Warren Commission Defense Won’t Wash

Oliver Stone’s response to Richard M. Mosk (“ ‘JFK’ Is Not Irresponsible--Choosing to Ignore the Evidence Is,” Jan. 6) carefully skirted the central issue raised by Mosk and others regarding “JFK.” What has drawn the sharpest criticism is the film’s strident assertion that during the 1960s a far-flung conspiracy captured the main instruments of power in our country so that, as stated by Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner), real democracy was supplanted by fascism.

Tom Hayden, quick to recognize this as the heart of the film, enthusiastically embraced it as a validation of his own ‘60s radicalism (“Shadows on the American Storybook,” Metro, Dec. 30).

There is something curious about this. In November, 1987, at a conference on the Nixon presidency at Hoffstra University, Hayden recalled that he and his fellow defendants at the Chicago Seven trial were certain that the United States was becoming a police state. As quoted by the Associated Press, Hayden said: “We thought we were going to jail for (years), and in fact, it was people like John Mitchell, the attorney general, who did. The system worked on our behalf and against the Nixon Administration. It took me almost a decade to acknowledge that.”

First, does Hayden think it morally acceptable for Stone to fool around with the truth to prove that other guys lie? And which Hayden are we supposed to believe?

LEO RIFKIN

History Department

Cal State Long Beach