clark–“inconsistencies” which are difficult to ascribe to caprice or error.
In addition to his presentation of new material with which even Jim DiEugenio was unfamiliar, Gary was instrumental in discussion of the medical/forensic evidence in the JFK assassination case.
1a.—We begin with review of the Secret Service confiscating JFK’s corpse in contravention of Texas Law, thereby denying Dr. Earl Rose his obliged duty of performing an autopsy on JFK.
. . . . [Parkland physician Dr. Charles] Crenshaw recalled, “A man in a suit, leading the [federal] group, holding a submachine gun, left little doubt in my mind who was in charge. That he wasn’t smiling best describes the look on his face . . . . Kellerman took an erect stance and brought his firearm into a ready position. The other men in suits followed course by draping their coattails behind the butts of their holstered pistols.” When Dr. Rose insisted on holding the body in Dallas for autopsy, explaining, “You can’t lose the chain of evidence,” one of the men in suits screamed, “Goddamit, get your ass out of the way before you get hurt,” and another snapped, “We’re taking the body now.” . . . .
1b.—Next, we review Secret Service Agent Clint Hill’s testimony about being able to see deeply into JFK’s head wound because there was no brain material in the fissure.
2.—We then synopsize the Parkland Hospital M.D’s’ views and statements about JFK’s wounds.
Topics of Discussion and Analysis Include: We begin our in-depth discussion with analysis of the medical evidence put forward by the doctors and nurses and Parkland Hospital in Dallas: Dr. Kemp Clark’s observation of a huge wound in the back of JFK’s head; Corroboration of Clark’s view by Dr. McClelland, Dr. Charles Crenshaw (a third-year resident at the time) and nurse Audrey Bell; Dr. Malcom Perry’s statement that the wound in JFK’s throat was an entrance wound; Review of the pressure put on Perry to change his testimony by Secret Service Agent Elmer Moore (who was acting at the direction of his superiors) and unnamed personnel at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland; the Secret Service’s apparent destruction of the tape of the Parkland press conference by Dr.’s Clark and Perry; The Warren Commission’s presentation of an opposite point of view by Perry following pressure on him by Arlen Specter; ARRB member Douglas Horne’s discussion of Document 1327c confirming what Perry had originally said; Perry’s colleague Dr. Donald Miller who relates that Perry stated that the throat wound was an entrance wound (following their long surgery at a Washington hospital; Dr. Gary Aquilar’s 100-page afterward to Dr. Crenshaw’s book Conspiracy of Silence; Dr. Gary Aquilar’s discovery that 26 witnesses to the Bethesda Naval Hospital autopsy did not contradict the Parkland medical personnel’s observations but confirmed and reinforced those observations! (In its 1979 report, the House Select Committee on Assassinations fallaciously stated that the Bethesda witnesses contradicted the Parkland personnel’s observations.)
3.—Next, we turn to the subject of the autopsy performed at Bethesda Naval Hospital performed on the evening of 11/22/1963
Topics of Discussion and Analysis Include: The lack of qualifications of Navy physicians Humes and Boswell; The inclusion of the under-qualified Army physician Dr. Pierre Finck; Dr. Finck’s reluctant testimony on the witness stand at Clay Shaw’s trial that an unnamed Army General had ordered him not to dissect the back wound in JFK; Dr. Humes’ destruction of his notes; The “disappearance” of Colonel Finck’s notes; Arlen Specter’s 8–10 meetings with Dr.’s Humes and Boswell prior to the Warren Commission’s construction of their testimony; Dr.’s Humes and Boswell’s shepherding of young Naval artist Harold Rydberg in which they said, in effect, “We’ll tell you what to draw;” Rydberg’s moving of the location of the back wound up, to make it consistent with the Single Bullet Theory; The fact that Rydberg’s drawings were not based on the autopsy photos; The fact that the fallacious placing of the back wound at the base of the neck empowered “the Magic Bullet Theory;” FBI agents Sibert and O’Neill’s contradiction of the Bethesda autopsy report, saying of Specter “What a Liar” and opining that he was “following orders;” The Warren Commission’s omission of Sibert and O’Neill’s information; House Select Committee on Assassinations’ 1979 report that 26 Bethesda autopsy witnesses contradicted Parkland M.D’s descriptions of wound in the back; Discovery that this is not true! The consummate significance of this!
4. Next, we review the “Harper fragment” of JFK’s skull, discovered in Dealey Plaza on 11/23/1963; the transfer of possession of the fragment to Dr. Burkley, JFK’s personal physician; the subsequent disappearance of the fragment.
5. We then take up the subject of Dr. Burkley (an Admiral, JFK’s personal physician and the only doctor present at both Parkland Hospital and the Bethesda Naval Hospital autopsy.)
Topics of Discussion and Analysis Include: Dr. Burkley placing of the back wound at roughly vertebrae T‑3 (at variance with what the Warren Commission said); The Warren Commission’s omission of JFK’s death certificate (signed by Dr. Burkley) from the volumes of testimony and exhibits; the absence of Dr. Burkley’s signature on the autopsy sketches in the testimony and exhibits; Burkley’s 1967 refusal to state how many bullets hit JFK (in an oral history compiled for the Kennedy Library); Burkley’s letter to HSCA head Richard Sprague stating that he knew others beside Oswald were involved; Sprague’s abrupt removal of Sprague two weeks later; Burkley’s statements in the early 1980’s to both Henry Hurt and Michael Kurtz that he could contradict the Warren Commission thesis, followed by Burkley’s abrupt reversal of field shortly after making the statements (probably reflecting pressure); Efforts by the ARRB to get Burkley’s daughter and the law firm that had represented him during his life to disclose information; the abrupt reversal of field by Burkley’s daughter, rather like the Admiral’s reversal of his statements to Hurt and Kurtz; Dr. Donald Miller’s account of Burkley’s son’s relating of the Admiral’s bewilderment that the Warren Commission had never called him to testify.
6. Turning to the subject of the mystery of JFK’s brain, we take stock of a number of important considerations.
Topics of Discussion and Analysis Include: In an encore, nurse Aubrey Bell notes that she saw brain matter and spinal fluid leaking from the back of JFK’s massive head wound and dripping into a bucket; Dr. McClelland also saw portions of the cerebellum portruding from the massive head wound; Humes’ autopsy report and Warren Commission report’s omission of the observations of Nurse Bell and Dr. McClelland; At Parkland, Dr. William Midgett notes copious brain material in JFK’s limousine; Secret Service cleaned back of limo before shipment; FBI agent Frank O’Neill’s statement that almost ½ of the brain was missing; the failure to section JFK’s brain–those sections could have determined the trajectory of bullets striking JFK’s head ; ARRB’s Dr. Robert Kirshner opines that JFK’s brain appears to have been in formaldehyde for 2–3 weeks; The significance of Kirshner’s observation—JFK’s brain examined right after assassination per Douglas Horne; Dr. Chessler notes for the camera that the brain was photographed after assassination; X‑Rays of JFK’s brain showed very small fragments in the front of the head wound, larger fragments farther in–this indicates a shot from the front.
7. The bulk of the discussion focuses on the autopsy photos and photos of the brain in particular.
Topics of Discussion and Analysis Include: John Stringer photographed brain autopsy 3 days after assassination; Jeremy Gunn’s presentation of photos to Stringer; Half of photos are taken from the top but others from bottom—Stringer says all pictures were from top and notes that type of film used is inconsistent with what he did; Stringer says that scalp wound was peeled back to [supposedly] show entrance wound in back of head, both interior and exterior—no pictures of that; The disappearance of tissue slides that had been taken and a large metal container apparently containing JFK’s brain; Robert Knudsen’s having been credited with taking the autopsy photos in his New York Times and Washington Post obituaries; Knudsen says he took autopsy pictures that showed probes in Kennedy’s body; Supposedly, no probes were used in the autopsy; Those photos appear to have “vanished;” Discussion of the significance of probes, and what those are; Knudsen told his wife that the Secret Service destroyed photos; ARRB member Douglas Horne’s opinion that both Stringer and Knudsen took autopsy pictures.
8. We review John Stringer’s salient observation:
Doug Horne: On November 1st, 1966, the National Archives and an official from the Department of Justice met with Humes, Boswell, photographer John Stringer, and the radiologist [John] Ebersole. And they looked at the autopsy photographs for the first time and they created a catalog, an inventory simply saying: this is what this picture describes. During the discussion the DOJ witness, Mr. Belcher, who was an attorney, noted they were discussing missing photographs. Jeremy Gunn, my boss, the general counsel, did ask why these people signed an inventory which they knew not to be true. And Stringer said, “Well, some people do object, but they don’t last very long.”. . . .
9. We then review Dr. Burkley’s dispatching of his aide James Young and his subordinates, Mr.‘s Mills and Martindale to retrieve material from JFK’s limousine.
Topics of Discussion and Analysis Include: Mills and Martindale’s retrieval of a piece of JFK’s skull; Their retrieval of a bullet with a bent tip; Their retrieval of a bullet fragment; The apparent impact of a bullet on the metal framing the windshield; The apparent passage of a bullet fragment through the windshield of JFK’s limousine; The disappearance of the skull fragment, intact bullet with the bent tip and bullet fragment; the rebuilding of JFK’s limousine, featuring replacement of the windshield and the metal framing of it–this following the Secret Service’s cleaning of JFK’s limousine.
Brilliant program!
Clearly, the military medical professionals at Bethesda Naval Hospital, US Navy CDR. Humes, US Navy CDR. Boswell & US Army Lt. Col. Finck soiled their uniforms by willingly destroying, perverting and fabricating evidence surrounding the autopsy of the President of the United States, their own Commander-In-Chief — at the very least, the Department of Defense should posthumously strip them of their honorable service records, rank and military awards.
Just how magic was the magic bullet? It’s one of many questions raised by latest eye-witness of the JFK assassination to come forward with an account that threatens to blow up the ‘magic bullet’ theory: Secret Service agent Paul Landis, who was part of the detail around Kennedy’s limousine in Dallas, just came forward last week with an account of the events of that day that don’t just refute the ‘magic bullet’ theory but do so in manner that strongly points towards a second shooting from the front. Either that or, as Gerald Posner seems to suggest, Landis’s account may just mean the ‘magic bullet’ was more magical than first assumed.
As Landis describes the events of that day, he heard the first gun shot and swung his head around towards the sound. He then turned back towards Kennedy, seeing his arm raised as if he had been hit. Landis then heard a second, louder, shot, and saw the back of Kennedy’s skull blown out in his direction. That experience of seeing Kennedy’s brains blown out reportedly haunted Landis for months, causing him to leave the service 6 months later. As Landis put it, his memory was like his own Zapruder film on an endless loop. “The president’s head exploding — I could not shake that vision,” he said. “Whatever I was doing, that’s all I was thinking about.”
So we have an eyewitness who heard a second louder shot and saw Kennedy’s head blown out backwards in his direction. That obviously doesn’t fit the ‘single bullet from behind’ Warren Commission narrative. But it gets worse. Because it turns out Landis made another discovery that day: first, he sees seome bullet fragments immersed in blood. But then he finds an intact bullet lodged in the back of the limousine back seat cushion behind Kennedy. Landis claims he took the bullet the bullet amid all the chaos of the moment so souvenir seekers couldn’t find it and later placed it on Kennedy’s stretcher, assuming that it would be relevant for Kennedy’s medical treatment. It appears that is the same bullet that was found on John Connally’s stretcher, with Landis assuming that it must have been bumped from Kennedy’s stretcher to Connally’s as they were being transported and bumped together side-by-side. Crucially, it was the discovery of that bullet on Connally’s stretcher that was used to arrive at the conclusion that the bullet had fallen out of Connally’s body at some point while he was on the stretcher. In other words, Landis found the ‘magic bullet’ embedded in the back of the limousine seat cushion behind where Kennedy was sitting.
Now, why didn’t Landis report all of this at the time? Well, as Landis tells it, he was largely in a state of shock over what happened and hadn’t really been following the details of how the investigation was playing out. Beyond that, Landis asserts that the Warren Commission never actually questioned him. He then spent the following decades trying to forget about all of it. It wasn’t until he was given a copy of the book “Six Seconds in Dallas” and started to believe the official account of the ‘magic bullet’ was wrong, leading to him reaching out to experts and eventually writing the memoir that’s about to come out.
As Landis also notes, fellow secret service agent Clint Hill actively warned him back in 2014 against coming forwards with this story, warning of ‘ramifications’. Hill, today, openly questions Landis’s account and suggests it can be trusted after so many decades. This is a good time to recall how Clint Hill himself was a witness to something else that punctures a giant hole in the official narrative: Hill was able to see deeply into the head wound because there was so much brain material already blown out, which obviously isn’t exactly consistent with an entry wound from a shot from behind.
Could we be looking at a real stress test for the ‘magic bullet’ theory? It’s hard to imagine that actually happening at this point, but it’s worth noting the laughable explanation Gerald Posner gives in the following NY Times interview of Landis: even if what Landis says is true, that could simply mean that the bullet that was assumed to have stopped in Connally actually exited Connally and end up in the seat cushion behind Kennedy. It points to one of the most magical properties of the bullet: more magic can be provided as needed:
“His memory challenges the theory advanced by the Warren Commission that has been the subject of so much speculation and debate over the years — that one of the bullets fired at the president’s limousine hit not only Kennedy but Gov. John B. Connally Jr. of Texas, who was riding with him, in multiple places.”
The ‘magic bullet’ theory takes another hit. Will this finally stop the zombie lie that refuses to die? Probably not, but it’s going to be interesting to see how it manages to shamble on after this: the ‘magic bullet’ bullet found on John Connally’s stretcher and long presumed to have fallen of out Connally’s body was instead found in the back of the limousine by agent Paul Landis embedded in the seat behind where Kennedy was sitting. Landis recalls placing it on Kennedy’s stretcher and assumes it must have bumped over to Connally’s stretcher at some point. If true, it completely up-ends the magic bullet theory and opens all sorts of investigative avenues that have long been blocked from any official inquiry. Which, of course, means this story will be allowed to die just as all the other accounts that undercut the Warren Commission are allowed to die. The zombie lie must live on. It’s a national imperative, apparently:
And note one of the very obvious potential implications of finding a bullet in the back of the limousine: it hints at a second shooter hitting Kennedy from the front. Either that or this is an extremely magical bullet:
Also note how Landis appears to recount seeing Kennedy get hit twice, with Kennedy raising his arm, evidently hit, after the first shot, only to have his brains blown out all over the back of the limousine by a second shot. A second shot that sounded louder to Landis. Was the second shot magically louder too?
So Landis experiences a second louder shot that causes Kennedy’s brains to splatter in his direction (he was behind Kennedy), then finds the ‘magic bullet’ embedded in the back of the limousine seat behind where Kennedy was sitting. Given that this obviously points towards a second shooter from the front, it’s also worth noting that this would go a long ways towards explaining the magic bullet’s relatively pristine condition:
So how could this have possibly been kept out of the Warren Commission? Especially the parts that contradict his statements at the time? Well, the fact that the Warren Commission never actually questioned him should gives us a clue as to how these contradictory statements ended up in the record. There simply wasn’t an official interest in getting an accurate account of what happened:
And then we get to the predictable defenses of the increasingly absurd magic bullet theory, including the seemingly obligatory quote from Gerald Posner. As we might imagine, he’s been busy lately refuting this story. In this case, Posner seems to be suggesting that even if what Landis is claiming is true, it might simply mean that the bullet exited Connally and ended up in the back of the seat behind Kennedy. We just needed to add a few extra twists to its magical trajectory and it’s all explained away!
Also note how Landis was actively warned against going public by his fellow Secret Service agent Clint Hill. “Many ramifications,” as Hill warned. And here was have Hill now working to discredit Landis. This is a good time to recall how Hill witnessed the large amount of Kennedy’s brain that was missing from the alleged ‘entrance wound’ in the back of his head. Which is a reminder that one of the ramifications of coming forward with these kinds of accounts is that you might be discredited by the other witnesses who also have to deal with such ramifications themselves:
What type of ramification might Paul Landis be facing now, at the ripe old age of 88? We’re going to find out. But it’s not like there’s a lot that can be done to the guy at this point. He’s not on his death bed, but he’s not exactly far from it either. How many more eye witnesses are there who are too old to care about the ‘ramifications’ of coming forward? With the 60th anniversary approaching, there can’t be that many people left. Which is too bad. So let’s hope the remaining witnesses can draw inspiration from Landis’s decision to correct the record and clear his conscience. There’s only so much time remaining for the surviving eyewitnesses, whereas the ‘magic bullet’ will clearly never get too old to update its magical story.
With former Secret Service agent Paul Landis having just fired latest fatal shots into undead corpse of the ‘magic bullet’ theory, it’s worth noting that Landis isn’t the sole eye-witness of the pristine bullet sitting on Kennedy’s stretcher. Nurse Phyllis Hall came forward with her own accounts almost a decade ago. As we’re going to see, Hall not only recalls seeing the bullet laying on the stretcher but also recalls having never seen that bullet mentioned in any of the investigation materials. In other words, this is someone who knew something was very wrong with the JFK investigation from the beginning. Hall asserts she waited decades to come forwards over fears of harassment and retaliation. But, for whatever reason, she decided to break her silence a decade ago. So it’s worth noting that the newly available account from Landis appear to back up the recollections Hall brought forward to the public despite those retaliation fears:
“Multiple interviews given by nurse Phyllis J. Hall a decade ago appear to back up former Secret Service agent Paul Landis’ claim, after she described seeing a bullet sitting on the mortally wounded president’s stretcher next to his head.”
You can’t call Paul Landis’s claims — that he placed the bullet on Kennedy’s stretcher and maybe it got bumped onto Connally’s stretcher — outlandish or absurd unless you call nurse Hall’s accounts from a decade ago outlandish and absurd too. Both eyewitnesses saw the pristine bullet sitting on Kennedy’s stretcher. Landis literally placed it there.
But Hall doesn’t just recollect seeing the bullet sitting on Kennedy’s stretcher. She also recalls having never seen this bullet presented as evidence or having ever heard what happened to it. It’s the kind of detail that indicates Hall was following the investigation and haunted by what she wasn’t seeing reported:
Even more haunting for Hall must have been the fact that the bullet she saw matched happened to match the description of the ‘magic’ C1 (CE 399) bullet recovered on John Connally’s stretcher. Imagine how troubling it must have been to know about a missing bullet that just happens to match the ‘magic’ bullet:
And note how, while the discovery that this pristine bullet and speculation that it was an underpowered bullet that fell out of his back suggests there could have been another shooter from above and behind, that scenario would also preclude the bullet exiting his neck. And that, in turn, points towards the fact that the ER doctors initially characterized Kennedy’s throat would as an entry wound. The kind of entry wound that would have required a shot from the front:
There can’t be that many eye-witnesses left who have yet to give their accounts of that day. The clock is ticking. Of course, it’s not as if we really need that much more evidence. Sure, there are still some forensic mysteries remaining about this case. But it’s mostly a mass psychological mystery revolving around why it is that we can’t actually accept the overwhelming evidence long staring us in the face. A mystery that only grows more mysterious with each new revelation.