Mike Connell, and Ohio IT wizard to whom the GOP farmed out the "responsibility" for computer tabulations in the 2004 presidential election, was killed last week when the small plane he was piloting crashed on approach at the Akron airport. Why does this have national significance? Because Connell, at the time, was under subpoena to testify in the lawsuit filed by an Ohio citizens group against the Republican Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell, for election irregularities. Cliff Arnebeck, the attorney who filed the suit, had asked the Ohio Attorney General to provide protection for Connell as the suit proceeded, because Connell had been threatened. Who threatened him? None other than the Chief Minister of Bush's Evil Empire--Karl Rove. According to Arnebeck, an unnamed source swore that Rove threatened to have Connell's wife prosecuted for lobby law violations if Connell did not keep his mouth shut about the GOP's cyber-rigging of Ohio's votes in 2004. Connell, reportedly remorseful over what he'd done, became a witness for the claimants in the lawsuit. Rove, according to sources, escalated the threats to Connell, enough so to prompt Arnebeck's request for protection of Connell.
Bush's victory in Ohio in 2004 gave him just enough electoral votes to defeat John Kerry and win the presidency for a second term. Knowing all we know now about the ruthlessness, deceit and corruption employed by the Bushies, does anyone really think Karl Rove is not capable of stealing an election and arranging for witnesses to the theft to be eliminated? Will the mainstream media investigate this story? So far, their silence is deafening. Just like all the other Bush atrocities, this one will probably go unprobed and unpunished.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Three New Books on JFK Assassination--One Gets it Right, One Tries Hard, One is an Utter Joke
Don't be bamboozled by the three newly published books on the JFK assassination. Only one--"JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters"--is worth reading. The others--Gus Russo's "Brothers In Arms" and "Legacy of Secrecy" by Thom Hartmann and Lamar Waldron--make outlandish claims and impugn unlikely plotters. So much so, that the application of a slight bit of common sense is all one needs to dismiss them. Simply put, the mechanics of the plot could not have been carried out by their supposed conspirators--the Castro brothers (Russo's nonsense) and the Mafia (Waldron and Hartmann are scuffling about with minor leaguers in a big-league game).
Calling Gus Russo an investigative reporter is like awarding the Oscar to porn star John Holmes. This guy would not know the facts if they accosted him, beat him senseless, kidnapped him and held him for ransom. It is utterly laughable that he blames the Castro brothers for orchestrating the plot to kill JFK. I suppose Fidel convinced the covert operatives of Operation Mongoose to pull it off. (Mongoose was the CIA's plot to kill Castro, but, instead of gunning for the Beard, they were all photographed in Dallas on Nov. 21-22, 1963.) And, of course, the Castros arranged to have Secret Service agent Henry Rybka ordered off the death limo as it was leaving Love Field and to have the rest of the agents stand down as the shots were firedin Dealey Plaza. Oh, yes, Fidel somehow managed to alter the wounds of the president between the time the body left Dallas and arrived at Bethesda. And the Castros made sure the body was highjacked from Parkland Hospital before an autopsy (manadated by Texas law) could be performed. But first, of course, they had to arrange, through their emissaries Michael Paine of Bell Helicopter and millionaire oilman and Texas School Book Depository owner D.H. Byrd, to get Oswald that job which overlooked the president's route so that he could be framed for the shooting. And it was clever how the Castros maneuvered Ruby into position at just the right time to kill the patsy. And certainly it was Castro's agents who appointed the Warren Commission to cover up the whole thing. And for the last 45 years, Fidel has somehow convinced the CIA to withhold evidence. My god the Castros were busy in 1963, and what power they have wielded since. Who says a Third World banana republic can't orchestrate a massive plot that kills the leader of the free world and stifles all investigative arms of the most powerful nation in the world, sworn enemy of communist Cuba. "Legacy of Secrecy" is almost as hilarious. Hartmann and Waldron blame the mob for the whole thing.
If you want a cogent, serious read about the assassination, and a brave, logical exploration of the true motivation behind the killing, read Douglass' book. The establishment will try to smear him as a "peace activist" (God knows there's nothing worse than someone who works for peace), but he's got it right. Unlike Russo, Douglass points fingers at the people who GENUINELY had means, motive and opportunity. If you read this blog, you know how I was, and still am, affected by Kennedy's "peace" speech of June 10, 1963. Well, Douglass sees this as the watershed moment in the rift between Kennedy and the military-industrial-intelligence complex. No more wars, no more war profiteering, you say? No more president, they say.
Calling Gus Russo an investigative reporter is like awarding the Oscar to porn star John Holmes. This guy would not know the facts if they accosted him, beat him senseless, kidnapped him and held him for ransom. It is utterly laughable that he blames the Castro brothers for orchestrating the plot to kill JFK. I suppose Fidel convinced the covert operatives of Operation Mongoose to pull it off. (Mongoose was the CIA's plot to kill Castro, but, instead of gunning for the Beard, they were all photographed in Dallas on Nov. 21-22, 1963.) And, of course, the Castros arranged to have Secret Service agent Henry Rybka ordered off the death limo as it was leaving Love Field and to have the rest of the agents stand down as the shots were firedin Dealey Plaza. Oh, yes, Fidel somehow managed to alter the wounds of the president between the time the body left Dallas and arrived at Bethesda. And the Castros made sure the body was highjacked from Parkland Hospital before an autopsy (manadated by Texas law) could be performed. But first, of course, they had to arrange, through their emissaries Michael Paine of Bell Helicopter and millionaire oilman and Texas School Book Depository owner D.H. Byrd, to get Oswald that job which overlooked the president's route so that he could be framed for the shooting. And it was clever how the Castros maneuvered Ruby into position at just the right time to kill the patsy. And certainly it was Castro's agents who appointed the Warren Commission to cover up the whole thing. And for the last 45 years, Fidel has somehow convinced the CIA to withhold evidence. My god the Castros were busy in 1963, and what power they have wielded since. Who says a Third World banana republic can't orchestrate a massive plot that kills the leader of the free world and stifles all investigative arms of the most powerful nation in the world, sworn enemy of communist Cuba. "Legacy of Secrecy" is almost as hilarious. Hartmann and Waldron blame the mob for the whole thing.
If you want a cogent, serious read about the assassination, and a brave, logical exploration of the true motivation behind the killing, read Douglass' book. The establishment will try to smear him as a "peace activist" (God knows there's nothing worse than someone who works for peace), but he's got it right. Unlike Russo, Douglass points fingers at the people who GENUINELY had means, motive and opportunity. If you read this blog, you know how I was, and still am, affected by Kennedy's "peace" speech of June 10, 1963. Well, Douglass sees this as the watershed moment in the rift between Kennedy and the military-industrial-intelligence complex. No more wars, no more war profiteering, you say? No more president, they say.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
YouTube videos of interviews with JFK assassination eyewitnesses, circa 1965
While YouTube is a morass of the inane, the improbable, and the irrelevant, sometimes one stumbles upon something that is quite extraordinary, like the vintage, black-and-white interviews conducted by Mark Lane, circa 1965, with JFK assassination eyewitnesses. Lane, if you are unaware, was one of the original Warren Commission critics, and his landmark first book on the subject of the assassination, Rush To Judgment, is considered a classic. Two of the interviews were especially riveting: one with J.C. Price, who witnessed the motorcade and shooting from a unique perspective--on the roof of the Terminal Annex building on the south side of Dealey Plaza, from where he had a clear and panoramic view of the entire plaza; the other was an interview of S.M. Holland, who witnessed the shooting from the triple overpass adjacent to the rail yards and overlooking Elm Street. Both men heard and saw at least one shot come from behind the picket fence atop the grassy knoll on the north side of Elm Street. They also saw smoke waft out from under the trees which camouflaged the shooter. Price saw a man running at breakneck speed away from the fence and behind the School Book Depository Building immediately after the shooting. Holland ran to the parking lot behind the fence and saw fresh footprints and cigarette butts in the area where he suspected an assassin had fired.
Both Price and Holland have deer-in-the-headlight looks as they speak to Lane, almost as if they both realize, "Oh my god, what am I saying? This directly contradicts what the Warren Report claims. By the end of the interviews, both men appear scared and reticent, the full impact of what they have said hitting home.
I don't have a link to provide, but I imagine it would be easy enough to access these videos with a simple key word search. The interviews are short and to-the-point, and it's worthwhile to see these unedited, unaltered, first-hand accounts from eyewitnesses to history just a few months removed from the event.
Both Price and Holland have deer-in-the-headlight looks as they speak to Lane, almost as if they both realize, "Oh my god, what am I saying? This directly contradicts what the Warren Report claims. By the end of the interviews, both men appear scared and reticent, the full impact of what they have said hitting home.
I don't have a link to provide, but I imagine it would be easy enough to access these videos with a simple key word search. The interviews are short and to-the-point, and it's worthwhile to see these unedited, unaltered, first-hand accounts from eyewitnesses to history just a few months removed from the event.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Cardinal Dulles Dies; Who'll Pray for Allen's Soul Now?
When I read the news of the death of Cardinal Avery Dulles the other day, I thought, again, of his uncle Allen, one the most despicable snakes who ever crawled out from under a CIA rock. Director of OSS secret ops in Europe in WWII, and Director of the CIA under Eisenhower and JFK (until JFK fired him after the Bay of Pigs), he was responsible for some of the most outlandish atrocities ever dreamed up by a demented Cold Warrior.
He okayed Operation Paperclip, the evacuation of war-criminal Nazis, who should have been tried and hanged at Nuremberg, after WWII. He gave these Nazis new lives and lucrative careers in our aerospace, defense, and intelligence complex. What they did there is a story unto itself. Let's just say, America, in the Cold War, took a turn towards neo-fascism.
One of Dulles' prize projects was Operation Mockingbird, a program which trained CIA assets as journalists who would disseminate pro-CIA propaganda from their positions at newspaper, TV stations, publishing houses, and periodicals across the country. He also recruited exisiting media moguls like the Luces, Bill Paley, and Sulzberger to "lie for their country." Subversion of the free press meant that American citizens seldom got the truth of what their secret agencies were up to.
Dulles also dreamed up MK-ULTRA, the secret biochemical and drug experimentation program which victimized innocent, unwitting citizens who were exposed to bacterial agents, LSD, and other weird psychological and hypnosis projects. The object was to see if the CIA could control one's mind and one's behavior, and create a Manchurian candidate who could kill in a brainwashed trance without later being able to recall the act.
To cap his distinguished career, Dulles covered up the truth of JFK's assassination while serving on the Warren Commission. Dulles falsified documents, harangued witnesses, misled investigators, and use "Mockingbird" assets to print lies about the evidence in the press. In other words, he did everything he could to steer the investigation away from the real culprits--the military-industrial-intelligence complex, which he had served well for a lifetime.
Cardinal Dulles lived to be 90, but I don't think even 90 years of prayer and restitution is enough to absolve uncle Allen of his sins. I wonder what covert ops Allen is running in hell?
He okayed Operation Paperclip, the evacuation of war-criminal Nazis, who should have been tried and hanged at Nuremberg, after WWII. He gave these Nazis new lives and lucrative careers in our aerospace, defense, and intelligence complex. What they did there is a story unto itself. Let's just say, America, in the Cold War, took a turn towards neo-fascism.
One of Dulles' prize projects was Operation Mockingbird, a program which trained CIA assets as journalists who would disseminate pro-CIA propaganda from their positions at newspaper, TV stations, publishing houses, and periodicals across the country. He also recruited exisiting media moguls like the Luces, Bill Paley, and Sulzberger to "lie for their country." Subversion of the free press meant that American citizens seldom got the truth of what their secret agencies were up to.
Dulles also dreamed up MK-ULTRA, the secret biochemical and drug experimentation program which victimized innocent, unwitting citizens who were exposed to bacterial agents, LSD, and other weird psychological and hypnosis projects. The object was to see if the CIA could control one's mind and one's behavior, and create a Manchurian candidate who could kill in a brainwashed trance without later being able to recall the act.
To cap his distinguished career, Dulles covered up the truth of JFK's assassination while serving on the Warren Commission. Dulles falsified documents, harangued witnesses, misled investigators, and use "Mockingbird" assets to print lies about the evidence in the press. In other words, he did everything he could to steer the investigation away from the real culprits--the military-industrial-intelligence complex, which he had served well for a lifetime.
Cardinal Dulles lived to be 90, but I don't think even 90 years of prayer and restitution is enough to absolve uncle Allen of his sins. I wonder what covert ops Allen is running in hell?
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
25th Anniversary of the Death of Father James Carney, S.J., Missionary and Social Revolutionary
Just a few days ago I was speaking to one of my former teachers, a Jesuit, from my days at St. Louis University High School. He reminded me that it was the 25the anniversary of the death of Father James Carney, also a SLUH grad, and one of the most selfless, humble and dedicated social crusaders who has ever lived. He led a truly Christ-like life, living and working among the indigent and helpless of central America. He got caught up in the Honduran rebels fight for freedom in 1983. He was their chaplain, and they affectionately called him Padre Guadalupe. Their fight was against the CIA-backed contras, and Father Carney ultimately lost his life in the fight. I memorialize his struggles and his dedication to the poor in my novel, Murder Of An American Nazi. In it Father Carney is tortured by a CIA agent, Daniel Pfisterr. Here is a passage (pp. 200-202):
"Pfisterr, frustrated by the priest's gentle demeanor and misguided beliefs, became more forceful. 'You completely misunderstand what's really going on down here, don't you? We must not let communism take hold in the western hemisphere. These people don't know what's best for them. We have to determine that for them. What we're doing down here is in their long-term interests.'
" 'You mean, having the CIA intervene to overthrow the leaders they elect...and then empower fascist dictators to starve them off their lands (says Father Carney)'
"Spittle shot from his mouth as Pfisterr furiously sputtered, 'People who believe in God should have nothing to do with communist guerillas. When they win, freedom of religion loses. Real Christianity, like it's practiced in the USA, will become extinct.'
"Padre Guadalupe softly replied, 'You mean real Christians support the oppression and starvation of their fellow man? Maybe that form of Christianity is not worth preserving anyway.'
"Pfisterr seethed with fury. No one had ever had the temerity to speak to him that way, but he felt compelled to answer this insolent Marxist priest. After all, America had to win not only the shooting war against the rebels, but also the war of ideas. 'America is a generous Christian nation, willing to extend a hand to anyone who accepts the precepts on which the nation was founded.'
" 'And what are those?'
" 'That all men are free to pursue their own destiny, in a society unencumbered by a totalitarian regime.'
" 'That's what the Honduran people want.'
" 'What the Honduran people want, or think they want, is to have a communist government parcel out land and goods without concern for who has the means, under a free enterprise system, to pay for those things.'
" 'So it's about riches, then. Freedom for you means free enterprise, and nothing more. The American way is to preserve, at all costs, a system where the wealthiest have the right to own all of the country's resources. And the power to oppress those who want to survive by sharing in a portion of those resources. That's neither just nor righteous. That's the real godless system, not socialism.'
"Pfisterr got so livid he turned red in the face. '...the country you turned your back on is the best country on earth. Where any man, if he works hard enough, can be as rich as he wants.'
"Confident that angels were speaking through him, and at peace with his maker, Padre Lupe serenely quoted from Proverbs, 'Whoever trusts in his riches will fail. Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. When the wicked dies, his hope will perish, and the expectation of wealth perishes too.'
"Pfisterr's last wisp of patience evaporated. 'Enough of the fucking debate,' he shouted. He beat Padre Lupe as he had seen Dornberger beat the Archambeaus and Hughes in Saint Sernin forty years prior--to inflict the maximum amount of pain without fatally harming the prisoner. 'Give me the names of the rebels. Where are they hiding?' he screamed."
Father Carney, aka Padre Lupe, disappeared in the jungles of central America that summer. It is presumed that the CIA murdered him. Documents obtained by his family, under the Freedom of Information Act, cite several reliable witnesses who reveal that Father Carney was pushed out of a helicopter in flight by his CIA executioner.
To our great shame, the story of Father Carney's life and death is little known and seldom remembered. He is on the long, regrettable list of those tortured and murdered by the CIA in the second half of the 20th century, for having the courage to want to change the world.
"Pfisterr, frustrated by the priest's gentle demeanor and misguided beliefs, became more forceful. 'You completely misunderstand what's really going on down here, don't you? We must not let communism take hold in the western hemisphere. These people don't know what's best for them. We have to determine that for them. What we're doing down here is in their long-term interests.'
" 'You mean, having the CIA intervene to overthrow the leaders they elect...and then empower fascist dictators to starve them off their lands (says Father Carney)'
"Spittle shot from his mouth as Pfisterr furiously sputtered, 'People who believe in God should have nothing to do with communist guerillas. When they win, freedom of religion loses. Real Christianity, like it's practiced in the USA, will become extinct.'
"Padre Guadalupe softly replied, 'You mean real Christians support the oppression and starvation of their fellow man? Maybe that form of Christianity is not worth preserving anyway.'
"Pfisterr seethed with fury. No one had ever had the temerity to speak to him that way, but he felt compelled to answer this insolent Marxist priest. After all, America had to win not only the shooting war against the rebels, but also the war of ideas. 'America is a generous Christian nation, willing to extend a hand to anyone who accepts the precepts on which the nation was founded.'
" 'And what are those?'
" 'That all men are free to pursue their own destiny, in a society unencumbered by a totalitarian regime.'
" 'That's what the Honduran people want.'
" 'What the Honduran people want, or think they want, is to have a communist government parcel out land and goods without concern for who has the means, under a free enterprise system, to pay for those things.'
" 'So it's about riches, then. Freedom for you means free enterprise, and nothing more. The American way is to preserve, at all costs, a system where the wealthiest have the right to own all of the country's resources. And the power to oppress those who want to survive by sharing in a portion of those resources. That's neither just nor righteous. That's the real godless system, not socialism.'
"Pfisterr got so livid he turned red in the face. '...the country you turned your back on is the best country on earth. Where any man, if he works hard enough, can be as rich as he wants.'
"Confident that angels were speaking through him, and at peace with his maker, Padre Lupe serenely quoted from Proverbs, 'Whoever trusts in his riches will fail. Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. When the wicked dies, his hope will perish, and the expectation of wealth perishes too.'
"Pfisterr's last wisp of patience evaporated. 'Enough of the fucking debate,' he shouted. He beat Padre Lupe as he had seen Dornberger beat the Archambeaus and Hughes in Saint Sernin forty years prior--to inflict the maximum amount of pain without fatally harming the prisoner. 'Give me the names of the rebels. Where are they hiding?' he screamed."
Father Carney, aka Padre Lupe, disappeared in the jungles of central America that summer. It is presumed that the CIA murdered him. Documents obtained by his family, under the Freedom of Information Act, cite several reliable witnesses who reveal that Father Carney was pushed out of a helicopter in flight by his CIA executioner.
To our great shame, the story of Father Carney's life and death is little known and seldom remembered. He is on the long, regrettable list of those tortured and murdered by the CIA in the second half of the 20th century, for having the courage to want to change the world.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
This is the cover of my new novel, Murder Of An American Nazi. It is available for sale on amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. You can read more about the book at www.eloquentbooks.com/MurderOfAnAmericanNazi.html
Monday, December 1, 2008
CIA's Mind Control Program Exposed by Vermont Journalist
Louis Porter, of the Vermont Press Bureau, today reports that a Dr. Robert W. Hyde, a psychiatrist associated with the CIA, conducted drug and psychological experiments on unwitting subjects at a Boston Hospital in the 1950s, under the auspices of MK-ULTRA, the CIA's mind control program. Later, Hyde worked as the Director of Research in the Vermont State Hospital, where he secretly used abnormal and harmful treatment techniques, including LSD dosage, on unwitting patients. How does Porter know all this? Because one of Hyde's patients can't forget him and his abuse. Her name is Karen Wetmore, and, with the help of lawyers who obtained secret government documents under the Freedom of Information Act, she sued the hospital and won a private settlement. The full article can be found on the blog of "Steven Soldz: Psychoanalyst, Psychologist, Researcher and Activist."
Where did the CIA get LSD? From the Nazi scientists who brought it with them to America after the war. One of the first to discover and develop the drug, Dr. Hubertus Strughold use it on death camp prisoners during the war. Dr. Strughold, not coincidentally, is one of the Nazis rescued from a hangman's noose at Nuremberg by Allen Dulles and the CIA. I deal with this topic in my book, Murder Of An American Nazi.
Where did the CIA get LSD? From the Nazi scientists who brought it with them to America after the war. One of the first to discover and develop the drug, Dr. Hubertus Strughold use it on death camp prisoners during the war. Dr. Strughold, not coincidentally, is one of the Nazis rescued from a hangman's noose at Nuremberg by Allen Dulles and the CIA. I deal with this topic in my book, Murder Of An American Nazi.
Friday, November 28, 2008
For St. Louis sports fans only--10 most bitter defeats
I've been a diehard St. Louis sports fan for 51 years, or since I began feeling joy and pain transmitted via the unblinking eye of the TV screen. What follows are the top 10 lows (I'll post the highs some other time; for some reason, they're harder to remember than the defeats). They are my attempt to purge the suffering that never seems to let go of me.
Losses:
1) Game 6, 1985 World Series. October 26, 1985. The Denkinger game, of course. 500 years from now this may be long forgotten, but not in the lifetime of any Cards' fan who saw it. I know, I know. Jack Clark and Darrell Porter misplayed the foul pop after the blown call; still, if Denkinger gets the call right, we are probably world champs for the second time in four years. Kansas City 2, St. Louis 1.
2) Orange Bowl, Jan. 1, 1970. Penn St. 10, Missouri 3. This game has been overlooked and/or forgotten by many St. Louis-area fans, especially those who don't follow Mizzou. But I live and die with the Tigers, going back to Dan Devine's first year. And this game will haunt me until I die. No one will ever convince me that Missouri was not the best team in college football in 1969. Texas won the mythical national championship by beating Arkansas 15-14 in December, but, in an era when most southern teams were lilly white, Texas did not have the best athletes. Missouri, on the other hand, had Jon Staggers, Mel Gray, Joe Moore, Jim Harrison, Ty Walls, Henry Brown and other great African-American football players. Devine was color-blind. The Tigers ran up and down the field on Penn State, but turned the ball over 9 times. NINE.
3) Game 7, 1957, NBA finals. April 13, 1957. Boston 125, St. Louis 123 (double overtime). Red Auerbach always called this one of the greatest games ever played. The Hawks had the ball with one second left. Alex Hannum threw an inbounds pass the length of the court, intentionally banging it off the backboard. Pettit caught the rebound and missed a 10-footer that rimmed the basket. This was the beginning of the Celtics' dynasty.
4) Game 7, 1968 World Series, Ocotober 10, 1968. Detroit 4, St. Louis 1. The always-reliable Curt Flood misplayed a fly ball, and Gibby got beat for one of the few times in the World Series. Like in '85, the Cardinals blew a 3-1 series lead.
5) Game 4, 2002 NLCS. October 13, 2002. San Francisco 4, St. Louis 3. My son and I will forever after refer to this game simply as the Rick White game. LaRussa horribly mismanaged this game, and hung White out to die against J.T. Snow. The next day SF clinched 2-1, when Matt Morris pitched a 1-0 gem into the eighth before the Cards lost it in the ninth.
6) Game 7, 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs, Western Conference Semifinals. May 16, 1996. Detroit 1, St. Louis 0 (OT). With Hull and Gretzky, the Blues were poised to go to the finals, and they have not come as close since.
7) Nebraska 45, Missouri 38. Nov. 8, 1997. The flea-kicker game. Someone named Matt Davison caught an illegal pass to tie the game at the end of regulation. The ball was kicked by Shevin Wiggen, and I felt like I'd had a shiv stuck in my side. It should have been ruled an incomplete pass, game over, Tigers win. The referee was J. Laurie, the umpire R. Whittenburg, the linesman D. Alexander, the line judge P. Brown, the back judge L. Girouard, the field judge JD Cleavinger, and the side judge L. Williams. How could all of them have missed it?
8) Thanksgiving Day, 1976. Dallas 19, St. Louis 14. The lying, cheating, thieving zebras stole another one from us this day. Our football team, the old Big Red, were called the Cardiac Cards then for their habit of winning games late. And they would have done it again had pass interference been called on Charlie Waters for clocking Mel Gray before Jim Hart's pass got to him.
9) April 15, 1966. Game 7, NBA Western Conference Finals. Los Angeles 130, St. Louis 121. Had the Hawks won this game they might have beaten the Celtics in the finals and saved the franchise. At least, that's what I've always imagined. But Jerry West could not miss that night.
10) March 1961. NIT championship game. Providence 62, St. Louis 59. The NIT meant something then, and, believe it or not, the Billikens were a perennial power. To this day, I remember the Luechtefelds, Dave Harris, Donnell Reid, and the Nordmanns.
Next time, the sweet moments.
Losses:
1) Game 6, 1985 World Series. October 26, 1985. The Denkinger game, of course. 500 years from now this may be long forgotten, but not in the lifetime of any Cards' fan who saw it. I know, I know. Jack Clark and Darrell Porter misplayed the foul pop after the blown call; still, if Denkinger gets the call right, we are probably world champs for the second time in four years. Kansas City 2, St. Louis 1.
2) Orange Bowl, Jan. 1, 1970. Penn St. 10, Missouri 3. This game has been overlooked and/or forgotten by many St. Louis-area fans, especially those who don't follow Mizzou. But I live and die with the Tigers, going back to Dan Devine's first year. And this game will haunt me until I die. No one will ever convince me that Missouri was not the best team in college football in 1969. Texas won the mythical national championship by beating Arkansas 15-14 in December, but, in an era when most southern teams were lilly white, Texas did not have the best athletes. Missouri, on the other hand, had Jon Staggers, Mel Gray, Joe Moore, Jim Harrison, Ty Walls, Henry Brown and other great African-American football players. Devine was color-blind. The Tigers ran up and down the field on Penn State, but turned the ball over 9 times. NINE.
3) Game 7, 1957, NBA finals. April 13, 1957. Boston 125, St. Louis 123 (double overtime). Red Auerbach always called this one of the greatest games ever played. The Hawks had the ball with one second left. Alex Hannum threw an inbounds pass the length of the court, intentionally banging it off the backboard. Pettit caught the rebound and missed a 10-footer that rimmed the basket. This was the beginning of the Celtics' dynasty.
4) Game 7, 1968 World Series, Ocotober 10, 1968. Detroit 4, St. Louis 1. The always-reliable Curt Flood misplayed a fly ball, and Gibby got beat for one of the few times in the World Series. Like in '85, the Cardinals blew a 3-1 series lead.
5) Game 4, 2002 NLCS. October 13, 2002. San Francisco 4, St. Louis 3. My son and I will forever after refer to this game simply as the Rick White game. LaRussa horribly mismanaged this game, and hung White out to die against J.T. Snow. The next day SF clinched 2-1, when Matt Morris pitched a 1-0 gem into the eighth before the Cards lost it in the ninth.
6) Game 7, 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs, Western Conference Semifinals. May 16, 1996. Detroit 1, St. Louis 0 (OT). With Hull and Gretzky, the Blues were poised to go to the finals, and they have not come as close since.
7) Nebraska 45, Missouri 38. Nov. 8, 1997. The flea-kicker game. Someone named Matt Davison caught an illegal pass to tie the game at the end of regulation. The ball was kicked by Shevin Wiggen, and I felt like I'd had a shiv stuck in my side. It should have been ruled an incomplete pass, game over, Tigers win. The referee was J. Laurie, the umpire R. Whittenburg, the linesman D. Alexander, the line judge P. Brown, the back judge L. Girouard, the field judge JD Cleavinger, and the side judge L. Williams. How could all of them have missed it?
8) Thanksgiving Day, 1976. Dallas 19, St. Louis 14. The lying, cheating, thieving zebras stole another one from us this day. Our football team, the old Big Red, were called the Cardiac Cards then for their habit of winning games late. And they would have done it again had pass interference been called on Charlie Waters for clocking Mel Gray before Jim Hart's pass got to him.
9) April 15, 1966. Game 7, NBA Western Conference Finals. Los Angeles 130, St. Louis 121. Had the Hawks won this game they might have beaten the Celtics in the finals and saved the franchise. At least, that's what I've always imagined. But Jerry West could not miss that night.
10) March 1961. NIT championship game. Providence 62, St. Louis 59. The NIT meant something then, and, believe it or not, the Billikens were a perennial power. To this day, I remember the Luechtefelds, Dave Harris, Donnell Reid, and the Nordmanns.
Next time, the sweet moments.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
A Tribute to JFK on the 45th Anniversary of his Murder
Here is my humble homage to President Kennedy. It's an excerpt from my novel, Murder of an American Nazi, in which one of the main characters witnesses JFK's address at American University on June 10, 1963:
from pages 101 and 102--
"Listening to the speech that day, Marie became convinced that Kennedy was going to turn American militarism and secrecy on its head. What he said made her proud, for the first time, to be an American. He spoke of disarmament and world peace. He spoke of commonalities Americans shared with the communists. He spoke of the beginning of the end of the days of conflict. He mentioned the word 'peace' over and over. It flew in the face of
everything Marie had come to know about America...
"...(JFK said) 'What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do I seek? Not a Pax Americana forced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the
security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living.' An end to American military arrogance and domination? Marie was transfixed.
"...(he continues) 'every thoughtful citizen who despairs of war and wishes to bring peace, should begin by looking inward--by examining his own attitude toward the possibilities of freedom and peace here at home.' The military will hate this (she thought)...And how about defense contractors and the war weapons industry. This is going to be bad for business.
"...(JFK concludes) 'We are devoting to weapons massive sums of money that could be better devoted to combating ignorance, poverty and disease...in the final analysis, our (the US and
its enemies) most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.' "
from pages 101 and 102--
"Listening to the speech that day, Marie became convinced that Kennedy was going to turn American militarism and secrecy on its head. What he said made her proud, for the first time, to be an American. He spoke of disarmament and world peace. He spoke of commonalities Americans shared with the communists. He spoke of the beginning of the end of the days of conflict. He mentioned the word 'peace' over and over. It flew in the face of
everything Marie had come to know about America...
"...(JFK said) 'What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do I seek? Not a Pax Americana forced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the
security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living.' An end to American military arrogance and domination? Marie was transfixed.
"...(he continues) 'every thoughtful citizen who despairs of war and wishes to bring peace, should begin by looking inward--by examining his own attitude toward the possibilities of freedom and peace here at home.' The military will hate this (she thought)...And how about defense contractors and the war weapons industry. This is going to be bad for business.
"...(JFK concludes) 'We are devoting to weapons massive sums of money that could be better devoted to combating ignorance, poverty and disease...in the final analysis, our (the US and
its enemies) most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.' "
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Why The Lack of New Direction in Obama's Cabinet Appointments?
He's going to keep Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense? Why? Anything and anyone associated with the abomination known as the Bush Adminstration foreign policy should be forever banished from serving in government again. Gates' policies are Bush's policies, and we've all had enough of that. Obama should appoint Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) as Secretary of Defense for many reason. He served on Senate committees overseeing appropriations, he's a no-nonsense critic of the the War in Iraq, and he would be a tangible symbol of Obama's bi-partisanship.
As for those who would argue (and I don't know that there are many left) that withdrawal is defeat, they are dead wrong. Withdrawal means victory, because victory is attained when the Iraqi people stand on their own. And it is time to make them stand on their own. The Iraqi army has the training, the national will, and the money (our money, to be exact) to make it happen now. Take the billions we're spending there and use it, instead, to bailout our economy. We can't afford to nation build anymore. It's time to take care of our own.
And please withdraw the Clinton nomination for Secretary of State. Let her stay in the Senate where she can do a good job reforming health care. No need for Obama to have the stench of the Clinton psychodrama hanging over his first term. He 's got a lot of work to do, and the Clintons would be a distraction. Does Obama not realize he has a ready-made cache of goodwill with the rest of the world already? The globe sees America in a new light now that we've lived up to the promise of equality forged by the framers. A person of color running America makes us, again, a beacon of hope and enlightenment for all foreign lands. Obama can capitalize on this by appointing someone who will carry out his policy...not someone with a personal and selfish agenda.
As for those who would argue (and I don't know that there are many left) that withdrawal is defeat, they are dead wrong. Withdrawal means victory, because victory is attained when the Iraqi people stand on their own. And it is time to make them stand on their own. The Iraqi army has the training, the national will, and the money (our money, to be exact) to make it happen now. Take the billions we're spending there and use it, instead, to bailout our economy. We can't afford to nation build anymore. It's time to take care of our own.
And please withdraw the Clinton nomination for Secretary of State. Let her stay in the Senate where she can do a good job reforming health care. No need for Obama to have the stench of the Clinton psychodrama hanging over his first term. He 's got a lot of work to do, and the Clintons would be a distraction. Does Obama not realize he has a ready-made cache of goodwill with the rest of the world already? The globe sees America in a new light now that we've lived up to the promise of equality forged by the framers. A person of color running America makes us, again, a beacon of hope and enlightenment for all foreign lands. Obama can capitalize on this by appointing someone who will carry out his policy...not someone with a personal and selfish agenda.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
My Blog
I'll be posting my random thoughts on politics, history, sports, movies, travel and more. I'm also working on a new novel, and occasionally I will post excerpts. Feel free to reply or comment, and I'll reply to any questions.
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Monday, November 17, 2008
Discovery Channel's Laughable JFK Re-Do.
I just got finished watching Discovery Channel's re-staging of the JFK Assassination, ghoulishly titled "Inside the Death Car," and it's filled with so much illogic, distortion, and one-sidedness that its evidentiary value is minimal. It left me wondering what is the purpose of such a program, who really funds it, and why is it being broadcast? If its purpose is to sway the uninformed and uncritical to the "lone-assassin" side, it may have succeeded, but why is this of value? Whose purpose does this serve? Certainly not history's, because the program left out a ton of known facts and happenstances that, if included, would have contradicted the show's obviously preconstrued premise. In other words, in 2008, who is still so avidly invested in covering up the truth?
I perused the credits for funding information, but found nothing. Apparently, it's a Discovery Channel production all the way. I leave it for others to divine why TDC wants so desperately to finger Oswald as the lone assassin, when 80% of America believes he was not.
Anyway, the funny stuff began right away when somebody who contracts with the Australian (did TDC have to go all the way to Australia find an idiot who would agree to do this?) defense industry recreated what was claimed to be an exact replica of JFK's neck and head. Just one problem with that--the fake head swivels and bounces like one of those bobbleheads they give away at baseball games. The brain matter? Oh, they injected that right before the test firing. That's right, TDC hired a world-class marksman to shoot at the replica. But get this, they did not do it in Dealey Plaza, though they had Dallas police close down the Plaza for a limousine run-through; they "re-created" the shooting out in the wilderness somewhere, claiming that it was exact duplicate of Dealey Plaza's dimensions. While the participants admitted it was clear that a shot could have come from behind the picket fence (the most logical locale for the head shot given all the facts) in the Plaza, they had the marksman shoot from what appeared to be a burm in an open field at some undisclosed place. And instead of shooting from the front-right position from which the actual picket fence shooter fired, the marksman shot from a right angle, virtually perpendicular to the JFK dummy. The shot blew a hole through the through the left side of the president's fake head, and the narrator (one Gary Mack, I'll get to him later) gleefully exclaimed, "...this does not correspond to any known wound on the president." Of course it did not, because the marksman shot from the wrong position. Interestingly though, the wound had the exact size and shape as the one Dallas Parkland doctors described the president as having in the back of his head on Nov. 22, 1963! Without realizing it, the TDC bunglers provided substantion for a shot from the front and, thus, a conspiracy.
Other little tidbits that unintentionally prove conspiracy are included. One is the Secret Service agent who wiped off the back seat of the death car at Parkland Hospital. Against all logic, the TDC show tries to convince us that this proves there was only one gunman because the agent wiped away only evidence which would prove that JFK's brain matter flew forward. The agent inexplicably left only the blood, skull and brain matter which indicated a frontal shot. I guess the Secret Service just wanted to make it harder for the Warren Commission to hang it on Oswald? Wow, not even Arlen Specter would lay claim to that one.
To assimilate the 15-20-mile-an-hour winds in Dallas that day, TDC wheeled out a huge fan to blow on the limousine. That one made me howl. An electrical fan duplicating the winds of a city...how scientific!
But the best was Bobby Hargis, the motorcycle cop who was riding to the left rear of the limousine on November 22. Apparently, he is still alive and still breathlessly exclaiming how he was covered in JFK's blood, skull and brains when the fatal shot hit. I guess the producers never considered that this is some of the best evidence of a shot from the front right. The exit wound made by a picket-fence shot would have splattered anyone to the immediate left rear of the death car.
Presiding over this whole mess was Gary Mack, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum in the old Book Depository Building. Mack was once sure that he saw a rifleman wearing a badge shoot from the shadows on the grassy knoll. Now he's certain that the kill shot could only have come from behind. I suppose he'll sway with any wind, even one from a giant electrical fan in the middle of nowhere, to drum up ticket sales for his museum.
Tim Fleming
author of Murder of an American Nazi
available on amazon.com
I perused the credits for funding information, but found nothing. Apparently, it's a Discovery Channel production all the way. I leave it for others to divine why TDC wants so desperately to finger Oswald as the lone assassin, when 80% of America believes he was not.
Anyway, the funny stuff began right away when somebody who contracts with the Australian (did TDC have to go all the way to Australia find an idiot who would agree to do this?) defense industry recreated what was claimed to be an exact replica of JFK's neck and head. Just one problem with that--the fake head swivels and bounces like one of those bobbleheads they give away at baseball games. The brain matter? Oh, they injected that right before the test firing. That's right, TDC hired a world-class marksman to shoot at the replica. But get this, they did not do it in Dealey Plaza, though they had Dallas police close down the Plaza for a limousine run-through; they "re-created" the shooting out in the wilderness somewhere, claiming that it was exact duplicate of Dealey Plaza's dimensions. While the participants admitted it was clear that a shot could have come from behind the picket fence (the most logical locale for the head shot given all the facts) in the Plaza, they had the marksman shoot from what appeared to be a burm in an open field at some undisclosed place. And instead of shooting from the front-right position from which the actual picket fence shooter fired, the marksman shot from a right angle, virtually perpendicular to the JFK dummy. The shot blew a hole through the through the left side of the president's fake head, and the narrator (one Gary Mack, I'll get to him later) gleefully exclaimed, "...this does not correspond to any known wound on the president." Of course it did not, because the marksman shot from the wrong position. Interestingly though, the wound had the exact size and shape as the one Dallas Parkland doctors described the president as having in the back of his head on Nov. 22, 1963! Without realizing it, the TDC bunglers provided substantion for a shot from the front and, thus, a conspiracy.
Other little tidbits that unintentionally prove conspiracy are included. One is the Secret Service agent who wiped off the back seat of the death car at Parkland Hospital. Against all logic, the TDC show tries to convince us that this proves there was only one gunman because the agent wiped away only evidence which would prove that JFK's brain matter flew forward. The agent inexplicably left only the blood, skull and brain matter which indicated a frontal shot. I guess the Secret Service just wanted to make it harder for the Warren Commission to hang it on Oswald? Wow, not even Arlen Specter would lay claim to that one.
To assimilate the 15-20-mile-an-hour winds in Dallas that day, TDC wheeled out a huge fan to blow on the limousine. That one made me howl. An electrical fan duplicating the winds of a city...how scientific!
But the best was Bobby Hargis, the motorcycle cop who was riding to the left rear of the limousine on November 22. Apparently, he is still alive and still breathlessly exclaiming how he was covered in JFK's blood, skull and brains when the fatal shot hit. I guess the producers never considered that this is some of the best evidence of a shot from the front right. The exit wound made by a picket-fence shot would have splattered anyone to the immediate left rear of the death car.
Presiding over this whole mess was Gary Mack, curator of the Sixth Floor Museum in the old Book Depository Building. Mack was once sure that he saw a rifleman wearing a badge shoot from the shadows on the grassy knoll. Now he's certain that the kill shot could only have come from behind. I suppose he'll sway with any wind, even one from a giant electrical fan in the middle of nowhere, to drum up ticket sales for his museum.
Tim Fleming
author of Murder of an American Nazi
available on amazon.com
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