Best Evidence: Disguise and Deception in the Assassination of John F. Kennedy

You're high if you think the whole JFK thing happened the way the Warren Report claimed it did. SO WHAT if exactly how it happened hasn't been substantiated down to the letter. How can you ignore dozens upon dozens of suspicious things in this case? LBJ gets the presidential limo cleaned (AND THE INTERIOR REPLACED) before it's inspected and photographed, and no one does ANYTHING??? He destroyed evidence in the murder of an American president, and NO ONE DOES ANYTHING!!! Hoover has the tree (the one between the sniper's nest and the exact location of the car when JFK was hit) cut down, and no one does anything. What, did Hoover have a lawn care business on the side? Why do the FBI agents in question (Sibert and O'Neill) need to be forensics experts, or, for that matter, medical doctors, to be able to recognize that surgery was done to JFK's head??? I don't have to be a certified auto mechanic to understand the difference between a problem with my alternator and a problem with my starter when my car doesn't start. I don't have to be an MI graduate to know the difference between someone who knows their instrument intimately and someone who only takes a casual interest in playing. (Then when re-questioned, the FBI agents said they HEARD one of the Bethesda doctors say that it appeared surgery had been done prior to the start of the 'official autopsy'. It's amazing how many people have back peddled and modified or, in some cases, outright denied, their testimony over the years.) Yes, a lot of people have turned this into a cottage industry. Yes, a lot of people have proposed some obscenely ridiculous theories. BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE JFK MURDER WASN'T A CONSPIRACY!!! Reading this book gave me an idea about what it's like to be a crack addict. I lost sleep, skipped meals, and got angry. I thank God for David Lifton. Why would he spend 15 years of his life just to write ONE BOOK? You Warren Report people are the same as us. You'll point to practically anything, say practically anything, and dig you're heels in when cornered just to hold on to what you believe. You'll dismiss, disregard, and ignore, all the while doing the same thing you criticize us for doing. Believe what you want to believe. We may not know the exact details, but we believe there is more than enough evidence that proves something other than what the Warren Commission concluded DID OCCUR. And I think that, eventually, even if it takes hundreds of years, more of what really happened will come to light. And, even though I'll be long dead, I say, in advance, "WE WERE RIGHT!!!"

Mr. Lifton's 15-year odyssey before Best Evidence was published in 1981 is an amazing story in itself. I read the paperback years ago and the depth of its research and analysis finally convinced me that there was much more to the public execution of JFK than the "Mafia did it" or "anti-Castro Cubans" etc. Even if one of those groups did "do it" they had to have help in Washington. The most important aspect of this case, pointing to the coverup of a conspiracy, is Fraud in the Evidence. Anyone who has bothered to read about the subject knows it certainly wasn't "a man in a building shooting a man in a car," despite what our media tries to shove down our throats every late November, this year being no exception.Although its been 23 years since its publication, this book has held up well and is definitely in the top ten of this genre. I predict his next book will also be a blockbuster. Mr. Lifton in a recent interview stated that his next book should be released in the next few years. In the meantime check out his 117-page "Pig on a Leash" essay in Jim Fetzer's "Great Zapruder Film Hoax." (Yup, it appears the Z-Film may have been tampered with too, surprise surprise!) Mr. Lifton's piece is worth the price alone.

This exhaustive analysis of the JFK assassination, along with its introduction of a ghastly theory underlying the crime, is an extremely valuable book for anyone interested this tragic event. David Lifton's first-person account provides extensive information about the assassination, logical analysis of the evidence, and conclusions drawn from that evidence. Lifton's thoroughness is evident. At one one point in my reading, I had a strong feeling that if I'd ever done something illegal, the last person in the world I would want investigating the crime would be David Lifton.My one criticism of the book is the brevity of the final conclusion, which presented Lifton's view of "what" without very much "how" at all. His arguments are weak with regard to the mechanics of his theory, a conspiracy which would seem to involve an incredibly large number of individuals. Very persuasive, however, was his discovery of anomalies and differences in personal accounts, along with his suggestion that various individuals were actually witnessing (without knowing it) little pieces of the conspiracy in progress. His suggestion that if a competentent conspiracy is carried out, no one will ever be aware that a conspiracy took place, also gave pause for thought.One critique of this book stated that whether or not you agree with Lifton's version of events and his conclusion, EVERY piece of information with which he worked came from either government or public sources, all legitimately referenced and documented. Best Evidence is a fine study in the art of investigation and analysis, worth reading from that aspect alone.

This is the first book I've read on this subject, and I was anticipating it to be a one-sided shout of conspiracy. But Mr. Lifton treats his readers intelligently and honestly. He presents all of the evidence concisely and lets one draw his or her own conclusions. Mr. Lifton even acknowledges his own errors and misconceptions as he progresses. You get a gut feeling when you sense something to be the truth, and that was no more felt by me than reading this book.