Acknowledgments
Sparking the idea to make this 2017 edition of False Mystery was the
approaching 100th anniversary of John Fitzgerald Kennedy's birth. His aborted
term snuffed out the developing prospect to end the Cold War. That train of
thought included recognition that people born and living in what, in the
present age, is called the United States of America, still have not come to
terms with the reality, as Vincent Salandria frames it, of the
extra-constitutional firing of the thirty-fifth U.S. President. Ten presidents
later, in the current scoundrel time of mind-numbing incoherence and evermore
suffocating subterfuge, it is deeply life-affirming to high-light this
treasury of essays on the inescapable meaning of one of the most seminal
moments of the twentieth century and its continuing relevance in the present
day.
Vincent Salandria's life-long devotion to exercising his intelligence with
clarity and coherence, of following his conscience and remaining rooted to his
moral anchor, provide the basis on which this extraordinary record of critical
analysis rests. We are all in his debt, and fortunate to be so. He expresses
this succinctly in the Foreword:
[My work] on the assassination ... reflected a willingness to bear witness
to the truth irrespective of the consequences. In my responsibility to
adhering to the truth as I saw it, I have been and will continue to be,
oblivious to all the consequences of its expression.
John Kelin's dedication to veritas assembled the contents of this book in its
original published form beginning in 1999. John provided a copy of the 2001
printing, as well as the priceless and essential archival copies of The Legal
Intelligencer article, its Draft version, the 11-23-64 Addendum, the 1992
reprint, the January 1965 and October 1966 Liberation articles along with the
image of Vincent now included in the latter, the original typewritten copy of
the 1968 Central Park speech, and his copies the films of Vincent and Marty
Schotz during their respective 1998 COPA addresses and the 1995 David Starks
interview.
In addition to writing the original Introduction, I am exceedingly grateful to
Christopher Sharrett for his new contribution of the 2017 Addendum.
Many other people contributed to this 2017 edition: Joe Green produced the new
cover with the statue of Pierre de Wissant, helped with issues of presentation
and organization; both Joe and Ed Curtin assisted with references and editing
in "The Role Of The Paines In History"; Gene Smirnov for permission to include
his four 2014 photographs; Max Good for permission to include a transcript of
Vince's 19-page statement -- which has been adapted for presentation herein --
made during his interview for the upcoming feature documentary, "The
Assassination & Mrs. Paine"; David Starks for permission to include his 1994
interview with Vince; Robert Ellsberg, publisher of Orbis Books for permission
to include the section on James Wilcott from JFK and the Unspeakable; and
Michael Morrissey for permission to include pages 279-302 from his 2007 book,
Correspondence with Vincent Salandria.
Reconnecting with Jim Douglass in 2012 activated the train of events leading
to this station. Jim integrated the parallel tracks that jointly distilled the
why of the assassination. Previously, I was aware of many of the elements
comprising this dynamic. However it was only by looking through the lens of
Jim's framework that for the first time I understood the relationship of many
of the significant parts to the whole. It was through Jim that I met Marty
Schotz.
Marty has been a radiant beacon expanding understanding of the historical
significance on the meaning of why President Kennedy was killed and the
conundrum of how psychological denial blocks the exercise of critical
thinking.
I had known of the names Vincent Salandria and Marty Schotz for years from
John Judge. John's deep, unwavering devotion to historical truth imparted a
profound appreciation of the critical necessity of learning about the
collective history of the life of our time and producing archival digital
representations before there was a world wide web. Before meeting Vince and
Marty I was made more keen on their significance by Jim Douglass' dedication
in JFK and the Unspeakable:
To Vince Salandria and Marty Schotz
teachers and friends
Working with Jim to create an archive of his works and words, then with Marty
to do likewise with History Will Not Absolve Us, the circle is now joined with
this edition of False Mystery. It is profoundly life-affirming and thrilling
that the nonpareil historical record Vincent Salandria has produced is now
freely available for study and understanding. In conferring with Marty about
this, he offered the following summation:
As Karl Marx saw, capitalism involves a "metabolic rift" in the
relationship of mankind and the rest of nature, a rift which today
threatens all mankind and nature. Combining what Marx saw with the
descriptions of the modern capitalist system by David Korten and Seymour
Melman portrays a system which inevitably leads to President Kennedy's
murder. Indeed, it was business as usual for our system from the
perspectives of David Talbot's The Devil's Chessboard and Fidel Castro's
1995 speech, "With Hegemony and Intervention There Can Be No Peace or
Social Development." It is our faith that, testifying to historical truth,
can contribute to transforming this system, and this is what I think is
inspiring and enlivening. It helps make our lives worth living.
Others who have provided illuminating and inspired insight in this field of
critical analysis documenting historical truth are Emanuel Garcia, Gary
Schoener, Joseph Martines, Vincent Feldman, Gary Corseri, and Karen Croft.
I also wish to specifically thank John Judge, a dear friend, and Aaron Swartz
who I only knew impersonally as a champion of making all published information
in human history freely available and not locked up within for-pay legal
subordinate fictions known as corporations. Both men devoted their lives to
reclaiming our collective history which has increasingly been hidden and
incarcerated within the monetized social fabric of corporate governance we
live under in the present era. This digital book, like all the archived data
on ratical.org, is freely available and will always be so, with neither
advertisements nor paywalls.
For the first time on ratical.org, this complete digital book is designed to
present well on mobile devices as well as desktop and laptop computers. I am
indebted to Amie Tracey for her technical assistance and patience with me in
learning how to code these files so they, at last, contain basic elements to
render in a user-friendly way on smartphones.
I especially wish to thank my wife, Nina Vansuch. Through her counsel and
advice she helps me see a wider perspective engendering more constructive
communication. She is an advocate for and champion of the children in our
community and their families and her devotion and dedication to serving our
community is an inspiration to all who know her.
David Ratcliffe
May, 2017
https://ratical.org/FalseMystery