Regarding the value of history: "The chronicle of historical events teaches us --bit by bit-- about civilization, human nature, and its consequences. Imagine two men after a centuries-long journey in time: One was asleep all the way, the other was awake. The latter witnessed every triumph and calamity, learned where beauty flowered and where it died, watched the greatest and most inglorious fights of good against evil. Which would you chose as a leader? As a friend? Which would you rather be, the man who saw everything or the man who saw nothing? Your answer shows why you should study history." ( source: Parade Magazine, 9/11/2022, Marilyn vos Savant).
In the 1930's, Fortune magazine was full of praise for Hitler's Germany, so were Henry Ford and Prescott Bush. The dream of fascism in this nation has never really gone away, but sits, waiting under the surface to sprout.
Ford had car manufacturing in Germany and Henry liked their cartel economic system because it gave business more power than it had in the States. James Mooney of GM, Henry Ford and Prescott Bush all wanted more collusion between government and business, so that business was little regulated. The Bush sponsored coup plot was to install fascism here. It didn't get of the ground, as General Butler stopped it. I'm not sure if the Ford manufacturing before the war was considered as financing the war effort. Hitler and Ford seemed to be buddies though.
I’ve spoken often of George Herbert Walker, the big “W” in the Bush family tree, along with Prescott, financing Hitler and the war for both sides. Money has never cared who wins or losses, they always have a hedge. Smedly Butler certainly was a true hero, stopping the fascist assault on FDR, along with his plethora of other duties in service to this nation. Excellent point Steve!
Our current neoliberal economic system seeks to have even more power and does not seem to be content with our current corporatocracy. They will not rest until all vestiges of the New Deal are destroyed. Their love of fascism means that they could care less about the tenets of the Constitution. Our Founders would be appalled.
Indeed Steve! Jekyll islands meeting of the Uber-wealthy and formation of the Fed plays it’s role as well. We need another Smedly ( not either of the Flynn brothers) more than ever…
I forgot her awful comment! How could I have forgotten? Bc there were so many moments and comments and we (are) like frogs being lowered into that pot. Thank you as always for your important work.
Yes, thank you for sharing these important connections! On September 11, 2001 my oldest child was a second year undergraduate at Columbia and underground in a moving subway train near Columbia (a distance from the World Trade Center) when the train stopped and the lights went out. Some were able to open the doors and walk along the tracks and sides including my son, and then sometime afterwards, the university did it’s best to help the students make contact with their parents.
My youngest child was working in the Freedom Tower as an Americorp worker with the NYC Social Services in 2017/18 locating/assisting homeless households/elderly get their SNAP/WIC funds and was living in Stuyvesant Oval with a ton of roommates as they living like the people they were serving. Anyway, she asked me to come and watch her run her first full Marathon – the Brooklyn Marathon -- which I did and stayed with all of them and since I had my car there and parking was fairly okay I drove her to work everyday to the Freedom Tower that still had so much construction everywhere.
I have never completely believed that the US wasn’t complicit in the attack in someway , it sure became an excuse to spend TRILLIONS in defense with nothing but destruction, death, and despair to show for it …..
The Tonkin Gulf incident was used to galvanize American sentiment to favor our escalation in Vietnam. Many citizens denied that the US would resort to such guile to accomplish their end goal. But it turns out that our leaders did this and the deception was incredibly Machiavellian. The question then becomes, how much further would our elites go to manipulate sentiment? We already know how dirty our CIA was in the Congo, Chile, Panama, etc. That was our true foreign policy and it was well hidden from the American people.
That's not what I said ( that the US would attack itself). No need to get rude on your part. What's with the vulgar attack? That's how you can get yourself banned from this forum.
Do you really know how unethical our foreign policy was in places like the Congo? How we fomented a coup that involved the killing of Patrice Lumumba, their leader? Our support of the quasi-fascist Pinochet in Chile was CIA sponsored. We were not supporting democracy in most of the countries were were manipulating.
Remember when Clinton started a dialogue on the Peace dividend ? Then terrorism magically appeared in the form of the first World Trade Center attack, suddenly we needed to ramp up our massive spending on defense again, at the cost of a decent social safety net, schools, etc, War pays…..
One of my favorites, Ruth. There is a power and depth in your first person prose that is searing. The brief description of the buildings’ collapse, your running 6 miles to your baby ... finding your baby safe and your babysitter waiting there for you, enduring the horrendous uncertainty of her own baby’s safety .... so few words ... truly breath-taking and heart-stopping .... such a rich picture of the tragedy and glory of humanity. Another favorite is your article on play ... which I recommend reading while listening to Yusuf sing “where do the children play?”
I appreciate Ruth's firsthand description of going thru airports in the months/ years following. Her description was so vivid, I could feel it. Grateful for Ruth.
Ruth’s astute historical insight expressed with acute eloquence is an newly opened window letting in a bracing worldly reality.
I, too, was in NY on that ever increasingly fateful day, and her cognizance of its exploitation into profound manifestations of ancient oppressive paradigms is a story that, like so many other historically undeniable ones, is in dire need of chronic reiteration.
Hey, Ruth, am I ever slow? You publish on 9/11/22 the piece you wrote 9/11/21. I would not know what day it is without my devices: alarm clock, phone, computer!
Brilliant Ruth. A reminder for how much has changed since 9.11.01, and how those changes seem to have made a Trump inevitable/possible. “What will happen is a development of what is already happening” wrote Doris Lessing. I am worried...and I will fight.
Imagine a SCOTUS revision of their Al Gore/Bush decision. Would any of the $ made, or senseless murders, needless deaths of so many have happened? I think not!
"Plunder and lawlessness in contrast with courage and selflessness of so many Americans that day." I find a parnell also in that September11, 2017: 'U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans -- U.S. foreign service information management officer Sean Smith and former Navy SEAL commandos Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed during a terrorist attacks on U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya.' (source: Chicago Tribune 9/11/2022).
So let me get this straight ... the GOP attempted to criminalize Benghazi, but it's okay to have massive, months long intelligence leaks (Trump) -- that could result in other American intel tragedies, similar to Benghazi ? The two events don't square for the GOP. Aren't American or allies lives what we protect? ' Leave no man behind. It all doesn't square with their (GOP) values.
[I'm thinking of some issues Anne Nelson had discussed] In the Michigan Governor’s race, polls now have Governor Gretchen Whitmer (Democrat) at a more than 12 percentage point lead over the Trump and DeVos family of West Michigan backed Tudor Dixon (Republican) among likely voters. A major driving force appears to be abortion and women’s rights. Since the overturning of Roe, Whitmer now leads over Dixon among non-college educated voters by 29.8 percentage points. Dixon is an unwavering supporter of the Michigan fundamental abortion ban of 1931, which was suspended by a temporary court injunction. If the abortion ban would be fully restored, it would criminalize abortion with no exceptions and Dixon is against all exceptions to abortion.
Now today Senator Lindsey Graham has just proposed a 15 week “nationwide abortion ban.” The proposal appears to be dividing the Republicans, and Graham is saying, “If we take back the House and the Senate, I can assure you we’ll have a vote on our bill” [….] “If the Democrats are in charge, I don’t know if we’ll ever have a vote on our bill.”
Any thoughts as to possible influences in the mid-term elections in November and possible down ticket races/issues?
I just got home from my late class tonight and checked my email one last time and there was something from the one and only Carole King for the first time ever!!!! She was asking me for more support for the Democrats...........of course I will Carole as I have been doing and will continue to do!!!!
Now will you play your "Been to Canaan" for me? Thank you thank you!
Regarding the value of history: "The chronicle of historical events teaches us --bit by bit-- about civilization, human nature, and its consequences. Imagine two men after a centuries-long journey in time: One was asleep all the way, the other was awake. The latter witnessed every triumph and calamity, learned where beauty flowered and where it died, watched the greatest and most inglorious fights of good against evil. Which would you chose as a leader? As a friend? Which would you rather be, the man who saw everything or the man who saw nothing? Your answer shows why you should study history." ( source: Parade Magazine, 9/11/2022, Marilyn vos Savant).
In the 1930's, Fortune magazine was full of praise for Hitler's Germany, so were Henry Ford and Prescott Bush. The dream of fascism in this nation has never really gone away, but sits, waiting under the surface to sprout.
Curious, those who financed the war effort??
Ford had car manufacturing in Germany and Henry liked their cartel economic system because it gave business more power than it had in the States. James Mooney of GM, Henry Ford and Prescott Bush all wanted more collusion between government and business, so that business was little regulated. The Bush sponsored coup plot was to install fascism here. It didn't get of the ground, as General Butler stopped it. I'm not sure if the Ford manufacturing before the war was considered as financing the war effort. Hitler and Ford seemed to be buddies though.
I’ve spoken often of George Herbert Walker, the big “W” in the Bush family tree, along with Prescott, financing Hitler and the war for both sides. Money has never cared who wins or losses, they always have a hedge. Smedly Butler certainly was a true hero, stopping the fascist assault on FDR, along with his plethora of other duties in service to this nation. Excellent point Steve!
Our current neoliberal economic system seeks to have even more power and does not seem to be content with our current corporatocracy. They will not rest until all vestiges of the New Deal are destroyed. Their love of fascism means that they could care less about the tenets of the Constitution. Our Founders would be appalled.
Indeed Steve! Jekyll islands meeting of the Uber-wealthy and formation of the Fed plays it’s role as well. We need another Smedly ( not either of the Flynn brothers) more than ever…
Love of fascism
I forgot her awful comment! How could I have forgotten? Bc there were so many moments and comments and we (are) like frogs being lowered into that pot. Thank you as always for your important work.
Thanks for reposting Ruth and sharing your personal impact as well as the larger country impacts
Yes, thank you for sharing these important connections! On September 11, 2001 my oldest child was a second year undergraduate at Columbia and underground in a moving subway train near Columbia (a distance from the World Trade Center) when the train stopped and the lights went out. Some were able to open the doors and walk along the tracks and sides including my son, and then sometime afterwards, the university did it’s best to help the students make contact with their parents.
My youngest child was working in the Freedom Tower as an Americorp worker with the NYC Social Services in 2017/18 locating/assisting homeless households/elderly get their SNAP/WIC funds and was living in Stuyvesant Oval with a ton of roommates as they living like the people they were serving. Anyway, she asked me to come and watch her run her first full Marathon – the Brooklyn Marathon -- which I did and stayed with all of them and since I had my car there and parking was fairly okay I drove her to work everyday to the Freedom Tower that still had so much construction everywhere.
I have never completely believed that the US wasn’t complicit in the attack in someway , it sure became an excuse to spend TRILLIONS in defense with nothing but destruction, death, and despair to show for it …..
The US sure used a false excuse to invade Iraq
The Tonkin Gulf incident was used to galvanize American sentiment to favor our escalation in Vietnam. Many citizens denied that the US would resort to such guile to accomplish their end goal. But it turns out that our leaders did this and the deception was incredibly Machiavellian. The question then becomes, how much further would our elites go to manipulate sentiment? We already know how dirty our CIA was in the Congo, Chile, Panama, etc. That was our true foreign policy and it was well hidden from the American people.
That's not what I said ( that the US would attack itself). No need to get rude on your part. What's with the vulgar attack? That's how you can get yourself banned from this forum.
Do you really know how unethical our foreign policy was in places like the Congo? How we fomented a coup that involved the killing of Patrice Lumumba, their leader? Our support of the quasi-fascist Pinochet in Chile was CIA sponsored. We were not supporting democracy in most of the countries were were manipulating.
You are wasting space here with more combative language. Let's take this off line. Give me your email address and we will chat further.
Two sides to this conversation: conspiracy theorists and coincidence theorists…science speaks volumes to NIST nonsense!
Remember when Clinton started a dialogue on the Peace dividend ? Then terrorism magically appeared in the form of the first World Trade Center attack, suddenly we needed to ramp up our massive spending on defense again, at the cost of a decent social safety net, schools, etc, War pays…..
I view it as a possibility , we certainly invaded Iraq under completely made up and false pretenses
Ruth perhaps is the best in the field at saying what she means exactly. It was exploited, is all.
One of my favorites, Ruth. There is a power and depth in your first person prose that is searing. The brief description of the buildings’ collapse, your running 6 miles to your baby ... finding your baby safe and your babysitter waiting there for you, enduring the horrendous uncertainty of her own baby’s safety .... so few words ... truly breath-taking and heart-stopping .... such a rich picture of the tragedy and glory of humanity. Another favorite is your article on play ... which I recommend reading while listening to Yusuf sing “where do the children play?”
I appreciate Ruth's firsthand description of going thru airports in the months/ years following. Her description was so vivid, I could feel it. Grateful for Ruth.
Ruth’s astute historical insight expressed with acute eloquence is an newly opened window letting in a bracing worldly reality.
I, too, was in NY on that ever increasingly fateful day, and her cognizance of its exploitation into profound manifestations of ancient oppressive paradigms is a story that, like so many other historically undeniable ones, is in dire need of chronic reiteration.
"Repetion is our friend.", activist Heather Booth, Demcast zoom call, summer 2022.
Repetition
Hey, Ruth, am I ever slow? You publish on 9/11/22 the piece you wrote 9/11/21. I would not know what day it is without my devices: alarm clock, phone, computer!
Brilliant Ruth. A reminder for how much has changed since 9.11.01, and how those changes seem to have made a Trump inevitable/possible. “What will happen is a development of what is already happening” wrote Doris Lessing. I am worried...and I will fight.
Imagine a SCOTUS revision of their Al Gore/Bush decision. Would any of the $ made, or senseless murders, needless deaths of so many have happened? I think not!
Excellent piece Ruth, thank you!
"Plunder and lawlessness in contrast with courage and selflessness of so many Americans that day." I find a parnell also in that September11, 2017: 'U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans -- U.S. foreign service information management officer Sean Smith and former Navy SEAL commandos Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty were killed during a terrorist attacks on U.S. compounds in Benghazi, Libya.' (source: Chicago Tribune 9/11/2022).
So let me get this straight ... the GOP attempted to criminalize Benghazi, but it's okay to have massive, months long intelligence leaks (Trump) -- that could result in other American intel tragedies, similar to Benghazi ? The two events don't square for the GOP. Aren't American or allies lives what we protect? ' Leave no man behind. It all doesn't square with their (GOP) values.
Please be nice all, we are on the same side for democracy. Stressful times and thoughts for sure, myself included.
[I'm thinking of some issues Anne Nelson had discussed] In the Michigan Governor’s race, polls now have Governor Gretchen Whitmer (Democrat) at a more than 12 percentage point lead over the Trump and DeVos family of West Michigan backed Tudor Dixon (Republican) among likely voters. A major driving force appears to be abortion and women’s rights. Since the overturning of Roe, Whitmer now leads over Dixon among non-college educated voters by 29.8 percentage points. Dixon is an unwavering supporter of the Michigan fundamental abortion ban of 1931, which was suspended by a temporary court injunction. If the abortion ban would be fully restored, it would criminalize abortion with no exceptions and Dixon is against all exceptions to abortion.
Now today Senator Lindsey Graham has just proposed a 15 week “nationwide abortion ban.” The proposal appears to be dividing the Republicans, and Graham is saying, “If we take back the House and the Senate, I can assure you we’ll have a vote on our bill” [….] “If the Democrats are in charge, I don’t know if we’ll ever have a vote on our bill.”
Any thoughts as to possible influences in the mid-term elections in November and possible down ticket races/issues?
I just got home from my late class tonight and checked my email one last time and there was something from the one and only Carole King for the first time ever!!!! She was asking me for more support for the Democrats...........of course I will Carole as I have been doing and will continue to do!!!!
Now will you play your "Been to Canaan" for me? Thank you thank you!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxSmsGJ1b28&list=RDdxSmsGJ1b28&start_radio=1&rv=dxSmsGJ1b28&t=2