Week in Review: Iran, Epstein, JFK
And a journey to the joys of Yiddish
The week was filled with a war/not war and Jeffrey Epstein files lost/found. JFK Facts editor Jefferson Morley asked:
As the Epstein files and war in Iran share top headlines, how does the JFK story inform our understanding of current affairs? The Epstein files confront JFK researchers with an obstacle long familiar to them in attempts to uncover the truth: over-classification.
And the reason for the Iran intervention?
Meanwhile, the Trump administration justifies the U.S.-Israeli military intervention in Iran on grounds of nuclear non-proliferation, something President Kennedy proved unwilling to compromise on in his relations with the Jewish state before his untimely death. But does the current war reflect America First or Israel First?
Who’s on First?
Morley stepped into current events with a look back at the U.S. Constitution — specifically Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 — and its relevance today:
Ever since passage of the 1947 National Security Act, Congress abdicated its war-making powers. No president has felt the need to get a declaration of war from Congress. Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected 90 years ago, is the last president who felt the need to respect the original intent of the founders.
Morley made his opinion clear on the Israel First/America First question he posed. Read his column here.
Dropping (Verbal) Bombshells
Morley voicing an opinion in more than a tweet opened the door to what social media calls debate, but seems more like name-calling to me. His column triggered an accusation of anti-Semitism — now all too familiar on chats, comments and tweets — that he could not abide. He responded with a personal story and asked: “Should you ban the abusive commenter just because he’s a schmuck?”
Comments on the story inspired an outpouring of support and Yiddish. But is the commenter a kvetch, a nudnik, or just plain meshuggah?
Farkakte Wikipedia
I can’t help it.
While you’re looking up the Yiddish — did you go to Wikipedia? — read the story below for Morley’s tutorial on bad information.
Bad information is not simply wrong, or lies, but also what is missing or has been deleted. Wikipedia does give you the opportunity to investigate the history of changes to an entry and the “Talk” around it. But sometimes it is difficult to determine the “why.”
For me — JFK Facts’ research editor — a tipping point has always been the anonymity of its editors. On this entry, the bio of Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, the “talk” included allegations that some changes were made by an alleged Bradlee family member, which apparently violates Wikipedia’s conflict of interest standards.
But the deletion of Bradlee’s early CIA connections may have come from elsewhere. His contacts with the CIA in the early 1950s have vanished altogether from the career portion of the Wikipedia entry, and his later dealings with the CIA were moved to the “controversies” section.
Yes, this does relate to the recently released Epstein files and to the JFK assassination, at least to the Washington Post’s coverage.
Ah sheinem dank.
Elsewhere on the Web
We’re recommending the latest from the ”JFK: The Enduring Secret” podcast: the story of Sylvia Odio, the Dallas woman who met Lee Harvey Oswald (or Leon Harvey Oswald) shortly before JFK’s assassination. Dismissed by the Warren Commission, her account is a leading indicator of a plot to kill President Kennedy.
Mockingbird media: short term pain for long term gain.
https://youtu.be/xqvv6KLLmWM?si=hhSDu3oEpZhB60Fo
Whose gain? Ours or Exxon's?