-Caveat Lector- Hi folks, the following piece was written by Kenn Thomas, editor of Steamshovel Press, regarding the "revelations" that Timothy Leary was an FBI snitch. Very interesting, check it out -- and be sure to visit the Steamshovel Press web site at <http://www.umsl.edu/~skthoma>. (You didn't hear it from me, but rumor has it Kenn may be joining us again on CTRL in the near future...) Peace out, Charles Overbeck ParaScope http://www.parascope.com _________________________ by Kenn Thomas, Steamshovel Press Contrary to the implication of the files recently posted at The Smoking Gun website, and stories derived from them that appeared on the BBC and CBS Evening News, their content is not "news". Dr. Leary long acknowledged that he gave information to the feds while in prison, just as he gave due credit to the CIA for helping usher in the psychedelic era. It's in his 1983 autobiography, Flashbacks and it's discussed in the Leary/Liddy debate movie, Return Engagement. According to Leary, the only people harmed by anything he said were lawyers who deserved it. The FBI has made and is making an effort to exaggerate this and turn it into a "snitch jacket" for the sake of ruining Leary's future credibility. While it was going on in 1974, several Leary associates organized a press conference, PILL (People Investigating Leary's Lies), to denounce Leary's cooperation and the situation that had been forced upon him. Allen Ginsberg spoke at this conference. Noneof the conference organizers were seriously compromised by what Leary said and many remained his friends until his death. Leary knew everyone. If he had "snitched" anything of significance, this would be a much bigger deal than it is. The allegations have had a strange afterlife, however. Walter Bowart, for instance, transformed them into an entirely imaginary scenario of Leary returning to his cell one night after a lobotomy, with blue streaks painted across the temples of his shaved head, now a total mind control slave. This came in a particularly ungracious obituary Bowart wrote for Dr. Tim, Leary's reward for one having given him some lurid details about his intelligence community connections for Bowart's book, Operation Mind Control. Another author, Mark Reibling, in a 1994 book called "Wedge: The Secret War Between the FBI and the CIA", tried to make the case for Leary having been an informant before prison, during his years in exile. I checked Reibling's government document sources and they did not match the details of Leary's biography. Reibling also tried to make the case that Bob Woodward's Deep Throat was actually Cord Meyer, ex-husband of Leary gal pal Mary Pinchot Meyer. My article in the current issue of Flatland recounts my own petition for Leary's FOIPA file. The FBI is still doing its best to make sure that the full file is not released, only "summaries" to a chosen few in the media. The files posted at Smoking Gun make every effort, by selection and interpretation, to put the worst possible spin on this episode in Leary's life. For instance, a statement Leary makes about his plans for public life after prison, in most contexts a heroic ambition for him considering the circumstances, has been placed before other testimony about one of those lawyers. This has been done "for clarity"--to make it "clear" that Leary was simply finking for the sake of his own freedom. What is valuable about the complete FBI file is less what is says about Leary than what it says about the interests, abilities and methods of the feds in keeping people like Leary harassed and/or under surveillance simply for the sake of their point of view. I don't put much stock in the spin put on these files by the Beeb and Smoking Gun, certainly not CBS which reported the "shocking new revelations" on the Evening News, trying to make Leary the bad guy. That's an old story and there's not much too it. Steamshovel Press web site: http://www.umsl.edu/~skthoma DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
