Vincent Bugliosi's massive book on the JFK assassination, Reclaiming History, is slated to become a ten-part TV mini-series, according to the movie industry trade journal Variety. Actor Tom Hanks is one of three executive producers on the project; Variety says his production company Playtone is nearing a deal with HBO.

Like Bugliosi's book, Variety says the mini-series' main objective is to "debunk long-held conspiracy theories and establish that assassin Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone."

"Many more people will see the mini-series than will read the book," Bugliosi conceded. "I think that we will finally be able to make a substantial dent in the 75% of people in this country who still believe the conspiracy theorists."

Tom Hanks (left) and Gary Goetzman

"I totally believed there was a conspiracy, but after you read the book, you are almost embarrassed that you ever believed it," said Gary Goetzman, a partner with Hanks in Playtone. "Time and evidence can change the way we view things."

To say nothing of enormous sums of money.

The F-word

Mr. Goetzman should be embarrassed by the statements that Variety attributes to him. Yes, evidence can change the way we view things. But the evidence itself does not change; facts remain facts. In spite of the Bugliosis and Posners who want to rewrite American history, it is as true today as ever that:

• the Zapruder film unambiguously shows President Kennedy's head and shoulders slammed backward and to the left, which in accordance with Newton's third law of motion came from the right front;

• the Zapruder film unambiguously shows Governor Connally turning all the way around to look over his right shoulder long after Kennedy raises his hands to his throat in reaction to being hit, just as John and Nellie Connally both described, thus invalidating the single bullet theory;

• bullets of the exact same caliber and make as the so-called "magic bullet" test fired at Edgewood Arsenal, and the only bullets that came out looking like CE 399 (the "magic bullet)" were the ones fired into cotton wadding;

• CE 856, a test bullet fired only through the wrist of a human cadaver, was severely mutilated, while CE 399, which supposedly caused multiple wounds in two men, was virtually unscathed (compare them);

• almost without exception, medical personnel who saw the head wound[s] described a large exit wound in the rear of the head;

• the woman (Saundra Spencer) who developed the autopsy photos at the Naval Photographic Center in Anacostia, Maryland told the ARRB that the autopsy photos now in the National Archives are not the ones she developed in 1963, and that one of the photos she developed showed the large exit wound in the rear of the head;

• the man who took the autopsy photos (John Stringer) had trouble verifying the official autopsy photos, shown to him by the ARRB, as the ones he took in 1963, and that he also said that several of the photos he took are not present in the official record;

• the Ida Dox HSCA drawings of what is purported to be Kennedy's brain are almost certianly not the late president's;

• autopsy doctor James J. Humes admitted having burned some of his notes, and told reporters he had been forbidden to talk.

Like most books that support the Warren Commission, Reclaiming History is enjoying excellent press. The New York Times Book Review gushed that "this book should be applauded," while The Los Angeles Times declared that "from this point forward, no reasonable person can argue that Lee Harvey Oswald was innocent."

Which is precisely the sort of hyperbole the media heaped on the Warren Report forty-something years ago.

No one bought it then, and chances are no one will buy it now.

Variety did not publish any information on who is starring in the HBO series, or when it will air.

Playtone's credits include My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Tom Hanks won back-to-back best actor Oscars for his roles in 1993's Philadelphia and 1994's Forrest Gump, and starred in an overblown conspiracy movie The da Vinci Code.

Anyone wishing to lodge a protest or complaint about the Reclaiming History mini-series may contact Playtone here:

The Playtone Company
1224 5th Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Phone: 310 394-5700

FAX: 310 394-4466

At present we do not have any information on contacting Playtone via electronic mail. but if we get it we'll add it to the above contact info.