Very appropriate words

[John Fazio]

(11-21-2016 06:26 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Wild Bill never stops studying (thank the gods), and he just shared some great words of wisdom for historians young and old to heed:

Alfred H. Kelly, “Clio and the Court: An Illicit Love Affair,” Supreme Court Review, 1965 (No. 1, 1965), at 144.

“I manipulated history in the best tradition of American advocacy, Carefully marshaling every scrap of evidence in favor of the desired interpretation, and just as carefully doctoring all the evidence to the contrary, either by suppressing it when that seemed plausible, or distorting it when suppression was not possible.”

Alfred H. Kelly, a noted lawyer and writer of Constitutional Law, worked on the Brown v. Bd. of Education et al. the 1954 school segregation case.

Manipulation of facts is a dangerous path to follow.

Laurie:

I completely agree with your last statement. It is to be regretted that the Justices, their clerks and/or opposing counsel did not see the distortion. I certainly agree with the Court's decision in the case, but a result achieved with falsehood is like picking fruit from a poisoned tree.

Incidentally, I just finished reading your chapter in The Lincoln Assassination Riddle re Mary Surratt and believe your conclusions are, for the most part, on the money. We differ only in your surmise that there were two plots, one to capture and one to murder, though you do not say expressly that you believe this. You know how I feel about the "capture" plot, so I will not belabor the issue. But I will say that in my judgment her behavior before and after the assassination is more consistent with knowledge that murder was intended that night, not capture. Her statements to Anna that "Anna, come what will, I am resigned. I think J. Wilkes Booth was only an instrument in the hands of the Almighty to punish this proud and licentious people", and to Weichmann that "I am afraid all this rejoicing will be turned into mourning , and all this glory into sadness", and again to Weichmann "Pray for my intentions" and "Pray for them anyhow", are especially telling. To me, these kinds of remarks are not made in contemplation of the lesser offense of kidnapping, but of the greater offense of murder. Further, Herold's, Atzerodt's and John T. Tibbett's statements incriminating Mary are all but conclusive.

John