10 After 404

The last 10 secret pages of John Lennon's massive Nixon-era FBI file are being held up by the feds on grounds of having been obtained from a foreign government (probably the UK's) on condition of confidentiality.

I remember stumbling into a lecture by tireless Lennon-file-opener Jon Wiener at a BeatleFest in the mid-1980s (and so what??), and taking away two indelible impressions: 1) Is the government really that stupid? 2) Is John Lennon's FBI file really worth obsessing about? (Judging by the mostly indifferent and occasionally hostile reaction the poor guy received, many people were with me on that count.)

Anyhoo, it's always interesting in these times of World War IV and propaganda debates to be reminded how keenly the National Security apparatus once obsessed about (and/or covertly funded) the activities of artists, musicians and political journalists. And I think the 25th anniversary of Lennon's death is as good an opportunity as any to to close the apple-shaped circle of revisionist history—he really was the best Beatle, people.

Link via L.A. Observed.