• quicklime@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    When reminding or teaching the younger community about George H.W. Bush, let us not forget to mention that when the US elected him, it elected the former CIA director to the presidency.

    A supposedly democratic Republic elected its own chief of secret police to lead the executive branch of government. Somehow even at that time most Americans didn’t seem to be aware of that glaring fact, and far fewer have seemed to realize it ever since.

    And then the country went on to elect that guy’s completely unqualified son to the same office less than a generation later. /facepalm

        • quicklime@lemm.ee
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          10 months ago

          I almost decided to mention that earlier/above. I’m not convinced yet that Russ Baker isn’t a little off the deep end overall, but that whole story certainly is a fascinating and disturbing read, as is much of the material on his site.

        • Bernie_Sandals@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Prescott also had business ties with the Nazis as well, iirc. Though it feels like most big businessmen of that era did.

          • gravitas_deficiency
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            10 months ago

            It was profitable, after all. Moreover, institutionalized genocide is as American as Manifest Destiny.

        • Zombiepirate@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Lucky for us, they thought Smedley Butler was the one to lead the US fascist movement but he became “woke” after serving in the military for decades:

          I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.

          • Smedley D. Butler, War is a Racket
    • GladiusB@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Facts in the pre Internet era were vastly held up by word of mouth. It may have been said, but no one paid much attention unless a lot of people kept it going. The Internet has this ability to recall facts now that you would need to go to scholar about or a newspaper and find the exact article that printed that exact fact.

      Early Internet did not have the news everywhere. It has some specialty news and cat facts.