Post by John McAdamshttps://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/Ruby_FPCC.htm
.John
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http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm
I just read something about the Lindbergh case that has more than a little
application here about the arguments we sometimes see about "How could
Ruby know about the Fair Play for Cuba Committee" that your new page
attempts to answer.
Bill James, in his book here: _Popular Crime: Reflections on the
Celebration of Violence_
https://www.amazon.com/Popular-Crime-Reflections-Celebration-Violence/dp/141655274X
makes an excellent point about some of the books that came out in the 1970s
or thereafter arguing for Hauptmann's innocence.
== QUOTE ==
These books started to come out in the 1970s, in large part, because they
couldn't come out until the people who remembered the case had died and
been replaced by a public that was unfamiliar with the time and the facts
of the case, thus could be told tall tales without spotting the obvious
fallacies. A couple of simple examples: Hauptmann quit his job the day the
ransom money was handed over. Hauptman tried to explain this by claiming
that he quit the job in a dispute or disagreement over how much he was to
be paid. Well, it was 1932. People were standing in breadlines. Carpenters
didn't quit jobs because of little disputes and live off their
investments. People in 1935, at the time of the trial, understood that,
and they reacted to Hauptmann's claim with deep skepticism. People in the
1970s didn't quite catch it. He didn't like what he was being paid; he
quit the job, so what?
Of course, even if we assume that he did have a dispute over the money,
it's still quite a coincidence, but it plays different if you understand
the context. He quit his job, and incidentally, never worked again.
== UNQUOTE ==
I see the same thing is happening with those who didn't live through the
assassination and don't understand the finer points of the argument. They
lack the knowledge of the times, and arguments that make no sense to
anyone who lived through the event appear to be accepted at face value by
those who weren't born until after the event or were too young to remember
it.
Hank