lewrockwell--2020-04-02--Putchists in the Shadow of the Coronavirus

While the public ’ s eyes are riveted on the progression of coronavirus numbers , a profound reorganization of the executive is taking place , giving primacy to senior health officials over policy .
In the shadows , bankers and soldiers are agitating in the hope of confiscating power for their own benefit .
The primacy of administrative logic over political logic Many governments in industrialized countries decided to respond to the Covid-19 epidemic by confining their populations .
This strategy does not stem from medicine , which has never practised isolation of healthy people , but from good management @ @ @ @ @ @ @ influx of sick people so as not to clog hospitals .
Few industrialized countries , such as Sweden , have rejected this administrative approach to the epidemic .
They have opted for a medical approach and therefore do not practise generalised containment .
9/11 : The Big Lie Thierry Meyssan Best Price : $ 3.97 Buy New $ 76.90 The first lesson of the current period is therefore that in developed countries , administrative logic is now superior to medical experience .
Yet even without medical expertise , I have no doubt that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effective against a disease than bureaucratic recipes .
Incidentally , if we continue to observe the current phenomenon , we can see that , at the moment , Sweden has 10 deaths per million inhabitants , while Italy mourns 166 per million .
Of course , this is only the beginning of the epidemic and these two countries are very different .
However , Italy will probably have to deal with a second and then a third wave of infection , while Sweden will have acquired group immunity and will be protected from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ officials over the elected representatives of the people This being said , the widespread containment of capital goods not only disrupts the economy , but also modes of government .
Almost everywhere , we see the word of politicians fading in the face of that of senior health officials , who are supposed to be more effective than they are .
This makes sense because the decision to contain is purely administrative .
We have collectively agreed to fight for our hospitals and to prevent disease , not to fight it .
Unfortunately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to appearances , we have not become more efficient .
For example , the Member States of the European Union have not been able to provide the necessary medical equipment and medicines in good time .
This is the fault of the usual rules .
For example : economic globalisation has resulted in there being only one manufacturer of artificial respirators , and it is Chinese .
Tendering procedures take several months before they are available , and policies are no longer in place to override these procedures .
Only the United States @ @ @ @ @ @ @ immediately through company requisitions .
France , which during the Second World War , under Philippe Pétain , experienced an administrative dictatorship known as the “ French State ” , has already experienced a political takeover by senior civil servants over the past three decades .
We then spoke of ENArchie .
Identically and without her being aware of it , she deprived politicians of the knowledge of the administration that the accumulation of local and national mandates conferred on them .
From now on , elected officials are less well informed than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ trouble in the world to control them .
The Secret Team : The C ... L. Fletcher Prouty Best Price : $ 11.58 Buy New $ 11.87 Just as senior health officials suddenly find themselves vested with an authority that does not normally belong to them , so bankers and the military aspire to the same promotion at the expense of politicians .
The former Chancellor of the Exchequer ( Minister of Finance ) , then British Prime Minister , Gordon Brown , published an op-ed in the Financial Times [ 1 ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fear of Covid-19 to achieve what failed during the financial crisis of 2008 .
At the time , he had failed to create a global financial government and had to settle for mere consultation with the G20 .
It would be possible today , he continued , to create a global health government .
And to consider which powers should be associated with the permanent members of the Security Council .
There is no reason to believe that this global government would be more successful than national governments .
The only thing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ escape any form of democratic control .
This project is no more likely to succeed than that of the world financial government .
Gordon Brown was also a staunch supporter of keeping the United Kingdom in the European Union .
Again , he lost .
The deep US state lurks in the shadows Historically , in all crises , attempts are made to use the argument of “ urgency ” to change Power without the public having time to think , and often this is successful .
On January 30 , 2020 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ public health emergency of international concern ” .
The next day , Secretary of Defense Mark Esper secretly signed a Warning Order stating that NorthCom was to stand ready for possible application of the new “ Continuity of Government ” rules .
Fauci : The Bernie Mado ... Ortleb , Charles Buy New $ 5.99 These rules are classified Above-Top Secret , meaning that communication is restricted to persons with the highest level of clearance and with a Special Access Program ( SAP ) .
It should be remembered that the principle of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the beginning of the Cold War .
It was designed to protect the United States in the event of a nuclear war against the Soviet Union and the death or incapacity of the President , Vice President , and Speaker of the House of Representatives .
According to a written directive from President Dwight Eisenhower , a replacement military government was to provide immediate continuity of command during the war until democratic procedures were restored [ 2 ] .
This replacement government was never requested , except on September 11 , 2001 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Richard Clarke [ 3 ] However , if the country was undergoing a terrible attack , neither the President , the Vice-President nor the Speaker of the House of Representatives had died or been prevented from doing so , which led me to conclude that it was a coup d ’ état .
In any case , President George Bush Jr. regained his prerogatives the same day in the evening and no explanation was ever given of what happened during the ten hours of suspension of his authority [ 4 ] .
According @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Arkin , in Newsweek [ 5 ] , there are now seven separate plans : Rescue & Evacuation of the Occupants of the Executive Mansion ( RESEM ) to protect the President , the Vice President and their families .
Joint Emergency Evacuation Plan ( JEEP ) to protect the Secretary of Defense and key military leaders .
Atlas Plan to protect members of Congress and the Supreme Court .
Octagon , about which nothing is known .
Freejack , also unknown .
Zodiac , still unknown .
Granite Shadow , which provides @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Washington and stipulates the conditions for the use of force and the passage of places under military authority [ 6 ] .
Note that RESEM is intended to protect the president and vice-president , but can only be applied once they are dead or incapacitated .
In any event , the implementation of these seven plans would be the responsibility of the United States Military Command for North America ( NorthCom ) under the responsibility of an illustrious unknown , General Terrence J. O ’ Shaughnessy .
It should be remembered that under @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to become the dictator of the United States only in the event of the death or incapacity of the three principal elected officials of the federal state , but in practice , his predecessor , General Ralph Eberhart , has sometimes exercised this power without this condition being met .
Eberhart , now 73 years old , is the head of the major US military avionics companies .
General O ’ Shaughnessy told the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 13 that NorthCom was preparing for the worst .
To this end , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ten other US Central Commands for the World [ 7 ] .
NorthCom has authority not only over the United States , but also over Canada , Mexico and the Bahamas .
Under international agreements , it can , on its own initiative , deploy US troops to these three countries .
In 2016 , President Barack Obama signed the top-secret Presidential Policy Directive 40 on “ National Continuity Policy ” .
FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate signed Federal Continuity Directive 1 two days before President Donald Trump took office , specifying some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They ’ ve thought of everything , and are prepared for the worst .
The outbreak provides them with the motive to act .
So the questions asked by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian about a possible deliberate release of the virus by the US military make sense .
[ 1 ] “ End the dog-eat-dog mentality to tackle the crisis ” , Gordon Brown , Financial Times ( UK ) , Voltaire Network , March 26 , 2020 .
[ 2 ] Continuity of Government : Current Federal Arrangements and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Research Service , August 5 , 2005 .
[ 3 ] Against All Enemies : Inside America ’ s War on Terror , Richard Clarke , Free Press ( 2004 ) .
[ 4 ] A Pretext for War : 9/11 , Iraq , and the Abuse of America ’ s Intelligence Agencies , James Bamfort , Anchor Books ( 2005 ) .
[ 5 ] “ Exclusive : Inside The Military ’ s Top Secret Plans If Coronavirus Cripples the Government ” , William M. Arkin , Newsweek , March 18 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Secret Pentagon Operation “ Granite Shadow ” revealed .
Today in DC : Commandos in the Streets ?
” , William Arkin , Washington Post , September 25 , 2005 .
[ 7 ] Hearing to receive testimony on United States Northern Command and United States Strategic Command in review of the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2021 and the future years Defense Program , Senate Committe on Armed Service , February 13 , 2020 .
The Best of Thierry Meyssan

While the public’s eyes are riveted on the progression of coronavirus numbers, a profound reorganization of the executive is taking place, giving primacy to senior health officials over policy. In the shadows, bankers and soldiers are agitating in the hope of confiscating power for their own benefit.
The primacy of administrative logic over political logic
Many governments in industrialized countries decided to respond to the Covid-19 epidemic by confining their populations. This strategy does not stem from medicine, which has never practised isolation of healthy people, but from good management of medical resources to prevent a massive influx of sick people so as not to clog hospitals. Few industrialized countries, such as Sweden, have rejected this administrative approach to the epidemic. They have opted for a medical approach and therefore do not practise generalised containment.
9/11: The Big Lie Thierry Meyssan Best Price: $3.97 Buy New $76.90 (as of 11:40 UTC - Details) The first lesson of the current period is therefore that in developed countries, administrative logic is now superior to medical experience.
Yet even without medical expertise, I have no doubt that millennia of medical experience can be more effective against a disease than bureaucratic recipes. Incidentally, if we continue to observe the current phenomenon, we can see that, at the moment, Sweden has 10 deaths per million inhabitants, while Italy mourns 166 per million. Of course, this is only the beginning of the epidemic and these two countries are very different. However, Italy will probably have to deal with a second and then a third wave of infection, while Sweden will have acquired group immunity and will be protected from it.
The primacy of senior health officials over the elected representatives of the people
This being said, the widespread containment of capital goods not only disrupts the economy, but also modes of government. Almost everywhere, we see the word of politicians fading in the face of that of senior health officials, who are supposed to be more effective than they are. This makes sense because the decision to contain is purely administrative. We have collectively agreed to fight for our hospitals and to prevent disease, not to fight it.
Unfortunately, everyone can see that, contrary to appearances, we have not become more efficient. For example, the Member States of the European Union have not been able to provide the necessary medical equipment and medicines in good time. This is the fault of the usual rules. For example: economic globalisation has resulted in there being only one manufacturer of artificial respirators, and it is Chinese. Tendering procedures take several months before they are available, and policies are no longer in place to override these procedures. Only the United States has been able to solve this problem immediately through company requisitions.
France, which during the Second World War, under Philippe Pétain, experienced an administrative dictatorship known as the “French State”, has already experienced a political takeover by senior civil servants over the past three decades. We then spoke of ENArchie. Identically and without her being aware of it, she deprived politicians of the knowledge of the administration that the accumulation of local and national mandates conferred on them. From now on, elected officials are less well informed than senior civil servants and have all the trouble in the world to control them. The Secret Team: The C... L. Fletcher Prouty Best Price: $11.58 Buy New $11.87 (as of 06:10 UTC - Details)
Just as senior health officials suddenly find themselves vested with an authority that does not normally belong to them, so bankers and the military aspire to the same promotion at the expense of politicians.
Bankers lurking in the shadows
The former Chancellor of the Exchequer (Minister of Finance), then British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, published an op-ed in the Financial Times [1] In it, he argues for using the fear of Covid-19 to achieve what failed during the financial crisis of 2008. At the time, he had failed to create a global financial government and had to settle for mere consultation with the G20. It would be possible today, he continued, to create a global health government. And to consider which powers should be associated with the permanent members of the Security Council.
There is no reason to believe that this global government would be more successful than national governments. The only thing that is certain is that it would escape any form of democratic control.
This project is no more likely to succeed than that of the world financial government. Gordon Brown was also a staunch supporter of keeping the United Kingdom in the European Union. Again, he lost.
The deep US state lurks in the shadows
Historically, in all crises, attempts are made to use the argument of “urgency” to change Power without the public having time to think, and often this is successful.
On January 30, 2020, the WHO declared a “state of public health emergency of international concern”. The next day, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper secretly signed a Warning Order stating that NorthCom was to stand ready for possible application of the new “Continuity of Government” rules. Fauci: The Bernie Mado... Ortleb, Charles Buy New $5.99 (as of 02:55 UTC - Details)
These rules are classified Above-Top Secret, meaning that communication is restricted to persons with the highest level of clearance and with a Special Access Program (SAP).
It should be remembered that the principle of “continuity of government” was forged at the beginning of the Cold War. It was designed to protect the United States in the event of a nuclear war against the Soviet Union and the death or incapacity of the President, Vice President, and Speaker of the House of Representatives. According to a written directive from President Dwight Eisenhower, a replacement military government was to provide immediate continuity of command during the war until democratic procedures were restored [2].
This replacement government was never requested, except on September 11, 2001, by the National Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, Richard Clarke [3] However, if the country was undergoing a terrible attack, neither the President, the Vice-President nor the Speaker of the House of Representatives had died or been prevented from doing so, which led me to conclude that it was a coup d’état. In any case, President George Bush Jr. regained his prerogatives the same day in the evening and no explanation was ever given of what happened during the ten hours of suspension of his authority [4].
According to the best Pentagon expert, William Arkin, in Newsweek [5], there are now seven separate plans:
Rescue & Evacuation of the Occupants of the Executive Mansion (RESEM) to protect the President, the Vice President and their families.
Joint Emergency Evacuation Plan (JEEP) to protect the Secretary of Defense and key military leaders.
Atlas Plan to protect members of Congress and the Supreme Court.
Octagon, about which nothing is known.
Freejack, also unknown.
Zodiac, still unknown.
Granite Shadow, which provides for the deployment of special units in Washington and stipulates the conditions for the use of force and the passage of places under military authority [6].
Note that RESEM is intended to protect the president and vice-president, but can only be applied once they are dead or incapacitated.
In any event, the implementation of these seven plans would be the responsibility of the United States Military Command for North America (NorthCom) under the responsibility of an illustrious unknown, General Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy.
It should be remembered that under US law, this man is required to become the dictator of the United States only in the event of the death or incapacity of the three principal elected officials of the federal state, but in practice, his predecessor, General Ralph Eberhart, has sometimes exercised this power without this condition being met. Eberhart, now 73 years old, is the head of the major US military avionics companies.
General O’Shaughnessy told the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 13 that NorthCom was preparing for the worst. To this end, it liaises on a daily basis with the ten other US Central Commands for the World [7].
NorthCom has authority not only over the United States, but also over Canada, Mexico and the Bahamas. Under international agreements, it can, on its own initiative, deploy US troops to these three countries.
In 2016, President Barack Obama signed the top-secret Presidential Policy Directive 40 on “National Continuity Policy”. FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate signed Federal Continuity Directive 1 two days before President Donald Trump took office, specifying some of the details at lower levels.
They’ve thought of everything, and are prepared for the worst. The outbreak provides them with the motive to act. So the questions asked by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian about a possible deliberate release of the virus by the US military make sense.
—
[1] “End the dog-eat-dog mentality to tackle the crisis”, Gordon Brown, Financial Times (UK), Voltaire Network, March 26, 2020.
[2] Continuity of Government: Current Federal Arrangements and the Future, Harold C. Relyea, Congresionnal Research Service, August 5, 2005.
[3] Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror, Richard Clarke, Free Press (2004).
[4] A Pretext for War: 9/11, Iraq, and the Abuse of America’s Intelligence Agencies, James Bamfort, Anchor Books (2005).
[5] “Exclusive: Inside The Military’s Top Secret Plans If Coronavirus Cripples the Government”, William M. Arkin, Newsweek, March 18, 2020.
[6] “Top Secret Pentagon Operation “Granite Shadow” revealed. Today in DC: Commandos in the Streets?”, William Arkin, Washington Post, September 25, 2005.
[7] Hearing to receive testimony on United States Northern Command and United States Strategic Command in review of the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2021 and the future years Defense Program, Senate Committe on Armed Service, February 13, 2020.
The Best of Thierry Meyssan


lewrockwell--2020-04-02--No March on Rome, Even

No March on Rome, Even

The country is under slow-motion house arrest on the now-limitless authority of people who didn ’ t even have to march on Rome to snatch it .
Because we gave it to them .
The Corona Cows , at any rate – who are willing to mosey down any chute , as directed .
Moo !
Mooooooo !
It is the Universal Reason for Everything now .
No work , no job , no money – no movement , even .
Unless you are “ essential ” – which of course almost of all of us who aren ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ defined by government workers .
It ’ s a nice business to have the power to decree yourself “ essential ” – and immune from the life-ending restrictions imposed at gunpoint on the Corona Cows .
Maybe we should stop being cows .
The way is easy .
Stop being cowed .
Take a stand .
Go outside – and go for a drive , even if you don ’ t need groceries and are not “ essential ” in the eyes of the New Mussolinis .
Automotive Atrocities : ... Peters , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New $ 14.95 Is this risky ?
Certainly .
The question is , it necessary ?
And – are we pussies ?
I grow weary of hearing how “ brave ” Americans are because I see little evidence of it .
Whereas I see endless examples of American slavishness .
A willingness to accept anything on the basis of nothing – or very little .
A bug that has killed a few thousand people .
That ’ s serious .
But the response has been ridiculous .
But , entirely predictable if you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has been under assault for decades .
It was just a month or so ago that I wrote about the absurdity of soaking down the roads with liquid brine in case it might snow .
Not because it was actually snowing .
The slightest possibility – and roll the trucks .
U & M Bling Bling Auto S ... Buy New $ 12.99 Because you can ’ t be too saaaaaaaafe !
It ’ s merely one of many examples of a country effeminized – and paralyzed .
By fear .
Dread of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ meekly accept force-stops by armed government workers and produce our “ papers.
” Not because we ’ ve done anything but because someone might have .
Not because we ’ ve done anything but because someone might have .
This was before Corona Fever struck .
Grown men told they must “ buckle up ” for saaaaaafety – or else be hit with electric cattle prods ( no coincidence ) dragged out of their vehicle and possibly shot .
The Best of Eric Peters

The country is under slow-motion house arrest on the now-limitless authority of people who didn’t even have to march on Rome to snatch it.
Because we gave it to them. The Corona Cows, at any rate – who are willing to mosey down any chute, as directed. Moo! Mooooooo!
Because Corona!
It is the Universal Reason for Everything now. No work, no job, no money – no movement, even. Unless you are “essential” – which of course almost of all of us who aren’t government workers aren’t, as defined by government workers. It’s a nice business to have the power to decree yourself “essential” – and immune from the life-ending restrictions imposed at gunpoint on the Corona Cows.
Maybe we should stop being cows. The way is easy. Stop being cowed. Take a stand. Go outside – and go for a drive, even if you don’t need groceries and are not “essential” in the eyes of the New Mussolinis. Automotive Atrocities:... Peters, Eric Best Price: $1.78 Buy New $14.95 (as of 07:15 UTC - Details)
Is this risky? Certainly. The question is, it necessary? And – are we pussies?
I grow weary of hearing how “brave” Americans are because I see little evidence of it. Whereas I see endless examples of American slavishness. A willingness to accept anything on the basis of nothing – or very little.
A bug that has killed a few thousand people. That’s serious. But the response has been ridiculous.
But, entirely predictable if you understand that our right to assume risk has been under assault for decades.
It was just a month or so ago that I wrote about the absurdity of soaking down the roads with liquid brine in case it might snow. Not because it was actually snowing. The slightest possibility – and roll the trucks.
U&M Bling Bling Auto S... Buy New $12.99 (as of 02:56 UTC - Details) Because you can’t be too saaaaaaaafe!
It’s merely one of many examples of a country effeminized – and paralyzed. By fear. Dread of risk. We’re forced to meekly accept force-stops by armed government workers and produce our “papers.”Not because we’ve done anything but because someone might have.
Not because we’ve done anything but because someone might have.
This was before Corona Fever struck.
Grown men told they must “buckle up” for saaaaaafety – or else be hit with electric cattle prods (no coincidence) dragged out of their vehicle and possibly shot.
Again, for saaaaafety.
Read the Whole Article
Lusso Gear Car Front S... Buy New $24.97 (as of 02:56 UTC - Details) Car Back Seat Organize... Buy New $19.97 (as of 02:56 UTC - Details)
The Best of Eric Peters


lewrockwell--2020-04-02--The Disturbing Trend To Tax Savings and Eliminate Cash

International Man : Let ’ s start with the basics .
What exactly are negative interest rates ?
Could they exist in a free market without state intervention ?
Doug Casey : Right now , over $ 17 trillion of bonds , and a lot of bank accounts—especially in Europe—are offering negative interest rates .
It ’ s something that can only exist in Bizarro World , something that ’ s really a cosmic impossibility in a normal world .
It ’ s especially true since almost all the world ’ s banks are zombies—bankrupt .
Fractional reserve banking—which is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ banks control the money supply—is intrinsically unsound .
The economy is head over heels in debt .
If things slow down—as they do now , due to the hysteria over The Virus—lots of loans will go into default .
It won ’ t be because of The Virus itself , however .
Coronavirus is just the pin that broke the bubble .
Negative rates are a political phenomenon , not a market phenomenon .
It ’ s quite amazing to see bankrupt governments issuing negative rate bonds .
It ’ s what ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Strategies a ... Vasquez , Alex Best Price : $ 24.05 Buy New $ 23.75 The whole financial world is in a bubble because of the trillions of currency units created since the crisis unfolded in 2008 .
Bonds are in a hyper bubble—the worst possible place to be .
They ’ re a triple threat to capital—interest rate risk , currency risk , and default risk .
And , again , at negative rates , they are truly a return-free risk .
Negative interest rates are being enforced by governments and central @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all , governments are so head over heels in debt that they can ’ t afford to pay actual market-based interest rates .
If the US government , for instance , was paying even 6 % , historically a more or less normal interest rate , on its $ 23 trillion of debt , that would be about $ 1.5 trillion a year in interest .
That , just by itself , would more than double the current annual deficit .
That ’ s one reason governments like negative interest rates : it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ borrowed money .
Tax revenues are nowhere near adequate to fund their spending—not to mention that spending is going to skyrocket while their revenues plunge for the foreseeable future .
Another reason governments like negative interest rates is that they encourage people to consume as opposed to save , which is also bizarro-world stupid .
The only way you grow wealth is by producing more than you consume and saving the difference .
The problem is that in today ’ s world the way to save is in currency in a bank account @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with negative interest rates reducing the number of units , savings will drop .
If you ’ re penalized for saving , you ’ re going to do less of it .
You ’ re going to go out and spend the money now on a bigger house , a new car , or perhaps a wild party .
This is one reason why Third World countries never progress on their own .
Their currencies are unstable , worthless , and not worth the trouble of people saving them .
So , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s why poor people with bad habits stay poor .
Solgar Vitamin D3 ( Cho ... Buy New $ 15.00 ( $ 0.12 / Count ) From every economic point of view , negative interest rates are pure destruction .
They make everything worse for prudent savers and better for profligate borrowers .
But printing money and lowering rates are the only things that central banks can do to ward off a deflationary collapse .
Their actions will only deepen and lengthen the Greater Depression .
International Man : Exactly .
By @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the conditions for negative interest rates , central banks are giving the signal that the cost of money is less than nothing .
They are really stealing the prosperity of the future .
Doug Casey : That ’ s right .
People have to realize that the government does not represent “ we the people ” .
The government is a discrete entity , as separate from society as General Motors , General Electric , or Google .
They have their own interests .
There ’ s no “ us ” benefitting from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , it ’ s not your friend .
It ’ s a dead hand on society .
Propaganda has made people think it ’ s necessary .
Many people love the government , however , because it gives them free stuff that ’ s taken from some and given to certain voters .
International Man : President Trump has repeatedly called for negative interest rates .
Do you think the US will see negative interest rates ?
Doug Casey : Anything is possible because the US government has its back up against the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ think government is a magic cornucopia .
They all want it to “ do something.
” And they ’ re capable of doing absolutely anything .
Why ?
The people employed by the US government and the Fed actually believe the Keynesian claptrap .
It ’ s a secular religion to them .
Hoodwinked : How Intell ... Jack Cashill Best Price : $ 8.84 Buy New $ 10.83 Plus , Trump himself is truly an economic ignoramus .
Now , as I say that , let me hasten to add that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a cultural conservative .
That ’ s why he gets a tremendous amount of support from the red counties .
I think that that ’ s fine , but from an economic point of view , he ’ s dangerous .
He ’ s an authoritarian with a touch of megalomania , and he ’ s capable of anything .
Anything ’ s possible in this country at this point .
Not least because Boobus americanus seems to want “ strong leadership.
” International Man : Since negative interest rates can only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ just a euphemism for a tax on savings .
What impact do you believe they will have on the economy as they discourage savings and capital formation ?
Doug Casey : The longer it goes on , the sooner the countries that have negative interest rates are going to start looking like Third World countries .
One of the reasons Third World countries are backward is that they don ’ t have any domestic capital .
Why not ?
Because there aren ’ t domestic savings .
And it takes capital to build @ @ @ @ @ @ @ foundations of society with their current policies .
It will take a while to happen in the West , because of the tremendous amount of capital that ’ s been accumulated and saved up over hundreds of years .
But sure , they can absolutely destroy it .
The Romans did it 2,000 years ago .
The Venezuelans and Argentines are showing how to do it today .
That said , borrowed money and artificially low interest rates feel really good at first .
If I borrowed $ 1 million tomorrow morning , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the next year .
My standard of living would be artificially higher for a while .
But when the time comes to pay it back , it ’ s going to be genuinely lower , and for a long time .
That ’ s exactly what the West is doing right now , living out of saved capital and mortgaging its future .
That ’ s what negative interest rates encourage .
International Man : How will negative interest rates impact the average person ?
Will bank deposits be subject to negative interest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Mask ... Buy New $ 9.99 Doug Casey : Well , it would be stupid .
When I use that word , incidentally , I mean “ showing an unwitting tendency to self-destruction.
” A pity , but it could happen .
Artificially low interest rates—or perhaps negative interest rates—drive people out of cash and liquidity and into speculating in the financial markets .
It can affect the average person positively for a while , maybe artificially doubling the size of his retirement nest egg .
That is , until the bubble bursts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 90 % .
It ’ s a disaster .
There are absolutely no good consequences to manipulating interest rates in either direction .
Money is the lifeblood of the economy , and interest rates are the price of money .
It practically guarantees that the Greater Depression is going to be worse than even I thought it would be .
International Man : Do you think it ’ s possible that people will pay to have their money in a bank account ?
Doug Casey : Well , if we had a sound @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s a fractional reserve system—there would be two very separate and distinct kinds of bank accounts .
They ’ re separate businesses , actually .
One with demand deposits where you pay the bank to store your money safely , paying for the privilege of writing checks against it .
In the past , you had to pay banks for the privilege of storing your money—gold—and writing checks against it .
The other kind of bank account is a time deposit , which is totally different .
That ’ s where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a certain period of time at a fixed interest rate , so the bank can lend it to somebody for a fixed interest rate—for a matching amount of time .
Let ’ s say they give you 3 % , and they lend it for 6 % , capture the 3 % spread as their profit , risk reserves , and so forth .
That ’ s the way a time deposit bank account should work .
And that ’ s how it worked before central banking and fractional reserves .
Historically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a demand type deposit , and you got a return—with some risk—on a time deposit .
But those distinctions have been totally lost .
Banks now lend out demand deposits .
It ’ s equivalent to Allied Van and Storage lending out your furniture .
International Man : How does the growth of negative interest rates coincide with the trend towards eliminating cash ?
Doug Casey : They dovetail perfectly .
They go hand-in-glove with each other .
Countries all around the world are moving towards eliminating cash .
For example , in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to get cash .
In China , it ’ s very hard to get cash .
Everybody transfers funds electronically , without any form of physical money .
All money is in digital bank accounts .
A negative interest rate of , let ’ s say , 1 % means that you ’ re really being taxed 1 % in addition to everything else .
It ’ s even worse than that , though , because when cash vanishes , you have zero privacy .
Everything has to go through your bank account @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re buying , what you ’ re selling , from whom , what you own—unless you ’ re going to barter , the way things were done in prehistoric times .
It ‘ s a catastrophe from the point of view of personal freedom , and another reason why everybody should have a significant store of gold coins , preferably small ones , a quarter ounce or less .
And silver coins , too .
Silver is a great bargain right now , at a roughly 120:1 ratio with gold .
If they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ entirely digital currency , they ‘ re in total control of you , because you won ‘ t be able to do anything , go anywhere , or buy anything without the direct or indirect approval of the authorities .
International Man : What can people do to protect themselves ?
Doug Casey : There are two things you can do at this point .
One , you should buy precious metals , in your own possession , or stored securely in some offshore location , so that you ‘ re diversified politically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now is an excellent time to speculate in gold stocks .
With gold in the $ 1,600 area , every active gold mine in the world is coining money .
In fact , their margins are increasing with the collapse of oil prices , since fuel is a major cost , on the order of 20 % for most mines .
And at some point soon , fund managers who now don ‘ t even know that gold or gold stocks exist , are going to pile in to gold stocks .
There @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the market caps are so small , that it ‘ s going to be like trying to funnel the contents of Hoover Dam through a garden hose .
Mining is a crappy business , but right now , it ’ s a super speculation .
There are no guarantees , but it ‘ s as good a speculation as I can think of right now .
Those are the two things that you should own .
And they both revolve around gold .
The Best of Doug Casey

International Man: Let’s start with the basics. What exactly are negative interest rates? Could they exist in a free market without state intervention?
Doug Casey: Right now, over $17 trillion of bonds, and a lot of bank accounts—especially in Europe—are offering negative interest rates. It’s something that can only exist in Bizarro World, something that’s really a cosmic impossibility in a normal world. It’s especially true since almost all the world’s banks are zombies—bankrupt. Fractional reserve banking—which is only possible in a world where central banks control the money supply—is intrinsically unsound.
The economy is head over heels in debt. If things slow down—as they do now, due to the hysteria over The Virus—lots of loans will go into default. It won’t be because of The Virus itself, however. Coronavirus is just the pin that broke the bubble.
Negative rates are a political phenomenon, not a market phenomenon. It’s quite amazing to see bankrupt governments issuing negative rate bonds. It’s what’s been called return-free risk. Antiviral Strategies a... Vasquez, Alex Best Price: $24.05 Buy New $23.75 (as of 11:07 UTC - Details)
The whole financial world is in a bubble because of the trillions of currency units created since the crisis unfolded in 2008. Bonds are in a hyper bubble—the worst possible place to be. They’re a triple threat to capital—interest rate risk, currency risk, and default risk. And, again, at negative rates, they are truly a return-free risk.
Negative interest rates are being enforced by governments and central banks for several reasons.
First of all, governments are so head over heels in debt that they can’t afford to pay actual market-based interest rates.
If the US government, for instance, was paying even 6%, historically a more or less normal interest rate, on its $23 trillion of debt, that would be about $1.5 trillion a year in interest. That, just by itself, would more than double the current annual deficit.
That’s one reason governments like negative interest rates: it disguises their bankruptcy. They live on borrowed money. Tax revenues are nowhere near adequate to fund their spending—not to mention that spending is going to skyrocket while their revenues plunge for the foreseeable future.
Another reason governments like negative interest rates is that they encourage people to consume as opposed to save, which is also bizarro-world stupid. The only way you grow wealth is by producing more than you consume and saving the difference. The problem is that in today’s world the way to save is in currency in a bank account. If the currency loses value simultaneously with negative interest rates reducing the number of units, savings will drop.
If you’re penalized for saving, you’re going to do less of it. You’re going to go out and spend the money now on a bigger house, a new car, or perhaps a wild party. This is one reason why Third World countries never progress on their own. Their currencies are unstable, worthless, and not worth the trouble of people saving them. So, they never develop a capital base. It’s why poor people with bad habits stay poor. Solgar Vitamin D3 (Cho... Buy New $15.00 ($0.12 / Count) (as of 11:23 UTC - Details)
From every economic point of view, negative interest rates are pure destruction. They make everything worse for prudent savers and better for profligate borrowers. But printing money and lowering rates are the only things that central banks can do to ward off a deflationary collapse. Their actions will only deepen and lengthen the Greater Depression.
International Man: Exactly. By using the force of government to create the conditions for negative interest rates, central banks are giving the signal that the cost of money is less than nothing. They are really stealing the prosperity of the future.
Doug Casey: That’s right. People have to realize that the government does not represent “we the people”. The government is a discrete entity, as separate from society as General Motors, General Electric, or Google. They have their own interests. There’s no “us” benefitting from all this.
Government is a parasite, it’s not your friend. It’s a dead hand on society. Propaganda has made people think it’s necessary. Many people love the government, however, because it gives them free stuff that’s taken from some and given to certain voters.
International Man: President Trump has repeatedly called for negative interest rates. Do you think the US will see negative interest rates?
Doug Casey: Anything is possible because the US government has its back up against the wall. Worse, the people themselves think government is a magic cornucopia. They all want it to “do something.”
And they’re capable of doing absolutely anything. Why? The people employed by the US government and the Fed actually believe the Keynesian claptrap. It’s a secular religion to them. Hoodwinked: How Intell... Jack Cashill Best Price: $8.84 Buy New $10.83 (as of 08:25 UTC - Details)
Plus, Trump himself is truly an economic ignoramus. Now, as I say that, let me hasten to add that the good thing about Trump is he’s a cultural conservative. That’s why he gets a tremendous amount of support from the red counties. I think that that’s fine, but from an economic point of view, he’s dangerous. He’s an authoritarian with a touch of megalomania, and he’s capable of anything.
Anything’s possible in this country at this point. Not least because Boobus americanus seems to want “strong leadership.”
International Man: Since negative interest rates can only exist from state intervention, they are just a euphemism for a tax on savings. What impact do you believe they will have on the economy as they discourage savings and capital formation?
Doug Casey: The longer it goes on, the sooner the countries that have negative interest rates are going to start looking like Third World countries. One of the reasons Third World countries are backward is that they don’t have any domestic capital. Why not? Because there aren’t domestic savings. And it takes capital to build things.
Governments are actually destroying the foundations of society with their current policies. It will take a while to happen in the West, because of the tremendous amount of capital that’s been accumulated and saved up over hundreds of years. But sure, they can absolutely destroy it. The Romans did it 2,000 years ago. The Venezuelans and Argentines are showing how to do it today.
That said, borrowed money and artificially low interest rates feel really good at first.
If I borrowed $1 million tomorrow morning, I could have a wonderful party for the next year. My standard of living would be artificially higher for a while. But when the time comes to pay it back, it’s going to be genuinely lower, and for a long time.
That’s exactly what the West is doing right now, living out of saved capital and mortgaging its future. That’s what negative interest rates encourage.
International Man: How will negative interest rates impact the average person? Will bank deposits be subject to negative interest rates in the US? 10PCS Disposable Mask ... Buy New $9.99 (as of 11:41 UTC - Details)
Doug Casey: Well, it would be stupid. When I use that word, incidentally, I mean “showing an unwitting tendency to self-destruction.” A pity, but it could happen.
Artificially low interest rates—or perhaps negative interest rates—drive people out of cash and liquidity and into speculating in the financial markets. It can affect the average person positively for a while, maybe artificially doubling the size of his retirement nest egg. That is, until the bubble bursts, and he loses a very real 90%. It’s a disaster.
There are absolutely no good consequences to manipulating interest rates in either direction.
Money is the lifeblood of the economy, and interest rates are the price of money. It practically guarantees that the Greater Depression is going to be worse than even I thought it would be.
International Man: Do you think it’s possible that people will pay to have their money in a bank account?
Doug Casey: Well, if we had a sound banking system—which we don’t because it’s a fractional reserve system—there would be two very separate and distinct kinds of bank accounts. They’re separate businesses, actually.
One with demand deposits where you pay the bank to store your money safely, paying for the privilege of writing checks against it. In the past, you had to pay banks for the privilege of storing your money—gold—and writing checks against it.
The other kind of bank account is a time deposit, which is totally different. That’s where you leave your money with the bank for a certain period of time at a fixed interest rate, so the bank can lend it to somebody for a fixed interest rate—for a matching amount of time.
Let’s say they give you 3%, and they lend it for 6%, capture the 3% spread as their profit, risk reserves, and so forth. That’s the way a time deposit bank account should work. And that’s how it worked before central banking and fractional reserves.
Historically, you paid the bank money for a demand type deposit, and you got a return—with some risk—on a time deposit. But those distinctions have been totally lost. Banks now lend out demand deposits. It’s equivalent to Allied Van and Storage lending out your furniture.
International Man: How does the growth of negative interest rates coincide with the trend towards eliminating cash?
Doug Casey: They dovetail perfectly. They go hand-in-glove with each other.
Countries all around the world are moving towards eliminating cash. For example, in Sweden, it’s very hard to get cash. In China, it’s very hard to get cash. Everybody transfers funds electronically, without any form of physical money. All money is in digital bank accounts. A negative interest rate of, let’s say, 1% means that you’re really being taxed 1% in addition to everything else.
It’s even worse than that, though, because when cash vanishes, you have zero privacy. Everything has to go through your bank account. They know precisely what you’re buying, what you’re selling, from whom, what you own—unless you’re going to barter, the way things were done in prehistoric times.
It‘s a catastrophe from the point of view of personal freedom, and another reason why everybody should have a significant store of gold coins, preferably small ones, a quarter ounce or less. And silver coins, too. Silver is a great bargain right now, at a roughly 120:1 ratio with gold.
If they eliminate cash and we go to an entirely digital currency, they‘re in total control of you, because you won‘t be able to do anything, go anywhere, or buy anything without the direct or indirect approval of the authorities.
International Man: What can people do to protect themselves?
Doug Casey: There are two things you can do at this point.
One, you should buy precious metals, in your own possession, or stored securely in some offshore location, so that you‘re diversified politically and geographically as well.
Second, now is an excellent time to speculate in gold stocks. With gold in the $1,600 area, every active gold mine in the world is coining money. In fact, their margins are increasing with the collapse of oil prices, since fuel is a major cost, on the order of 20% for most mines.
And at some point soon, fund managers who now don‘t even know that gold or gold stocks exist, are going to pile in to gold stocks.
There are so few of them, and the market caps are so small, that it‘s going to be like trying to funnel the contents of Hoover Dam through a garden hose. Mining is a crappy business, but right now, it’s a super speculation.
There are no guarantees, but it‘s as good a speculation as I can think of right now.
Those are the two things that you should own. And they both revolve around gold.
Reprinted with permission from International Man.
The Best of Doug Casey


lewrockwell--2020-04-02--Why JFK Went to Texas

Why JFK Went to Texas

That was a very odd thing for President Kennedy to say , given that he had invited Texas Governor Connally to the White House for a visit on October 4 , 1963 to make plans for the Texas trip that Lyndon Johnson ( who had not been invited to attend ) had been pressing so hard for .
JFK realized that he needed to have Connally ’ s firm support for the trip , knowing that the Governor had for months resisted the idea of staking his own greater popularity in Texas to that of the president ( or , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whose Texas support had been waning since he left the Senate and was wasting away in the Vice President ’ s office — and at that moment , was being drawn into the biggest scandal of his career , centered on Senate investigations of his long-time bag-man and multiple fraudster Bobby Baker ) .
Vice President Johnson , for many months beginning in late 1962 , had begun pressing Governor Connally and President Kennedy to arrange for a presidential tour of Texas as a pre-reelection campaign way to improve their standing in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his 1978 testimony to the House Select Committee on Assassinations ( HSCA ) , explaining that he was then too busy campaigning for his own election to do it , but affirmed that it was Johnson who was behind it , though LBJ claimed that it was Kennedy who “ needled ” him to get it done ( as can be heard at about the 7:00 minute mark on this video ) .
LBJ : The Mastermind of ... Phillip F. Nelson Best Price : $ 7.91 Buy New $ 11.23 To increase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not agreed to make such a trip—in April , 1963 Johnson leaked an unauthorized story to the Dallas Times-Herald newspaper that the President was planning to make the trip , which resulted in a full banner headline on April 24 , 1963 “ LBJ Sees Kennedy Dallas Visit—One Day Texas Tour Eyed.
” That rather brazen act by Johnson , unbeknownst to either Kennedy or Connally , should leave little doubt about who was pressing whom about making the trip .
Two months later , while the three were together in El Paso @ @ @ @ @ @ @ preliminary planning finally began .
In the meantime , Johnson ’ s stature with the Kennedys had continued to diminish .
JFK ’ s secretary Evelyn Lincoln stated that a “ persistent rumor ” had been circulating throughout Washington in the autumn of 1963 , that Kennedy was planning to remove Lyndon Johnson from the ticket in 1964 .
She stated that her father-in-law , who worked in the Executive Office Building where Johnson ’ s vice presidential suite was located , told her that : “ Johnson would storm out of his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to someone walking with him , ‘ Why does the White House always have it in for me ?
I ’ m going back to Texas and run for the United States Senate against Senator Yarborough.
” [ 1 ] During this same period , October 19 , 1963 to be exact , an appreciation dinner was held in Austin called “ A Texas Salute to Ralph Yarborough ” including other senators from throughout the country and a keynote speech by the Postmaster General , John A. Gronouski , with a filmed message @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Johnson was then spending a month at his nearby ranch preparing for JFK ’ s trip to Texas , as Mrs. Lincoln put it , “ Mr .
Johnson was conspicuous by his absence.
” [ 2 ] Mrs. Lincoln ’ s reference to Johnson ’ s “ absence ” related to more than his not being invited to the Yarborough party ; she had also made the point about how the Kennedys were purposefully leaving him out of important meetings on any substantive issues , not only on foreign policy matters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the development of the civil rights bill Kennedy submitted to Congress in June , 1963—despite Johnson ’ s position as the chairman of the Equal Opportunity Commission—illustrates that point with astonishing clarity .
Yet Johnson continued portraying himself as an active member of the administration , as revealed in George Reedy ’ s 1982 memoir , recounting his fifteen years of working for Johnson , and how he had observed Johnson ’ s growing paranoia about Robert Kennedy ’ s control over the press .
By late 1963 , Reedy stated , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ preparing to launch a “ dump LBJ ” movement in 1964 .
Furthermore , Reedy noted how Johnson had begun showing his growing desperation by hanging out in the West Wing of the White House , pretending to be an active collaborator with JFK , an action Reedy did not feel was becoming to a man of his position .
[ 3 ] It was during this period that Lyndon went to his ranch to begin preparing for the Texas presidential trip , spending considerable time on the Dallas motorcade piece of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Connally had gone to Washington to visit the President in preparation for the trip ; he was very concerned that Kennedy might back out of his commitment to come to Texas , for the purpose of bringing the feuding factions together .
Despite what Connally would write about warning Kennedy not to come to Texas ( below ) , JFK ’ s secretary , Evelyn Lincoln said that after he left , Kennedy said that , “ He sure seemed anxious for me to go to Texas .
He attracts some people— @ @ @ @ @ @ @ me , but I have many supporters down there who are bitterly opposed to him .
I think in the long run it would be more advantageous to him than for me .
The one thing I noticed above everything else was his concern about Lyndon being on the ticket.
” [ 4 ] [ Emphasis added . ]
These statements by the very credible Mrs. Lincoln were completely contradicted by an article in the Dallas Morning News on November 23 , 1963 : The headline of the story was “ Connally Wanted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” and the key ( second ) paragraph of this article stated : “ The governor , wounded by Mr. Kennedy ’ s assassin , was against the idea for two reasons : ( 1 ) It would not be wise politically , would expand rather than heal wounds within the Texas Democratic Party , and ( 2 ) There was the possibility of some unpleasant incident.
” [ 5 ] Sofia + Sam Multi Task ... Buy New $ 52.05 That article – published the day after JFK ’ s assassination , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ care – could not possibly have come from anything he might have said .
It could only have originated from Lyndon Johnson , undoubtedly mouthed by one of his many sycophants , possibly Bill Moyers , who had instantly been promoted into the White House press office from his former position as assistant director of the Peace Corps .
These diametrically opposite statements , one from the credible Mrs. Lincoln , the other—directly or indirectly—from the pathological liar Lyndon Johnson , show yet another set of Johnsonian lies meant to supplant the truth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ visit , although Johnson publicly denied it , even expressing some anger about Connally visiting with the President without him being there , it appears that he—albeit indirectly—had probably caused JFK to invite Connally despite the fact that Johnson was not invited to accompany him .
Johnson ’ s manipulations were all designed to ensure that Kennedy would come to Texas , which he thought would have to be taken as a sign that Johnson would be on the 1964 ticket .
Just the prospect of it , he must have thought , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ engulfing Washington that he would be removed .
After the assassination , it would no longer matter anyway , but the less that rumor spread , the less scrutiny would be put on his own actions in the immediate aftermath .
Author Jeff Shesol , in his book Mutual Contempt : Lyndon Johnson , Robert Kennedy , and the Feud That Defined a Decade , wrote about how Johnson still repeated those lies years afterwards , claiming that it was a “ great myth ” that he did anything to force Kennedy to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yet that is precisely what the record shows .
The most compelling piece of that evidence is the video available on the internet , archived at the JFK Library and the PBS files , in which Senator George Smathers recalls how JFK lamented , “ I just don ’ t want to go down in that mess .
I hate to go .
I wish I could think of a way to get out of it.
” [ 7 ] SEE LINK TO VIDEO HERE Yet Johnson would carry on with his denials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reluctant president to Dallas and to his death .
‘ That ’ s a great myth , ’ Johnson complained privately .
‘ I didn ’ t force him to come to Texas .
Hell , he wanted to come out there himself !
’ ” [ 8 ] Clearly , Johnson had repeated that lie so often that he came to believe it was the truth , just as he was habitually known to do , a point that has been made and validated by many of his staff and documented , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Robert Caro , who , nevertheless , based some of his most critically-important analyses on the statements of this pathological liar .
By 1967 , Connally even went to the trouble—undoubtedly at Johnson ’ s behest—to write in the November 27 issue of Life magazine an article titled “ Why Kennedy Went to Texas , ” which contained a number of blatantly false statements about that trip , obviously meant to deflect attention away from the role he and Johnson had played in luring John Kennedy to Texas .
This article was nothing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and duplicitous politicians to effectively blame JFK for causing his own death by insisting on coming to Texas in the first place ( despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary ) .
Planting such a ludicrous lie , had the public chosen to believe it , would of course be extremely helpful in diverting attention about JFK ’ s fate away from Johnson , clearly the primary objective of Connally ’ s article .
How Robert Caro Misrepresented John Connally ’ s Visit JFK to the White House Robert Caro wrote in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had gone to Washington at Kennedy ’ s invitation to finalize planning for the trip , one month before .
[ 9 ] That account was focused on the point that JFK had excluded Johnson from the meeting , and how—when Lyndon found out about it ( somehow , immediately after it happened and before Connally broke the news to him ) , probably from a Secret Service agent inside the White House , known to be LBJ ’ s mole— Johnson became enraged that he had not been invited to the meeting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Doug Thompson wrote an article based upon what Connally personally told him about that meeting and his warning JFK not to make the trip .
Thompson published his account over a decade after Connally ’ s death , in 2006 , explaining how he personally met John Connally in 1982 , later becoming friends with him , and how each visited the other with some regularity for a decade before Connally ’ s death in 1993 .
On one such occasion , while having a dinner with him , Connally told Thompson : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ones who advised Kennedy to stay away from Texas .
.
.
Lyndon ( Johnson ) was being a real a** hole about the whole thing and insisted [ that Kennedy come to Texas ] .
” [ 10 ] It should be noted that there is nothing in Connally ’ s Warren Commission testimony about such a warning ; in fact the opposite point—that he offered a welcoming encouragement to make the trip—can be gleaned from reading that testimony .
[ 11 ] Yet the story Connally told Thompson was consistent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Nov. 23 , 1963 article in the Dallas newspaper that could only have been planted by Lyndon Johnson or one of his sycophants .
Sofia + Sam Multi Task ... Buy New $ 44.50 In the unlikely event that Connally ’ s statement to Thompson was true—his point being to prove that he had no prior knowledge of the real plans—Connally would , nevertheless , eventually capitulate , and cooperate with Johnson ’ s elaborate cover-up , with the notable exception that he would consistently say he did not believe in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ never explain why .
Mr. Thompson ’ s account , published on a widely-read “ alternative ” political news site six years before Caro ’ s book Passage of Power , was ignored by an author famous for his rule about “ turning every page ” of documents relating to the subject of his books ; yet there are many instances I ’ ve documented where some of the most critical matters related to the assassination are missing ( see here , and here for more examples ) .
In this case it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Why did JFK decide to go to Dallas ?
” Were it not for that fateful trip , his most important life-time of work would have never been done , for his subject would have been consigned to history as just another grubby politician , unworthy of a single volume — much less , five .
Of course , Connally might have been lying about all of this to Mr. Thompson and his wife , in an attempt to cover himself from suspicions of his being a witting accomplice .
Connally , like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ twisting his words to fit whatever concerns he had in a given moment into contradictions that would later be jettisoned as circumstances changed .
For example , in his testimony to the House Select Committee on Assassinations ( HSCA ) in 1978 , he claimed that , on his Western trip in the summer of 1963 in a preliminary discussion about planning the Texas trip , JFK said : “ Well , ‘ I think we ought to have four dinners , ’ and I was in a state of shock .
He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have four or five fundraising dinners.
’ ” [ 12 ] That conflicted with what he had previously stated to the Warren Commission regarding Kennedy ’ s desire for only one fundraising dinner : “ [ JFK ] said he would like to do whatever he could do that was agreeable with me ; it was agreeable with me that he more or less trust me to plan the trip for him , to tell him where he would like to go .
About that time some thought was being given to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on that was he wouldn ’ t prefer that .
He felt that the appearances would not be too good , that he would much prefer to have one if we were going to have any .
I told him this was entirely consistent with my own thoughts .
We ought not to have more than one fundraising dinner .
If we did , it ought to be in Austin.
” [ 13 ] In his rendition of this subject , Robert Caro conflated the point regarding the number of campaign dinners thusly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the number of campaign dinners : [ 14 ] Connally proposed that Kennedy ’ s visit , for which the dates of November 21 and 22 had been tentatively set , include visits to five cities , as Kennedy wanted , but only one fund-raising affair : a hundred-dollar-per-plate dinner in Austin , on the 22nd .
Otherwise , Connally said , ‘ people down there are going to think that all you are interested in is the financial rape of the state , ’ and I used those words , ’ and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s judgement .
In the Motorcade , 12:30 PM in Dallas : John Connally Yells : “ They ’ re going to kill us both ” What is true , and revealing of Connally ’ s prior knowledge , was his shouted exclamation upon being shot ( “ They are going to kill us both !
” ) .
[ 15 ] An attorney friend explained that the legal term for that is an “ excited utterance , ” which the judicial system treats as an exception to the ordinary “ hearsay ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they are considered intrinsically trustworthy .
Furthermore , the corollary premise—that when a life-altering experience occurs , people remember it—must be factored into the analysis and be considered in the ultimate conclusion .
Regardless of whether or not he knew of the plot in advance , Connally clearly became aware of the truth subsequently , as revealed in another comment he made that Mr. Thompson repeated : “ I love this country and we needed closure at the time .
I will never speak out publicly about what I believe.
” [ 16 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s words clearly revealed that he was hiding what he knew to be the truth , and he did it out of fear for the future of the country if that information were to become public .
He knew that the implications could possibly bring down the government and he didn ’ t want to be the one responsible for that .
It could be argued that there is no substantive reason to argue that Robert Caro missed a significant fact since Connally ’ s claim to have warned JFK not to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , was a lie .
But that misses the point : Throughout his works [ 17 ] he intentionally omits anything ( e.g.
, a witness , an event , a link to anyone with criminal connections to Johnson ) that would contradict the message required of his mission .
As noted above , I have previously documented many such instances of this paradigm , and have now added to that list both the point about from whom the idea about the “ five dinners ” came ( arguably LBJ himself ) as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the trip was ever Kennedy ’ s idea—obviously , according to his friend Senator Smathers , he actually dreaded the very thought of having to go to Texas .
The list could be extended endlessly further , to include such diverse points as Caro ’ s denial that Johnson had any involvement with Bobby Baker ’ s Quorum Club , [ 18 ] that in his WWII “ service ” the bomber he rode in was attacked by Japanese Zeroes while he climbed into the navigator ’ s bubble for a better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Service agent Rufus Youngblood actually threw LBJ to the floor of the limo and covered him on the way to Parkland , [ 20 ] and that JFK had never planned to replace him as vice president in 1964 .
[ 21 ] It slowly becomes clear that the documentation of Caro ’ s omissions and misstatements would require a very lengthy tome ; yet it quickly becomes just as clear that those discrepancies are all related the mission he has worked decades to achieve .
Regarding the primary subject—why JFK went to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Dallas newspaper story the day after JFK ’ s murder : It was what he did not report , that Connally had purportedly warned Kennedy not to make the trip , that Caro did not scrutinize .
It was the fact that the purported “ warning ” by Connally to President Kennedy was originally made—perhaps by Bill Moyers or another LBJ sycophant—immediately after the murder and reported the next day , then repeated by Connally himself , that suggests it was merely one component of this single aspect of the enormous cover-up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Smathers : JFK didn ’ t really want to go to Texas ” ( https : //www.youtube.com/watch ?
v=yFa_S3YEjMQ ) [ 9 ] Caro , Robert , The Passage of Power , pp .
273-274 ( And ref .
endnotes p. 659 ) [ 10 ] Thompson , Doug , “ Is Deception the Best Way to Serve One ’ s Country ?
” OpEd News , 3/30/2006 ( See : http : //www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_doug_tho_060330_is_ deception_the_bes.htm ) Inter alia : Thompson also wrote this about his conversation with Connally : “ I had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oswald fired the gun that killed Kennedy ?
‘ Absolutely not , ’ Connally said .
‘ I do not , for one second , believe the conclusions of the Warren Commission.
’ So why not speak out ?
‘ Because I love this country and we needed closure at the time .
I will never speak out publicly about what I believe ’ .
” [ 15 ] As reported by William Manchester , based upon a statement by Jacqueline Kennedy ( The Death of a President , p.157 ) .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ changed “ both ” to “ all ” , ( W.C .
Hearings Vol IV , p. 133 ) and again in a 1992 interview with Larry King ( https : //www.youtube.com/watch ?
v=Ry5kexkmIbs at 4:50 ) , which eventually became the legend most often repeated , an adjustment apparently made to leaven the sinister implications of his utterance .
( Cudos to Ed Tatro for bringing this point to my attention ) .
[ 17 ] At least the last three volumes , the last being “ The Passage of Power.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ … p. 290 ( a very confusing point , contradicted by his own previous statements in a televised CNN report , The Story of LBJ ’ s Silver Star , by Jamie McIntyre ( CNN military affairs correspondent ) and Jim Barnett ( CNN producer ) : “ Robert Caro : The most you can say about Lyndon Johnson and his Silver Star is that it is surely one of the most undeserved Silver Stars in history .
Because [ even ] if you accept everything that he said , he was still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minutes and only as an observer .
Men who flew many missions , brave men , never got a Silver Star .
.
.I would say that it ’ s an issue of exaggerations .
He said that he flew on many missions , not one mission .
He said that the crew members , the other members of the Air Force group , were so admiring of him that they called him Raider Johnson .
Neither of these things are true.
” The Best of Phillip F. Nelson

JFK: “He* sure seemed anxious for me to go to Texas” * John Connally (ergo, Lyndon Johnson) after Connally’s White House visit six weeks before The Big Event
That was a very odd thing for President Kennedy to say, given that he had invited Texas Governor Connally to the White House for a visit on October 4, 1963 to make plans for the Texas trip that Lyndon Johnson (who had not been invited to attend) had been pressing so hard for. JFK realized that he needed to have Connally’s firm support for the trip, knowing that the Governor had for months resisted the idea of staking his own greater popularity in Texas to that of the president (or, for that matter, of LBJ, whose Texas support had been waning since he left the Senate and was wasting away in the Vice President’s office — and at that moment, was being drawn into the biggest scandal of his career, centered on Senate investigations of his long-time bag-man and multiple fraudster Bobby Baker).
Vice President Johnson, for many months beginning in late 1962, had begun pressing Governor Connally and President Kennedy to arrange for a presidential tour of Texas as a pre-reelection campaign way to improve their standing in the polls. Connally stated as much in his 1978 testimony to the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA), explaining that he was then too busy campaigning for his own election to do it, but affirmed that it was Johnson who was behind it, though LBJ claimed that it was Kennedy who “needled” him to get it done (as can be heard at about the 7:00 minute mark on this video). LBJ: The Mastermind of... Phillip F. Nelson Best Price: $7.91 Buy New $11.23 (as of 06:30 UTC - Details)
To increase the pressure on President Kennedy—who had still not agreed to make such a trip—in April, 1963 Johnson leaked an unauthorized story to the Dallas Times-Herald newspaper that the President was planning to make the trip, which resulted in a full banner headline on April 24, 1963 “LBJ Sees Kennedy Dallas Visit—One Day Texas Tour Eyed.” That rather brazen act by Johnson, unbeknownst to either Kennedy or Connally, should leave little doubt about who was pressing whom about making the trip. Two months later, while the three were together in El Paso for other purposes, the discussion of preliminary planning finally began.
In the meantime, Johnson’s stature with the Kennedys had continued to diminish. JFK’s secretary Evelyn Lincoln stated that a “persistent rumor” had been circulating throughout Washington in the autumn of 1963, that Kennedy was planning to remove Lyndon Johnson from the ticket in 1964. She stated that her father-in-law, who worked in the Executive Office Building where Johnson’s vice presidential suite was located, told her that: “Johnson would storm out of his office into the reception room and shout to someone walking with him, ‘Why does the White House always have it in for me? I’m going back to Texas and run for the United States Senate against Senator Yarborough.”[1]
During this same period, October 19, 1963 to be exact, an appreciation dinner was held in Austin called “A Texas Salute to Ralph Yarborough” including other senators from throughout the country and a keynote speech by the Postmaster General, John A. Gronouski, with a filmed message by President Kennedy. Despite the fact that Johnson was then spending a month at his nearby ranch preparing for JFK’s trip to Texas, as Mrs. Lincoln put it, “Mr. Johnson was conspicuous by his absence.”[2]
Mrs. Lincoln’s reference to Johnson’s “absence” related to more than his not being invited to the Yarborough party; she had also made the point about how the Kennedys were purposefully leaving him out of important meetings on any substantive issues, not only on foreign policy matters but domestic as well. His absence from the development of the civil rights bill Kennedy submitted to Congress in June, 1963—despite Johnson’s position as the chairman of the Equal Opportunity Commission—illustrates that point with astonishing clarity.
Yet Johnson continued portraying himself as an active member of the administration, as revealed in George Reedy’s 1982 memoir, recounting his fifteen years of working for Johnson, and how he had observed Johnson’s growing paranoia about Robert Kennedy’s control over the press. By late 1963, Reedy stated, Johnson had begun fearing that Bobby was preparing to launch a “dump LBJ” movement in 1964. Furthermore, Reedy noted how Johnson had begun showing his growing desperation by hanging out in the West Wing of the White House, pretending to be an active collaborator with JFK, an action Reedy did not feel was becoming to a man of his position.[3]
It was during this period that Lyndon went to his ranch to begin preparing for the Texas presidential trip, spending considerable time on the Dallas motorcade piece of the three-day presidential visit. In the meantime, Connally had gone to Washington to visit the President in preparation for the trip; he was very concerned that Kennedy might back out of his commitment to come to Texas, for the purpose of bringing the feuding factions together. Despite what Connally would write about warning Kennedy not to come to Texas (below), JFK’s secretary, Evelyn Lincoln said that after he left, Kennedy said that, “He sure seemed anxious for me to go to Texas. He attracts some people— money people who would never vote for me, but I have many supporters down there who are bitterly opposed to him. I think in the long run it would be more advantageous to him than for me. The one thing I noticed above everything else was his concern about Lyndon being on the ticket.”[4] [Emphasis added.]
These statements by the very credible Mrs. Lincoln were completely contradicted by an article in the Dallas Morning News on November 23, 1963: The headline of the story was “Connally Wanted President to Call Off Trip to Texas” and the key (second) paragraph of this article stated: “The governor, wounded by Mr. Kennedy’s assassin, was against the idea for two reasons: (1) It would not be wise politically, would expand rather than heal wounds within the Texas Democratic Party, and (2) There was the possibility of some unpleasant incident.”[5]
Sofia + Sam Multi Task... Buy New $52.05 (as of 02:49 UTC - Details) That article – published the day after JFK’s assassination, when Connally was hospitalized and under intensive care – could not possibly have come from anything he might have said. It could only have originated from Lyndon Johnson, undoubtedly mouthed by one of his many sycophants, possibly Bill Moyers, who had instantly been promoted into the White House press office from his former position as assistant director of the Peace Corps.
These diametrically opposite statements, one from the credible Mrs. Lincoln, the other—directly or indirectly—from the pathological liar Lyndon Johnson, show yet another set of Johnsonian lies meant to supplant the truth. Regarding Connally’s White House visit, although Johnson publicly denied it, even expressing some anger about Connally visiting with the President without him being there, it appears that he—albeit indirectly—had probably caused JFK to invite Connally despite the fact that Johnson was not invited to accompany him. Johnson’s manipulations were all designed to ensure that Kennedy would come to Texas, which he thought would have to be taken as a sign that Johnson would be on the 1964 ticket. Just the prospect of it, he must have thought, would stanch the “persistent rumors” engulfing Washington that he would be removed.
After the assassination, it would no longer matter anyway, but the less that rumor spread, the less scrutiny would be put on his own actions in the immediate aftermath. Author Jeff Shesol, in his book Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud That Defined a Decade, wrote about how Johnson still repeated those lies years afterwards, claiming that it was a “great myth” that he did anything to force Kennedy to come to Texas,[6] yet that is precisely what the record shows. The most compelling piece of that evidence is the video available on the internet, archived at the JFK Library and the PBS files, in which Senator George Smathers recalls how JFK lamented, “I just don’t want to go down in that mess. I hate to go. I wish I could think of a way to get out of it.”[7]
SEE LINK TO VIDEO HERE
Yet Johnson would carry on with his denials, “that he had dragged a reluctant president to Dallas and to his death. ‘That’s a great myth,’ Johnson complained privately. ‘I didn’t force him to come to Texas. Hell, he wanted to come out there himself!’”[8] Clearly, Johnson had repeated that lie so often that he came to believe it was the truth, just as he was habitually known to do, a point that has been made and validated by many of his staff and documented, ironically, by the preeminent LBJ biographer Robert Caro, who, nevertheless, based some of his most critically-important analyses on the statements of this pathological liar.
By 1967, Connally even went to the trouble—undoubtedly at Johnson’s behest—to write in the November 27 issue of Life magazine an article titled “Why Kennedy Went to Texas,” which contained a number of blatantly false statements about that trip, obviously meant to deflect attention away from the role he and Johnson had played in luring John Kennedy to Texas. This article was nothing more than an attempt by two conniving and duplicitous politicians to effectively blame JFK for causing his own death by insisting on coming to Texas in the first place (despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary). Planting such a ludicrous lie, had the public chosen to believe it, would of course be extremely helpful in diverting attention about JFK’s fate away from Johnson, clearly the primary objective of Connally’s article.
How Robert Caro Misrepresented John Connally’s Visit JFK to the White House
Robert Caro wrote in The Passage of Power, that Connally had gone to Washington at Kennedy’s invitation to finalize planning for the trip, one month before.[9] That account was focused on the point that JFK had excluded Johnson from the meeting, and how—when Lyndon found out about it (somehow, immediately after it happened and before Connally broke the news to him), probably from a Secret Service agent inside the White House, known to be LBJ’s mole— Johnson became enraged that he had not been invited to the meeting.
A friend of John Connally named Doug Thompson wrote an article based upon what Connally personally told him about that meeting and his warning JFK not to make the trip. Thompson published his account over a decade after Connally’s death, in 2006, explaining how he personally met John Connally in 1982, later becoming friends with him, and how each visited the other with some regularity for a decade before Connally’s death in 1993. On one such occasion, while having a dinner with him, Connally told Thompson: “You know I was one of the ones who advised Kennedy to stay away from Texas . . . Lyndon (Johnson) was being a real a** hole about the whole thing and insisted [that Kennedy come to Texas].”[10] It should be noted that there is nothing in Connally’s Warren Commission testimony about such a warning; in fact the opposite point—that he offered a welcoming encouragement to make the trip—can be gleaned from reading that testimony.[11] Yet the story Connally told Thompson was consistent with the headline noted above, from the Nov. 23, 1963 article in the Dallas newspaper that could only have been planted by Lyndon Johnson or one of his sycophants. Sofia + Sam Multi Task... Buy New $44.50 (as of 02:59 UTC - Details)
In the unlikely event that Connally’s statement to Thompson was true—his point being to prove that he had no prior knowledge of the real plans—Connally would, nevertheless, eventually capitulate, and cooperate with Johnson’s elaborate cover-up, with the notable exception that he would consistently say he did not believe in the conclusions of the Warren Report, though never explain why.
Mr. Thompson’s account, published on a widely-read “alternative” political news site six years before Caro’s book Passage of Power, was ignored by an author famous for his rule about “turning every page” of documents relating to the subject of his books; yet there are many instances I’ve documented where some of the most critical matters related to the assassination are missing (see here, and here for more examples).
In this case it relates to the key issue, “Why did JFK decide to go to Dallas?” Were it not for that fateful trip, his most important life-time of work would have never been done, for his subject would have been consigned to history as just another grubby politician, unworthy of a single volume — much less, five.
Of course, Connally might have been lying about all of this to Mr. Thompson and his wife, in an attempt to cover himself from suspicions of his being a witting accomplice. Connally, like his mentor Johnson, was not above twisting his words to fit whatever concerns he had in a given moment into contradictions that would later be jettisoned as circumstances changed. For example, in his testimony to the House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) in 1978, he claimed that, on his Western trip in the summer of 1963 in a preliminary discussion about planning the Texas trip, JFK said: “Well, ‘I think we ought to have four dinners,’ and I was in a state of shock. He said, ‘I think we ought to have four or five fundraising dinners.’”[12] That conflicted with what he had previously stated to the Warren Commission regarding Kennedy’s desire for only one fundraising dinner:
“[JFK] said he would like to do whatever he could do that was agreeable with me; it was agreeable with me that he more or less trust me to plan the trip for him, to tell him where he would like to go. About that time some thought was being given to having four fundraising dinners. His attitude on that was he wouldn’t prefer that. He felt that the appearances would not be too good, that he would much prefer to have one if we were going to have any. I told him this was entirely consistent with my own thoughts. We ought not to have more than one fundraising dinner. If we did, it ought to be in Austin.”[13]
In his rendition of this subject, Robert Caro conflated the point regarding the number of campaign dinners thusly, giving Connally the credit for limiting the number of campaign dinners:[14]
Connally proposed that Kennedy’s visit, for which the dates of November 21 and 22 had been tentatively set, include visits to five cities, as Kennedy wanted, but only one fund-raising affair: a hundred-dollar-per-plate dinner in Austin, on the 22nd. Otherwise, Connally said, ‘people down there are going to think that all you are interested in is the financial rape of the state,’ and I used those words,’ and Kennedy said he would accept Connally’s judgement.
In the Motorcade, 12:30 PM in Dallas: John Connally Yells: “They’re going to kill us both”
What is true, and revealing of Connally’s prior knowledge, was his shouted exclamation upon being shot (“They are going to kill us both!”).[15] An attorney friend explained that the legal term for that is an “excited utterance,” which the judicial system treats as an exception to the ordinary “hearsay” rules by admitting them as evidence because they are considered intrinsically trustworthy. Furthermore, the corollary premise—that when a life-altering experience occurs, people remember it—must be factored into the analysis and be considered in the ultimate conclusion.
Regardless of whether or not he knew of the plot in advance, Connally clearly became aware of the truth subsequently, as revealed in another comment he made that Mr. Thompson repeated: “I love this country and we needed closure at the time. I will never speak out publicly about what I believe.”[16] [Emphasis added.]
Connally’s words clearly revealed that he was hiding what he knew to be the truth, and he did it out of fear for the future of the country if that information were to become public. He knew that the implications could possibly bring down the government and he didn’t want to be the one responsible for that.
Robert Caro’s Mission: To Rehabilitate Lyndon Johnson’s Legacy
It could be argued that there is no substantive reason to argue that Robert Caro missed a significant fact since Connally’s claim to have warned JFK not to go to Texas, as explained above, was a lie. But that misses the point: Throughout his works[17] he intentionally omits anything (e.g., a witness, an event, a link to anyone with criminal connections to Johnson) that would contradict the message required of his mission. As noted above, I have previously documented many such instances of this paradigm, and have now added to that list both the point about from whom the idea about the “five dinners” came (arguably LBJ himself) as well as the origin of the notion that the trip was ever Kennedy’s idea—obviously, according to his friend Senator Smathers, he actually dreaded the very thought of having to go to Texas.
The list could be extended endlessly further, to include such diverse points as Caro’s denial that Johnson had any involvement with Bobby Baker’s Quorum Club,[18] that in his WWII “service” the bomber he rode in was attacked by Japanese Zeroes while he climbed into the navigator’s bubble for a better view,[19] that Secret Service agent Rufus Youngblood actually threw LBJ to the floor of the limo and covered him on the way to Parkland,[20] and that JFK had never planned to replace him as vice president in 1964.[21] It slowly becomes clear that the documentation of Caro’s omissions and misstatements would require a very lengthy tome; yet it quickly becomes just as clear that those discrepancies are all related the mission he has worked decades to achieve.
Regarding the primary subject—why JFK went to Texas—and Connally’s claim, parroting the Dallas newspaper story the day after JFK’s murder: It was what he did not report, that Connally had purportedly warned Kennedy not to make the trip, that Caro did not scrutinize.
It was the fact that the purported “warning” by Connally to President Kennedy was originally made—perhaps by Bill Moyers or another LBJ sycophant—immediately after the murder and reported the next day, then repeated by Connally himself, that suggests it was merely one component of this single aspect of the enormous cover-up.
END NOTES
[1] Lincoln, Evelyn, Kennedy and Johnson, p.196
[2] Ibid. pp. 197-198
[3] Reedy, George. Lyndon B. Johnson: A Memoir. p. 147.
[4] Lincoln, pp. 196-197
[5] Dallas Morning News, November 23, 1963. Allen Duckworth, Political Editor. p. 4–5.
[6] Shesol, p. 138
[7] See Youtube “Smathers: JFK didn’t really want to go to Texas” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFa_S3YEjMQ )
[8] Op. Cit. (Shesol)
[9] Caro, Robert, The Passage of Power, pp. 273-274 (And ref. endnotes p. 659)
[10] Thompson, Doug, “Is Deception the Best Way to Serve One’s Country?” OpEd News, 3/30/2006 (See: http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_doug_tho_060330_is_ deception_the_bes.htm )
Inter alia: Thompson also wrote this about his conversation with Connally: “I had to ask. Did he think Lee Harvey Oswald fired the gun that killed Kennedy? ‘Absolutely not,’ Connally said. ‘I do not, for one second, believe the conclusions of the Warren Commission.’ So why not speak out? ‘Because I love this country and we needed closure at the time. I will never speak out publicly about what I believe’.”
[11] Warren Commission Hearings Vol. IV, pp. 129-136 (https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=34#relPageId=137&tab=page)
[12] HSCA Hearings, Vol. I, September 6, 7, and 8, 1978, p. 14
[13] Op. Cit. (Warren Commission Hearings, p. 130)
[14] Op. Cit. (Caro)
[15] As reported by William Manchester, based upon a statement by Jacqueline Kennedy (The Death of a President, p.157). In his 4/21/64 Warren Commission testimony, he changed “both” to “all”, (W.C. Hearings Vol IV, p. 133) and again in a 1992 interview with Larry King (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry5kexkmIbs at 4:50), which eventually became the legend most often repeated, an adjustment apparently made to leaven the sinister implications of his utterance. (Cudos to Ed Tatro for bringing this point to my attention).
[16] Op. Cit. (Thompson article in OpEd News).
[17] At least the last three volumes, the last being “The Passage of Power.”
[18] Caro, The Passage … p. 290 (a very confusing point, contradicted by his own previous statements in a televised CNN report, The Story of LBJ’s Silver Star, by Jamie McIntyre (CNN military affairs correspondent) and Jim Barnett (CNN producer):
“Robert Caro: The most you can say about Lyndon Johnson and his Silver Star is that it is surely one of the most undeserved Silver Stars in history. Because [even] if you accept everything that he said, he was still in action for no more than thirteen minutes and only as an observer. Men who flew many missions, brave men, never got a Silver Star . . .I would say that it’s an issue of exaggerations. He said that he flew on many missions, not one mission. He said that the crew members, the other members of the Air Force group, were so admiring of him that they called him Raider Johnson. Neither of these things are true.”
[19] Ibid. p. 314
[20] Ibid. (among other references)
[21] Ibid. pp. 265-270
Reprinted with the author’s permission.
The Best of Phillip F. Nelson


lewrockwell--2020-04-02--Reflecting on ‘Crisis and Leviathan’ in the Age of the Pandemic

Not very long ago , President Trump tweeted , “ We can not let the cure be worse than the problem itself.
” He was pilloried for daring to suggest that government action with respect to the coronavirus pandemic has both benefits and costs .
Now he appears to be “ all-in ” on the national lockdown and more in sync with “ expert ” opinion and the big blue-state governors .
Given that we don ’ t possess the luxury of hindsight , we don ’ t know if this is the correct move or not .
But what @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to a pandemic is unprecedented in America .
Recently , Manhattan ’ s City Journal published the reflections of Clark Whelton , a former speechwriter for New York City mayors Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani , who remembered living through the pandemic of 1957 , known at the time by the politically incorrect label “ the Asian Flu.
” The virus was responsible for the deaths of over a million people worldwide and 116,000 in the United States ( which at the time had about half the current population ) .
And , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Leviathan : ... Robert Higgs Best Price : $ 7.96 Buy New $ 7.42 [ T ] o the best of my knowledge , governors did not call out the National Guard , and political panic-mongers did not blame it all on President Eisenhower .
College sports events were not cancelled , planes and trains continued to run , and Americans did not regard one another with fear and suspicion , touching elbows instead of hands .
We took the Asian flu in stride .
We said our prayers and took our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ why two different eras produced such differences in reaction .
There was no internet then , no 24-hour cable news networks , and no social media .
And you had an adult population for whom the Great Depression was a clear and vivid memory .
This all brings to mind an old book that now seems suddenly relevant — Crisis and Leviathan by economic historian Robert Higgs .
In the book , which is subtitled “ Critical Episodes in the Growth of Government , ” Higgs introduced a key concept that he called @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the power of government grows during times of crisis , such as war or national depression .
Higgs observed that once the crisis passes , the newly acquired power of the State doesn ’ t recede back to its original level .
Thus , each crisis leaves the government more powerful than before .
As Higgs explained : Politicians on both sides have recognized this .
Ronald Reagan once stated that “ nothing lasts longer than a temporary government program.
” And Rahm Emanuel famously stated that “ you never let a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Lumbar Suppo ... Best Price : $ 13.38 Buy New $ 19.90 The Ultimate Work From ... Henderson , Michael Buy New $ 9.00 Digital Infrared Foreh ...
Check Amazon for Pricing .

Not very long ago, President Trump tweeted, “We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself.” He was pilloried for daring to suggest that government action with respect to the coronavirus pandemic has both benefits and costs. Now he appears to be “all-in” on the national lockdown and more in sync with “expert” opinion and the big blue-state governors.
Given that we don’t possess the luxury of hindsight, we don’t know if this is the correct move or not. But what’s indisputable is that this approach to a pandemic is unprecedented in America.
Recently, Manhattan’s City Journal published the reflections of Clark Whelton, a former speechwriter for New York City mayors Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani, who remembered living through the pandemic of 1957, known at the time by the politically incorrect label “the Asian Flu.” The virus was responsible for the deaths of over a million people worldwide and 116,000 in the United States (which at the time had about half the current population). And, yet, as Whelton recalls: Crisis and Leviathan: ... Robert Higgs Best Price: $7.96 Buy New $7.42 (as of 05:25 UTC - Details)
[T]o the best of my knowledge, governors did not call out the National Guard, and political panic-mongers did not blame it all on President Eisenhower. College sports events were not cancelled, planes and trains continued to run, and Americans did not regard one another with fear and suspicion, touching elbows instead of hands. We took the Asian flu in stride. We said our prayers and took our chances.
One can speculate as to why two different eras produced such differences in reaction. There was no internet then, no 24-hour cable news networks, and no social media. And you had an adult population for whom the Great Depression was a clear and vivid memory.
This all brings to mind an old book that now seems suddenly relevant — Crisis and Leviathan by economic historian Robert Higgs. In the book, which is subtitled “Critical Episodes in the Growth of Government,” Higgs introduced a key concept that he called “the ratchet effect.” He noted that the power of government grows during times of crisis, such as war or national depression. Higgs observed that once the crisis passes, the newly acquired power of the State doesn’t recede back to its original level. Thus, each crisis leaves the government more powerful than before. As Higgs explained:
After the ideological transformation that took place during the Progressive Era, each genuine crisis has been the occasion for another ratchet toward Bigger Government.
Politicians on both sides have recognized this. Ronald Reagan once stated that “nothing lasts longer than a temporary government program.” And Rahm Emanuel famously stated that “you never let a serious crisis go to waste.”
Read the Whole Article
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