This Book Should Become a Classic on Political Corruption and Cover-ups

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The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ (book review)

On November 22, 1963, in my 16^th year of life, I was taking a high school ‘typing’ exam while John F. Kennedy, just 30 years older, was being murdered. As I watched the news videos that accompanied that event up to the rushed swearing in of Lyndon Baines Johnson, with Kennedy’s widow at his side, I could not help but be totally shocked at the physiognomy of LBJ. Something wasn’t right. In my mind, Johnson must have had something to do with Kennedy’s murder, but what?

Over the next few decades, my work involved opportunities to meet with some Texans, both Republicans and Democrats who confirmed my worst thoughts. LBJ had indeed been involved in a major way in the killing of JFK. But who would listen to any of us? We all lived in both shock and silence. And then, in 2013, along came Roger Stone’s book (written with Mike Colapietro and published by Skyhorse Publishing in New York), The Man Who Killed Kennedy: The Case Against LBJ. I had to read it.

The book should become a classic when it comes to “exposing” corruption. And Stone pulls no punches.  For example, Joseph Kennedy, JFK’s father, is exposed as shameless in how he went about getting his way. In fact, the private lives and the private language of most of the key players (John and Robert Kennedy included) is also shocking and not for the consumption of minors.

Roger Stone painstakingly describes the role of the Mafia, the CIA, and the FBI not only in the murder of JFK but also in many political actions that presidents of both parties have made over the years. The explanation of what went down over the Cuban crisis is a highlight in the story and perhaps what gave initial rise to the eventual assassination of the President. Having read that, there is no doubt in my mind that the blackmailing going on by these three entities in America today is what makes so many conservative (and sometime liberal) politicians eunuchs when it comes to decisive action that matters.

The author’s account of the Warren Commission on the assassination of Kennedy systematically destroys its Report (read by me and millions of others) as being yet another total cover-up. And he later exposes a few other such activities in the same way.

Spoiler-alert (hardly): This book makes a very clear case for finding LBJ guilty of playing a key role, not just of JFK’s murder, but many more, and with considerable, hard-to-argue with, evidence. Much of what drove Johnson was his own personality, his greed, and his feelings that a) he deserved anything he wanted (from women, including Jackie Kennedy to power to gold hidden in New Mexico – an incredible story in itself, also covered in detail by Stone in the book) and b) he was unstoppable, as he had so many people in his pocket. Stone also portrays Johnson as a ruthless tyrant in all his dealings with people who crossed him, let him down in any way, or resisted his right to do what he wanted. His impropriety left people stunned even at the time of their loss as described by his reactions to Jackie as well as Robert Kennedy immediately after the assassination.

While many of us may have thought there was a link between Johnson and the Kennedy assassination, something Stone confirms forcefully, many of us reading the book were shocked with Johnson’s role (Stone accuses him of murder) in the deaths of 34 and another 171 wounded service personnel, in the attack by Israel on the USS Liberty on June 8, 1967 (during the Six Day War) while it was in international waters north of the Sinai Peninsula. This alone made the book a great read.

But wait, there’s more for those who have been swayed by so many other authors on Kennedy’s death that attack any conspiracy theory and stand firmly behind the Warren Commission. He names several and explains why they too had ‘drunk the Kool-Aid’ in believing the cover-up that remains the “official” position of the government. But he saves his strongest criticisms (and rationale for it) for Bill O’Reilly, the American television host (for FoxNews), (so-called) historian, journalist, syndicated columnist, and political commentator and author of Killing Kennedy.

In addition to all the above, I confirmed three other key lessons from the book:

·      First, in a fallen world, most successful politicians are no ‘angels’ – far from it.

·      Second, the Government, even in a democracy, and even in America, does not always tell the truth.

·      Third, there is “truth” . . . and there is “official truth”.

While it can be argued that many “confidential information” records are considered “classified” for decades assumedly for national security purposes, I submit, and I believe Stone would agree with me, that some are kept as such just to protect those who have been inept or unethical in keeping their oaths of office to the people and to God.

This book is a must read for anyone with interest in truth, freedom, and democracy.

    -- Ken B. Godevenos, http://www.accordconsulting.com, Toronto, Ontario. 15/09/09  

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