Article: 397 of sgi.talk.ratical From: dave@ratmandu.corp.sgi.com (dave "who can do? ratmandu!" ratcliffe) Subject: garry trudeau 1/8 op-ed on "jfk" in nyt Keywords: media lords showing ever greater stress re: their complicity Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc. Date: Mon, 13 Jan 1992 18:11:21 GMT Lines: 181 2 times in the week before the movie was released on 12/20, dan rather, one of the current high priests of the official reality consortium, twice took the opportunity to step out of his officially "objective" role as one of the lords of "un-biased" information, to criticize oliver stone for attempting to rewrite american history. what contemptuously cynical danny-boy failed to remind us of was his own history as a young reporter in 1963, when, soon after the assassination, he was one of the only news people who was privy to an exclusive screening of the Zapruder film. Time-LIFE wasted no time, buying it friday night from Abraham Zapruder for at least $75,000 (i have heard reports that cite a figure exceeding 1 million dollars) and then locking it away for years so that no one could decide for themselves, by seeing Kennedy's head get blown off, *which direction* the head was pushed in... and then danny-boy comes out and tells the world, "the president's head went forward with considerable force". who's rewriting american history mr. rather? (the postscript to this story is that soon after this, danny-boy was "promoted"--some wud say "paid off" for being a good boy--up into the ethereal realm of the white-house press corps.) --ratitor from ACTIV-L: Date: Thu, 9 Jan 1992 15:06:04 CST Sender: Activists Mailing List From: Blythe Systems Subject: OP-ED: Trudeau on "JFK" To: Multiple recipients of list ACTIV-L Via The NY Transfer News Service 718-448-2358, 718-448-2683 Unfortunately, it isn't possible here to reproduce the cartoon of different assassins at each date, shooting at the careening automobile, which takes a tortured path down the left-hand side of the page, veering right and left in a wild imitation of the Warren Commission's "pristine bullet." A kudo to Trudeau, and one to the Times, for being big enough to publish this. -- NY Transfer ............................................................................ from The "New York Times" / OP-ED / Wednesday, Jan 8, 1992 OVERKILL By Garry Trudeau Readers of The New York Times's sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth personal attacks on Oliver Stone could be forgiven for wondering if the beleaguered director of "J.F.K." has a point. Significant elements of the Establishment Media do seem hellbent on destroying his reputation. Conspiracy or consensus? You don't have to be paranoid to re-create the key events of the last eight months -- but it helps. From the top: MAY 7, 1991 - As Oliver Stone cruises down Hollywood Boulevard, he suddenly finds himself under fire. A troubled Chicago Tribune columnist named Jon Margolis is held responsible............... : MAY 19 - Stone, shaken by this vicious first <----------------: strike, swerves to avoid a follow-up salvo from The Washington Post. The shooter, identified to readers only as "George Lardner, Jr.," has known ties to organized journalism..... : :---> JUNE 3 - While Stone returns fire at The Post, he is blindsided by Time's Richard Zoglin, the first of the "Two Richards" at Time to draw a bead on him. Stone reloads and fires off a stinging rejoinder. : ...................................................: :...... : \:/ OCT.15 - Writing alone, a drifter by the name of Robert Sam Anson squeezes off several cheap shots at Stone. Numerous witnesses recall the attack originating from Esquire, whose offices are only seven blocks from Time's. : ............................: : :---------> NOV.15 - Stung by this "coincidence," Stone careens past Lisa Grunwald, who shoots mostly blanks for her unseen masters at "Life." Stone fires back wildly, blasting the media as "the Doberman pinschers of the Establishment." : ................................................................: : :-----> DEC. 15 - Tom "Wild Dog" Wicker assails Stone from the Relative safety of The New York Times Arts & Leisure section. On the same day, but from a different vantage point, GQ catches Stone in a withering crossfire. .........................................................: : :.............. : \|/ DEC 16 - Newsweek opens up with a devastating cover story, but Stone recovers when film critics hold their fire. The second of the "Two Richards" at Time, Corliss, cheers the directory as he heads for daylight. : :................> DEC. 17 - Several readers of The Washington Post report that Stone is hit by a potshot from contributor Gerald R. Ford, who has well-established links to both the Warren Commission and the Oval Office. Stone answers the attack. .......................................: : DEC 19-20 - Forrest Sawyer, a paid front man for ABC's "Nightline," gives Stone a free ride just before midnight. Minutes later, a professional character assassin, perched on the ultra-establishment New York Times editorial page, parts Stone's hair with a high-powered discharge. : : : DEC 20-24 - As a panicky Stone continues to counter- attack, he unknowingly enters a deadly zone of triangulated fire. ..........................................................: : :..> DEC 25-26 - As a second "Times" shooting team sets up on the moral high ground of the editorial page, George Will, a deranged pedant from Bethesda, opens up at short range, blasting "J.F.K." as a "celluloid diatribe." It is too late. The film is released, and Stone turns a corner. : : : \|/ JAN 5-6, 1992 - Wicker, Janet Maslin, Leslie H. Gelb and hired hand Stefan Kanfer all get off parting shots in The Times, but the only report heard is from Daily Variety - that of a $30.8 million gross. Laughing all the way, Stone roars off to the bank. * * * -ALL the News that Doesn't Fit -COVERT ACTIONS Newsfeed - NY Transfer News Service 718-448-2358 -- daveus rattus yer friendly neighborhood ratman KOYAANISQATSI ko.yan.nis.qatsi (from the Hopi Language) n. 1. crazy life. 2. life in turmoil. 3. life out of balance. 4. life disintegrating. 5. a state of life that calls for another way of living.