I watched one of the NOVA programs tonight which was about trying to prove that a 500 year old painting had been the work of DaVinci. If it was real the painting purchased for $22,000 would be worth $80 million. In addition to the incredible science that could be applied to the investigation a fair amount of circumstantial historical evidence was applied. The latter is what I’m doing in my research on the book I’m working on. Fortunately there is a ton of it available to any fool willing to devote six years plowing through it all.
This week I’ve been going through about fifty books that I’d previously notated and am now putting the critical info in a series of chronologies. They are but the latest chronologies but they come from legitimate reports verified by others. I had a shock a couple days ago when I realized there were another 13 books to go through. I’m down to four final publications: Rudy, The Terrors of Justice, the Solberg Biography of Hubert Humphrey and my surprise Internet find from four years ago which is by far the biggest and most unique source of first-hand information. I have been so impressed with it that I’d like the Minnesota Historical Society to publish it on its own merit.
The thesis I will offer up is not that novel. It is simply that political hacks can capture a movement and corrupt it like the eunuchs of ancient Persia or China. There will many interesting stories that hit the proverbial cutting room floor if I am to trim this down to 300 or so pages. I’m hoping that I’ll finish off integrating these last four book’s data into the overall chronology before I take off for my lucky front row seat at the Florida Primary.
When I’ve finished integrating these last four books into the final chronological compilation it will be of immeasurable help when it comes to integrating and footnoting the book. There will be plenty of other work to do. I’ve got to finish reading at least two trial transcripts, some FBI interviews and a million words worth of News articles. Wish me luck.
