Gorbachev and Khrushchev at Dealey Plaza
The recent death of Gorbachev made me think of
when I missed crossing paths with him when he visited Dallas, Dealey Plaza, the
Grassy Knoll and the Sixth Floor Museum some time ago.
Its notable that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin snubbed
Gorbachev’s funeral, as he was singlehandedly responsible for dismantling the
Soviet Union that Putin is now trying to forcibly reconstruct.
I was in Chicago when the Illinois national guard
were called out during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, at the very
same time Soviet tanks rolled into Prague to put down a Czechoslovakian revolt.
But when the East and West Germans wanted the
Berlin Wall to go, and reunite Germany, Gorbachev refused to use his iron hand
and let it happen.
In 1990, while the Wall was being dismantled and
there was still an East Berlin, though people could travel both ways freely, I
met a Russian media women who escorted me and a friend to the East Berlin
television tower, where there is a rotating restaurant on the top floor that
gives you an everchanging view of the city, like the Seattle Needle and Dealey
Plaza's Reunion Tower.
Over lunch she explained that the revolt that led
to the opening of the Wall didn't begin in Berlin, but the city of Lipzig,
where the authorities had been cracking down on a band of street musicians who
performed for donations. They sought refuge and were given sanctuary in a
Catholic church were the parish priest began a daily prayer vigil for the
reunion of the two Germanies and the end of the reactionary crackdown on
citizens.
There were only a few at first but the prayer
crowd grew daily until the church was filled and people lined the streets. That
protest, sparked by itinerant street musicians and a Catholic priest, resulted
in the reunion of Germany and eventually the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
That Gorbachev's inaction allowed this to happen
is a testament to his character, and listening to what JFK and Reagan had to
say, then acting on it by not reacting.
So one November day in 1998 I was flying into Dallas from
Philadelphia and recognized Bob Groden's son in a seat in front of me. As we
were disembarking I introduced myself and he said his dad was picking him up
and would probably give me a ride to my hotel.
Bob said no problem, and excitedly said Gorbachev
had visited the Grassy Knoll and Sixth Floor a few hours ago, and he gave him
one of his books.
He would give me a ride to my hotel, but first we
had to stop for a Texas barbecue dinner at a friend's joint. It was good food
and Bob got a free meal for bringing us in - there were about six of us a dog
in the van.
The dog, a little yapper, belonged to one of
Ruby's dancers, who I was sitting near, and was a descendant of Ruby's dog
Sheba. When we got to my hotel, little Sheba ran in and proceeded to piss all
over the lobby, so I pretended not to be associated with it.
Later, when I visited Gary Mack, he related how
Gorbachev had visited and wrote a little note in the guest book that I thought
profound:
“He
looked far ahead and he wanted to change a great deal. Perhaps it is this that
is the key to the mystery of the death of President John F. Kennedy.”
–
written by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in a Sixth Floor Museum memory book
in 1998, according to archivist Gary Mack in the Kennedy Assassination Chronicles.
Another Soviet Premier had a big roll in the
assassination story - Nikita Khrushchev, JFK's primary rival , along with
Castro, who was the subject of an FBI report released under the JFK Act, that I
found fascinating and included it among my Top Ten Records Released Under the
JFK Act.
https://jfkcountercoup.blogspot.com/2018/11/top-ten-jfk-assassination-records.html
Drew Pearson was a renown investigative reporter
in his day, author of the Washington Merry-go-round syndicated column, and a
mentor to his associate Jack Anderson.
But he failed to inform his readers that he met
with Khrushchev but instead dutifully informed the FBI what Khrushchev had said
to him about the assassination.
And it was Khrushchev who took us to the brink of nuclear war nearly sixty years ago in October 1962 but backed off.
Drew
Pearson dinner with Khrushchev - 104-10003-10064
Soviet
Primer Khrushchev told Pierson that he
disbelieved the Warren Report and criticized and suspected American
intelligence agencies of involvement in the assassination.
Rather
than write a “Washington Merry-Go-Round” Column on this incredible scoop
Pearson reported it to the FBI, who noted: "Pearson repeated
that the reaction of Chairman Khrushchev…was one of flat disbelief and
archtypical of the universal European belief that there was some kind of
American conspiracy behind the assassination of President Kennedy and the
murder of Oswald....(He) could not believe that the affair had happened as it
apparently did and Mr. Pearson made no headway whatsoever in trying to change
their belief that something was not on the level. Chairman Khruschev greeted
Mr. Pearson's efforts with a tolerant smile..."
Of course not only the Soviets, but the French,
German, Isralie, Cuban and other nationl intelligence agencies performed their
own independent investigations, only the US government agencies and commissions
concluded one man alone was responsible for killing the president in order to
cover-up their own invlvemnt.
So it was quite fitting for Kruschev to belittle
and ridicule Pearson for not pursuing the truth, merely accept the government's
handouts.and not to recognize JFK was the victim of his own security
agencies.
Pearson's protege Jack Anderson, at least tried to
find out what he could when he interviewed Johnny Rosselli, but he too only
took what Rosselli handed him and didn't follow up and take it to another level,
that we are trying to do now.
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