A Citizen's Dissent
Mark Lane replies to the defenders of the Warren Report, to the press and communications industry, to the Establishment intellectuals and commentators, and tells the often grim story of how his dissent was almost silenced.
In A Citizen’s Dissent, Mark Lane, author of Rush to Judgment, the provocative critique of the Warren Report, gives an alarming account of how “the American media act when a matter of historic dimensions occurs and when the government takes the very firm position that that which is demonstrably false is true.” The book is an explosive summation of Lane’s efforts to bring his dissenting opinions before the American public and of the incredible difficulties he encountered in questioning the official view of President Kennedy’s assassination.
"If we cannot trust the F.B.I., the C.I.A, and Earl Warren, God help us," declared the internationally known trial lawyer Melvin Belli in a debate with Mark Lane. Belli added, echoing Walter Cronkite, "We must have faith in the Warren Commission Report."
Lane responded that "theological considerations are not relevant when examining a political report. It was neither in tablet form nor handed down at Mount Sinai."
Lane believes that we are obligated to rely upon our own minds to examine the evidence, not only to discover the truth about the President's murder, but also to maintain our right to free speech and a free press. Determined to speak out about the tragedy during the two years of “great silence” immediately following the assassination, Lane tells of the obstacles he had to overcome to publish his controversial ideas, to appear on radio and television to talk about them, and even to find someone to publish a book that eventually became a nationwide number one best seller – Rush to Judgment.
He describes the mysteriously canceled debates on “personality” shows, the frustrations of “staged debates,” and the “debates which never occurred,” such as the one with Melvin Belli, covered by vast arrays of reporters in New York and not reported in any newspaper. Lane also gives a fascinating account of the personal harassment he underwent, typified by the disturbing “tails” of FBI agents.
In challenging the Warren Commission Report and its theory of the lone assassin, Lane was confronted first with indifference and then massive opposition on the part of almost the entire vast communications industry of America, the newspapers, the news magazines, and the major television networks.
The ever growing number of Americans who now disbelieve the validity of the Warren Report may well be echoing the questions Lane asks in A Citizen’s Dissent: Are we afraid of troublesome questions? Are the implications that flow from the conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy better ignored? What is it that paralyzes the thought processes of men who are charged with public responsibility? A Citizen’s Dissent is the startling record of a man who has raised these questions and who demands convincing answers to them now, while there is still time preserve the integrity of a free society.
Publication History
A Citizen’s Dissent Holt Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1968 Paperback version by Fawcett, New York, 1969.
Reviews and Comments:
The Montreal Star
“Mark Lane lashes out … He is not afraid to name names.”
Literary Cavalcade
“A revealing and disquieting book . . . startling . . . alarming stories.”
