Petition for JFK Act Oversight Hearings
Getting Congressional oversight hearings on the JFK Act is one thing that can and should be done, and will happen as soon as someone convinces Edolphus Towns (D. N.Y.), the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, to do his job and hold them.
It's possible JFK Act Oversight Hearings could be held as early as next March, during Sunshine Week, after the President’s Open Government Directives are developed and the FOIA Task Force completes its work, and if enough people request the hearings, a big if.
Getting new, sworn testimony on JFK assassination records issues would be huge, and if they try to answer just some of the outstanding questons related to the disposition of the records it is likely they will hold more than one hearing as the Oversight committee is the "investigative arm" of the House of Representatives.
Officially, "The Congressional Oversight and Reform Committee is the main investigative committee of the House of Representatives. It has jurisdiction to investigate any federal program and any matter with federal policy implications."
Although I thought we had a better chance with Henry Waxman as chairman, he's moved on to another committee, and the new chair of the Oversight Committee, Edolphus Towns, is a reasonable New York Democrat with the Congressional Black Caucus who will give us time to make our pitch and is open to persuasion.
I think we have an excellent chance of convincing him that it's vitally important to hold hearings on the JFK Act, and get the sworn testimony of the Secret Service official who destroyed records AFTER the JFK Act was established by law, and determine who in the Air Force ordered the Andrews log for 11/22/63 thrown in the trash, and what became of the negative of the photo of the swearing in aboard AF1 that disappeared from the vaults NARA?
If the Committee chair and Committee members want to learn the answers to these questions themselves, then we have a better chance of getting them to ask them.
Why is the CIA stonewalling Jeff Morely on the Joannides/DRE records? What happened to the Air Force One radio tapes? Who at the White House Communications Agency was responsible for their now missing records? Why are records that were open in full years ago now being withheld? Are the agencies and departments of government responding to Obama's Executive Orders on FOIA and Open Government? What about the MLK Records of the HSCA?
So many questions, with nobody to ask them and nobody to answer them.
What can you do?
Go to this site and sign the petition, and if you want to learn more about our efforts, help us lobby Congress, and be kept informed of the progress of the petition, you can follow this blog or email me at bkjfk3@yahoo.com and I'll get back to you with special updates and inside information.
http://www.petitiononline.com/JFKACT/petition.html
To: U.S. Congress
Congressional Oversight of JFK Act
To: Rep. Edolphus Towns, Chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee
and Rep. William Lacy Clay, Chairman of the Sub-committee on information policy, census and NARA and members of the relevant committee.
In order to regain the public’s confidence in government, which has been in decline since November 1963, Congress passed the JFK Act of 1992, requiring the release of all government records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
Since the last time Congress conducted a hearing on the JFK Act (June 4, 1997), neither the House Oversight Committee, nor the responsible subcommittee have held one hearing on this issue, despite the destruction of Secret Service documents, the loss of national security records and the continued withholding of records that have been ordered released to the public.
It is imperative that Congress take some action to ensure that the law is enforced and the work mandated by the JFK Assassination Records Act is completed. Therefore,
We, the undersigned citizens of the United States and the free world, do hereby request the House Oversight Committee do its duty and hold public oversight hearings on the JFK Act.
Sincerely,
William E. Kelly, Jr.
et al.......
The day I put this petition on line they were fighting in the streets of Iran and the site was down because of a cyber attack from Iran. After watching those demonstrators being beaten and shot in the street, the government they were fighting was also waging a cyber war that was affecting me - us.
They reported: http://www.petitiononline.com/PetitionOnline provides free online hosting of public petitions for responsible public advocacy, with more than 79 million signatures collected — tens of thousands of active petitions. Starting on Friday, June 12, 2009 around the time of the Iran elections, PetitionOnline was subjected to a form of Internet sabotage known as a massive DDoS attack. Until NTT/Verio Network Operations could devise sufficient active filters to keep the massive attack at bay, this site was inaccessible for most of four days and parts of others. At last notice, the attack was continuing but the filters were holding. Background details are available here and updates are being posted here. We are also posting short updates via Twitter at petitiononline. Thank you for all your support and encouragement, which we really need and especially appeciate during this crisis period.
Join us in the ancient methods of grassroots democracy, combined with the
latest digital networked communications, running live and free 24 hours a day.
Of all the petitions on line, the one I like the best, http://www.petitiononline.com/expeltex/petition.html
is to expel Texas from the United States and return it to Mexico, but nobody's signed on.
The right to petition the government is one of the most basic democratic rights, and is one of the weapons we are using to try to get Congress to hold Oversight Hearings on the JFK Act, to get a Special Federal Grand Jury to investigate the assassination of President Kenendy and to obtain proper forensic autopsies of the victims, all things guaranteed in the Constitution and the way our government is supposed to work.
More deep background on Congressional Oversight of JFK Act
As the Final Report of the ARRB says:
Section 12(a) of the JFK Act states that the provisions of the Act...shall continue in effect until such time as the Archivist certifies to the President and the Congress that all assassination records have been made available to the public in accordance with the Act.”
Therefore the JFK Act is a LIVING LAW, one that is still in effect and shall continue and remain in effect until all assassination documents are declassified, released and made available to the public, whenever that day comes, sometime in 2017.
It has been over ten years now since the ARRB completed its work, so it is imperative that Congress take some action now to ensure that the work mandated by the JFK Assassination Records Act is completed.
The House Government Reform and Oversight Committee is responsible for the oversight of the JFK Act, and when hearings are eventually held on the JFK Act, the responsible sub committee will be chaired by Rep. William Lacy Clay (D.Mi) on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives, with jurisdiction that includes public information, the Freedom of Information Act, the Presidential Records Act and the National Archives and Records Administration.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP MAKE IT HAPPEN:
If you live in the district of any of these Congressmen, and they represent you, they will pay more attention to your letter, phone call, email or fax, because you are a constituent and represent a potential vote.
If so, please go out of your way and ask your Representative to hold public hearings on the JFK Act and to notify you when they are scheduled before they happen so you can attend, view it on C-SPAN and be kept informed of what happens.
Real Democracy depends on an educated electorate, so stay informed.
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D. 10 NY)
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
U.S. House of Representatives
2157 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202-225-5051)
Subcommittee on Information Policy, NARA, Census
William Lacy Clay, Chairman (D. Missouri)
Majority (202-224-3121)
Paul Kanjorsic
Carolyn Maloney
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Danny Davis
Steve Driehaus
Diane Watson
Minority
Patrick McHenry, Ranking Member
Lynn Westmoreland, Vice Ranking Member
John Mica
Jason Chaffetz
http://informationpolicy.oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=2452
http://www.archives.gov/isoo/policy-documents/eo-12958-amendment.html
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
New COPA Media Project
John Geraghty has stepped up to say:
Hello to you all,
I wanted to share with you a project that I have started working on with John Judge and the Coalition on Political Assassinations.
We intend to produce a 5 part free to view online mini series as part of a cooperative project over the coming months.
I have pasted the completed proposal underneath, so it is probably best that you read that first.
In terms of getting this project off the ground we will be asking for monetary donations, air miles, a place to stay and your knowledge, expertise etc.
Please read the proposal and send it on to interested friends. Also, if you could post this on blogs, forums and other online information sources, I would be most grateful.
JFK - The Truth in Our Lifetime
The last few years have seen the release of some of the most complete and important accounts of the Kennedy assassination, mainly in terms of its historical significance as a deep political event. Most are based on the release of over 6.5 million pages of classified records that have rewritten the history of the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination itself.
For years the work of the critics has always been of great quality and has overshadowed and outsold those books that sought to uphold the establishment perception of the assassination of President Kennedy was not a conspiracy, but an aberration of history.
This struggle between the combined will of the informed populace and the sturdy control of a domineering elite is best exemplified in two books- JFK and the Unspeakable by Jim Douglas and Reclaiming History by Vincent Bugliosi. One is a relatively short book, detailing the most recent and complete analysis of the politics of the JFK assassination, drawing on all credible material unearthed and analyzed thus far. The other, a voluminous tome focused on the infallibility of the Warren Commission’s findings and the dismissal of any notion of a coup within the United States.
Although both books may have sold in similar quantities, Bugliosi’s work is set to become a ten part mini-series, produced by Tom Hanks for the HBO network. It is here that the distinction between the good and bad research must be made. The critics’ contribution to history is more accurate and more honest, yet their work is not as widely available or acceptable in a hierarchical society.
Bugliosi’s aim with his book and series is to make a serious dent in the 75% majority of the American population who believe there was a conspiratorial plot to assassinate President Kennedy, and he may well do so. This will be the largest tele-visual project on the topic of the assassination since Oliver Stone’s film ‘JFK’ and Nigel Kennedy’s History channel series, ‘The Men Who Killed Kennedy’.
No matter how valuable or important a book is on this case, it will still not reach a wider audience in the way it can via a visual medium.
A new audience
The ‘research community’, as we call it, has made a significant contribution to American politics and society since the day of the assassination. Authors and researchers have freely shared information, created archives, tracked down leads, forced new investigations and successfully lobbied Congress to investigate the murder and to release millions of relevant documents.
The research community has now grown to a stage, both in terms of knowledge and stature, that we can leave the familiar confines of attempting to create exposure for our stories, books and truths in the mainstream media and produce our own material available for mass consumption. Such a production could take the form of a 5-part documentary series, available online for free - our response to ‘Reclaiming History’.
This new series would draw upon the internet culture that has grown up around us and that we have harnessed to enable discussion and to disseminate the riddles of the past at a much quicker rate than was previously possible.
We live in an age when a documentary costing a few thousand dollars can be seen by millions of people on the internet and in DVD form. The power of the word of mouth is now matched by the power of the keyboard. After being blocked out of various Democratic presidential debates Dennis Kucinich was still able to use the internet to get his message out to millions of Americans, one video alone being viewed by 1.9 million people on Youtube.
This proposed series would not simply be an extension of ‘The Men Who Killed Kennedy’, focusing in on individual stories laced through a broader spectrum, nor would it be a straight rebuttal to the tightly wound and loosely conveyed arguments put forward in ‘Reclaiming History’. It can instead be the story that has been on the tip of our collective tongue for decades. The story of the Kennedy assassination, told not in terms of entrance wounds, intelligence agency rumors, ballistics, trajectory, but in terms of the political scene, the danger of a Kennedy presidency to those financial power and in the military.
In other words, this series will take the assassination out of Dealey Plaza and into the real world, making it tangible for an audience to realize that this past event genuinely effects them in the current political climate, and not just in the USA, but globally.
The focus of this version of the assassination can be narrowed into a much more digestible and relevant format, taking it out of the obscure sciences and into the understandable political event that it was. As Mr X, the character in the film JFK tells Jim Garrison, the DA on the trail of the killers, “Why was Kennedy killed? Who benefited? Who has the power to cover it up? Who?"
Not only will the series focus upon the causes and impact of the assassination, but it will do something other series and films don’t and can’t do, provide solutions. The last of the 5 episodes will be an examination of the various methods that have been employed to seek justice and a collection of those legal remedies that we can still use in order to seek some form of resolution.
Who am I, who are we?
What is it that I mean when I say that ‘we’, the ‘research community’ can produce this documentary series? First of all, who am I?
My name is John Geraghty, I’m 23 and from Dublin, Ireland. I hold a Degree in History from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and I am currently working on a Masters Thesis there on the topic of JFK and the Freedom of Information Act. In the 6 years that I have been interested in this case, I think it is not over-reaching to say that I’ve been responsible for some good and critical work.
Since the age of 17 I have studied the Kennedy assassination, being a regular contributor to online forums and a member of Dealey Plaza UK, a group of researchers of all ages and backgrounds. In 2006 I worked as an intern in the office of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. There I worked with John Judge on the Martin Luther King Records Act, modelled after the successful JFK Records Act of 1992.
The following summer I worked in the Assassination Archives Research Centre under James Lesar, compiling a large list of CIA cryptonyms, code words and personnel. Over several years, I have assisted John Judge with his work in the Coalition On Political Assassinations, including building and managing their website.
I am proposing that I take on the task of actually filming, producing and editing this proposed series. Of course, my knowledge and assets can take me only so far, so it is to the research community that I look for support.
The most important contribution that the research community can make to this project is their knowledge and expertise. It is my intention to talk to and interview authors and researchers of the calibre of Professor Peter Dale Scott, Jim DiEugenio, Walt Brown, Gerald McKnight, Dick Russell, Michael Parenti and Jim Douglas to name but a few. The other contribution that we will need from the research community is financial support, supplies and hospitality.
The whole idea of producing this series is that a group of committed citizens (of any country) can now get together and make a project like this work on very minimal funding.
I do not think it unreasonable to be targeting an initial figure of 50-60,000 viewers of the series. In the age we live in, this is an extremely achievable goal. This is the bare minimum of viewers that I would expect to watch. I will ensure that the documentary is properly marketed on the internet on forums, blogs, websites, social networking sites and hopefully through word of mouth.
Documentaries made for the internet including Zeitgeist and Loose Change have garnered viewers in the millions. The Men Who Killed Kennedy is available online and has been viewed on youtube alone 30,000 times, though this number is likely higher when google video is taken into account. COPA has uploaded 14 videos over the last year. These videos were not professionally produced, nor were they fully promoted, yet they were still viewed 38,000 times.
The funding of this project will be done through COPA, the Coalition On Political Assassinations as a sponsor of our project. We will be asking members of the research community to help us in any way they can - in terms of knowledge, monetary donations, allowing me to stay with them if I’m travelling around the country, loaning filming equipment or donating air miles.
This series will have a very professional feel to it, both in terms of presentation and content. The more material donated and offers of hospitality, the fewer monetary contributions we will need.
This can be our great collaborative effort, our response to the history texts and a chance to bypass a distorted media and tell our own truth without thought of pleasing sponsors, succumbing to government pressure or the need to make a profit.
I speak of this series as a project for this community, but I will say with absolute definite certainty that nothing will be put into this series unless it is absolutely verifiable. The collaborative element of this project ensures that no personal agendas can be followed, I will be merely the organizer of the facts.
Preproduction on the series will begin immediately, with initial filming beginning in July and running through the summer. Following the editing process the episodes will be screened live online each weekend until the anniversary of the assassination Dallas in November. Following the live screening the episodes will be made available for free to stream, to download and to burn onto DVD.
Each episode will be screened at live events in cities across the U.S. with feedback sessions with live audiences to be broadcast directly after the episode.
Because this documentary is made by a non-profit you can be guaranteed that the money is being put to good use, that there are no hidden agendas, and that we will employ every cost cutting technique that does not impact on the quality of the film.
Internet blockbusters are a reality today. With the right story, good research and good production, it really is possible for a series like this to be seen by hundreds of thousands of people. This project is citizen activism at its purest, a group of people from various political and social groupings who share a common goal in the interest of the common good.
Of course, to make all of this possible we need your support. Our goal is to raise $4,000 to cover basic costs for travel, production and editing. I will come over as soon as possible from Ireland and cross the US to get the best interviews I can, drawing on other earlier recorded talks and documentary materials.
Let me put it this way, for every dollar you donate, at least 6 people will be introduced to the historical reality of the Kennedy assassination. This figure could rapidly grow, but I do not wish to speculate at this early stage of the project.
Donations to this project and COPA are not tax deductible. For donations over $50, I will make sure you receive the 5 part series on DVD.
To donate, please go to www.politicalassassinations.com and under the heading of the project click the 'donate' button or by sending a paypal donation to johnpetergeraghty@gmail.com.
Or by mail, please make the check to COPA and note "Know the Truth" at the bottom.
Thank you
John Geraghty
COPA
P.O. Box 772
Washington, DC 20044
johnpetergeraghty@gmail.com
www.politicalassassinations.com
Know the Truth
Breakdown of the 5 part series
Part 1
An introduction to the assassination for someone without any real prior knowledge of the time line, geography and background to the assassination. Beginning with the actual assassination itself and the political, economic and foreign policy battles that pre-dated the act itself.
This episode will also chronicle the establishment of the CIA, the growth of the Military Industrial Congressional Complex. It will touch on subsequent events arising from this intense militarism, such as the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis, two events which foreshadowed President Kennedy’s ultimate demise.
Specifics such as the telephone blackout in Washington D.C. immediately after the assassination, the cabinet’s plane journey at the exact time of the assassination, the DEFCON status, missing code books and troop movements in Florida will be focused upon to give the viewer a sense of the wider implications of Kennedy’s assassination in the immediate aftermath.
Part 2
A study of Lee Harvey Oswald, his ONI intelligence background, his movements and the move to convict him in the mind of the public. Also, the Miami and Chicago plots to kill JFK. This will include Oswald’s time in the Soviet Union and other brief stays in New Orleans and his connections in Dallas.
The principal importance of this episode is to outline the circles in which Oswald ran and the characters with whom he was associated, primarily George De Mohrenschildt and other intelligence agency assets and officers.
Part 3
The investigations, legal battles and official responses which wrote mainstream history with regards to the assassination. Included in this is a presentation on the control exerted over the media in the reporting of the event and subsequent repercussions, including the deaths of witnesses, the Vietnam war and the further drift towards global capitalism, paranoia about international communism and intensified spying upon U.S. citizens.
In the case of the Warren Commission, it will be outlined how in some ways the perpetrators of the crime controlled the investigation into the crime they committed or allowed to happen. The backgrounds of the Commission members will be explored.
Part 4
Foreign policy shifts following the death of the President. The intensification of armed conflict in Vietnam juxtaposed with Kennedy’s proposed policies before his death. An examination of those hawks who advocated an increased presence and a full scale U.S. invasion of Vietnam.
Also including the assassination of Diem, the actions of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CIA, détente with Soviet Union and Cuba, and Kennedy's clear intent to end the nuclear arms race and find real peace. In specific focus will be the actions of the Joint Chiefs of staff, their actions being the overt actions of the state, and the CIA and DIA, the covert and unseen actions of the state.
Part 5
What can be done in the current climate? Introduction to researcher's proposals about grand juries, citizen solutions and an insight into the various researcher communities that endeavor to see a resolution to the case. The end goal being a release of all files in this and other related cases such as the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Robert Kennedy as well as a final reassessment of the case in some official and unbiased forum to get at the truth.
Hello to you all,
I wanted to share with you a project that I have started working on with John Judge and the Coalition on Political Assassinations.
We intend to produce a 5 part free to view online mini series as part of a cooperative project over the coming months.
I have pasted the completed proposal underneath, so it is probably best that you read that first.
In terms of getting this project off the ground we will be asking for monetary donations, air miles, a place to stay and your knowledge, expertise etc.
Please read the proposal and send it on to interested friends. Also, if you could post this on blogs, forums and other online information sources, I would be most grateful.
JFK - The Truth in Our Lifetime
The last few years have seen the release of some of the most complete and important accounts of the Kennedy assassination, mainly in terms of its historical significance as a deep political event. Most are based on the release of over 6.5 million pages of classified records that have rewritten the history of the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination itself.
For years the work of the critics has always been of great quality and has overshadowed and outsold those books that sought to uphold the establishment perception of the assassination of President Kennedy was not a conspiracy, but an aberration of history.
This struggle between the combined will of the informed populace and the sturdy control of a domineering elite is best exemplified in two books- JFK and the Unspeakable by Jim Douglas and Reclaiming History by Vincent Bugliosi. One is a relatively short book, detailing the most recent and complete analysis of the politics of the JFK assassination, drawing on all credible material unearthed and analyzed thus far. The other, a voluminous tome focused on the infallibility of the Warren Commission’s findings and the dismissal of any notion of a coup within the United States.
Although both books may have sold in similar quantities, Bugliosi’s work is set to become a ten part mini-series, produced by Tom Hanks for the HBO network. It is here that the distinction between the good and bad research must be made. The critics’ contribution to history is more accurate and more honest, yet their work is not as widely available or acceptable in a hierarchical society.
Bugliosi’s aim with his book and series is to make a serious dent in the 75% majority of the American population who believe there was a conspiratorial plot to assassinate President Kennedy, and he may well do so. This will be the largest tele-visual project on the topic of the assassination since Oliver Stone’s film ‘JFK’ and Nigel Kennedy’s History channel series, ‘The Men Who Killed Kennedy’.
No matter how valuable or important a book is on this case, it will still not reach a wider audience in the way it can via a visual medium.
A new audience
The ‘research community’, as we call it, has made a significant contribution to American politics and society since the day of the assassination. Authors and researchers have freely shared information, created archives, tracked down leads, forced new investigations and successfully lobbied Congress to investigate the murder and to release millions of relevant documents.
The research community has now grown to a stage, both in terms of knowledge and stature, that we can leave the familiar confines of attempting to create exposure for our stories, books and truths in the mainstream media and produce our own material available for mass consumption. Such a production could take the form of a 5-part documentary series, available online for free - our response to ‘Reclaiming History’.
This new series would draw upon the internet culture that has grown up around us and that we have harnessed to enable discussion and to disseminate the riddles of the past at a much quicker rate than was previously possible.
We live in an age when a documentary costing a few thousand dollars can be seen by millions of people on the internet and in DVD form. The power of the word of mouth is now matched by the power of the keyboard. After being blocked out of various Democratic presidential debates Dennis Kucinich was still able to use the internet to get his message out to millions of Americans, one video alone being viewed by 1.9 million people on Youtube.
This proposed series would not simply be an extension of ‘The Men Who Killed Kennedy’, focusing in on individual stories laced through a broader spectrum, nor would it be a straight rebuttal to the tightly wound and loosely conveyed arguments put forward in ‘Reclaiming History’. It can instead be the story that has been on the tip of our collective tongue for decades. The story of the Kennedy assassination, told not in terms of entrance wounds, intelligence agency rumors, ballistics, trajectory, but in terms of the political scene, the danger of a Kennedy presidency to those financial power and in the military.
In other words, this series will take the assassination out of Dealey Plaza and into the real world, making it tangible for an audience to realize that this past event genuinely effects them in the current political climate, and not just in the USA, but globally.
The focus of this version of the assassination can be narrowed into a much more digestible and relevant format, taking it out of the obscure sciences and into the understandable political event that it was. As Mr X, the character in the film JFK tells Jim Garrison, the DA on the trail of the killers, “Why was Kennedy killed? Who benefited? Who has the power to cover it up? Who?"
Not only will the series focus upon the causes and impact of the assassination, but it will do something other series and films don’t and can’t do, provide solutions. The last of the 5 episodes will be an examination of the various methods that have been employed to seek justice and a collection of those legal remedies that we can still use in order to seek some form of resolution.
Who am I, who are we?
What is it that I mean when I say that ‘we’, the ‘research community’ can produce this documentary series? First of all, who am I?
My name is John Geraghty, I’m 23 and from Dublin, Ireland. I hold a Degree in History from the National University of Ireland, Maynooth and I am currently working on a Masters Thesis there on the topic of JFK and the Freedom of Information Act. In the 6 years that I have been interested in this case, I think it is not over-reaching to say that I’ve been responsible for some good and critical work.
Since the age of 17 I have studied the Kennedy assassination, being a regular contributor to online forums and a member of Dealey Plaza UK, a group of researchers of all ages and backgrounds. In 2006 I worked as an intern in the office of Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. There I worked with John Judge on the Martin Luther King Records Act, modelled after the successful JFK Records Act of 1992.
The following summer I worked in the Assassination Archives Research Centre under James Lesar, compiling a large list of CIA cryptonyms, code words and personnel. Over several years, I have assisted John Judge with his work in the Coalition On Political Assassinations, including building and managing their website.
I am proposing that I take on the task of actually filming, producing and editing this proposed series. Of course, my knowledge and assets can take me only so far, so it is to the research community that I look for support.
The most important contribution that the research community can make to this project is their knowledge and expertise. It is my intention to talk to and interview authors and researchers of the calibre of Professor Peter Dale Scott, Jim DiEugenio, Walt Brown, Gerald McKnight, Dick Russell, Michael Parenti and Jim Douglas to name but a few. The other contribution that we will need from the research community is financial support, supplies and hospitality.
The whole idea of producing this series is that a group of committed citizens (of any country) can now get together and make a project like this work on very minimal funding.
I do not think it unreasonable to be targeting an initial figure of 50-60,000 viewers of the series. In the age we live in, this is an extremely achievable goal. This is the bare minimum of viewers that I would expect to watch. I will ensure that the documentary is properly marketed on the internet on forums, blogs, websites, social networking sites and hopefully through word of mouth.
Documentaries made for the internet including Zeitgeist and Loose Change have garnered viewers in the millions. The Men Who Killed Kennedy is available online and has been viewed on youtube alone 30,000 times, though this number is likely higher when google video is taken into account. COPA has uploaded 14 videos over the last year. These videos were not professionally produced, nor were they fully promoted, yet they were still viewed 38,000 times.
The funding of this project will be done through COPA, the Coalition On Political Assassinations as a sponsor of our project. We will be asking members of the research community to help us in any way they can - in terms of knowledge, monetary donations, allowing me to stay with them if I’m travelling around the country, loaning filming equipment or donating air miles.
This series will have a very professional feel to it, both in terms of presentation and content. The more material donated and offers of hospitality, the fewer monetary contributions we will need.
This can be our great collaborative effort, our response to the history texts and a chance to bypass a distorted media and tell our own truth without thought of pleasing sponsors, succumbing to government pressure or the need to make a profit.
I speak of this series as a project for this community, but I will say with absolute definite certainty that nothing will be put into this series unless it is absolutely verifiable. The collaborative element of this project ensures that no personal agendas can be followed, I will be merely the organizer of the facts.
Preproduction on the series will begin immediately, with initial filming beginning in July and running through the summer. Following the editing process the episodes will be screened live online each weekend until the anniversary of the assassination Dallas in November. Following the live screening the episodes will be made available for free to stream, to download and to burn onto DVD.
Each episode will be screened at live events in cities across the U.S. with feedback sessions with live audiences to be broadcast directly after the episode.
Because this documentary is made by a non-profit you can be guaranteed that the money is being put to good use, that there are no hidden agendas, and that we will employ every cost cutting technique that does not impact on the quality of the film.
Internet blockbusters are a reality today. With the right story, good research and good production, it really is possible for a series like this to be seen by hundreds of thousands of people. This project is citizen activism at its purest, a group of people from various political and social groupings who share a common goal in the interest of the common good.
Of course, to make all of this possible we need your support. Our goal is to raise $4,000 to cover basic costs for travel, production and editing. I will come over as soon as possible from Ireland and cross the US to get the best interviews I can, drawing on other earlier recorded talks and documentary materials.
Let me put it this way, for every dollar you donate, at least 6 people will be introduced to the historical reality of the Kennedy assassination. This figure could rapidly grow, but I do not wish to speculate at this early stage of the project.
Donations to this project and COPA are not tax deductible. For donations over $50, I will make sure you receive the 5 part series on DVD.
To donate, please go to www.politicalassassinations.com and under the heading of the project click the 'donate' button or by sending a paypal donation to johnpetergeraghty@gmail.com.
Or by mail, please make the check to COPA and note "Know the Truth" at the bottom.
Thank you
John Geraghty
COPA
P.O. Box 772
Washington, DC 20044
johnpetergeraghty@gmail.com
www.politicalassassinations.com
Know the Truth
Breakdown of the 5 part series
Part 1
An introduction to the assassination for someone without any real prior knowledge of the time line, geography and background to the assassination. Beginning with the actual assassination itself and the political, economic and foreign policy battles that pre-dated the act itself.
This episode will also chronicle the establishment of the CIA, the growth of the Military Industrial Congressional Complex. It will touch on subsequent events arising from this intense militarism, such as the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis, two events which foreshadowed President Kennedy’s ultimate demise.
Specifics such as the telephone blackout in Washington D.C. immediately after the assassination, the cabinet’s plane journey at the exact time of the assassination, the DEFCON status, missing code books and troop movements in Florida will be focused upon to give the viewer a sense of the wider implications of Kennedy’s assassination in the immediate aftermath.
Part 2
A study of Lee Harvey Oswald, his ONI intelligence background, his movements and the move to convict him in the mind of the public. Also, the Miami and Chicago plots to kill JFK. This will include Oswald’s time in the Soviet Union and other brief stays in New Orleans and his connections in Dallas.
The principal importance of this episode is to outline the circles in which Oswald ran and the characters with whom he was associated, primarily George De Mohrenschildt and other intelligence agency assets and officers.
Part 3
The investigations, legal battles and official responses which wrote mainstream history with regards to the assassination. Included in this is a presentation on the control exerted over the media in the reporting of the event and subsequent repercussions, including the deaths of witnesses, the Vietnam war and the further drift towards global capitalism, paranoia about international communism and intensified spying upon U.S. citizens.
In the case of the Warren Commission, it will be outlined how in some ways the perpetrators of the crime controlled the investigation into the crime they committed or allowed to happen. The backgrounds of the Commission members will be explored.
Part 4
Foreign policy shifts following the death of the President. The intensification of armed conflict in Vietnam juxtaposed with Kennedy’s proposed policies before his death. An examination of those hawks who advocated an increased presence and a full scale U.S. invasion of Vietnam.
Also including the assassination of Diem, the actions of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CIA, détente with Soviet Union and Cuba, and Kennedy's clear intent to end the nuclear arms race and find real peace. In specific focus will be the actions of the Joint Chiefs of staff, their actions being the overt actions of the state, and the CIA and DIA, the covert and unseen actions of the state.
Part 5
What can be done in the current climate? Introduction to researcher's proposals about grand juries, citizen solutions and an insight into the various researcher communities that endeavor to see a resolution to the case. The end goal being a release of all files in this and other related cases such as the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Robert Kennedy as well as a final reassessment of the case in some official and unbiased forum to get at the truth.
Public Input on Classification Reform Update
PUBLIC INPUT SOUGHT ON CLASSIFICATION REFORM
Joe Backes reports:
At the request of the National Security Advisor, a public meeting has been scheduled for July 8 to solicit public comments and recommendations concerning proposed revisions to executive branch classification and declassification policies. The meeting was announced in a June 23 Federal Register notice.
The Public Interest Declassification Board, which is hosting the July 8 meeting, will also launch a new blog next week to solicit public recommendations online. The blog will sequentially consider four areas: declassification policy, creation of a National Declassification Center, classification policy, and technology challenges and opportunities. Discussion of each topic will continue for three days, before moving to the next topic.
Meanwhile, an experimental and somewhat erratic White House process for gathering public input on transparency and openness has entered its third phase, intended to draft "constructive proposals" for advancing open government.
From the Fed Reg.[Federal Register: June 23, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 119)]
[Notices] [Page 29729-29730]
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION Information Security Oversight Office
Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB); Meeting
AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration.
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 1102 of the Intelligence Reform and
Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which extended and modified the
Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) as established by the
Public Interest.
Declassification Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-567, title VII, December 27,
2000, 114 Stat. 2856), announcement is made for the following committee
meeting: DATES: Wednesday July 8, 2009. Time: 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
ADDRESSES: National Archives and Records Administration, 700
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Room 105, Washington, DC 20408.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie A. Agurkis, PIDB Staff,
Information Security Oversight Office, National Archives Building, 700
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20408, telephone number (202)
357-5308.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To solicit public input concerning
recommendations and proposed revisions to the classification and
declassification policies found in Executive Order 12958, as amended,
``Classified National Security Information'' (the Order).
This action is being taken at the request of the National Security Advisor and in
support of the ongoing review of the Order directed by the President on
May 27, 2009.
This meeting will be open to the public. To ensure that the Board
may hear from all interested parties, individuals interested in
addressing the Board may be limited to 10 minutes. Due to space
limitations and access procedures, the name and telephone number of
individuals planning to attend must be submitted to the Information
Security Oversight Office (ISOO) via e-mail, PIDB@nara.gov, no later
than July 2, 2009. ISOO will provide additional instructions for
gaining access to the location of the meeting.
Dated: June 11, 2009. Mary Ann Hadyka, Committee Management Officer.
POST HEARING UPDATE:
PIDB Public Hearing of July 8, 2009
Transparency and Open Government Initiative
http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/
Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB)
About the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB)
Overview: The Public Interest Declassification Board is an advisory committee established by Congress in order to promote the fullest possible public access to a thorough, accurate, and reliable documentary record of significant U.S. national security decisions and activities. The President appointed Martin Faga (Chair), Herbert O. Briick, Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, Ronald Radosh, and Jennifer Sims. The Minority Leader of the House appointed David Skaggs and the Majority Leader of the Senate appointed Sanford Ungar, and the Speaker of the House appointed William Studeman. Appointment is pending from the Minority Leader of the Senate.
The Director of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), William J. Bosanko serves as the PIDB Executive Secretary and the ISOO staff provides staff support on a reimbursable basis.
Background :
Section 1102 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 extended and modified the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) as established by the Public Interest Declassification Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-567, title VII, Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 2856).
Functions:
Advises the President and other executive branch officials on the systematic, thorough, coordinated, and comprehensive identification, collection, review for declassification, and release of declassified records and materials that are of archival value, including records and materials of extraordinary public interest.
Promotes the fullest possible public access to a thorough, accurate, and reliable documentary record of significant U.S. national security decisions and significant U.S. national security activities in order to: support the oversight and legislative functions of Congress; support the policymaking role of the executive branch; respond to the interest of the public in national security matters; and promote reliable historical analysis and new avenues of historical study in national security matters.
Provides recommendations to the President for the identification, collection, and review for declassification of information of extraordinary public interest that does not undermine the national security of the U.S.Advises the President and other executive branch officials on policies deriving from the issuance by the President of Executive orders regarding the classification and declassification of national security information. Reviews and makes recommendations to the President with respect to any congressional request, made by the committee of jurisdiction, to declassify certain records or to reconsider a declination to declassify specific records.
In addition to this meeting, the PIDB will be soliciting your recommendations via the Declassification Policy Forum, at www.whitehouse.gov/open.
There will be four topics of discussion:
1)Declassification Policy,
2)Creation of a National Declassification Center,
3)Classification Policy,
4)Technology Challenges and Opportunities.
Public Input:
http://www.archives.gov/isoo/policy-documents/eo-12958-amendment.html
Ex. Order 12958:
http://www.archives.gov/isoo/policy-documents/eo-12958-amendment.html
Blog:
http://blog.ostp.gov/
Your Recommendations for Classification Policy
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 4:30 pm by Public Interest Declassification Forum
Today, the Public Interest Declassification Board held a public meeting to hear your recommendations for revisions of Executive Order 12958, as amended. This was a very productive meeting framed by the conversations occurring here on this Forum. We thank those of you who participated today at the meeting, and encourage you to continue your participation on the blog. We will accept your comments on all four topics until July 19, 2009.
The public meeting today concentrated particularly on issues of classification, including ways to address over classification. On the Declassification Policy Forum we have seen over 20 thoughtful comments on classification policy. Here are the few of your recommendations:
There should be an independent review of agency classification guides currently in use with the goal of reducing classification controls. These reviews should be made independent of original classifiers and eliminate obsolete classification categories.
Once documents are declassified, they should not be eligible for reclassification except under extreme circumstances.
There should be an initiative that would reward agency members for limiting the number of classifications made.
If the source document is declassified, any dependent information should likewise be declassified.
Because local law enforcement are able to provide for the public safety when they have access to information about potential threats, classification should be limited to allow for the sharing of information.
The process of challenging the classification assigned to a document should be encouraged and streamlined.
Executive agencies should be held more accountable for administering classification systems. At present there is no oversight authority that can meaningfully compel agencies to abide by classification standards.
Agency heads should have the latitude to authorize experimental projects and initiatives that could make security policy more efficient or more transparent.
Classification levels pertaining to the seriousness of the threat to national security should be made more precise.
Under the guidance of the Information Security Oversight Office, agency inspector generals should receive the authority to audit classification and declassification decisions, and the results of these audits should be made public.
Whenever possible, classifiers should use the lowest appropriate classification level and duration.
Confusion over the distinction between intelligence sources, methods, and activities invariably leads to the over classification of information. The scope of these terms should be more clearly defined.
Public Interest Declassification Board Support Staff
Joe Backes reports:
At the request of the National Security Advisor, a public meeting has been scheduled for July 8 to solicit public comments and recommendations concerning proposed revisions to executive branch classification and declassification policies. The meeting was announced in a June 23 Federal Register notice.
The Public Interest Declassification Board, which is hosting the July 8 meeting, will also launch a new blog next week to solicit public recommendations online. The blog will sequentially consider four areas: declassification policy, creation of a National Declassification Center, classification policy, and technology challenges and opportunities. Discussion of each topic will continue for three days, before moving to the next topic.
Meanwhile, an experimental and somewhat erratic White House process for gathering public input on transparency and openness has entered its third phase, intended to draft "constructive proposals" for advancing open government.
From the Fed Reg.[Federal Register: June 23, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 119)]
[Notices] [Page 29729-29730]
NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION Information Security Oversight Office
Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB); Meeting
AGENCY: National Archives and Records Administration.
ACTION: Notice of meeting.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 1102 of the Intelligence Reform and
Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, which extended and modified the
Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) as established by the
Public Interest.
Declassification Act of 2000 (Pub. L. 106-567, title VII, December 27,
2000, 114 Stat. 2856), announcement is made for the following committee
meeting: DATES: Wednesday July 8, 2009. Time: 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
ADDRESSES: National Archives and Records Administration, 700
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Room 105, Washington, DC 20408.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julie A. Agurkis, PIDB Staff,
Information Security Oversight Office, National Archives Building, 700
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20408, telephone number (202)
357-5308.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To solicit public input concerning
recommendations and proposed revisions to the classification and
declassification policies found in Executive Order 12958, as amended,
``Classified National Security Information'' (the Order).
This action is being taken at the request of the National Security Advisor and in
support of the ongoing review of the Order directed by the President on
May 27, 2009.
This meeting will be open to the public. To ensure that the Board
may hear from all interested parties, individuals interested in
addressing the Board may be limited to 10 minutes. Due to space
limitations and access procedures, the name and telephone number of
individuals planning to attend must be submitted to the Information
Security Oversight Office (ISOO) via e-mail, PIDB@nara.gov, no later
than July 2, 2009. ISOO will provide additional instructions for
gaining access to the location of the meeting.
Dated: June 11, 2009. Mary Ann Hadyka, Committee Management Officer.
POST HEARING UPDATE:
PIDB Public Hearing of July 8, 2009
Transparency and Open Government Initiative
http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/
Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB)
About the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB)
Overview: The Public Interest Declassification Board is an advisory committee established by Congress in order to promote the fullest possible public access to a thorough, accurate, and reliable documentary record of significant U.S. national security decisions and activities. The President appointed Martin Faga (Chair), Herbert O. Briick, Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, Ronald Radosh, and Jennifer Sims. The Minority Leader of the House appointed David Skaggs and the Majority Leader of the Senate appointed Sanford Ungar, and the Speaker of the House appointed William Studeman. Appointment is pending from the Minority Leader of the Senate.
The Director of the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), William J. Bosanko serves as the PIDB Executive Secretary and the ISOO staff provides staff support on a reimbursable basis.
Background :
Section 1102 of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 extended and modified the Public Interest Declassification Board (PIDB) as established by the Public Interest Declassification Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-567, title VII, Dec. 27, 2000, 114 Stat. 2856).
Functions:
Advises the President and other executive branch officials on the systematic, thorough, coordinated, and comprehensive identification, collection, review for declassification, and release of declassified records and materials that are of archival value, including records and materials of extraordinary public interest.
Promotes the fullest possible public access to a thorough, accurate, and reliable documentary record of significant U.S. national security decisions and significant U.S. national security activities in order to: support the oversight and legislative functions of Congress; support the policymaking role of the executive branch; respond to the interest of the public in national security matters; and promote reliable historical analysis and new avenues of historical study in national security matters.
Provides recommendations to the President for the identification, collection, and review for declassification of information of extraordinary public interest that does not undermine the national security of the U.S.Advises the President and other executive branch officials on policies deriving from the issuance by the President of Executive orders regarding the classification and declassification of national security information. Reviews and makes recommendations to the President with respect to any congressional request, made by the committee of jurisdiction, to declassify certain records or to reconsider a declination to declassify specific records.
In addition to this meeting, the PIDB will be soliciting your recommendations via the Declassification Policy Forum, at www.whitehouse.gov/open.
There will be four topics of discussion:
1)Declassification Policy,
2)Creation of a National Declassification Center,
3)Classification Policy,
4)Technology Challenges and Opportunities.
Public Input:
http://www.archives.gov/isoo/policy-documents/eo-12958-amendment.html
Ex. Order 12958:
http://www.archives.gov/isoo/policy-documents/eo-12958-amendment.html
Blog:
http://blog.ostp.gov/
Your Recommendations for Classification Policy
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 4:30 pm by Public Interest Declassification Forum
Today, the Public Interest Declassification Board held a public meeting to hear your recommendations for revisions of Executive Order 12958, as amended. This was a very productive meeting framed by the conversations occurring here on this Forum. We thank those of you who participated today at the meeting, and encourage you to continue your participation on the blog. We will accept your comments on all four topics until July 19, 2009.
The public meeting today concentrated particularly on issues of classification, including ways to address over classification. On the Declassification Policy Forum we have seen over 20 thoughtful comments on classification policy. Here are the few of your recommendations:
There should be an independent review of agency classification guides currently in use with the goal of reducing classification controls. These reviews should be made independent of original classifiers and eliminate obsolete classification categories.
Once documents are declassified, they should not be eligible for reclassification except under extreme circumstances.
There should be an initiative that would reward agency members for limiting the number of classifications made.
If the source document is declassified, any dependent information should likewise be declassified.
Because local law enforcement are able to provide for the public safety when they have access to information about potential threats, classification should be limited to allow for the sharing of information.
The process of challenging the classification assigned to a document should be encouraged and streamlined.
Executive agencies should be held more accountable for administering classification systems. At present there is no oversight authority that can meaningfully compel agencies to abide by classification standards.
Agency heads should have the latitude to authorize experimental projects and initiatives that could make security policy more efficient or more transparent.
Classification levels pertaining to the seriousness of the threat to national security should be made more precise.
Under the guidance of the Information Security Oversight Office, agency inspector generals should receive the authority to audit classification and declassification decisions, and the results of these audits should be made public.
Whenever possible, classifiers should use the lowest appropriate classification level and duration.
Confusion over the distinction between intelligence sources, methods, and activities invariably leads to the over classification of information. The scope of these terms should be more clearly defined.
Public Interest Declassification Board Support Staff
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