Thinking Critically About the Kennedy Assassination (Conspiracy Theories) by Michel Gagne - another crap Oswald-did-it book to avoid
***UPDATE 4/24/22- Jim DiEugenio critically reviews the book here:
https://www.kennedysandking.com/john-f-kennedy-reviews/michel-gagne-on-not-thinking-critically
Any time Amazon posts a new JFK assassination book, whether good, bad or ugly (pro or anti conspiracy), I check them out with interest, even if I don't purchase it or even (fully) read it. Such is the case with
Thinking Critically About the Kennedy Assassination (Conspiracy Theories)
by Michel Gagne, another (late) John McAdams wanna-be, this time from Canada. Since I am referenced on 15 pages (thanks, Amazon search engine!), I felt the desire to address the book.
From the excerpts I am quoted/referenced in (pages 334-335), it is quite obvious that Gagne, like authors Larry Sabato and Carol Leonig before him, believes (or wants to believe) the fraudulent writings of former Secret Service agents Gerald Blaine (not even in Dallas on 11/22/63) and Clint Hill (a Jackie Kennedy agent not in Tampa on 11/18/63) [both of their works were co-written by Lisa McCubbin, now Clint Hill's wife--Hill was born in 1932, McCubbin was born in 1964]. I have exposed Blaine's (and Hill's) fabrications and prior contradictory statements (that favor my work) many times, but see these:
While you are at it, see also:
While addressing Paul Brandus (also) forthcoming book, this video also debunks Gagne's writings about MY work:
One thing that always gets my ire up: when writers assume I don't know about something when I most certainly do! Case in point: I am very much aware of the 5 Secret Service reports submitted exactly 5 months after the assassination by Chief James Rowley to the Warren Commission (only because they asked) regarding the fraudulent JFK-ordered-the-agents-off-the-limo crapola. Like Gagne, Blaine comically wrote that I was unaware of these and makes the same mistake that these only came out in 1992 when they have been available since 1964 (in volume 18 of the Warren Commission hearings and exhibits) AND I have extensively commented and analyzed them for years/decades. #1 agent Gerald Behn and #2 agent Floyd Boring essentially totally debunked their reports in recorded conversations with myself (not to mention Boring's 1976 JFK Library oral history that ***I*** unearthed in 1999 along with Bill Adams, as well as Boring's 1997 letter to myself) and the films/photos/news articles from the trips they mention (Tampa, Mexico, Seattle and Italy) also debunk the substance of what they espoused after-the-fact. Agent Jack Ready was not in Tampa and Boring was his primary source, while agent Emory Roberts, one of my three suspects (the other two are the aforementioned Boring and agent Bill Greer), also has Boring as HIS primary source for having the agents allegedly return to the follow-up car in Tampa on 11/18/63 (based on JFK's order or desire). The final agent of the five, the aforementioned future author Clint Hill, also has Boring as HIS primary source after twice stating in his report that he could "not remember" who told him and that this occurred (gulp) between 11/19-11/21/63, yet during his sworn Warren Commission testimony, Hill comes clean and names the agent who instructed him not to get on the back of the limo: FLOYD BORING. That said, Hill disobeyed Boring's and JFK's "order" FOUR TIMES ON MAIN STREET. Oops. Typical of Gagne to make these amateur errors.
And, as I have uncovered, and as former presidents Truman, LBJ and Clinton are all on record as stating, THE SECRET SERVICE WAS THE ONLY BOSS THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES TRULY HAD! Please see my video where Hill comes clean in 2010:
So much for Kennedy having "the final authority", Gagne. Poor scholarship on his part, but extremely typical of this ilk with an agenda. Also, beyond Blaine and Hill being quoted as sources (both agents only came out of the woodwork because of my prominent online work- see the first link above), Boring did not confirm a change in policy or an order when he spoke to the ARRB (only because I requested that they contact him after speaking to him twice and writing to him once), only a matter of "kindness and consideration" to not have to ride on the rear of the limo when it was not necessary to do so due to fast speeds (although they often did anyway) or sparse crowds (although, again, they often did anyway). See this video [see especially the 2:26 mark for the REAL reason the two agents--Don Lawton and Chuck Zboril, both of whom I spoke to---briefly did not ride on the rear of the limo as they had for the vast majority of the 28 MILE MOTORCADE, almost three times the length of the one in Dallas]:
(And another thing: many prominent people have labeled me as "Secret Service expert", including Oswald-did-it author Vince Bugliosi in 2007, the History Channel in 2003, and former Secret Service agent Dan Emmett in 2012, among others, so enough with the stupidity. Maybe stick with writing about Canada, Gagne). My other major Secret Service credentials:
Another thing when dealing with total amateurs like Gagne and his ilk, they cannot think critically for themselves and seek out dubious "official" sources to satisfy their points of view. Case in point: the over-reliance on Blaine (and Hill). He actually uses the quote from Blaine (pages 334-335) that was one of several instances in Blaine's book which was a thinly veiled reference to (and attempt to counter) my work! Also, Blaine is on record BEFORE his book came out a) agreeing with many of his colleagues that JFK never ordered the agents off his limo and b) he could not "remember" the agent or agents who told him the so-called "keep those Ivy League charlatans" spurious quote attributed to JFK via William Manchester that I strongly suspect came FROM BLAINE, as Blaine was interviewed by Manchester (see Manchester's source notes), although Blaine comically denies that he was ever interviewed by Manchester WHEN HE TOLD ME IN 2004 AND 2005 THAT HE WAS INDEED INTERVIEWED FOR THE BOOK! Blaine does confirm what I already knew from speaking to Floyd Boring twice and from the absence of any source note of an interview with Boring- Boring was NOT interviewed by Manchester. Please see this video:
Epic fail, Gagne. You do amuse me, though. :)
ALSO: the agents' presence on the rear of the limo DID NOT BLOCK ANYONE FROM SEEING JFK (more amateur nonsense from Gagne, but so typical, as Gagne and his ilk cannot think for themselves). See:
Page 336---relying on Blaine again [but not Hill, who debunks Blaine's claim in his book Five Presidents], Gagne commits the horrendous error of stating that Ike mainly rode in closed cars, when the exact opposite was true. See, just as an example (a drop in the ocean- there are so many photos of Ike riding in an OPEN car it is silly):
If only Gagne had a brain that worked on not relying on preaching to the choir= folks like Blaine, Hill, McAdams and their ilk. Tsk tsk but so typical. :)
The removal of the bubble top (page 336) was NOT O'Donnell's decision (or JFK or anyone else): it was Secret Service agent Sam Kinney's sole decision, as Sam confirmed to me on three different occasions. See:
Above video description: EVERY time JFK used the bubble top in good weather conditions: ONE THIRD of all of his motorcades! EVERY unique film and photo with very minimal repetition; foreign and domestic motorcades: Ireland, England, New York, Milwaukee, Washington (D.C.), Bogota, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, etc. THE VIDEO ENDS WITH SECRET SERVICE AGENT SAM KINNEY'S ONLY TV INTERVIEW (11/22/1993) AND MY EARLY 1994 INTERVIEW (one of 3) WHERE KINNEY TAKES SOLE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TOP'S REMOVAL ON 11/22/63- HE WAS ADAMANT THAT KENNEDY, O'DONNELL, SORRELS AND ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN BLAMED IN BOOKS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH IT...IT WAS SAM'S SOLE DECISION.
As for Hill's alleged heroics (page 336), he was NOT a JFK agent but a FIRST LADY agent who only sought to protect Jackie, was LATE getting to the limo when the shooting was over and done with, and was one of the nine agents who drank the night before; some hero! See:
(This link will upset people like Gagne and his ilk who seem to hero worship these agents who failed miserably and---in a few instances---should have been removed from the agency)
(Pages 336-337) Hill took (very) early retirement in 1975 and has lived on a handsome government pension for decades, not to mention the massive amount of money he has received from his three books. He also burned all his notes in 2005 after I contacted him that very same year, so I certainly would not rule out him as being reluctant to rat out his comrades-see:
Interestingly, in the same video above, Hill mentions me for the SECOND different time on C-SPAN! See also:
(Again, so much for Gagne's smear that I am a "self-described Secret Service expert." I must matter if Blaine and Hill bring me up on national television. In Hill's case, twice! Also, as the first link above fleshes out, both men wrote their books because of my work)
(Page 338) Lawton DID reveal his regrets about not being on the back of the limo to a close Army/ military intelligence friend- see my third, fourth and fifth books! Also, I spoke to Lawton in 1995 (unfortunately, at the time, I did not know he was the agent in the video)- see this video and the video description:
Regarding Rybka- it turns out I was correct after all: while Rybka was NOT the agent in the famous black and white video, he WAS one of the two agents recalled at Love Field! See:
(Page 340) Gagne is forgetting the pilot car, the lead car, the motorcycles, and especially the CANCELLED PRESS PHOTOGRAPHER'S FLATBED TRUCK that would have been in front of Greer. See:
(Also page 340) Lifton and I are not the only ones who believe that the Secret Service destroyed evidence. Skull particles of JFK, bullets, bullet fragments, and the limo itself (including the windshield), AS WELL AS THE PRESIDENT'S BODY, were tampered with and/or suppressed. IN ADDITION, AS THE ASSASSINATION RECORDS REVIEW BOARD (ARRB) REVEALED IN THEIR FINAL REPORT, THE SECRET SERVICE DESTROYED MANY MOTORCADE RECORDS IN 1995 AFTER THEY WERE ASKED FOR THEM BY THE ARRB!
(Pages 341-342) Where did you get the notion that I said Kinney was the one who was tampering with evidence? I never made that claim. Yes, he was one of the two known agents (the other was George Hickey) who were guarding the limo at Parkland (Kinney put on the bubble top and fabric top), but I never said he destroyed evidence. The seat is quite bloody in the FBI photos on the night of 11/22/63 and skull and bullet fragments were found that night, so I do not believe Kinney did anything untoward. OTHER agents definitely may have- my principal suspects are former OSS (predecessor of the CIA) Deputy Chief Paul Paterni and ASAIC Floyd Boring (already one of my 3 overall suspects as mentioned above). Kinney was a friendly guy who believed there was a conspiracy, took responsibility for the top's removal, was adamant that JFK did not order the agents off his car, and it was he who found what he described as the BACK of Kennedy's head in the limousine aboard the C-130 transport plane heading back to Washington. This does not even take into account the allegations of Gary Loucks. Gary Loucks, longtime neighbor and close friend of Sam Kinney, quoted him as saying that he saw smoke coming from the "grassy knoll" in Dealey Plaza, always believed there was a second shooter, that he witnessed the back right side of the President's head blown off, and afterward helped clean up the Presidential limousine unaware he might be destroying potential evidence of a crime scene.
Perhaps Gagne has me confused with Loucks? Or Pat Speer?
(Page 344) Regarding the windshield hole, there were several witnesses, Secret Service and non-Secret Service. See also:
And yes- sometimes the agents were lying, sometimes they told the truth. I weigh and consider the evidence and testimony.
You know- as a good historian would.
Perhaps not someone of your ilk.
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