JFK Assassination Forum

JFK Assassination Plus General Discussion & Debate => JFK Assassination Plus General Discussion And Debate => Topic started by: Fred Litwin on June 27, 2023, 11:43:05 AM

Title: Ramparts Magazine Satire of Assassination Books
Post by: Fred Litwin on June 27, 2023, 11:43:05 AM
https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/ramparts-satire-of-assassination-books (https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/ramparts-satire-of-assassination-books)

Ramparts' Satire of Assassination Books

In November 1966, Ramparts Magazine ran a review of conspiracy  books which included two fictitious books. It was a satire designed to show that over-the-top conspiracy factoids are easily believed. Bookstores were besieged with calls asking for the two fictitious books. Sylvia Meagher was incensed and wrote a letter to the editor. And it all ended in a lawsuit. All the documents are in my post. Read it and laugh.

fred
Title: Re: Ramparts Magazine Satire of Assassination Books
Post by: Michael Walton on June 27, 2023, 06:36:30 PM
Boy, you're really working hard, aren't you Fred, trying to bring eyes to your blog? Nobody cares about your blog, Fred.
Title: Re: Ramparts Magazine Satire of Assassination Books
Post by: Sean Kneringer on June 27, 2023, 06:51:31 PM
Boy, you're really working hard, aren't you Fred, trying to bring eyes to your blog? Nobody cares about your blog, Fred.
Not true. I check it out every day. Any evisceration of Mark Lane or Oliver Stone is most welcome.
Title: Re: Ramparts Magazine Satire of Assassination Books
Post by: John Iacoletti on June 27, 2023, 09:57:06 PM
It’s an interesting bit of historical trivia, but Fred’s attempt to turn it into social commentary on “conspiracy theories” falls flat, because the fanciful narratives of the WC and their followers are no less Rube Golbergian.

The Ramparts article did remind me a lot of some of Tom Scully’s posts though.
Title: Re: Ramparts Magazine Satire of Assassination Books
Post by: Steve M. Galbraith on June 27, 2023, 10:21:35 PM
https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/ramparts-satire-of-assassination-books (https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/ramparts-satire-of-assassination-books)

Ramparts' Satire of Assassination Books

In November 1966, Ramparts Magazine ran a review of conspiracy  books which included two fictitious books. It was a satire designed to show that over-the-top conspiracy factoids are easily believed. Bookstores were besieged with calls asking for the two fictitious books. Sylvia Meagher was incensed and wrote a letter to the editor. And it all ended in a lawsuit. All the documents are in my post. Read it and laugh.

fred
Meagher's response was....well, read this:

                      "For all of your grandiose crusading against evil [for her, that would be the US], the publication
                      of that sordid lampoon places you in the same camp with the outright pornographers and other
                      befouled merchants who are the assassins of the human spirit."

So I assume she didn't renew her subscription? Fred, check up on this <g>.
Title: Re: Ramparts Magazine Satire of Assassination Books
Post by: Mitch Todd on June 28, 2023, 01:47:42 AM
It’s an interesting bit of historical trivia, but Fred’s attempt to turn it into social commentary on “conspiracy theories” falls flat, because the fanciful narratives of the WC and their followers are no less Rube Golbergian.

The Ramparts article did remind me a lot of some of Tom Scully’s posts though.
The WC version has one guy shooting three other guys with a rifle and a pistol. Not very Goldbergian.

The, uh, alternative versions quickly spiral into some combination of:
 
   - a small platoon of shooters. Well, maybe a whole platoon
   - ice bullets
   - umbrella guns
   - corpse-jacking
   - body alteration
   - multiple manipulations of many photos
   - and just as many manipulations of multiple films
   - oh, and x-rays, too
   - repeated acts of forgery
   - repeated acts of perjury
   - repeated acts of suborning perjury
   - repeated acts of evidence tampering, other than the above
   - a veritable mighty murder machine whose many minions mowed down masses of witnesses.
   
 But wait! There's more!
 
   - The CIA
   - The FBI
   - The LBJ
   - The DoD
   - The Secret Service
   - The Cubans (take your pick which. Any combination of Castro+, Castro-, or Castro ennuites will do)
   - THE NIXON!!!
   - The Soviets
   - The White Russians (while drinking black russians)
   - The Billie Sol Estus
   - The Madame Nhu
   - The Mafia
   - The Big Oil Men
   - The Aliens
   - The Discordians
   - The Mainstream Press, feat. Walter Cronkite
   - The Freemasons
   - The Illuminati
   - The The, feat. Johnny Marr

 ...and many, many more!!!!

Collect them all, and trade them with your friends!

Or maybe you're the kind of guy who believes everything he reads in The Onion

(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ufMb_DfFwHM/VkyUkgdzsbI/AAAAAAAAAHc/Ap_hHZ0AoXo/s1600/Onion-on-JFK.png)

Aw, darn. Totally forgot about the Teamster angle.
Title: Re: Ramparts Magazine Satire of Assassination Books
Post by: Mitch Todd on June 28, 2023, 01:50:15 AM
https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/ramparts-satire-of-assassination-books (https://www.onthetrailofdelusion.com/post/ramparts-satire-of-assassination-books)

Ramparts' Satire of Assassination Books

In November 1966, Ramparts Magazine ran a review of conspiracy  books which included two fictitious books. It was a satire designed to show that over-the-top conspiracy factoids are easily believed. Bookstores were besieged with calls asking for the two fictitious books. Sylvia Meagher was incensed and wrote a letter to the editor. And it all ended in a lawsuit. All the documents are in my post. Read it and laugh.

fred

"...by Leopold Zaftig"
Title: Re: Ramparts Magazine Satire of Assassination Books
Post by: Charles Collins on June 28, 2023, 10:50:38 AM
The WC version has one guy shooting three other guys with a rifle and a pistol. Not very Goldbergian.

The, uh, alternative versions quickly spiral into some combination of:
 
   - a small platoon of shooters. Well, maybe a whole platoon
   - ice bullets
   - umbrella guns
   - corpse-jacking
   - body alteration
   - multiple manipulations of many photos
   - and just as many manipulations of multiple films
   - oh, and x-rays, too
   - repeated acts of forgery
   - repeated acts of perjury
   - repeated acts of suborning perjury
   - repeated acts of evidence tampering, other than the above
   - a veritable mighty murder machine whose many minions mowed down masses of witnesses.
   
 But wait! There's more!
 
   - The CIA
   - The FBI
   - The LBJ
   - The DoD
   - The Secret Service
   - The Cubans (take your pick which. Any combination of Castro+, Castro-, or Castro ennuites will do)
   - THE NIXON!!!
   - The Soviets
   - The White Russians (while drinking black russians)
   - The Billie Sol Estus
   - The Madame Nhu
   - The Mafia
   - The Big Oil Men
   - The Aliens
   - The Discordians
   - The Mainstream Press, feat. Walter Cronkite
   - The Freemasons
   - The Illuminati
   - The The, feat. Johnny Marr

 ...and many, many more!!!!

Collect them all, and trade them with your friends!

Or maybe you're the kind of guy who believes everything he reads in The Onion

(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ufMb_DfFwHM/VkyUkgdzsbI/AAAAAAAAAHc/Ap_hHZ0AoXo/s1600/Onion-on-JFK.png)

Aw, darn. Totally forgot about the Teamster angle.

Has anyone ever produced any credible evidence of any of the conspiracies? How long has it been since the assassination? Do they need more time?
Title: Re: Ramparts Magazine Satire of Assassination Books
Post by: John Iacoletti on June 28, 2023, 01:14:14 PM
Has anyone ever produced any credible evidence of any of the conspiracies? How long has it been since the assassination? Do they need more time?

I don’t know, Charles. How much time has it been without credible proof that Oswald did it?
Title: Re: Ramparts Magazine Satire of Assassination Books
Post by: John Mytton on June 29, 2023, 07:57:39 AM
Has anyone ever produced any credible evidence of any of the conspiracies? How long has it been since the assassination? Do they need more time?

Quote
Has anyone ever produced any credible evidence of any of the conspiracies?

No!

Quote
How long has it been since the assassination?

In November it will be sixty years!

Quote
Do they need more time?

Their reliance on their "faith" is beyond time and space!

JohnM
Title: Re: Ramparts Magazine Satire of Assassination Books
Post by: Mark A. Oblazney on July 06, 2023, 04:55:35 PM
It’s an interesting bit of historical trivia, but Fred’s attempt to turn it into social commentary on “conspiracy theories” falls flat, because the fanciful narratives of the WC and their followers are no less Rube Golbergian.

The Ramparts article did remind me a lot of some of Tom Scully’s posts though.

Tom who?