Newspaper Article: a Reporter at Large

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"\;|k||;;_r M,-t~~t~_ ,\lnr't'n\'t‘I', to m.rn\"
people ll utu~t wctn ;iln\o~'t im'_or_tceiv-
ahle that an \‘lt‘t'tt'tl prost'eutor".\ tatte-
iullr wortlctl “l.tt‘t||.'tl“ <t.rtt’rnt'nl'~—
for e.\;ttnhle, that “at lI:$$ t'.M. on
_\'m"ett\lit-r Zlnd, the l).tll.\\poliee had
l'irn.1tlt‘a.\'t rt Watttetl hulletini inf Us-
wald"-eould he tlemonntrnhly lithe.
Still another important lvehelit that
Uarristm dt-fives lroln lwing _a puhlit‘
prn.\t.‘Culot‘ with a easepentlmg is the
right" to reluse totlivtilge _the.evidence
on-which his charges are hziwtl. And
Garrison has exrreisetl -thiir right with
stunning 1-fl'eet,p.1rtict|larl;\' irrtlie I'ln_y-
boy vintt'r\*ie_w. Talte, for esarnple, his
statement that “we krnmi from incon-
trovertible evidence in our posmxtion
who the real Clay llertraod is-and
we will prove it in court."' Since Gir-
rison ha» charged that Clay Shaw
used the alias of Clay llertrand, this ii
an extreiuely important claim. hut al-
though the question of the identity oi
Clay llertrand was a central issue in the
perjnry trial of Dean .»\mlrew.t, which
took pl.-tee well alter the I’lny/my inter-4
view was conducted, Garrison failed to.
introduce any evidence-at that time~
concerning it. Later, a source in Gar-I
risorr's ofiice strggestetl thattlie only’;
evitlenec to which Garrison could have.
been referring in the l'.’a_|-Ito; interview
was a lihrary card taken out under‘
the name Clay llertraml and liearirig‘
Clay Shaw’: foriner business adtlrest.
This card h.1rtll_t' qualifies as incon-r
trovcrtihle evidenee. For one thing, the
card turned up well after Shaw was ar-
rested, and, lorsome reason, horc no;
date of. issuance or expiration. For an-.
other, the signature on the card was
definitely not in Clay $h.1w'! hand-—-al
fhct that Garrison's own stall con-l
firmed. lu other wortls,'it appears ithat,
someone other than Clay Shaw filled.
out .1 library card under the alias_tl|at_i
Garrison has claimed Shaw used and’
put Shaw‘< former business adtlress oui
it. -
.
I
Garrison has also enjuyctl the atl-'
vantage of what might he called stra-
tegic plausibility. .-\s llarmalt /\rentlt
points out in her essay “'l‘ruth and
Politics," the liar is usually more per-
suasive tltao the truthteller, simply he-
eause he can tashiort his facts to meet
his audience's expectations. Since Gar-
rison is under no compulsion to reveal
his cvitletiee, there isnothing to prevent
him f.'orn_contriviug his own explana-
tion of the ass.-tssination. \\'liere;ts nei-
ther the \V;trren Ctmtl't\_i&\'itir| nor its
critics could offer a definite motive for
the m'urder of the President, Garrison
can._He states categorically in Plnylmy,
“President Kennedy was ltilled for one
_
w
-18_
re,»-ittf l\t‘§‘.\tr<< he was u-\:'\1u;§ for .1
rrt'ortt'tlv.tr'-~n \\"=:l: the 'L'_$.$.R. -I-‘id
(.‘;4§Itn'.\ Cul_-If.“ .-\r‘.d he g-rs on -In de-
clhre. that this is not mere g~cetil.itiori,
imisting, “. . _ we know e.-.on_glt ah--or
the ltey individtuls itt\'nl\"(\l in the eon-
spimey-—-l..1tirt< and .-\men\'.1rt§ .:lilte--—-
to know that the was their motive (or
the murder ot john Kenneth-." To
ythose who e.\p<\*t .t momentous event
to liave some significant (arise, (jar-
ri.\on's explanation natttrallt sourids
more logical than the esphmti-in that
a lone assassin acted out of personal
tli&1fiCCtit\|I. '
l\loreo\'cr, Gatreon h:.< found t'-early
allies, eager to pn\$rh'ti1e_on his hehalf,
arpong dissident ptlitical writt-r1~. His
(‘lr;lf[(¢_tlI.1t there is .1 conspiracy he-
tween the goremtttent and the tnau
media to conceal the truth In-to the
people accords perfeeth". after all, with
what such journals see as their rarson
r|'t'-Ire. it is therefore h:trdi_\" surprising
to find his speeches printed \'t'r'h.1tirn in
such papers as the Los .~\ttgt‘les Frr:
I’n'rr, and to rind his portrait on the
cuvcr’ of ‘Rmrrpr-.-r.'s, with the words:
f'\\/ho appnirltnl R.\m.\'e)" Clark. who
hat done his best tn torpedo the inventi-
gatiein oi the case.’ \\'ho controls the
L'.l./\.? \\'ht| fi\|\tt'\\l$ the l‘~.ll.l.? \\'ho
control: the :\teh5\es where this evidence
is loclted up for so lung that it is unlike-
ly that there is artyhtxly in this rvotn who
will he alive \\ hen it is release-\l.' This it
really your nrot\ett_\" and the property of
the people ut this euuntrg". \\'hu has the
arrogance and the brass to prevent the
people from seeing that entieeree? \\'ho
indeed.’ The one nun who bu profited
mun Iron) the .:ssas.<ina~ . .
tinn—your friendly Presi-
dent, Lyndon _lnhnsoq!"
Among G.1rris.tn's mos: _
ardent supporters the
Carrrlrilv/r, the' !\itttt\titltl\'
nllieial journal oi the Citi-
zens‘ Council of Lotrisiana,
which claims Al t‘ir\“\tl.ttiut‘t
of some two hundred and
sixty thous1ntl, and which
actively earnpaigns against
Communism, the supprt$- ;
sion of news h_\" the mas
media (sirppt-setli)' con-
trolled hy Zionist interests), ‘- ~~— ~~ -——
race tnongrelilation (:t plot aided hy
the C.l..'\. and the Rothscht3d__<‘:, and
the insidious intrtrsion of federal author-
ity into the s'tcr'et‘l'tlt\nt.\i:t oi states’
rightt. That Garrison ‘had heen
“(ought by Sterns t\'ewhou_Q papers,
and Agnes Me\"er" (i.e., the .\'.B.C. '
affiliate in New Utkzng \\'D$U-'l'\';
the T|'rnrl-Pi.‘a_\-i-we and Sure:-Irrrn;
and the \Vashingt~on Parr and .\'rru-
wrrfi) was for the Counnilor surficient
reason to lend Garrisin its catl't\tsi1St.i€
I!
urmlttlt. The ii=,;~t’ --7 .Q»~-=_‘-"Ii has not
ln't'r| \l;|l!iH‘.t|\li\ tittt-‘tent, \\'rli'.trtt
'l‘urn<'r t'ottrlt=ticti one 1-V: hu ;tr'tielv\
on (_i.u'ri<t-n in the rtmtjtz-ne ht wttin;
tli_.rt the artti-(iarrts-ut I.l\'l‘\\ --l .\'.ll-.C.
and the daih" pre\< “.<tu.ick of \lt*\|\t‘f.l-
tion-—;unl ilttltt'.l§\‘ that there it tnnel:
to hitlr." The (.'-var-trilnv got-1 along
with most of the det.ul_\ of the plot the-
ory outlined in Rm-r/ntrrr, tlitiering
_onl_\' in its belief that .\'ew Y--rk Corn-
mtmists, rather tltstlt rigllt-wing ex-
trernists, were hehuul the v(tr|l\tli1;\(‘_\‘.
(l'crr)' Russo, .1lwa_\,\ .1\‘eortuuotlatittg,
told the (.'num-ilor in an e_\t"lu.\ive in-
terview that l).\\"id Ferric was really
a “.\lar\ist" and a follower of Che
Guevara.)
(}.-irri.<on's t‘.1u,<e hat also hitiritl
champions in more hiphl_\~ respeetetl
jrittrnals that pride tlietnselves on their
intellectual ercdcoti.-alt-~not.'thl_t‘ the
Nrru ‘York Rrt-irtu n] Boob, whith has
rejected the \\'.1rren C--ttttrti\\iurt's
conclusions because the Corurnis<ion's
investig.-iti--n was deleetiv- hut has ent-
hraced Garri_\nrt'.\ inn-<tig;tt'ion despite
in (:tr more glaring dt~t'ects. l’rofe.<sot'
Ricliartl Popltin, in a lertgtlty defense
of (iarri-<ort's irt\'e.<ti;;:ttion in the .\"r:u
York Rrtirw, argues that Garrison
slmold he given a "fair he.tririg" in
court, and not have his ease “pre-
jttdgetl" ht‘ the pres» lle claittts thztl
while Garrisort has “stutlionsl_t' .'t\'oitlt'\l
any tli.~'Ctl&<itr:t of Shaw and the spe-
cific evidence against him." the press
has interviewed “potential witnesses,"
evaluated the evidence, made "charges
against the District :\t-
torney and his utticv: . t_. in
effect, trying the case out‘
ol court." Tire. “wave oi
atlaclts in the press andX
TV" .\g;tin§t Garrison,
Poplciu contends. "surely
prejtttlkes .1 fair trial." lie
‘
concludes that no investi-
g.iu-in of (iarrison is nec-
'
'1-sury, tor “it the evitlt-ru'c
n is as contrived and cock-
eyed as the press and TV
. allege, they slmttltl expect
that twelve jurors Jllnttg
-
'
with [the judge] will sec
through it." It true th.-it. the‘
right of a tlelernlant not to -K‘ pre-
judged is .1 tuntlarnentali principle of
jurisprudence. And pre-trial publicity,
by prejutlieing puhlic opinion, 'ean' eer-
tainly deny the detentlattt he right to
a fair hearing. Jim Garrison, how.
ever, is not the deiendant. Clay Shaw
is. The rights of the defendant have
been established precisely to counter-
balance the powers of the state. Pop-
lu'n's plea that Lhc pnxs suspend scrutiny
‘er?