In Case You Missed It, BBC Audio On 1933 Facist Coup Plot Against FDR

[WillyT]

<snip>

Document uncovers details of a planned coup in the USA in 1933 by right-wing American businessmen.

The coup was aimed at toppling President Franklin D Roosevelt with the help of half-a-million war veterans. The plotters, who were alleged to involve some of the most famous families in America, (owners of Heinz, Birds Eye, Goodtea, Maxwell Hse & George Bush’s Grandfather, Prescott) believed that their country should adopt the policies of Hitler and Mussolini to beat the great depression.

<snip>

Link with audio (Real Player): http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/document/document_20070723.shtml

Excellent radio presentation!!!

Must Hear!

:hi:

[BushOut06]

1. K&R - we are so fortunate

Things could have very easily been very different nowadays. Most people aren't aware of just how prevalent pro-Nazi support was in this country. I think many people have heard about Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh, but I don't think many people realize just how many "ordinary" Americans were sympathetic towards Germany.

[mod mom]

2. didn't miss it but kicking for those who might have-MUST HEAR!

[WillyT]

3. And Everything Old Is New Again !!!

<snip>

The plot was eventually revealed by General Major Smedley Butler (the most decorated Marine in U.S. history), who had been asked to be a part of the plot because of his ability to draw military men behind him. Believing that the plot was nearing an advanced stage, he decided to break his silence. According to his testimony, the plotters formed a lobby group called the “American Liberty League” and it would champion the US Constitution and stand up for the US troops in order to gain popular support, but it would ramp up the rhetoric in order to legitimize the coup. One of the lead supporters of the American Liberty League writing in his magazine, Affairs:

Popular government is a perilous extravagance in time of emergency. The present situation is more destructive than war, and much more difficult for a popular government to handle. It is quite apparent that unless confusion is to become chaos, Congress, like a long line of unfit rulers in the past, should abdicate.

<snip>

Link: http://www.empiresofsteel.com/devdiary/

American Liberty League, meet NeoCons, NeoCons, meet American Liberty League.

:mad:

[WillyT]

4. American Liberty League

American Liberty League

On 15 August 1934, after the onset of strikes that would last until 1938, the American Liberty League, funded largely by the Duponts and their corporate allies, was chartered in Washington. In its six years of existence, the Liberty League fought New Deal labor and social legislation, rallied support for the conservative-dominated Supreme Court, and sought to build a bipartisan conservative coalition to defeat the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration and the trade union movement.

The Liberty League called upon businessmen to defy the National Labor Relations Act, hoping the Supreme Court would declare it unconstitutional, and led "educational campaigns" against social security, unemployment insurance, minimum wages, and other New Deal policies. After the New Deal's great victory in 1936, the Liberty League adopted a lower profile. Earlier, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in attacking the "economic loyalists," who were so visible in the leadership of the Liberty League, mocked the league's definition of "liberty" in his last speech of the 1936 presidential campaign, retelling a story, attributed to Abraham Lincoln, of a wolf, removed by a shepherd from the neck of a lamb, denouncing the shepherd for taking away its liberty. The league formally dissolved in September 1940.

Its influence on conservative politics in the United States was large. In the aftermath of the 1938 elections, conservative Democrats and Republicans in Congress stalemated New Deal legislation, using Liberty League themes of opposition to government spending, taxation, and communist influence in the administration and the labor movement to gain support. The Liberty League supported the early activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee and the National Lawyers Committee. The league's attempt to recruit and fund conservative scholarship and university forums on public policy issues prefigured the creation of corporate-funded conservative "Think Tanks."

The issues raised by the Liberty League in the 1930s remain unresolved, as does its role in history. For those who see "big government," the regulation and taxation of business, and the redistribution of wealth to lower income groups as absolute evils, it has been vindicated by history and is posthumously triumphant. For those who see government as a shepherd or steward seeking to prevent society from reverting to a socioeconomic jungle where the strong devour the weak, it stands condemned as the champion of "free market" policies that today promote economic instability and social injustice, both in the United States and the world.

Link: http://www.answers.com/topic/american-liberty-league

Yep...

[David__77]

5. That would have spelled the end of the US republic.

I don't think the fascists could have really consolidated their power, and I think that a more progressive republic would have emerged ultimately had this coup succeeded. It really does boil down to right vs. left - fascism vs. humanism - barbarism vs. progress.

[redacted]

6. Thanks Willy

Playing clip right now

[Swamp Rat]

7. Listening now.

Thanks! :hi:

[WillyT]

11. Anytime My Man !!!

:bounce::hi::bounce:

[AX10]

8. K & R!

I'll bookmark the link too.
The Bush's are an evil family.

[Bluebear]

9. 'Tinfoil alert! You're making DU look bad!'

:sarcasm:

[WillyT]

10. Oh Hell... I Did THAT A Long Time Ago !!!

:evilgrin:

[Tom Joad]

12. Mrs. John Kerry's grandfather or great-grandfather? and no,

i don't mean that as a slight against Kerry or the Mrs, they weren't around then to dissuade the old guy. maybe just to point out the irony. and maybe the Heinz person referred to is not related to Teresa Heinz Kerry... i don't know

[Pyrzqxgl]

13. Only by the fact that her first husband was a Heinz.

On the other hand Bushies gran pappy was a buddy of Fascists if not one himself. Pretty heavy stuff here.
No mention of Dug out Doug MacArthur. The man who FDR called "The most dangerous man in America"
in the early 30's when he was Chairman of the Joint Chief's of Staff. FDR had him shipped off to the Philippines
by that time I guess.

[Tom Joad]

14. I wouldn't hold this against bush, except we can clearly see that he

has adopted many of the same values as his grandpa.

[eleny]

15. They call BBC Radio4 "Intelligent speech"

It sure is. I mostly listen to the radio plays. But from history to gardening, I love it.

[WillyT]

16. Kick !!!

:kick:

[Jemmons]

17. Wow - just wow! n/t

[proud patriot]

18. I'm listening now

:hi:

[WillyT]

19. Hey You !!!

:bounce::hi::bounce: