The Worst Week

It was not just the week nor was it just the US. 1968 itself was one of the worst years of the latter half of the 20th century around the world. The year began with the Tet Offensive which contributed in large part to the terrible year in the US, it completely polarized the American public making not only the anti-war faction much larger and more radical but the pro-war "patriotic" faction much more radical as well, ending up with the worst presidential selection in recent American history between a corrupt Democratic political hack (Hubert Humphrey) and the corrupt Republican hack Richard Nixon, (Nixon was so unpopular that with a tired and disliked Democratic administration in office, a very unpopular war and a political hack as an opponent, he still just barely squeaked out a narrow win.). That year also saw the invasion by the Soviet Union of the Republic of Checoslovakia and the vicious crushing of its hopes and dreams of a more democratic form of goverment. It effectively guaranteed another 30 years of slavery for the people of Eastern Europe. It was also the year that the corrupt PRI dictatorship in Mexico used undercover agents to provoke Mexicos's students into widespread protests in the streets in order to use the Army to gun down thousands so as to supress all dissent prior to the 1968 Olympics there. This is still a huge trauma in the country and considered one of Mexico's blackest moments in history, not only by its citizens in general but by its own Army as well. 1968 was the year of the Isreali Six Day War when the victorious Isrealis conquered Jerusalem, Gaza, the Golan Heights as well as the West Bank, an action which after 40 years of occupation, still reverberates throughout the Middle East. Of course the murders of King and Kennedy were terrible and traumatic incidents which wounded a whole generation of Americans (and even non-Americans like myself) but in truth, the whole year was an unmitigated disaster from start to finish and in fact laid a terrible trauma upon the whole world...........

Glaring error:

Robert Kennedy was shot in the early morning hours of June 5, 1968. Because the California primary was, to many who attended, a single event that spanned two days, many people believe he was shot on the 4th.

He died the following day, approximately 25 hours later, on June 6, 1968. I should know, as it was a rather auspicous day in my own life: I was born.

I live in China, now, so I don't always get Newsweek in a timely manner. I read this article closely because on April 4, 1968 I lived in Memphis where I worked for the IRS during the day and attended university at night. I belonged to the anti war group SDS and Although I am white I was friendly with the leaders of the Invaders. The description of how Dr. King was murdered is the "official" version. Most people familiar with the event ------







believe that Dr. King was murdered in a plot directed by J.Edgar Hoover. Too many strange things happened in the moments before the shot which killed Dr. King to lead to any other conclusion. James Earl Ray neve

r really got a trial which might have told us more about what really happened.

However, do you know more about Dr. King, some one has seen his profile on a senior dating site boomermingle.com, what shall he do on that site?

Evan Thomas was wrong to state that MLK confidant Stanley Levison was ???falsely accused communist spy.??? It gives the impression of trumped-up charges when in reality, if not an actual spy, Levinson was indeed a communist, met with the KGB and was a part of King???s inner circle. In the ground-breaking book on Soviet espionage, The Sword and the Shield, by Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin it reveals that Soviet agents Morris and Jack Childs reported that Stanley Levison was a secret Party member. Also, while under FBI surveillance Levison met with Viktor Lesiovsky, a KGB officer working as special assistant to the UN Secretary General. That information puts more perspective on why Kennedy ordered the wiretapping of MLK.

Evan Thomas was wrong to state that MLK confidant Stanley Levison was ???falsely accused communist spy.??? It gives the impression of trumped-up charges when in reality, if not an actual spy, Levinson was indeed a communist, met with the KGB and was a part of King???s inner circle. In the ground-breaking book on Soviet espionage, The Sword and the Shield, by Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin it reveals that Soviet agents Morris and Jack Childs reported that Stanley Levison was a secret Party member. Also, while under FBI surveillance Levison met with Viktor Lesiovsky, a KGB officer working as special assistant to the UN Secretary General. That information puts more perspective on why Kennedy ordered the wiretapping of MLK.

A correction to a correction:
In a previous comment, I referred to Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. He gave that speech in Washington D.C. in 1963. The 1968 one at Mason Temple in Memphis is known as the "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech. (Rosemary Nelms, The Commercial Appeal News Library).

In his recounting of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech in Memphis, the author incorrectly twice refers to historic Mason Temple as "the Masonic Temple." In fact, Mason Temple was named for Charles Harrison Mason, founder of the Church of God in Christ. Author Taylor Branch, cited by Mr. Thomas in his story, speaks of Mason Temple (not Masonic) on page 758 of "At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years 1965-68. (Rosemary Nelms, The Commercial Appeal News Library, Memphis, TN)