Ok, here is a new ‘theory’ regarding Z:
I always asked myself "Where is the weak point of Zodiac"? In fact, there might be three: Cheri Jo Bates (for the believers) as she might have been tied to him in the early years. Kathleen Johns (dito) as she had seen him from a very close distance (without being shot or stabbed).
The third weak point, imo, is the button issue. In at least three letters, Z had related to the BUTTONS he wanted to see in San Francisco:
June 26, 1970 Button Letter
July 24, 1970 Kathleen Johns Letter
July 26, 1970 "Little List" Letter
While the KJ letter as well as the Little-List-Letter rather refer to nobody wearing Z buttons, my overall impression is that the issue was somehow important to Z. That’s sort of a weak point..while not telling a lot about it, Z still urgently wanted to have this issue in his letters. In the first, the Button Letter, Z explicitly mentioned to not wear such nasty ones like Belli’s. He could’ve been done with it, but instead Z continued to ride on the button issue for at least two more letters.
This is why I believe that Z had somehow strong negative emotions against the organization providing the button Belli had worn. Initially I thought that the button might be from the ABA (American Bar Association), however some pics show that it could have been from a different organization (pic found on the web, on Belli, enlarged):
Anybody an idea what type of button/organization this could have been? If we were able to identify that , it could lead to a hint why Z didn’t like Belli’s button. Also the Belli letter itself is an additional letter which should be seen in the light of the other three letters (as the Button letter in fact is based on Belli’s and not anybody else’s button…thus four (!) of Z’s letters are somehow ‘dedicated’ to the Button issue..). If we can find out which organization Belli’s button was from, it might help us to identify ‘Belli’s opponent’..
QT
*ZODIACHRONOLOGY*
It has often been thought his was the button Zodiac was referring to. By the way…where is Smithy?? 
“…they may be dealing with one or more ersatz Zodiacs–other psychotics eager to get into the act, or perhaps even other murderers eager to lay their crimes at the real Zodiac’s doorstep.“ L.A. Times, 1969
Z mentioned that ‘everyone else’ has buttons such as ‘Melvin eats bluber’ etc., thus he wanted to see them wearing some ‘nice’ ones (with the Z symbol). However he also wrote that he doesn’t want to see ‘nasty ones like melvin’s’. It therefore may be assumed that Z had A.) realized people wearing buttons, eventually the Melvin eats blubber one and B.) wanted the people to wear the Z symbol and C.) did not want the people to wear a button like the one Melvin had used (Dragon Card).
Thus the list of letters mentioning the ‘button’ issue actually looks like this:
Belli letter (not mentioning the button issue directly, however referring to Belli, the button wearer)
Dragon card (coming up with the button issue, refusing Melvin’s ‘nasty one’)
Button letter (‘wear some nice Z buttons’)
Kathleen Johns letter (complaining that people don’t wear his buttons)
Little list letter (again mentioning the button issue no less than three times)
Think that shows that Z was clearly focussing on the button issue, at least over the period of 1/2 a year. If the button issue wasn’t important to Z, imo he would have mentioned it maybe once, or twice, but not 5-10 times..
I think that such focussing on the button issue might only result from some ‘bad’ experience Z had felt in the past, either with Belli himself (his environment was checked thoroughly by the police) OR the organization Belli’s button was actually from, with Belli only being a prominent representative..tried to find out in which organizations Belli had been involved, however not much information about that.
It is also possible that Z only had tried to discredit Belli’s reputation. Indeed there had been some (ethically) doubtful defense activities of Belli, such as the case of Alex Haley, a nurse who had killed multiple patients in a Nevada hospital. If someone looses a beloved one by such a nurse of horror, he/she might have negative feelings towards the defendant, too.
QT
*ZODIACHRONOLOGY*
You are right. The Z isn’t going to do or say anything without reason. The button thing is definitely an issue. But I’m not sure I understand the purpose for this picture or why a lapel pin (which looks like a gem lapel pin to me) compares to that of what I call a novelty pin/button ( peace/panther/blubber).
Not sure I get that.
Soze
Imo Z mentioned three things regarding the buttons: The ones he saw on the street, the one (of Belli) he didn’t like and the one he wanted to see (his own). The reason why he didn’t like Belli’s could be crucial information.
QT
*ZODIACHRONOLOGY*
Daniel E. Button was the executive editor of the Albany-Times Union from 1960 until 1966. The Times-Union was the sister newspaper of The Knickerbocker News, where Richard Gaikowski worked. When I was going through the Knick archives, this line in an article by Gaik caught my eye — "But this year Mr. Herzog is going all out, using bumper stickers, billboards, buttons, pamphlets and other gimmicks to get his name before the public in his race to unseat incumbent Republican Representative Daniel E. Button."
Maybe "no nasty ones like Melvin’s" was meant to imply that not any Zodiac button will do, that it should be one where he is presented favourably. Maybe he was thinking that someone would get the idea to mock him by making "Zodiac eats blubber" buttons or something of that nature.
Did The Z first see the button’s that Darlene’s sister Christina was selling for the Miss Firecraker Contest?
http://mk-zodiac.com/070469.html
Zam*
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If Zodiac ever joined a Z forum, I’m sure he would have been banned for not following forum rules. Zam’s/Quote
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MODERATOR
When Z wrote about the buttons, at the time, it made a lot of sense when it hit the newspapers. Z was showing his sense of humor once again. Buttons were everywhere. There were buttons for everything. It wasn’t uncommon to see folks adorned in buttons. It was a huge national fad, impacted the culture in ’69. When Zodiac wrote he didn’t want to see any nasty ones like "Melvin Eats Blubber", again this was Z’s humor. There wasn’t a button that said that. Z took the "Melville Eats Blubber", which only applied to Herman Melville, who wrote Moby Dick, about whales and whales have blubber. So Melville eats blubber. That was the joke. Z took it and spun it further, and took a shot at Belli, who always battled his weight, and changed it to "Melvin Eats Blubber", Z’s shot at Belli for being fat. It was and still is funny. So Z, seeing this real fad said he wanted a button, he felt he had earned a button, they were making them for everyone and everything, and he wanted to see some buttons referring to Z.
Maybe it was Z’s way of reminding us, I’m just like you, I walk among you, I tell you jokes and you laugh with me and I laugh with you. I see the buttons you wear, but you’re not wearing any of mine, and I’ve earned that.
