BBC Link http://tinyurl.com/2cc7af
http://harpers.org/archive/2007/07/hbc-90000651
July 28, 2007
Harper's
www.harpers.org
1934: The Plot Against America
By Scott Horton
I'm back from the land of heather and thistles, not to mention
wee drams and lukewarm ale, but on my way out a friend at the BBC
alerted me to this http://tinyurl.com/2cc7af a not-to-miss program
on the BBC this morning, accessible over the next several days by
internet. It's the story of the Plot Against America. I don't mean
the Philip Roth novel, nor even the Sinclair Lewis book, It Can't
Happen Here, but rather the historical events upon which these two
works of fiction were based.
In November 1934, federal investigators uncovered an amazing plot
involving some two dozen senior businessmen, a good many of them Wall
Street financiers, to topple the government of the United States and
install a fascist dictatorship. Roth's novel is developed from several
strands of this factual account; he assumed the plot is actually carried
out, whereas in fact an alert FDR shut it down but stopped short of
retaliatory measures against the plotters. A key element of the plot
involved a retired prominent general who was to have raised a private
army of 500,000 men from unemployed veterans and who blew the whistle
when he learned more of what the plot entailed. The plot was heavily
funded and well developed and had strong links with fascist forces
abroad. A story in the New York Times and several other newspapers
reported on it, and a special Congressional committee was created to
conduct an investigation. The records of this committee were scrubbed
and sealed away in the National Archives, where they have only recently
been made available.
The Congressional committee kept the names of many of the participants
under wraps and no criminal action was ever brought against them. But a
few names have leaked out. And one is Prescott Bush, the grandfather of
the incumbent president. Prescott Bush was of course deep into the business
of the Hamburg-America Lines, and had tight relations throughout this
period with the new Government that had come to power in Germany a year
earlier under Chancellor Aldoph Hitler. It appears that Bush was to have
formed a key liaison for the group with the new German government.
Prescott Bush, of course, went on to service as a U.S. Senator from
Connecticut, and his son, George H.W. Bush emerged from World War II
as a hero.
The Plot Against America portrayed in this episode of the BBC series
"Document" gives fascinating insight into a dark and little known piece
of American history in which the nation stood on the brink of betrayal.
The role of the most powerful political dynastic family in the nation's
history in this whole affair is shocking.
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| User: "John Lemke" |
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| Title: Re: The Plot Against America |
04 Aug 2007 07:51:13 AM |
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On Aug 1, 8:32 pm, Perseid <eidp...@anti-spam.comcast.net> wrote:
BBC Linkhttp://tinyurl.com/2cc7af
http://harpers.org/archive/2007/07/hbc-90000651
July 28, 2007
Harper'swww.harpers.org
1934: The Plot Against America
By Scott Horton
<snip>
In November 1934, federal investigators uncovered an amazing plot
involving some two dozen senior businessmen, a good many of them Wall
Street financiers, to topple the government of the United States and
install a fascist dictatorship. Roth's novel is developed from several
strands of this factual account; he assumed the plot is actually carried
out, whereas in fact an alert FDR shut it down but stopped short of
retaliatory measures against the plotters. A key element of the plot
involved a retired prominent general who was to have raised a private
army of 500,000 men from unemployed veterans and who blew the whistle
when he learned more of what the plot entailed.
<snip>
That general would be Smedley Butler, U.S. Marine Corp, winner of two
Medals of Honor.
The Business Plot:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot
You know, the American people will swallow that. We have got the
newspapers. We will start a campaign that the President's health is
failing. Everybody can tell that by looking at him, and the dumb
American people will fall for it in a second." Archer, Jules (1973), p
Smedley Butler
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler
Smedley Butler's "War Is A Racket"
http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/articles/warisaracket.htm
This is partly how General Butler spent his retirement
The Congressional committee kept the names of many of the participants
under wraps and no criminal action was ever brought against them. But a
few names have leaked out. And one is Prescott Bush, the grandfather of
the incumbent president. Prescott Bush was of course deep into the business
of the Hamburg-America Lines, and had tight relations throughout this
period with the new Government that had come to power in Germany a year
earlier under Chancellor Aldoph Hitler. It appears that Bush was to have
formed a key liaison for the group with the new German government.
Prescott Bush, of course, went on to service as a U.S. Senator from
Connecticut, and his son, George H.W. Bush emerged from World War II
as a hero.
Yes, isn't it interesting how the Bush Family has furthered Grandpa's
aims by working "within" the system. :-)
Nice post, Randy.
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