Thursday, July 16, 2015

America’s Dark History Revealed


When we think of propaganda, we see in our mind’s eye bespectacled minions in dark offices cranking out screeds extolling the virtues of the fatherland. But propaganda comes in many forms. In America, it’s not necessarily the government churning out historical fairy tales of our exceptionalism, although that certainly happens, but the industrial/military/media complex, whose CEOs and presidents and generals have a vested interest in keeping the masses quiet, content and complacent.

So our American history books and movies and television series all tell a nice little story of a powerful democracy that fights for freedom and justice. We are the guys in the white hats who oppose tyranny and oppression wherever it raises its ugly head around the globe. We are even blessed by the almighty, who made us the bestus country on the whole gosh darn planet.

That’s the propaganda. As is always the case, reality is quite different, and much darker. I recently watched the video, “JFK to 9/11 A Rich Man’s Trick,” and while it has its flaws, it offers a compelling alternative history of the twentieth century that you won’t find in textbooks or see on PBS.

America has been an oligarchy since the very beginning of the Industrial Revolution well over 100 years ago. As the first railroad tracks were laid, the first oil wells tapped, the first automobiles built, a small cabal of ultra wealthy men in America have used the government to make themselves and their families richer. Our government has been controlled by the one percent for over a century. It is only because of the Internet that ordinary folks have been able to get a peek behind the curtain separating the elite from the rest of us.

Let’s take a look at just a few historical realities that have been left out of the official narrative of America.

The Attempted Coup: Feeling threatened by the policies of FDR in the 1930s, a group made up of some of America’s richest men, including Prescott Bush, George W. Bush’s grandfather, planned an armed coup against the Roosevelt administration. They wanted to build an army and take over the government by force. These were all men who openly admired and were doing business with Hitler, and their new U.S. government would be a fascist dictatorship.  It failed only because of one man, the general they chose to lead their rebel army. That courageous soldier blew the whistle on this group of traitors, and the plan evaporated. But guess what? No one was arrested. Not one person served a day in prison for actively plotting to overthrow the U.S. government.

Allegiance to Fascism: In the 1930s and 1940s, our titans of industry had no problems doing business with Hitler, and in fact admired his blooming fascist state. They admired it so much, some of them kept doing business with Hitler throughout World War II. Many of Germany’s troop trucks, the trucks that brought Nazi soldiers to the battlefield, were powered by Ford engines. American made parts were used in German tanks and artillery. Hitler was so pleased by the support from our elites, he gave Henry Ford the most prestigious award the German government could give to a civilian.

In Bed with the Mafia: Since the end of World War II, the CIA and the Mafia have worked hand in glove as both drug and gun runners. Money made from these illegal endeavors was used by the CIA to instigate violence around the globe, which resulted in the sales of even more American-made weapons. The mob and the CIA were also deeply involved in the assassination of JFK.

Creating the Propaganda Machine: In the wake of the JFK assassination in the 1960s, many people began to question the conclusions of the Warren Report. To counter this growing criticism, the CIA began buying media outlets — newspapers, television and radio stations, Hollywood studios — and recruiting prominent members of the news and entertainment industries. A new era of disinformation and suppression of information began.

So that’s our history lesson for today. I need a shower.

No comments: