Author Topic: But, but, there is no such thing as cabals and conspiracies, right!!??!?  (Read 735 times)

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Brassmask

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot

he Business Plot, The Plot Against FDR, or The White House Putsch, was a conspiracy involving several wealthy businessmen to overthrow the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.

Purported details of the matter came to light when retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler testified before a Congressional committee that a group of men had attempted to recruit him to serve as the leader of a plot and to assume and wield power once the coup was successful. Butler testified before the McCormack-Dickstein Committee in 1934 [1]. In his testimony, Butler claimed that a group of several men had approached him as part of a plot to overthrow Roosevelt in a military coup. One of the alleged plotters, Gerald MacGuire, vehemently denied any such plot. In their final report, the Congressional committee supported Butler's allegations on the existence of the plot,[2] but no prosecutions or further investigations followed, and the matter was mostly forgotten.

General Butler claimed that the American Liberty League was the primary means of funding the plot. The main backers were the Du Pont family, as well as leaders of U.S. Steel, General Motors, Standard Oil, Chase National Bank, and Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. A BBC documentary claims Prescott Bush, father and grandfather to the 41st and 43rd US Presidents respectively, was also connected.[3]

Universe Prince

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Re: But, but, there is no such thing as cabals and conspiracies, right!!??!?
« Reply #1 on: September 26, 2007, 12:12:25 AM »
Quote

But, but, there is no such thing as cabals and conspiracies, right!!??!?


There are, but likely this isn't anything near to what you're apparently trying to make it out to be. From the same Wikipedia page:

      Historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.: "Most people agreed with Mayor La Guardia of New York in dismissing it as a "cocktail putsch[18]... As for the House committee, headed by John McCormack of Massachusetts, it declared itself "able to verify all the pertinent statements made by General Butler" except for MacGuire's direct proposal to him, and it considered this more or less confirmed by MacGuire's European reports. No doubt MacGuire did have some wild scheme in mind, though the gap between contemplation and execution was considerable and it can hardly be supposed that the republic was in much danger."      

And:

      Historian James E. Sargent reviewing "The Plot to Seize the White House" by Jules Archer: "Thus, Butler (and Archer) assumed that the existence of a financially backed plot meant that fascism was imminent and that the planners represented a wide spread and coherent group, having both the intent and the capacity to execute their ideas. So when his testimony was criticized and even ridiculed in the media and ignored in Washington, Butler saw (and Archer sees) conspiracy everywhere. Instead, it is plausible to conclude that the honest and straightforward, but intellectually and politically unsophisticated, Butler perceived in simplistic terms what were in fact complex trends and events. Thus he leaped to the simplistic conclusion that the President and the Republic were in mortal danger. In essence, Archer swallowed his hero whole."      

But hey, as long as we can keep people occupied with wild goose chases and snipe hunts, who cares? Right!!??!? Oops, sorry. I mean, ... who cares? Right? Say, Brass, have you found that bag of f-stops yet?
Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever.
--Hieronymus Karl Frederick Baron von Munchausen ("The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" [1988])--

Brassmask

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Universe Prince

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Re: But, but, there is no such thing as cabals and conspiracies, right!!??!?
« Reply #3 on: September 26, 2007, 12:52:24 AM »
I like this description of the show: "A documentary on the business plot of 1932, in which a group of private financiers sought to depose FDR and impose a fascist government in the UNited [sic] States." It's so naive.

But I have to ask, what, exactly, do you think this proves? I like the History Channel and all, but that they have a show about something doesn't mean the show is accurate, objective, or even the complete truth.
Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever.
--Hieronymus Karl Frederick Baron von Munchausen ("The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" [1988])--