I have only just started listening to the book. I got the book simply because I had read one of his other books and really liked it: ‘And the Sea Will Tell”.
I have heard Buglosi is a bit of a Lefty, but that notwithstanding, I bought the book.
Interesting. He just described an incident where he was speaking at a Lawyers convention of some kind, big crowd, and some lawyers in the crowd started asking him questions about the Kennedy assassination with a tone that clearly displayed their inclination to believe there was a conspiracy.
Buglosi asked to see a show of hands to display who in the crowd did not accept the findings of the Warren Commission, and was astounded by the vast majority of hands that went up, something like 90%. He then said to the crowd something to the effect of “What if I can prove to you in one minute or less, that, although you are all intelligent people, you are not thinking intelligently about the Kennedy case?” There was a stir, his challenge apparently sounded ridiculous...how could he prove in one minute or less that more than 600 lawyers were not thinking intelligently?
Someone shouted out “We don’t think you can do it!” He said, “Okay, start looking at your watches. With the clock ticking, he asked for another show of hands to indicate who had seen the recent movie JFK by Oliver Stone, or at any time in the past had read a book, magazine or article that advocated a conspiracy or tried to discredit the Warren Commission.
Again, nearly the same amount of hands went up. He proceeded to tell the group that he didn’t need a show of hands for his next point. He said: “I am sure that you will all agree that before you form an intelligent opinion on a matter in dispute, you should hear both sides of the issue. As an old West Virginia Mountaineer said: “No matter how thin I make my pancakes, they always have two sides.” With that in mind, how many of you have read the Warren Report?”
It was embarrassing. only a few people raised their hands. In 47 seconds, he had proved his point.
The overwhelming majority had rejected the findings of the Warren Commission without bothering to read the commission’s report. He noted he had not even asked how many had read all 26 volumes...not just the single volume summary.
I found that pretty persuasive, and have only just started. As an example of things people say about the assassination (and I see some here) he used example of people saying it was a cheap gun and could not have obtained that kind of accuracy.
As a matter of fact, the actual gun used in the assassination was tested by a Marine Corps expert, who stated that the gun that had cost $12.50 was actually quite accurate and reproducible with repeated firings, at least as good as an M-14. (That is in the Warren Report)
Another fallacy was that Oswald was a lousy marksman. As a Marine, he actually shot a 212 on a range which qualified him as a sharpshooter. (also in the Warren Report)
Additionally, he used the often cited bromide (which I have heard) that nobody has ever been able to simulate repeating the feat of shooting that Oswald was supposed to have achieved. In actuality, it has indeed been repeated a few times, and even improved on. (An expert hit 3 of 3 shots in that time frame on a moving target simulating those speeds and trajectories using nearly the exact type of bolt action weapon)
Mind you, I am only a small way into the book, but I have always had an open mind about this...I always felt “yeah, it might have been more than one person...but nobody has proven it to me...” kind of mindset. If he can be this persuasive before he even gets into the meat of the book...this should be interesting.
I simply read the autopsy, the testimonies and looked at the photos. That’s enough to convince anyone that Oswald killed Kennedy.
Only thing I ever read by Bugliosi was Helter Skelter and that proved - beyond a shadow of a doubt - that Bugliosi sure could write. Not so sure I want to undertake this tome, since I already agree with his conclusions.