Addressing the JFK “Secret Society” Speech...

Addressing the JFK “Secret Society” Speech...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/ed4f60c1aa.jpg[/atsimg]

Hello all,

Admittedly I really do feel like this is a very, very necessary thread to make now. One that I wish I didn’t have to make because in my opinion, It shouldn’t be necessary – But it just is. See, with writing this thread I want to try and put to bed something that has become a particular annoyance to me, personally. And something which I feel is a bit of a waste of time really and causes us, as researchers, to get further and further away from the truth. What I’m talking about is, of course, the famous JFK “Secret Society speech” as it has become known over time.

With writing this thread however I want to try and take this opportunity to explain a little bit behind the famous speech and to hopefully dispel some of the rumors, mistakes, misconceptions, misunderstands and lies which have been told about it as well. And many of those thing's mentioned have indeed occurred unfortunately - But that's where this thread comes in I'm hoping, I want to try and clarify thing's for people out there who've been fooled.

On ATS alone, this being one of the only forum websites, apart from my own, which I frequent, It seems as though every few weeks a new thread pops up somewhere which is looking at this speech and claiming, as a direct cause of it, that we now have evidence of a high governmental figure admitting that secret societies run the world or are in some sort of control in some way. Because of this speech they claim that JFK was also murdered - In other words because he outed Secret Societies he was murdered. This, IMO, could not possibly be further from the truth.

An example of this type of thread can be found here, it’s one I posted in over the past few days as well and It's what prompted me to create this thread here. Please also bear in mind at this time though that I'm not making fun of, or mocking, this thread, I'm just using it as an example of the kind of thing I'm talking about here. See, in that thread which I decided to post in, I gave a relatively small summary of why I believe the opening post, which was trying to claim all of what I mentioned above concerning Secret Societies and the like, is wrong. And I, on the other hand, am correct with what I'm saying which is that we have a rational explanation for it.

With starting this thread here I want to go into a bit more detail on that, I want to create a much needed thread which has yet to be made on ATS - One which is looking at the real message behind the speech as opposed to one pushing the obviously wrong Conspiracy angle many people have accepted as truth and fact, and, with any luck, this thread may even be linked in those kind of thread's in the future to ensure the same mistakes – falling for the nonsense about secret societies – are not made by people. To summarize it all into a single sentence I'm creating this thread because I want people to understand the truth and not be fooled by nonsense and lies, that's all..

So, before continuing any further at this point, and as I've explained my reasoning behind starting such a thread - I want people to understand the real truth here - Here is one of the reasons for all of the misunderstandings in the first place:



For those who’ve taken the time to listen to the above I have to say.. it is very convincing. There’s no denying that in the slightest – But that’s why it’s grown so much and has been accepted by many today, it is convincing and that’s a damn shame too.. because as far as I’m concerned It’s absolute nonsense of the highest degree. And that can be shown fairly easily with only a little bit of genuine research.

See, few people don’t seem to know this, but the above speech isn’t in It’s entirety at all. It has been edited down and in such a way to make it sound like JFK is talking about something he is not. So, for that reason, here is the full speech which I’ve uploaded to my own account just this morning for this thread. It's also in 2 parts due to the length:

JFK's Full Secret Society Speech - The President and the Press, Part 1

__________________________________________________

___________________________

JFK's Full Secret Society Speech - The President and the Press, Part 2

__________________________________________________

___________________________

For those who may not want to listen to the full speech, here’s a full transcript currently posted at the JFK Library also: The President and the Press: Address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association, April 27, 1961

Notice something about the above link, which is the name of the page It’s posted on? It’s called the President and the Press. Yes, that’s the name of the speech, not the “Secret Society Speech” as some refer to it. From this point on in this thread I’ll also be referring to it as The President and Press speech for accuracy. It's also worth pointing out that the Speech by JFK, as has been highlighted in my above video, was conducted at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City on the 27th of April, 1961. More than 2 years before his death in Dealey Plaza on the 22nd of November, 1963.

Anyway, according to many, JFK was talking about Secret Societies during his speech, which at the time was a speech addressing the Press. They use statements from JFK like this as an example:

The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment.

[Link is the transcript posted above]

All the while ignoring the true context of the speech which will be explained below as well as the fact that JFK goes onto say this:

Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. It conducts the Cold War, in short, with a war-time discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match.

[Emphasis added by me] [Link is the transcript posted above]

Thus in his own words the speech is discussing the Cold War. But anyway, I digress for now. You see, to understand this speech and the true reasoning behind it, we can't simply interpret it from what was said - If we do that we make mistakes and potentially interpret it wrong. What we have to do is instead interpret the speech from a late April, 1961 Point of view, not a 2012 point of view. Trust me, it will make a great deal more sense to all of you reading, or listening to the speech.

JFK is talking about something which he himself mentioned.. the Cold war. And Communist Russia in particular. But he's also talking about something else still, and even making a request to the very people he is addressing face to face - The press. He's specifically asking them for more secrecy with how they report and to treat the situation with the Soviets and Communism as if it was a "real war" - In other words report on the news as if they were in a war with the Soviets thus being able to withhold certain secrets which could be a national security threat..

The disastrous Bay of Pigs incident occurred around 10 days earlier you see, It was a disaster of the highest degree and caused a tremendous amount of Embarrassment for the American Government. In short a CIA trained force of Cuban Exiles, one recruiter being E. Howard Hunt who later claimed in a deathbed confession that Lyndon Baines Johnson was the main person behind the murder of JFK in fact, planned to Invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs with approval of the American Government (thus why they were CIA trained), in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro, and even in later years the CIA, along with the Mafia in fact, continued to try and assassinate him.

The invasion however was, as mentioned, a complete disaster for the President who had been in charge for less than 3 months time at that point - Mid April. The invading forces were all but defeated with-in a mere 3 days in fact and tensions between the democratic America and the Communism world, particularly the Soviets and Cuba who were close Allies, were massively strained.

10 days later JFK made his famous speech which has been misinterpreted in modern times as discussing some sort of secret society when in reality, it's discussing the recent issues with Communist nations and he's requesting, not demanding remember, that the Press in particular become more secretive with how they report as they can be partly blamed for the incident taking place by reporting on it. That's why the speech took place. JFK was not warning of a future terrorist attack such as 9/11, he was not talking about the Illuminati or any secret society, he was merely addressing a huge issue which was going on at the time. As one would expect really.

I really do urge everyone to, whenever faced with it, dismiss the first video posted in this thread. It's ridiculous and trying to push us further away from the truth. Instead please just take the time to listen to his full speech (posted above) and to, if possible, have a good read through the transcript and read through it with a 1960's mindset, not a modern day one - That's where mistakes and misunderstandings creep in.

Here it is posted once again:

The President and the Press: Address before the American Newspaper Publishers Association, April 27, 1961.

Of course however it really must be said that yeah, I genuinly do applaud those who do rationally look for a conspiracy. We need more people like that. But this issue is becoming ridiculous. JFK, in his speech, was addressing a common issue, not a hidden one. We know that now. And we knew it then. It must be said that we should all open our minds to the possibilities of conspiracies, but we must also be open to the possibility that a conspiracy is not laying behind every single corner. Sometimes, a conspiracy is not present and sometimes, such as the case with this speech, thing's really are as they seem.

But anyway, thanks to those who took the time to read through this thread. I hope you also manage to watch the videos I posted as well as read the transcript - They're important, IMO.

I also hope this thread clears up, or at the very least helps to clear up for some, a lot of misunderstandings out there. Ones that really do need clearing up..

S&F'd ahead of reading. I"m excited to get to another well written, RA thread.

I'll have time later this afternoon. I'll comment later.

Never has this speech been more relevant than it is today

Fantastic! Thank you for denying ignorance!

Well written and well presented, S&F for you!

reply to post by TommyG

Fantastic! Thank you for denying ignorance!

Thanks, and It really has to be said that if there was a conspiracy here, I'd be shouting about it already. I have done with other parts of the case in other thread's of mine and I will whenever, and on any topic, where I've come across something that we would deem a conspiracy, and as we all should as well in my opinion.

But the Secret Society speech is genuinely nothing spectacular at all, no matter how many times some people try to claim so. My goodness It's not even close, lol. We know what he said and we know why he said it.

Awesome thread!

Executive Order 11110 was issued by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on June 4, 1963.

This executive order delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury the President's authority to issue silver certificates under the Thomas Amendment of the Agricultural Adjustment Act, as amended by the Gold Reserve Act. The order allowed the Secretary to issue silver certificates, if any were needed, during the transition period under President Kennedy's plan to eliminate silver certificates.

.....it would have worked

.....ahh how great the world would be if JFK was not killed. The last good president to take on the Evil Bankers

Well done sir! It really is sad that this was needed to be done in such detail in order to keep that famous speech from being taken out of context. With that being said, I am glad that you have done so, and I will definitely be using this thread as a referral if I see another "JFK Secret Society" speech.


Off topic: I believe JFK was assassinated because of Operation Northwoods , or this was at least the final nail in the coffin.

reply to post by Rising Against


Great job.

I will say that the more I learn about LBJ, the more I think he was a major player in the "behind the scenes puppet masters" where as most public figures are just admiring their stings.

Great thread Rising Against. Like you, I have listed to the entire speech, and knew that it was truly directed to the press. At the same time, I can't help but wonder if there was an underlying meaning to this speech. I don't mean subliminal or anything like that, but to use the term "secret society" as he did, seemed a bit off, for 2012 or 1961. Could it be that there were other meanings to this speech, not just the obvious one? You are the expert, not me, so that is why I ask. Could there have been any other meaning in this speech, or does your research show that there is no way he meant anything other than face value?

Again, great thread and presentation.

Great job, Rising Against. Haphazard research is a worthy topic to tackle.

However, never let us lose sight of the fact that dastardly cabals do exist and threaten our very freedoms today.

Edited--but not misconstrued--version of Eisenhower's Military Industrial Complex statements from his farewell address.

Interesting commentary intermixed with Eisenhower's farewell address that show the intent and progression of the speech.

Full speech here:

reply to post by Rising Against


Ahhhh, finally some reason brought to the table. Reading it a couple of times now all I can say is thank you. What people tend to forget with things like this, is that you cannot look at them with a modern outlook. One always has to look at it from the stand point of the entire historical context, which in this case was right after the Bay of Pigs incident. That is not to mean that points in his speech to the press cannot be brought into modern times and applied to the press today because some most certainly can.

It is my belief, and this is based on personal viewpoint and no hard core proof, that the actions of the press during this time was the first time that the press seems to have played such a major roll in an international incident. The world was literally balanced on the point of a sword and could have gone either way. All I can say is that no matter his personal life, thank heavens we had a president such as JFK in a time such as this. I dare say it would be a whole different outcome in today's world.

Well done, RA. Thank you for putting some reason and common sense into this often misunderstood and misinturpreted issue. S&F

reply to post by ChachiArcola


Hey there, thanks for the compliment but honestly, let me be the first to say that I'm really not an expert on this case yet. But hey, I'm trying, lol.

My point is I've been wrong before and I will be wrong again - And there is many people out there who know more about this case than I do. Don't get me wrong though, I have tried to research this case a lot and I do find it to be a personal favorite of mine - Probably because a conspiracy in some form is so very clearly obvious. But I suppose in the interest of fairness what I say should be taken with a degree of salt still, if you know what I mean? Obviously I want what I write to be true and I've only ever posted what I believe are truths.. but just because I believe them to be it doesn't necessarily make them so. We should all still come to our own conclusions.

Anyway, I just felt like that had to be said is all.. like I said, it's in the interest of fairness.

In reply to what you asked - In my opinion no, there really isn't any underlying message, one hidden in plain sight or other, from this speech. The use of the word Secret Societies, in my opinion, lends itself to the speech and the point he was making - that people don't want secrecy in their lives and that the press, at the same time, do need to be secretive. To get my point across here's exactly what he said:

The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know.

But I do ask every publisher, every editor, and every newsman in the nation to reexamine his own standards, and to recognize the nature of our country's peril. In time of war, the government and the press have customarily joined in an effort based largely on self-discipline, to prevent unauthorized disclosures to the enemy. In time of "clear and present danger," the courts have held that even the privileged rights of the First Amendment must yield to the public's need for national security.

..People are opposed to secrecy of all kinds, and they don't want secrecy in their lives, the point he's making being that he doesn't ever want to censor people but for national security reasons, they, the press who he's addressing, do have to make the choice of doing it at times. All in all he's merely asking the Press to be more careful with what they're reporting on, such as national security issues like the Bay of Pigs for example, or any other Governmental secret. Please also remember who he's talking about when reading the above snippet also.. those "Nasty Communists", America's enemy particularly at that time.

So in my opinion no, he's not talking about actual secret societies, general or any single one in particular. He's just trying to get a point across. Let us also not forget that he may have used the word secret society but he also actually said the words "It conducts [In regards to the very thing he's talking about at that time] The Cold War."

reply to post by MyMindIsMyOwn

Well done, RA. Thank you for putting some reason and common sense into this often misunderstood and misinturpreted issue. S&F

Thanks Mind, and thanks to the others for their kind comments too.

I don't think It's often that someone can post a thread on ATS which basically says here's something that isn't a conspiracy.. and then have people really appreciate that, lol.

But, as I said towards the beginning of my opening post, I really did feel like this was a much needed thread here.

reply to post by freakjive

I'll have time later this afternoon. I'll comment later.

Hope you get a chance to read and give your thoughts, FJ.

It's one of my shorter thread's as well so shouldn't take you too long.

I will get back to this thread later. Have some stuff going on right now. S&F in advance, comments later.

To the OP.

Quote:
"JFK, in his speech, was addressing a common issue, not a hidden one. We know that now. And we knew it then. It must be said that we should all open our minds to the possibilities of conspiracies, but we must also be open to the possibility that a conspiracy is not laying behind every single corner. Sometimes, a conspiracy is not present and sometimes, such as the case with this speech, thing's really are as they seem."

No they are not. You should listen to the beginning of the speech and think about it ... The first 2.30 minuts.
And the "people" he was talking to new it.
Do your research...

reply to post by Lastone

Do your research...

I have to admit, that comment did make me laugh. My research posted on ATS barely scratches the surface in regards to the amount of time I've put into this topic and bearing that in mind, here are some of my past threads:

- A Look at the Single Bullet Theory..

- A Look Through The Mind Of An Assassin

- The Peculiar Death Of Bobby..

- The "Smoking Gun"... Literally

- The Forgotten JFK Assassination tapes

- Lee Bowers - A Murdered Witness

- List of Free JFK Documentaries

- The JFK Assassination, An Analysis: Did William Greer Shoot Kennedy?

- The Forgotten Victims to a Genuine Conspiracy

- Ron Pataky - The Possible CIA recruit responsible for the murder of Dorothy Kilgallen?

- The Witnesses to the Assassination, Assassinated – The Lesser Known Victims of JFK’s death

Have a read through some of them. Trust me, much research was put into all of them. These being just JFK thread's on ATS - I have a rather large website on the JFK case now as well. So yeah, It's probably not a good idea to tell me to "do my research" on this topic... It's done already and telling me to do it just makes you look silly. Believe me.

In regards to everything else you said in your post well let's take a closer look. I posted a rational and extremely plausible explanation of the background of why JFK said exactly what he said. You on the other hand post a rather small quote of what I said about not everything being a conspiracy and then you say "You should listen to the beginning of the speech and think about it ... The first 2.30 minuts. And the "people" he was talking to new it. " And that was it, oh, apart from a rather lame comment telling me to do research.

Now who should people reading this thread believe I wonder. Hmm, indeed..

It would be hilarious if it was not so tragic.. If any idiot soaks in the nonsense of this sponsored thread I would be surprised !

Question? Why would anyone write such a detailed academic reply to a question that hasn't been asked?

Same thing time and time again on ATS - The Secret society speech is not a veiled criticism of communism! John Fitzgerald Kennedy wanted peace with Russia. Socialism in Russia failed because it was corrupt.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was a Whistle-blower who died for us.. Secret societies do rule the world..

www.youtube.com...

Don't be an idiot and listen to the speech again..

The cold war against communism was never against any other country.. but a war against us, the people!
Communism has always be run to fail because it has never been true communism, and yes communism in it's true form shares the wealth of the rich with the poor.. That's why it has never been allowed to truly exist in this world. EVER.


Democracy and communism are compatible ! Americans are brainwashed into thinking Socialism (caring for all mankind) is evil ! This is the greatest lie of the last 100 years.

Here is how..

We set a budget for campaigning for elections of.... $0, £0, € 0

The only criteria is that candidates are selected from the general population and the main socio-economic groups regardless of race/religion.

So of course the %1 richest would have the least candidates.

They are elected based on their record for selflessly serving the people of that country.

I dig that people are investigating this but,

In my opinion the OP's theory that JFK was referring to Communist Russia and not NWO, TPTB, Illuminati, etc. is wrong. It's clear that Kennedy is saying that these secret societies are pulling the strings behind the Cold War.

Still, S&F for starting this topic.

reply to post by Rising Against


"Now who should people reading this thread believe I wonder. Hmm, indeed.. "

Not in me ... not in you but in themseves..

Did you listen again to the first 2.3 minuts ?