Tag: witch hunt

Introduction

Have you ever dismissed something out of hand because you thought it was a “conspiracy theory” or someone told you it was a “conspiracy theory?” Did you dismiss the possibility COVID-19 leaked from a gain of function laboratory because authorities and social media companies initially labeled this theory a “conspiracy theory?” How can you protect yourself from official misinformation labeling inconvenient truths as “conspiracy theories?”

Did the CIA promote the use of the phrase “conspiracy theory” as a pejorative thought-stopping shorthand for “crazy, unhinged conspiracy theory with little or no evidence, no likelihood of being true, conceived and promoted by paranoid, mentally unstable ‘conspiracy theorists'” at first to shut down criticism of the Warren Commission report and suspicions of CIA complicity specifically in the assassination of President Kennedy?

Did the CIA expand the use of this “weaponized” phrase to shutdown suspicions of official and specifically CIA complicity in many subsequent events such as the September 11 attacks? Did the CIA explicitly order and initiate this propaganda program in a now declassified January 1967 cable to CIA station offices overseas? This is the thesis of Lance deHaven-Smith’s 2013 book Conspiracy Theory in America, recently (December 15, 2022) cited by Tucker Carlson on FOX news in a segment alleging an unidentified CIA source claimed the CIA was “involved” in the assassination of President Kennedy.

“Conspiracy theory” is now a shorthand for “crazy, irrational, evidence challenged conspiracy theory from a nut or nuts” used to quickly dismiss all sorts of ideas including solid data, generally applied when the “conspiracy theory” suggests misconduct or error by authority figures in a group the “conspiracy theory” labeler identifies strongly with.

Wikipedia now has a lengthy page devoted to this popular culture meaning of “conspiracy theory,” not the literal meaning of the phrase. Note that Wikipedia pages are often unreliable on topics labeled as “conspiracy theories” and are becoming even more unreliable; it is better to seek primary sources on these topics.

“Conspiracy theory” has broadened to included related phrases: “conspiracy theorist,” “conspiracist”, “conspiratorial thinking,” “conspiracy thinking,” and even just “conspiracy.”

The shorthand pejorative meaning of “conspiracy theory” has expanded to include theories that do not involve an actual conspiracy such as a laboratory leak of SARS-COV-2 at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and been used by high government officials such as Anthony Fauci and associates to stigmatize suggestions they may have made significant errors. “Conspiracy theory” has been frequently applied to the Mandela Effect and Graham Hancock’s lost civilization theories, recently expounded in the Netflix Ancient Apocalypse docuseries even though neither proposes a conspiracy.

This pejorative meaning of “conspiracy theory” represents a change in common usage of English that makes it difficult to either discuss or think about possible misconduct or error by groups of people, especially groups of powerful people. In this it resembles Orwell’s fictional newspeak in 1984, a simplified English in which it is impossible to express or imagine error or misconduct by the ruling political party.

Where did this now pervasive usage of the phrase “conspiracy theory,” and increasingly the other related phrases mentioned above come from? Did it come from a CIA program or some other source? Is its’ use and meaning centrally controlled or directed in some way? If so, by whom — the CIA or some other organization or group?

This review focuses primarily on the unsubstantiated claim in the book Conspiracy Theory in America that a CIA program presumably started by the January 1967 cable reprinted in the appendix of the book invented and heavily promoted the pejorative meaning of “conspiracy theory” to discredit critics of the Warren Commission report on the assassination of President Kennedy, presumably expanding to many other events also mentioned in the book, such as the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Clearly one should not rely on pejorative labels such as “witch hunt,” “conspiracy theory,” “denialism,” or “pseudoscience” to dismiss alleged facts or actual conspiracy theories in the non-pejorative legal sense out of hand. This does not depend on whether these labels were generated or centrally directed by the CIA, the Lyndon Johnson White House, the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA), or any other group or real conspiracy. One needs to look at the actual facts and logic so labeled.

The Conspiracy Theory in America book fails to prove or even present strong evidence of a CIA program (conspiracy) to promote the use of “conspiracy theory” as a pejorative label. Thus, citing Conspiracy Theory in America will usually fail to convince those who rely on the pejorative label to dismiss something out of hand to think carefully about alleged “conspiracy theories.” If they take the time to read the book, they will see the case is weak at best and this will likely add to their skepticism of ideas labeled “conspiracy theories” by authority figures they trust.

Conspiracy Theory in America Fails to Prove Its’ Case

The book fails to make the case that the pejorative meaning of “conspiracy theory” and “conspiracy theorist” was invented and promoted by the CIA and/or there was a CIA program to do this.

The book cites a single CIA dispatch cable from January 1967. This cable does use the phrases “conspiracy theories,” “conspiracy theorists”, and “conspiracy talk,” once each in directing CIA stations to rebut criticism of the Warren Report in overseas newspapers etc. The cable (see appendix below), focuses on logical and factual counter-arguments to critics of the Warren Report alone.

The 1967 CIA cable does not recommend the use of any of these phrases as a marketing slogan conveying the associated implicit arguments now familiar to us, eg. that conspiracy theorists are unhinged lunatics with no supporting evidence etc.

The book presents only one letter from John P. Roche, a special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson, published in the London Times Literary Supplement in January of 1968, one year later, as evidence of the hypothetical CIA program. Keep in mind, several news articles with similar points were published in the United States in 1964, often seeking to rebut author Hans Habe’s Tod in Dallas (German), published in the US as The Wounded Land: Journey Through a Divided America (January 1, 1964) and using the language “conspiracy theory of history,” echoing historian Richard Hofstadter from his Pulitzer prize winning The Age of Reform published in 1955 (about which more below). See Appendix II for a list of matches for “conspiracy theory” in Newspapers only in Google Books for calendar year 1964.

In fact, “conspiracy theory” had been used in a critical way in the 1950’s and even earlier and increased substantially during 1964, 1965 and 1966 domestically in the wake of the assassination of President Kennedy (Nov 22, 1963), being used several times in the modern pejorative sense. This increase begins well before the January 1967 CIA cable, does not accelerate after 1967, eventually leveling off in 1971 for several years.

The phrase “conspiracy theory” is used pejoratively by Life Magazine in reviewing favorably the then recently published Warren Report in October of 1964.

Various people insist that it is a monstrous cover-up for a conspiracy, that the Warren Commission suppressed important facts and loaded its presentation to support the thesis that the President was murdered by one man acting on his own mad initiative.

Such views fly straight in the face of the most conscientious documentation of facts I have ever read. Of course, there will always be people who refuse to believe what they don’t want to believe. There seem to be a lot of other people around who actually need the conspiracy theory. It is as if there were more logic and order to the notion that President Kennedy was the victim of some dark, complex plot than to the idea that Oswald did it because he was drowning in the world and wanted to destroy a big man for it.

Life Magazine, Oct 16, 1964, page 35, The View From Here / Loudon Wainwright

The phrase “conspiracy theory” is used pejoratively in the campaign against the John Birch Society and Arizona Senator and failed 1964 Republican Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater as well — and at the same time during the 1960s.

It is only a short step to the conclusion that a secret conspiracy is at work to frustrate the Senator [Goldwater] and keep him from the presidency.

The conspiracy or devil theory of politics simplifies life for those who embrace it. Any setback can be blamed on the devils conspiring against you. The devil for the Goldwaterites is something variously called “the Eastern establishment” or “the Eastern conspiracy,” and at its heart are press, radio, and television.

At times the Senator himself has seemed to lean on the conspiracy theory.

Washington Calling: A True Test for Barry? by Marquis Childs, Dayton Beach Morning Journal, June 20, 1964

In 1964, the phrase “conspiracy theory” was used pejoratively more than in previous years both to ridicule critics of the Warren Commission report and Goldwater and his followers. The increase in use during 1965 and 1966 targeted both critics of the Warren Commission report and the John Birch Society, often linked to Goldwater even after his defeat in 1964.

What do Successful Campaigns to Promote a Slogan Look Like?

We can see that the “Where’s the Beef?” and “Bill Cosby Show” campaigns were far more successful than any CIA program initiated in January 1967 or even immediately after the assassination of President Kennedy. There is no sharp spike in use of “conspiracy theory” in 1967 or earlier in 1964, just a slow moderate increase leveling off in 1971.

In contrast to “conspiracy theory,” “conspiracy theorist,” another phrase in the 1967 CIA cable was hardly used until the late 1970s. “Conspiracy talk” has never caught on.

Did the CIA Invent the “Witch Hunt” Label?

One of the most widely used, effective thought-stopping pejorative labels is “witch hunt,” used by President Trump amongst others.

“Conspiracy theory” did not overtake “witch hunt” in popular usage until the late seventies, ten years after the January 1967 CIA cable cited by Conspiracy Theory in America. The count of usage of “conspiracy theory” includes both the now common pejorative sense and the historical literal legal sense, almost the only use before the 1940s and still quite common in the 1960s and 70s.

The dramatic surge in the use of “witch hunt” from 1935 to about 1955 was in response to the anti-communist investigations of the period, dropping sharply in about 1955 after the censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Looking in detail through the Google Books database used to generate the plots above, a large majority of the uses of “witch hunt” between 1935 and 1955 are criticisms of these investigations — probably about 80 to 90 percent. The phrase “witch hunt” was also used less frequently to criticize attacks on comic books, attacks on rock and roll music, and various investigations of organized crime and corporate misconduct.

The pejorative phrase “witch hunt” was popularized during this period mostly by liberal and left wing writers such as Communist Party chief William Z Foster in the book The Rankin Witch Hunt (1945) referring the US Representative John Rankin of Mississippi, Carey McWilliams in Witch Hunt: The Revival of Heresy (1950), and playwright Arthur Miller with his hit play The Crucible (1953) using a fictionalized version of the Salem witch trials of 1692 as an allegory for the anti-communist investigations of Senator McCarthy and others. As the above plots show, the popularization of “witch hunt” as a pejorative label, used not unlike “conspiracy theory” today, predates both the foundation of the CIA in 1947 and its predecessor agency the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) in 1942.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was founded in 1908 well before the popularization of “witch hunt” as a pejorative label illustrated above. The FBI had heavily infiltrated the Communist Party and other left wing organizations. It seems at least possible the FBI could have engineering the popularization of the phrase which was frequently used to attack the FBI’s own investigations. This does however seem rather improbable.

Where Did the Use of “Conspiracy Theory” as a Pejorative Label Come From?

Before the 1940’s, “conspiracy theory” appears almost exclusively as a technical term in legal contexts, especially court cases involving labor law or antitrust. Occasionally — rarely — it is used in a neutral, non-pejorative way to describe suggested conspiracies in current or historical events. For example, “conspiracy theory” is used in a literal, non-pejorative sense in criticism of Alfred Milner’s activities in South Africa in the early 20th century in some books — as in the author suspects Milner of a conspiracy.

This neutral usage of “conspiracy theory” however began to change in the late forties and fifties with the publication of philosopher Karl Popper’s The Open Society and Its’ Enemies which uses the phrase “conspiracy theory of society” in a highly pejorative sense as a nutty, impossible, irrational idea and the phrase “conspiracy theory” as shorthand for “conspiracy theory of society” or a specific theory.

In 1955, Columbia University historian Richard Hofstadter published his Pulitzer Prize winning book The Age of Reform which features the phrase “conspiracy theory of history” in a highly pejorative fashion ridiculing the ideas and theories of the 19th century Populists and “conspiracy theory” as shorthand. The book features an entire section “History as Conspiracy” ridiculing the “conspiracy theory of history” and specific Populist “conspiracy theories.” In 1964, both “conspiracy theory of history” and “conspiracy theory” were invoked repeatedly in articles defending the Warren Commission report and dismissing Hans Habe’s book, published in January 1964, suggesting a conspiracy behind the assassination of President Kennedy.

Richard Hofstadter, a former Communist, had at least indirect ties and funding from the CIA according to his biographer David Brown:

Hofstadter’s studies on higher education were influenced by his work for the American Committee for Cultural Freedom (ACCF), a society of liberal cold warriors opposed to international communism. The committee’s parental affiliate, the Congress for Cultural Freedom, enjoyed lavish funding from the CIA as part of a broadly structured effort to emphasize the West’s commitment to literary, scientific, and artistic integrity. As one commentator put it, the congress hoped to “nudge the intelligentsia of Western Europe away from its lingering fascination with Marxism and Communism towards a view more accommodating of `the American way”‘.’ It is unclear whether the CIA funded the committee, but at least two periodicals that published Hofstadter’s work in the early sixties (Daedalus and Encounter) benefited from ClA largesse. Hofstadter was probably unaware of their covert affiliation -the New York Times broke the story in 1967 – though his wry sense of humor would no doubt have appreciated the strange irony of a massive propaganda campaign to promote American intellectual freedom carried out by the nation’s chief intelligence organization.

David S. Brown. Richard Hofstadter: An Intellectual Biography (Kindle Locations 1234-1237). Kindle Edition.

Hofstadter’s primary target in The Age of Reform (1955), his contribution to Daniel Bell’s The Radical Right (1963), and The Paranoid Style in American Politics (1964), all of which promote and define the crazy conspiracy theory and conspiracy theorist trope appears to be the political right wing, especially the John Birch Society, Goldwater, and Goldwater’s followers. At the time, the phrases “extremist” and “radical right” were used much more heavily in these attacks than “conspiracy theory” and “conspiracy theorist”.

I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.

Barry Goldwater’s Final Paragraph Republican Nomination Acceptance Speech (July 16, 1964) responding to the “extremist” label.

As the years have progressed “conspiracy theory” has been used more and more, often as a shorthand for the ideas in Hofstadter’s “conspiracy theory of history” and Popper’s “conspiracy theory of society.” This appears to have been a slow evolution in usage and meaning, possibly accelerated by the hit 1993-2003 X-Files TV show which featured a mysterious UFO related government conspiracy blamed in at least one episode for the JFK assassination (“Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man,” 1996).

Many Other Flaws in Conspiracy Theory in America

This review focuses on the claim that Conspiracy Theory in America proves that the CIA invented the pejorative slogan “conspiracy theory” to suppress criticism of the Warren Commission report on the assassination of President Kennedy, expanding its use to many other events, what deHaven-Smith labels State Crimes Against Democracy (SCAD). The book is best known and cited for this repeatedly. However, there are many other faults in the book that will be obvious to a critical reader.

Lance deHaven-Smith (1951-2022) was the Reuben Askew Professor at the Reuben O’Donovan Askew School of Public Administration and Policy, Florida State University. Reuben Askew was the former Democratic governor of Florida from January 5, 1971 to January 2, 1979. He then served as US Trade Representative under President Jimmy Carter from October 1, 1979 to December 31, 1980.

Askew later joined the Board of Directors of Abel Holtz’s Capital Bank of Miami (not to be confused with Capital One) in the 1980s, a curious bank later plagued by a series of scandals. Regulators forced Holtz to resign in 1994. The bank was acquired by Union Planters Bank in 1997. These scandals attracted some recent attention when President Trump pardoned Abel Holtz in January 2021. deHaven-Smith was a close friend of Governor Askew.

As his friendship with Governor Askew suggests, Lance deHaven-Smith was a strong partisan of the Democratic Party and this is evident in many places in Conspiracy Theory in America. For example:

The Democrats also have political criminality—Lyndon Johnson was possibly a principal in the assassination of President Kennedy, and he misled Congress and the American people about the Gulf of Tonkin incident. But the Democrats do not appear to have developed, at least not yet, a political philosophy that condones high crimes in the name of policy objectives.

ASSASSINATION TARGETS

The range of officials targeted for assassination in the post-WWII era is limited to those most directly associated with foreign policy: presidents (and presidential candidates) and senators. High-ranking officials in the federal government have seldom been murdered even though many have attracted widespread hostility and opposition. No vice presidents have been assassinated, nor have any U.S. Supreme Court justices. The only member of the U.S. House of Representatives who has been targeted is Gabrielle Giffords in January 2011.

deHaven-Smith, Lance. Conspiracy Theory in America (Discovering America) (Kindle Locations 2053-2061). University of Texas Press. Kindle Edition.

deHaven-Smith includes Senator Paul Wellstone’s death in a plane crash (officially) in his list of SCADs — but not US Senator Huey Long in 1935 who was gunned down in October of 1935, one month after alleging President Roosevelt was conspiring with his enemies in Louisiana to kill him. Post World War II, in addition to the attempted assassination of Gabrielle Giffords, US Representative (R-GA) Larry McDonald, the leader of the afore mentioned John Birch Society, was killed when the Soviet Air Force shot down Korean Airlines Flight 007 on September 1, 1983. Surely if Paul Wellstone belongs on this list, a US Representative killed by military action ought to be on the list.

deHaven-Smith also does not mention the disappearance of Louisiana Representative Hale Boggs, a member of the Warren Commission who supposedly died in a plane crash in 1971. The plane and Boggs remains were never found.

Nor does he mention California Representative Leo Ryan, apparently murdered on November 18, 1978 by a hit team sent by the Reverend Jim Jones, a curious fixture in San Francisco Democratic Party politics in the 1970s. Nor does he express any suspicions regarding the assassinations of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, both with close ties to Jim Jones, only days later on November 27, 1978.

Knowledgeable liberal or left-wing readers may complain that “conservative” Supervisor Dan White was convicted of the murders of Moscone and Milk. Dan White was in fact a Democrat which is rarely mentioned. Surely the timing is rather suspicious.

Warren Commission critic attorney Mark Lane, Lee Harvey Oswald’s mother’s attorney and author of Rush to Judgment, one of the earliest best sellers challenging the Warren Report, was in fact an advisor to Reverend Jones in Guyana and somehow survived the mass suicide of Jones and his followers shortly after Representative Ryan’s murder.

This pro-Democrat double standard and motivated reasoning is evident in many places in the book. There is a lack of consistent standards for what constitutes a suspected SCAD and a lack of controls such as looking at other phrases such as “witch hunt” or “where’s the beef” in drawing conclusions.

Conclusion

The Google NGRAM viewer evidence suggests the modern pejorative “conspiracy theory” label and related phrases such as “conspiracy theorist” evolved from Popper’s “conspiracy theory of society” and Hofstadter’s “conspiracy theory of history” (1955) over many years, growing in use and pejorative meaning. This predates the January 1967 CIA cable cited by Conspiracy Theory in America by Lance deHaven-Smith (2013).

Given Richard Hofstadter’s at least indirect ties to the CIA, it is difficult to rule out a longer term program initiated in the 1950’s or even late 1940s, although the motivation is unclear.

Clearly one should not rely on pejorative labels such as “witch hunt,” “conspiracy theory,” “denialism,” or “pseudoscience” to dismiss alleged facts or actual conspiracy theories in the non-pejorative legal sense out of hand. This does not depend on whether these labels were generated or centrally directed by the CIA, the Lyndon Johnson White House, the CPUSA, or any other group or real conspiracy. One needs to look at the actual facts and logic so labeled.

Since the Conspiracy Theory in America book fails to prove or even present strong evidence (for example, the program documents and budgets for the MK-ULTRA mind control research programs declassified by the CIA) of a CIA program (conspiracy) to promote the use of “conspiracy theory” as a pejorative label, citing this book to convince those who rely on the pejorative label to dismiss something out of hand (conspiracy dismissers) to think carefully about alleged “conspiracy theories” will usually fail. If they read the book, they will see the evidence is quite weak and this will likely increase their skepticism of anything labeled a “conspiracy theory” by authority figures they trust.

“Conspiracy theory,” “conspiracy theorist,” and other related pejorative labels are frequently used as if to say criminal conspiracies are essentially impossible or so rare as to be easily and quickly dismissed by any sane rational person.

There are laws against criminal conspiracy and people are convicted under these laws all the time. The FBI statistics on homicides for 2019 shows that about 14.7% of “cleared” (ostensibly solved) murders in 2019 involved at least one accomplice, a conspiracy in common usage.

A review of Wikipedia’s list of US serial killers showed that 56 of 553 identified serial killers active from 1950 to 2020 had accomplices, a conspiracy in common usage. This is 10.13% of the names listed. The error is roughly 1.4% giving a ninety-five percent confidence interval of about 7.9% to 13.2% of identified serial killer cases involve conspiracies — have accomplices.  This provides a check on the FBI official numbers where the names of the killers and victims or at least forensic evidence of victims who could not be identified in some cases are available for independent review.

A review of US Presidential assassinations and plots showed that at least one of the four Presidential Assassinations (Lincoln) was clearly a conspiracy and 9-10 of 37 failed Presidential assassination attempts were conspiracies of some sort.

The US CIA declassified evidence in the 1970s strongly suggesting their involvement in the assassinations/deaths of Patrice Lumumba in the Belgian Congo (later Zaire), Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo and his son, President of South Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem and his brother, Salvador Allende in Chile, and unsuccessful plots to kill Cuban President Fidel Castro in league with the US Mafia.

The CIA also declassified some records in the 1970s of a series of mind control research programs, usually referred to popularly as MK-ULTRA, involving many prominent scientists (Martin Orne, Louis Jolyon West, Ewan Cameron, many others) and illegal experiments on uninformed test subjects and even children. The mind control programs were kept secret for about twenty years and much remains unknown about these programs.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has at least 1,186 unsolved murders from the so-called “Troubles,” civil conflict involving organized paramilitaries such as the Provisional IRA and the Ulster Defense Force (UDF), the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) (police), the British Army and possibly intelligence related groups from the UK. This is out of about 3,200 murders  from January 1969 to the signing of the “Good Friday” agreement on April 10 1998 — considered the period of the “Troubles.”

Of the 1,186 killings that the PSNI’s Legacy Investigation Branch is assessing:

• 45.5% are attributed to republican paramilitaries. (loosely Irish Catholics, Communist groups)
• 23% are attributed to loyalist paramilitaries. (loosely English and Ulster Scots Protestants)
• 28.5% are attributed to the security forces. (loosely the UK British troops and intelligence groups)
• For the remaining 3% of deaths, the background of those primarily responsible is unknown.

These represent still unsolved murders mostly attributed to large scale conspiratorial organizations. As with alleged unsolved gang related killings in the United States, proof is elusive. The politically charged 1972 disappearance/murder of Jean McConville, alleged to have been ordered by the Sinn Fein political party leader Gerry Adams in tape recordings of “oral histories” collected by Boston College (USA) from former IRA members who claimed to have abducted and shot Jean McConville, has never been officially solved, although her body was discovered in 2004. Adams denies ever having been in the IRA, let alone being one of its leaders, or ordering the murder. (See, for example, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe)

It is clearly rational to suspect conspiracies including high level conspiracies in unsolved or suspicious “solved” murders.

(C) 2023 by John F. McGowan, Ph.D.

About Me

John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Appendix I: The January 1967 CIA Cable

This is quoted from Lance deHaven-Smith’s Conspiracy Theory in America (2013) Kindle version. The occurrences of the phrases “conspiracy theories,” “conspiracy theorists” and “conspiracy talk” are bolded below. Note that only “conspiracy theory” and “conspiracy theorist” have become modern pejorative labels. Note also there is no direction to use these as marketing slogans as in an advertising of PR campaign where specific phrases — slogans and taglines — are selected.

APPENDIX

CIA Dispatch #1035-960

This retyped copy of CIA Dispatch #1035-960 was checked against http://www.jfklancer.com/CIA.html (accessed May 2012).

Marked PSYCH and Destroy when no longer needed RE: Concerning Criticism of the Warren Report

1. Our Concern. From the day of President Kennedy’s assassination on, there has been speculation about the responsibility for his murder. Although this was stemmed for a time by the Warren Commission report (which appeared at the end of September 1964), various writers have now had time to scan the Commission’s published report and documents for new pretexts for questioning, and there has been a new wave of books and articles criticizing the Commission’s findings. In most cases the critics have speculated as to the existence of some kind of conspiracy, and often they have implied that the Commission itself was involved. Presumably as a result of the increasing challenge to the Warren Commission’s report, a public opinion poll recently indicated that 46% of the American public did not think that Oswald acted alone, while more than half of those polled thought that the Commission had left some questions unresolved. Doubtless polls abroad would show similar, or possibly more adverse results.
2. This trend of opinion is a matter of concern to the U.S. government, including our organization. The members of the Warren Commission were naturally chosen for their integrity, experience and prominence. They represented both major parties, and they and their staff were deliberately drawn from all sections of the country. Just because of the standing of the Commissioners, efforts to impugn their rectitude and wisdom tend to cast doubt on the whole leadership of American society. Moreover, there seems to be an increasing tendency to hint that President Johnson himself, as the one person who might be said to have benefited, was in some way responsible for the assassination. Innuendo of such seriousness affects not only the individual concerned, but also the whole reputation of the American government. Our organization itself is directly involved: among other facts, we contributed information to the investigation. Conspiracy theories have frequently thrown suspicion on our organization, for example by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us. The aim of this dispatch is to provide material countering and discrediting the claims of the conspiracy theorists, so as to inhibit the circulation of such claims in other countries. Background information is supplied in a classified section and in a number of unclassified attachments.
3. Action. We do not recommend that discussion of the assassination question be initiated where it is not already taking place. Where discussion is active [business] addresses are requested:

a. To discuss the publicity problem with [?] and friendly elite contacts (especially politicians and editors), pointing out that the Warren Commission made as thorough an investigation as humanly possible, that the charges of the critics are without serious foundation, and that further speculative discussion only plays into the hands of the opposition. Point out also that parts of the conspiracy talk appear to be deliberately generated by Communist propagandists. Urge them to use their influence to discourage unfounded and irresponsible speculation.

b. To employ propaganda assets to [negate] and refute the attacks of the critics. Book reviews and feature articles are particularly appropriate for this purpose. The unclassified attachments to this guidance should provide useful background material for passing to assets. Our ploy should point out, as applicable, that the critics are (I) wedded to theories adopted before the evidence was in, (II) politically interested, (III) financially interested, (IV) hasty and inaccurate in their research, or (V) infatuated with their own theories. In the course of discussions of the whole phenomenon of criticism, a useful strategy may be to single out Epstein’s theory for attack, using the attached Fletcher [?] article and Spectator piece for background. (Although Mark Lane’s book is much less convincing than Epstein’s and comes off badly where confronted by knowledgeable critics, it is also much more difficult to answer as a whole, as one becomes lost in a morass of unrelated details.) 4. In private to media discussions not directed at any particular writer, or in attacking publications which may be yet forthcoming, the following arguments should be useful: a. No significant new evidence has emerged which the Commission did not consider. The assassination is sometimes compared (e.g., by Joachim Joesten and Bertrand Russell) with the Dreyfus case; however, unlike that case, the attacks on the Warren Commission have produced no new evidence, no new culprits have been convincingly identified, and there is no agreement among the critics. (A better parallel, though an imperfect one, might be with the Reichstag fire of 1933, which some competent historians (Fritz Tobias, A. J. P. Taylor, D. C. Watt) now believe was set by Vander Lubbe on his own initiative, without acting for either Nazis or Communists; the Nazis tried to pin the blame on the Communists, but the latter have been more successful in convincing the world that the Nazis were to blame.) b. Critics usually overvalue particular items and ignore others. They tend to place more emphasis on the recollections of individual witnesses (which are less reliable and more divergent and hence offer more hand-holds for criticism) and less on ballistics, autopsy, and photographic evidence. A close examination of the Commission’s records will usually show that the conflicting eyewitness accounts are quoted out of context, or were discarded by the Commission for good and sufficient reason.

c. Conspiracy on the large scale often suggested would be impossible to conceal in the United States, esp. since informants could expect to receive large royalties, etc. Note that Robert Kennedy, Attorney General at the time and John F. Kennedy’s brother, would be the last man to overlook or conceal any conspiracy. And as one reviewer pointed out, Congressman Gerald R. Ford would hardly have held his tongue for the sake of the Democratic administration, and Senator Russell would have had every political interest in exposing any misdeeds on the part of Chief Justice Warren. A conspirator moreover would hardly choose a location for a shooting where so much depended on conditions beyond his control: the route, the speed of the cars, the moving target, the risk that the assassin would be discovered. A group of wealthy conspirators could have arranged much more secure conditions.

d. Critics have often been enticed by a form of intellectual pride: they light on some theory and fall in love with it; they also scoff at the Commission because it did not always answer every question with a flat decision one way or the other. Actually, the make-up of the Commission and its staff was an excellent safeguard against over-commitment to any one theory, or against the illicit transformation of probabilities into certainties. e. Oswald would not have been any sensible person’s choice for a co-conspirator. He was a loner, mixed up, of questionable reliability and an unknown quantity to any professional intelligence service.

f. As to charges that the Commission’s report was a rush job, it emerged three months after the deadline originally set. But to the degree that the Commission tried to speed up its reporting, this was largely due to the pressure of irresponsible speculation already appearing, in some cases coming from the same critics who, refusing to admit their errors, are now putting out new criticisms.

g. Such vague accusations as that more than ten people have died mysteriously can always be explained in some natural way e.g.: the individuals concerned have for the most part died of natural causes; the Commission staff questioned 418 witnesses (the FBI interviewed far more people, conduction 25,000 interviews and re interviews), and in such a large group, a certain number of deaths are to be expected. (When Penn Jones, one of the originators of the ten mysterious deaths line, appeared on television, it emerged that two of the deaths on his list were from heart attacks, one from cancer, one was from a head-on collision on a bridge, and one occurred when a driver drifted into a bridge abutment.)

5. Where possible, counter speculation by encouraging reference to the Commission’s Report itself. Open-minded foreign readers should still be impressed by the care, thoroughness, objectivity and speed with which the Commission worked. Reviewers of other books might be encouraged to add to their account the idea that, checking back with the report itself, they found it far superior to the work of its critics.

deHaven-Smith, Lance. Conspiracy Theory in America (Discovering America) (Kindle Locations 2784-2856). University of Texas Press. Kindle Edition.

NOTE: Epstein refers to author Edward Jay Epstein

Appendix II: Google Books “conspiracy theory” matches for 1964

Google Books includes magazines and newspapers such as Life magazine. The Google NGRAM viewer returns frequency of words and phrases such as “conspiracy theory” in this database. The search below is only for Newspapers and does not include the Life Magazine article quoted in the article above.

“Conspiracy theory,” “conspiracy theory of history” and “Hans Habe” are bolded in the output below.

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“conspiracy theory”

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Warren Report Sure To Stir Controversy. – Page 2books.google.com › books
Eugene Register-Guard · ‎Sep 25, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 2
West Germany — A book advancing the conspiracy theory is a best-seller. Its author, Hungarian-born Hans Habe, spent the war years in the United States and now lives in Switzerland. His book, “Death in Dallas” claims reactionary …

Europe May Protests Polls Listed Warren Report Data. – Page 3books.google.com › books
Lawrence Journal-World · ‎Sep 25, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 3
West Germany — A book advancing conspiracy theory is a best-seller. Ils author, Hungarian-born Hans Habe, spent the war years in the United States and now lives in Switzerland. His book, “Death in Dallas” claims reactionary millionaires …

Europe Sees Whitewash By Warren’s Commission – Page 1books.google.com › books
The Fort Scott Tribune · ‎Sep 25, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 1
West Germany A book — advancing conspiracy theory is a best-seller. Its author, Hungarian-born Hans Habe, spent the war years in the United Stales and now lives in Switzerland. His book, “Death in Dallas” claims reactionary millionaires …

Warren – Page 8books.google.com › books
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix · ‎Sep 25, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 8
West Germany — A book advancing conspiracy theory is a best-seller. Its author, Hungarian-born Hans Habe, spent the war years in the United States and now lives in Switzerland. German newspapers for the most part have not advanced any …

Controversy – Page 7books.google.com › books
The Nevada Daily Mail · ‎Sep 24, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 7
West Germany A book ad— vancing conspiracy theory is a best-seller. Its author, Hungarian-born Hans Habe, spent the war years in the United States and now lives in Switzerland. His book, “Death in Dallas” claims reactionary million …

Kentucky New Era – Page 18books.google.com › books
Kentucky New Era · ‎Sep 24, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 18
West Germany A book — advancing conspiracy theory is a best-seller. Its author, Hungarian-born Hans Habe, spent the war years in the United States and now lives in Switzerland. His book, “Death in Dallas” claims reactionary millio- …

The Daily Reporter – Page 1books.google.com › books
The Daily Reporter · ‎Sep 25, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 1
West Germany — A bo^k advancing conspiracy theory a best-seller. Its author, Hungarian-born Hans Hhbe. «pent the war years in the United Stntes and now lives in Swi’zer- land. His book. ‘Death in Dallas” claims reactionary millionaires …

Sketches – Page 6books.google.com › books
Gettysburg Times · ‎Sep 25, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 6
»**My organ of the tiny People s Socialist party, has published stories supporting the conspiracy theory. Sweden — The conspiracy theory has had widespread pub- Hcation. Doubts are expected to return to many with the issuing of the …

Would Goldwater Offer True Test For Voters? – Page 4books.google.com › books
Ocala Star-Banner · ‎Jun 21, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 4
At times the Senator himself has seemed to lean on the conspiracy theory. One of the strangest episodes m his California primary campaign was the private press conference he held in the offices of the San Diego Union, …

Washington Calling. Marquis Childs. – Page 22books.google.com › books
Reading Eagle · ‎Jun 18, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 22
At times the senator himself has seemed to lean on the conspiracy theory. One of the strangest episodes in his California primary campaign was the private press conference he held in the offices of the San Diego Union, …

The Morning Record – Page 4books.google.com › books
The Morning Record · ‎Jun 20, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 4
AT TIMES bhe Senator himself has seemed to lean on the conspiracy theory. One of the strangest episodes in his California primary campaign was the private press conference he held in the offices of the San Diego Union, …

Washington Calling. Conservatives Ready To Blame Press? By …books.google.com › books
The Evening News · ‎Jun 20, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 13
At times the senator himself has seemed to lean on the conspiracy theory. One of the strangest episodes in his California primary campaign was the private press conference he held in the offices of the San Diego Union, …

Warren Report May Stir Controversy In Europe. – Page 4books.google.com › books
The Free Lance-Star · ‎Sep 25, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 4
West Gormany — A book advancing conspiracy theory is la best-seller. Its author, Hun- Igarian-born Hans Habe, shent. Tri Fr»ir tone‘- S* or,. he war .years in the United States and now lives in Swltzer- and.

The Tuscaloosa News. West Alabama Firmly Newspaper 146th. …books.google.com › books
The Tuscaloosa News · ‎Sep 25, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 1
Sweden The conspiracy — theory has had widespread publication. Doubts are expected to return lo many with the issuing of the Warren commission reDisclosure. Denmark The belief in a — conspiracy is rather widespread, …

‘Null In Killing. A. True Test For Barry? – Page 6books.google.com › books
Daytona Beach Morning Journal · ‎Jun 20, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 6
At times the Senator himself has seemed to lean on the conspiracy theory. One of the strangest episodes in his California primary campaign was the private press conference he held in the offices of the San Diego Union, …

Europe Is Skeptical Of Assassination Report. – Page 22books.google.com › books
Spokane Daily Chronicle · ‎Sep 25, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 22
… evidence presented up to now makes the average Frenchman — or most newspaper editors — believe ‘* was a cut-and-dned. one-man killing West Germany — A book advancing conspiracy theory is a best-seller Its author Hungarian-born Hans …

Kennedy Assassinatian Bpdort. Kennedy Assassination Report. …books.google.com › books
Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph · ‎Sep 28, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 1
West (iernianv A hook ad vanring conspiracy theory is a best seller Its aiithoi Iltingar tan born Hans llabe. spent Ihe Slates. war jears in and now lives in Swit/erland. II Mil HI AMI S TK\SI|. In Di-.iin m Dallas llabe claims …

Result – Page 5books.google.com › books
Meriden Journal · ‎Sep 25, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 5
No amount of evidence presented up to now makes the average Frenchman — or most newspaper editors — believe it was a cut-and-dried, one-man killing. West Germany — A book advancing conspiracy theory is best-seller. Its author, HunBy.

In Case Of Defeat, Goldwater Backers Have News Media As … – Page 14books.google.com › books
Toledo Blade · ‎Jun 17, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 14
the conspiracy theory. One of the strangesi episodes in his California primary cam paign was ihe private press conference he held in the offices of the San Diego Union, a newspaper favor able to his cause.

Assassination – Page 2books.google.com › books
Warsaw Times – Union · ‎Sep 25, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 2
SWEDEN — The conspiracy theory has had widespread publication. Doubts are expected to return to many with the issuing the Warren commission report. DENMARK — The belief in a conspiracy is rather several newspapers have shown skepticism …

Europeans Still Think Jfk Murder A Rightist Plot. – Page 4books.google.com › books
The Telegraph-Herald · ‎Sep 25, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 4
West Germany — A book advancing conspiracy theory is best-seller. Its author, Hungarian-born Hans Habe, spent the war years in the United States and now lives in Switzer land. His book, “Death in Dallas” claims reactionary million’ …

Ex-Commie Opposes Checkup Group Of Jfk Death. Rivals For …books.google.com › books
Lawrence Journal-World · ‎May 5, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 3
Unless this is done the conspiracy theory cannot be laid to rest. The commission has discussed Buchanan; indeed, it has had some preliminary contact with him. But it has not yet decided whether to take the bold but obvious step of …

Psst, Citizen! Citizen! Here’s Real Inside Dope. – Page 4books.google.com › books
Eugene Register-Guard · ‎Feb 22, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 4
But personally, I can never get very worked up about The Conspiracy Theory of Life. It’s not that 1 have more faith thin some in my fellow man. It’s that I have less. Most people I know, including me. are far too wilUuI, nulr- pendent …

Who Killed Kennedy? – Page 6books.google.com › books
The Telegraph-Herald · ‎Sep 27, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 6
This conspiracy theory has beeh accepted so widely in Europe that a contrary report by the Warren Commission could inspire charger that a conspiracy Is being “whitewashed.” In England, Philosopher Bertrand Russell heads a “Who Killed …

The Portsmouth Times – Page 53books.google.com › books
The Portsmouth Times · ‎Sep 22, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 53
‘S Germany _ A book advamMng conspiracy theory is 21 ‘7 JIKWS a best-seller Its author Hun- were doiiut garian-born Hans Habe.‘ spent the war years in the United states and now lives in Switzer- land. His book, “Death in Dal- m.

Public Wants Fast Probe Report. – Page 4books.google.com › books
Sarasota Herald-Tribune · ‎Apr 14, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 4
Perhaps one reason so many Europeans are wedded to the conspiracy theory is that they can’t quite believe in the coincidence o two psychotics Oswald and — Ruby in one place at the – same time. Apart from the fact of there being no …

‘Conspiracy Theory Exploded. – Page 10books.google.com › books
The Deseret News · ‎Sep 28, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 10
Never, until our own revolutionary century, has the conspiracy theory of history been given such a workout. A “sect,” consisting of about 300.000 “adepts.” has been boring from within for some 20 years. “It first announced itself in …

The Altus Times-Democrat – Page 4books.google.com › books
The Altus Times-Democrat · ‎Apr 22, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 4
… even behind the Iron Curtain. was In Copenhagen recently. propagating his theories to | Students Association as guest of the liberal newspaper Eks trahladet The other American expous Ing the “conspiracy theory” is Thomas Buchanan, …

Many Europeans Blame Assassination Of Kennedy On Extremist …books.google.com › books
Sarasota Herald-Tribune · ‎Apr 28, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 5
Former Communist The other American expous- ing the “conspiracy theory” is Thomas Buchanan, a self-admitted former Communist now living in Paris. He has found a surprisingly wide audience. Buchanan recently wrote a series for the …

Fhese Days… Why Blame The C. I. A For Lack Of Will Power? – Page 4books.google.com › books
The Washington Observer · ‎Jun 18, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 4
This column does not accepl Ihe conspiracy theory of his- lory. Bul il does Ihmk rather well of the contagion theory. This ran involve e conspiracy at the outset to float rumors, to slander char- acters, and to impute • motives, …

Fr I D. To Hove Word With You Drew Pearson.. These Days. Why …books.google.com › books
The Tuscaloosa News · ‎Jun 22, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 3
This column does not accept the conspiracy theory of history. But it does think rather well of the contagion theory. This can involve conspiracy at the outset to float rumors, to slander characters, and to impute motives.

These Days. Why Blame The Cia For Failures In Will? By John …books.google.com › books
Ocala Star-Banner · ‎Jun 18, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 4
This column does not accept the conspiracy theory of history. But it does think rather well of the contagion theory. Tnis can involve conspiracy at the outset to float rumors, to slander characters, and. to impute motives.

But Critics. Are Unfair… The Cia Gets All The Blame. – Page 8books.google.com › books
The Evening Independent · ‎Jun 18, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 8
This column does not accept the conspiracy theory of history. But it does think rather well of the contagion theory. This can involve conspiracy at the outset to float rumors, to slander characters, and to impute motives, …

By John Chamberlain – Page 8books.google.com › books
Park City Daily News · ‎Jun 21, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 8
This column does not accept the conspiracy theory of his- tory But it does think rather well of the contagion theory. This can involve conspiracy at the outset to float rumors, to slander characters, and to im- pute motives.

Failure Of Will Why Blame The Cia? – Page 13books.google.com › books
The Deseret News · ‎Jun 18, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 13
This column does not accept the conspiracy theory of history. But it does think rather well of the contagion theory. This can involve conspiracy at the outset to float rumors, to slander characters, and to impute motives.

The Press-Courier – Page 28books.google.com › books
The Press-Courier · ‎Apr 17, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 28
‘Conspiracy Theory”. Buchanan, a. former (‘omniums: now- living in Pans He has found a surprisingly wide audience Buchanan recently wrote a scries for the left -wing French weekly 1/Kxpress It was reprinted and quoted throughout Western …

Warren Report Squelches Myths. – Page 3books.google.com › books
Middlesboro Daily News · ‎Oct 5, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 3
Those who wish to believe in the conspiracy theory, or even in Oswp.ld’s innocence, will continue to do so, despite an absolute lack of substantiation, and the sheer overwhelming bulk of the evidence meticulously assembled against …

Us Tory Union Disclaims Birchers. – Page 12books.google.com › books
The Calgary Herald · ‎Dec 26, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 12
As a “practical matter,” he said, it had been “tarred by the liberal press,” had “never thought out its positions, reacted blindly, and harbored a conspiracy theory contrary to any reasonable analysis of domestic and world realities.

Squelching The Myths. – Page 31books.google.com › books
The Southeast Missourian · ‎Oct 12, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 31
Those who wish to believe in the conspiracy theory, or even in Oswald’s innocence, will continue to do so. despite an sbsolufe Isck of substantiation and the sis^r ovsrvr’aelrninf faolk of the evidence EDf-icuicasIy assembled against …

Warren Report Squelches Myths Eastern Arsenal Moves In – Page 31books.google.com › books
Park City Daily News · ‎Sep 30, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 31
Those who wish to believe in the conspiracy theory, or oven in Oswald’s innocence, will continue to do so, despite nn absolute lack of substantiation and the sheer overwhelming bulk of the evidence meticulously assembled acainst Oswald.

For All. To See… The Legends Begin To Grow. – Page 3books.google.com › books
The Victoria Advocate · ‎Jul 26, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 3
Itobert Kennedy is an objective witness, un that if there was anything to the Big Conspiracy theory, he would be pitching for more investigation. Further, he has access to much of the testimony given to the Warren Commission. Ti* dead I.

Shattering Myths. – Page 4books.google.com › books
The Owosso Argus-Press · ‎Oct 1, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 4
Those who wish to believe in the conspiracy theory, or even in Oswald’s innocence, will continue to do so, despite an absolute lack of substantiation and the sheer overwhelming bulk of the evidence meticulously assembled against Oswald.

Warren Report Squelches Myths. – Page 5books.google.com › books
The Sumter Daily Item · ‎Oct 5, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 5
Those who wish to believe in the conspiracy theory, or even in Oswalds innocence, will continue to do so,- despite an absolute lack of substantiation and the sheer overwhelming bulk of the evidence meticulously assembled against Oswald.

Probers Shrug Off Assassin Theories. – Page 2books.google.com › books
The Press-Courier · ‎Jun 1, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 2
Ihe spokesman said, many advocates of a conspiracy theory simply state without any supporting evidence thai Ihe shots fired at the President’s car could not have come from the School Book Depository an Dallas.

A Time To Ignore Politics. – Page 3books.google.com › books
The Victoria Advocate · ‎Apr 17, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 3
Much of the French and British press still favor the “conspiracy” theory and they wil] have a hard time accepting the Warren Commission version thai there was no plot. Perhaps one reason so many Europeans are wedded to the comspiracy …

In .Assassination Events Impressed With .Repor1 . – Page 5books.google.com › books
The Lewiston Daily Sun · ‎Sep 28, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 5
“I think this report should set at rest forever the conspiracy theory and should do a lot to restore our image abroad,” Belli said. Both Belli and Dallas attorney Joe Joe Tonahill, who joined Belli in. Festivities will open at 6:30.ncws …

Those Involved Impressed By Warren Group Report. – Page 1books.google.com › books
Lewiston Morning Tribune · ‎Sep 28, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 1
… throughout the free world ” Belli Praises Melvin Belli, principal lawyer fulfilling the capabilities of the Americans who were appointed to do it. “I think this report should set at rest forever the conspiracy theory and should do a …

Village Gifts For Christmas. – Page 3books.google.com › books
The Village Voice · ‎Dec 10, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 3
… but whenever h* veered from occasional self-criticism to tb* basic malaise of the press, he cut deeper by far than any of the others, Kempton dismissed the conspiracy theory with regard to non-coverage of basic news. (“If* not that.

Cia Position Is Defended. By John Chamberlain – Page 4books.google.com › books
St. Joseph Gazette · ‎Jun 22, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 4
This column does not accept the conspiracy theory of history. But it does think rather well of the contagion theory. This can involve eon-. spirary at the outset to float rumors, to slander characters, and to impute motives.

The Sun – Page 7books.google.com › books
The Sun · ‎Sep 26, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 7
In Europe especially, whore e , ing al lne the conspiracy theory of politics is almost a wav of life. e. Rullptholp. there developed a kind of bull- headed determination to facts match theory. Indeed to this clay, Europeans appear to …

Theories In Brief. – Page 9books.google.com › books
Gadsden Times · ‎Apr 19, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 9
The other American expous- Buchanan, interviewed in are the Kennedy assassination Ing the “conspiracy theory” Paris by UPI correspondent theories of Thomas Buchanan is Thomas Buchanan, a self-ad- Aline Mosby, said his conclu- which have …

Planning Failure. – Page 9books.google.com › books
The Glasgow Herald · ‎Dec 9, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 9
Shipyard workers on the Clyde, seemed to hold something like a “conspiracy theory” of industrial relations to explain the attitudes and” behaviour of .their employers. Three shipyard workers. in different employments and in different …

The Village Voice – Page 4books.google.com › books
The Village Voice · ‎Nov 26, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 4
UW«B conspiracy . theory:. , „ He was the TfWil tool of f\f powerful Tu-nt”«ff ill forces f I’kViiAo hostile Vni.-t.l to fj-k us. So many theories’ all of them notable for “distancing” the assassin -from the subjective proximity of …

Roscoe Drummond, Report Of Warren Group Should Not Be Held Back.books.google.com › books
The Free Lance-Star · ‎Apr 15, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 5
… the War- ren Commission version that there was no plot. Perhaps one reason so many Europeans are wedded to the conspiracy theory ! ! j’s’that” j’s’that” they can’t “quite “quite believe in the coincidence of two psy- DRUMMOND, Page 13)

Belli Renews Rap At Dallas Justice. – Page 17books.google.com › books
The Spokesman-Review · ‎Sep 28, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 17
“I think this report should session’s ‘at rest forever the conspiracy ‘theory and should do a lot to restore our image abroad. The only thing that remains is for a. NEW YORK (AP) — Former a hard hat for street wear. ‘Afty. Gen.

The Altus Times-Democrat – Page 24books.google.com › books
The Altus Times-Democrat · ‎Oct 4, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 24
Those who wish to believe in the conspiracy theory, or even in Oswald’s innocence, will continue to do so, despite an absolute lack of substantiation and the sheer overwhelming bulk. bled against Oswald.

Inside Cover Of Report With A Portrait Of The Late President … – Page 1books.google.com › books
Daytona Beach Morning Journal · ‎Sep 28, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 1
… described the findings as “.a real great report, fulfilling the capabilities of the great Americans who were appointed to do it “I think this report should set at rest forever the conspiracy theory and should do a lot to restore our …

Where Are The Doubt’. Warren Are Can Neglect To Examine. – Page 19books.google.com › books
The Michigan Daily · ‎Sep 24, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 19
A conspiracy theory would have been. “proving negatives to a certainty.” mi-ssipn may be trnr. They nuiy not. ^LL THE FACTS uncovered by the commission may be true. They may not. The public, however, should not hasten to swallow without …

Pressure On Sartre Over Nobel Prize. – Page 2books.google.com › books
The Sydney Morning Herald · ‎Nov 4, 1964 · ‎Newspaper
FOUND INSIDE – PAGE 2
E French are without doubt the people most addicted to the conspiracy theory of government. It is a sign of naivety in France to doubt that the country’s rulers are incapable of the most daring ingenuity, and the most brazen lying, …
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