157. More sloppy history...

As I've said before, I am not a Krishna Venta apologist, but I do detest sloppy history.

For a couple of weeks now, I've fought the urge to respond to a post entitled "Krishna Venta v. Charles Manson" from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:y0BkZN93AYUJ:themansonfamily.tumblr.com/post/1364239872/krishna-venta-vs-charles-manson-since-both+%22krishna+venta%22+%2B+%22devil's+hole%22+%2B+%22charles+manson%22&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us. However, since silence can sometimes be construed as an endorsement, I've opted to rebut some of what's offered. Before I begin, though, let me acknowledge that I do respect the fact that this individual admits, "I am not a Krishna Venta aficionado, so hopefully my information on him is correct."

Unfortunately, much of this individual's information is incorrect. In fact, this person's web entry is an example of someone rubber-stamping the gossip and myth that's been handed down over the years and calling it history. In the interest of time, I'll address just a few random points:

* This person offers that Krishna Venta's "[f]avorite swimming hole" was Devil's Hole. Meanwhile, I have never seen anything documenting that Krishna Venta ever went swimming in his life...in Devil's Hole or otherwise.

* They also say that the criteria for membership in joining the WKFL Fountain of the World consisted of one handing "over all your worldly possessions." Granted, this is true. However, what must not be forgotten is that the majority of the people who joined the Fountain actually possessed nothing whatsoever and were more of a financial liability than anything else.

* The language "all [members of the Fountain] assumed aliases" is irresponsible; the term "alias" implies that these individuals were hiding from the law. The Pope no longer goes by his given name. So, then, is "Benedict" an "alias"?

* Under "run-ins with the law," Krishna Venta (in his Francis Pencovic days) was never charged with violation of the Mann Act; he was investigated in that regard but never charged. As well, regarding the purported "threatening" letter to President Roosevelt, the letter has been lost to time, so it's impossible to know just what Pencovic did (not) say in it. Based upon surviving documents, though, it seems Pencovic wrote a letter to Franklin Roosevelt in which he offered the President his opinions on what course FDR needed to take. (Remember - this was long before the advent of email, etc., and a President receving "advice" from a citizen was apparently somewhat of a rarity.) Consequently, Pencovic was interviewed by the Secret Service and summarily dismissed as a "crank."

* Finally, the "several suspicious murders surrounding the Fountain of the World" is likewise irresponsible. This is no doubt in reference to the Medina murder - see http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2009/01/60-people-v-medina-1974.html - and the American Indian Movement murder - see http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2009/01/61-skyhorse-and-mohawk.html - both of which happened on Fountain property a decade or more after Krishna Venta was already dead. Fountain of the World members, though, were not responsible for these murders. Instead, a handful of non-members who used the Fountain as a flop house were apparently the murdering types. In this regard, see http://krishnaventa.blogspot.com/2009/01/63-propinquity.html, where I write:

The lesson to be learned...is not that the Fountain intentionally served as a haven or as a "hideout" (to quote Dan Blackburn) for criminal types such as Medina, Townsend, Manson, Skyhorse, Mohawk, et al., or that Fountain members gravitated towards such individuals. Instead, Medina, et al. seemingly sought the isolation found in the most rural of locations, and the Fountain (having sought to build their California outpost on property that, in terms of real estate value, offered the most land for the least money) had the misfortune of having erected a "utopia" located directly in the cross hairs of outlaw country! Too bad that, at least in its latter days, Fountain leadership was so trusting and quick to believe everyone who visited the Fountain had only the best of intentions...