Final_Judgment

[394] Final Judgment 491
for the Israeli-backed French OAS and needless to say, in light of everything
I've already discussed, that in itself gives one reason to question the book's
reliability. The second book, co-written by Robin Moore, who's long had
ties with the intelligence community, parrots the James Angleton line that
the Soviets were behind the JFK assassination. The book also says that the
KGB manipulated Lyndon Johnson into covering up the Soviet connection.
So much for McDonald's volumes. The only reason I mention them here is
because people continue to ask me to comment on their contents.
THE FANTASIES OF HARRISON LIVINGSTONE
At this point we must assume a heavy burden by examining four
unusual books written by one unusual man: Harrison Livingstone. The
books are High Treason, High Treason 11, Killing the Truth and Killing
Kennedy—all published by Carroll & Graf. I would have to say that the
third title is a pretty apt summary of what all four volumes really do.
As a writer myself, I hate to be critical of the writing styles of other
authors. I've been critical of the motivations of other writers in the JFK
field, recognizing that they have axes to grind and that they have special
interests behind them promoting their efforts for often less than noble
causes. In the case of Harrison Livingstone, however, I am amazed that his
books were ever published in the first place. This is perhaps more a reflection
upon his publisher than upon Livingstone himself. These four volumes are
bizarre, to say the very least. The second and third volumes, in particular, appear
that they've had no editing whatsoever. One gets the impression that the
publishers gave Livingstone free rein to rant and rave and wander from
subject to subject without any restraint of any kind.
At times Livingstone's comments appear to border on libel. He lashes
out at his own critics in a highly personal fashion and suggests that he is
the one and only author who has written anything on the JFK assassination
worth reading. He shifts back and forth between analyzing autopsy evidence,
photographic evidence and eye-witness accounts and although it doesn't
appear that Livingstone has any formal training in any of the fields he
discusses with such self-righteous authority and indignation, Livingstone
would have you believe that anyone who disagrees with his interpretations
is, at best, a liar, and, at worst, a deliberate participant in the assassination
cover-up itself! His co-author on the first edition of High Treason, Robert
Groden, a highly respected JFK researcher, is also subjected to savage
attacks by Livingstone in the subsequent volumes. I'm surprised Groden
hasn't sued for libel.
There are special smears for Mark Lane. Livingstone actually says that
because Lane had a "left wing" reputation that he had no business getting
involved in researching the facts about the JFK assassination. That,
according to Livingstone, made it appear that only "left-wingers" were
interested in the assassination and that average Americans were not.
Livingstone also actually scoffs at the idea that the CIA was involved in the
assassination. He also contends that because Lane represented Liberty Lobby