lewrockwell--2020-07-18--Turmoil at Home, Turmoil Abroad: Israel and the US Escalate Their War Against Iran

As the combined impact of the corona virus and the wholesale destruction of America ’ s history and culture , or at least the part of it that is white , continues , it is nice to see that other nations are getting into the game that will lead to the de facto elimination of western civilization .
No one is yet quite up the U.S. level of senseless destruction and looting by the heroes of Black Lives Matter ( BLM ) and Antifa , but in Britain mobs are beating policemen , statues including that of Winston Churchill are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country ’ s war dead has been vandalized .
In a bizarre incident demonstrating the fundamental ignorance of the wreckers , a memorial to those who died at the 1651 Battle of Worcester in the English Civil War has suffered “ significant damage ” , with the letters BLM painted on the marker .
Treacherous Alliance : ... Trita Parsi Best Price : $ 1.99 Buy New $ 2.99 Perhaps the most ridiculous SJW demand arising out of the ethno-racism nonsense that has induced the politicians and journalists to go down on their @ @ @ @ @ @ @ argument that the Arch of Titus in Rome , which has been standing for two thousand years , should be destroyed because one of its panels depicts the triumphal parade that displayed the loot obtained from the Roman capture of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Yeshiva University senior Michael Weiner writing in the Jewish magazine “ The Forward ” argues that “ …like Columbus , Robert E. Lee , and King Leopold II , it too must come down .
There is no excuse for Italy to maintain , fund , and proudly display @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jerusalem , the forced displacement of the Jews of Judea , and the burning of the Temple… As an ancient propaganda tool to glorify Rome ’ s bloody conquests and a modern emblem of Christian persecution and Jewish subjugation , the Arch of Titus is a cruel symbol.
” Weiner seems unaware , or more likely does not care , that there is considerable irony in his denunciation of the Roman subjugation of Judea while ignoring the very real contemporary genocide of the Palestinian people by his co-religionists in Israel .
It just @ @ @ @ @ @ @ destruction game starts , anyone who has a grievance can join in and the damage will increase exponentially as every foolish demand becomes self-justifying .
If the current political turmoil ever reverts to anything like normalcy , what is likely to emerge out the other end is a coalition of grievance groups that have figured out that destroying things indiscriminately to make some people feel consumed with guilt so you can steal their money and property is a whole lot easier than actually having to come up with something reasonable .
Whatever it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” will look a lot like Nancy Pelosi ’ s groveling Democratic Party or possibly Britain ’ s Labour Party under its new dystopian leader Keir Starmer , whose overriding mission appears to be ridding the world of anti-Semitism .
1 oz .999 Hand-Poured ... Buy New $ 33.95 Be that as it may , and assuming that the world will not end in the next year or so , the distraction arising from the virus and demonstrations has provided plenty of opportunity for the Trump Administration ’ s consigliere Mike Pompeo and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ around the world .
Indeed , there have been opportunities for several “ twofers ” with condemnation of China ’ s and Venezuela ’ s relations with Iran permitting attacks on multiple “ enemies ” simultaneously .
China is completing a “ New Silk Road ” trade agreement with Iran that will reduce the impact of U.S. sanctions while Iran has been supplying refined petroleum products to Venezuela .
Washington has been working hard to disrupt both developments , even threatening to use counter-terrorism legislation to intercept the Greek-owned but carrying-Iranian-fuel tankers in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ along has been whether the United States and Israel will attack Iran now or later , but the usual anonymous sources in Washington that provide the New York Times with fodder for its fabricated foreign policy pieces are now suggesting that we are looking at something that might be called “ incremental conflict management ” , which would consist of a series of “ short-of-war clandestine strikes , aimed at taking out the most prominent generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and setting back Iran ’ s nuclear facilities.
” Brian H. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ special envoy for Iran described the U.S. government ’ s vapid Iran policy by observing “ We have seen historically that timidity and weakness invites more Iranian aggression.
” Also , in an election year , “ incremental ” sounds better than real war and it also obscures the reality that Israel is already attacking Iran and its allies , almost daily , aided by the Trump Administration and also encouraged by a belligerent U.S. Congress .
BEST All Natural 1 OZ ... .
Buy New $ 7.98 The U.S. approach to Iran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the Jewish state , consisting of seeking to destroy the country ’ s economy by blocking its oil exports and its banking sector .
Last week a U.S. court in Washington cited “ anti-terror legislation ” to rule against Iran , awarding $ 879 million in damages to the survivors and families of the U.S. airmen killed in the Khobar Towers bombing attack in 1996 .
Iran has denied involvement in the bombing and there is certainly no hard evidence that it was behind it , but the victims will in any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money as the Iranian government has had many of its bank accounts frozen by the U.S. Treasury .
The “ incremental war ” crowd sees a situation in which the United States and Israel have de facto been pursuing a plan to bring down the Iranian government while also devastating its nuclear program .
The United States is applying the economic pressure through an increasing use of sanctions , while Israel regularly bombs Iranians and Iranian proxies in Syria and Lebanon .
The two governments believe that the combination of military force and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regime to basically surrender and effectively disarm without having to escalate into an open , shooting war .
1 oz .
Silver Bullet - ... Buy New $ 30.00 The only problem with the staged approach is that Israel has already , in the past two weeks , directly attacked major research and development facilities inside Iran , and has apparently done so in part with missiles fired either from Israeli fighter-bombers or from ships offshore in the Persian Gulf .
The two attacks took place on July 2 , 2020 , one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Natanz and the second was targeting a claimed missile development center at Parchin .
Neither attack was much reported in the western media even though they together appeared to be a major escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict , with potentially significant consequences .
Even the Times , again relying on an anonymous “ Middle Eastern intelligence official with knowledge of the episode , ” eventually reported that Natanz was not hit by a cyber-attack , as had been previously suggested , but by a “ powerful bomb ” which might well have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ main building by an Israeli agent .
One assumes that the “ Middle Eastern official ” was Israeli and Israeli media sources also confirmed that Parchin was hit by missiles fired from an F-35 Israeli Air Force plane , which suggests that the Benjamin Netanyahu is not exactly being shy about what his government did .
The point is that the U.S. and the Israelis are intent on going to war against enemy number one Iran and are packaging their actions in such away as to suggest that they are really behaving in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that Iran will retaliate , but in such a way as to avoid intensifying the conflict .
In reality , taking action to destroy a nation ’ s economy is an act of war just as much as is staging attacks using bombs carried by spies or using missiles fired from planes .
There is already a war going on , but the smokescreen provided by the coronavirus spread and BLM means that no one seems to want more on their plate and there is great reluctance to call it for what it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ do not necessarily represent those of the Strategic Culture Foundation .
The Best of Philip Giraldi

As the combined impact of the corona virus and the wholesale destruction of America’s history and culture, or at least the part of it that is white, continues, it is nice to see that other nations are getting into the game that will lead to the de facto elimination of western civilization. No one is yet quite up the U.S. level of senseless destruction and looting by the heroes of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Antifa, but in Britain mobs are beating policemen, statues including that of Winston Churchill are being attacked and the Cenotaph commemorating the country’s war dead has been vandalized. In a bizarre incident demonstrating the fundamental ignorance of the wreckers, a memorial to those who died at the 1651 Battle of Worcester in the English Civil War has suffered “significant damage”, with the letters BLM painted on the marker. Treacherous Alliance: ... Trita Parsi Best Price: $1.99 Buy New $2.99 (as of 10:40 UTC - Details)
Perhaps the most ridiculous SJW demand arising out of the ethno-racism nonsense that has induced the politicians and journalists to go down on their knees and beg for forgiveness is the argument that the Arch of Titus in Rome, which has been standing for two thousand years, should be destroyed because one of its panels depicts the triumphal parade that displayed the loot obtained from the Roman capture of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Yeshiva University senior Michael Weiner writing in the Jewish magazine “The Forward” argues that “…like Columbus, Robert E. Lee, and King Leopold II, it too must come down. There is no excuse for Italy to maintain, fund, and proudly display a structure that celebrates the destruction of Jerusalem, the forced displacement of the Jews of Judea, and the burning of the Temple… As an ancient propaganda tool to glorify Rome’s bloody conquests and a modern emblem of Christian persecution and Jewish subjugation, the Arch of Titus is a cruel symbol.”
Weiner seems unaware, or more likely does not care, that there is considerable irony in his denunciation of the Roman subjugation of Judea while ignoring the very real contemporary genocide of the Palestinian people by his co-religionists in Israel. It just goes to show you that once the destruction game starts, anyone who has a grievance can join in and the damage will increase exponentially as every foolish demand becomes self-justifying.
If the current political turmoil ever reverts to anything like normalcy, what is likely to emerge out the other end is a coalition of grievance groups that have figured out that destroying things indiscriminately to make some people feel consumed with guilt so you can steal their money and property is a whole lot easier than actually having to come up with something reasonable. Whatever it winds up calling itself the “NewPolitics” will look a lot like Nancy Pelosi’s groveling Democratic Party or possibly Britain’s Labour Party under its new dystopian leader Keir Starmer, whose overriding mission appears to be ridding the world of anti-Semitism. 1 oz .999 Hand-Poured ... Buy New $33.95 (as of 04:44 UTC - Details)
Be that as it may, and assuming that the world will not end in the next year or so, the distraction arising from the virus and demonstrations has provided plenty of opportunity for the Trump Administration’s consigliere Mike Pompeo and his foreign allies to make mischief all around the world. Indeed, there have been opportunities for several “twofers” with condemnation of China’s and Venezuela’s relations with Iran permitting attacks on multiple “enemies” simultaneously.
China is completing a “New Silk Road” trade agreement with Iran that will reduce the impact of U.S. sanctions while Iran has been supplying refined petroleum products to Venezuela. Washington has been working hard to disrupt both developments, even threatening to use counter-terrorism legislation to intercept the Greek-owned but carrying-Iranian-fuel tankers in international waters.
The real question all along has been whether the United States and Israel will attack Iran now or later, but the usual anonymous sources in Washington that provide the New York Times with fodder for its fabricated foreign policy pieces are now suggesting that we are looking at something that might be called “incremental conflict management”, which would consist of a series of “short-of-war clandestine strikes, aimed at taking out the most prominent generals of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and setting back Iran’s nuclear facilities.”
Brian H. Hook, the State Department’s special envoy for Iran described the U.S. government’s vapid Iran policy by observing “We have seen historically that timidity and weakness invites more Iranian aggression.” Also, in an election year, “incremental” sounds better than real war and it also obscures the reality that Israel is already attacking Iran and its allies, almost daily, aided by the Trump Administration and also encouraged by a belligerent U.S. Congress. BEST All Natural 1 OZ.... Buy New $7.98 (as of 04:46 UTC - Details)
The U.S. approach to Iran is only marginally more subtle than that of the Jewish state, consisting of seeking to destroy the country’s economy by blocking its oil exports and its banking sector. Last week a U.S. court in Washington cited “anti-terror legislation” to rule against Iran, awarding $879 million in damages to the survivors and families of the U.S. airmen killed in the Khobar Towers bombing attack in 1996. Iran has denied involvement in the bombing and there is certainly no hard evidence that it was behind it, but the victims will in any event have a hard time collecting their money as the Iranian government has had many of its bank accounts frozen by the U.S. Treasury.
The “incremental war” crowd sees a situation in which the United States and Israel have de facto been pursuing a plan to bring down the Iranian government while also devastating its nuclear program. The United States is applying the economic pressure through an increasing use of sanctions, while Israel regularly bombs Iranians and Iranian proxies in Syria and Lebanon. The two governments believe that the combination of military force and economic sanctions will eventually force the Iranian regime to basically surrender and effectively disarm without having to escalate into an open, shooting war.
1 oz. Silver Bullet - ... Buy New $30.00 (as of 04:39 UTC - Details) The only problem with the staged approach is that Israel has already, in the past two weeks, directly attacked major research and development facilities inside Iran, and has apparently done so in part with missiles fired either from Israeli fighter-bombers or from ships offshore in the Persian Gulf. The two attacks took place on July 2, 2020, one directed against the Iranian nuclear research facility at Natanz and the second was targeting a claimed missile development center at Parchin. Neither attack was much reported in the western media even though they together appeared to be a major escalation of the Iran-Israel conflict, with potentially significant consequences.
Even the Times, again relying on an anonymous “Middle Eastern intelligence official with knowledge of the episode,” eventually reported that Natanz was not hit by a cyber-attack, as had been previously suggested, but by a “powerful bomb” which might well have been placed in the site’s main building by an Israeli agent. One assumes that the “Middle Eastern official” was Israeli and Israeli media sources also confirmed that Parchin was hit by missiles fired from an F-35 Israeli Air Force plane, which suggests that the Benjamin Netanyahu is not exactly being shy about what his government did.
The point is that the U.S. and the Israelis are intent on going to war against enemy number one Iran and are packaging their actions in such away as to suggest that they are really behaving in a moderate fashion. They are assuming that Iran will retaliate, but in such a way as to avoid intensifying the conflict. In reality, taking action to destroy a nation’s economy is an act of war just as much as is staging attacks using bombs carried by spies or using missiles fired from planes. There is already a war going on, but the smokescreen provided by the coronavirus spread and BLM means that no one seems to want more on their plate and there is great reluctance to call it for what it is.
The views of individual contributors do not necessarily represent those of the Strategic Culture Foundation.
The Best of Philip Giraldi


lewrockwell--2020-07-18--Why LBJ Chose Not To Run for Reelection in 1968 – Then Attempted To Retract it

When he was twelve years old , Lyndon Johnson proclaimed to some friends , “ Someday , I ’ m going to be president of the United States.
” Thereafter , he was never shy about repeating that statement to anyone willing to listen and , with time , his resolve never lessened : In fact , it became an obsession of his , so ingrained that it became an inseparable part of his being .
Naturally , once achieved , he would do everything under his power to remain in office for as long as possible , and he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ until the point that he had no choice left but to drop out .
[ 1 ] From the moment he became president on November 22 , 1963 , on the tarmac at Love Field in Dallas , Lyndon Johnson lived in fear of the possibility that either Robert or Edward Kennedy might ever become president .
Who REALLY Killed Mart ... Nelson , Phillip F. Best Price : $ 17.34 Buy New $ 15.43 Johnson felt particularly threatened by Bobby and was so afraid of the possibility of a groundswell of support @ @ @ @ @ @ @ president at the 1964 Democratic Convention in Atlantic City that he went to lengthy manipulative efforts to prevent any chance of that .
[ 2 ] Throughout the first two years after his “ landslide ” election , as the public got to know him better , even as his legislative accomplishments increased , his popularity numbers declined .
It was merely one cause of the public ’ s distrust of Johnson : what reporters had euphemistically begun calling his “ credibility gap ” – the result of the growing public realization of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in ascendancy at that point .
By the last half of 1967 , his disastrous Vietnam policies had caused increasing public anger due to the loss of so many young men in an unnecessary , unwinnable and completely futile war that had no discernable relation to national security .
“ He is the first President in U.S. history to be beset simultaneously with a major war abroad and a major rebellion at home—neither of them going well or holding forth any promise of the kind of sudden and dramatic improvement that alone could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frustration and bitterness that is cresting around the White House .
He is also a President whose own personality has become an issue in itself—an issue , indeed , that seems increasingly to be producing almost as much criticism and contention as the war in Vietnam and the tumult in the ghettos.
” By the end of 1967 , some of Johnson ’ s staff had reported that he had already begun to talk about dropping out of the 1968 election , including his top aide Marvin Watson ( who had filled the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : $ 21.09 Buy New $ 17.00 In late January 1968 the Vietcong began the “ Tet Offensive , ” a surprise attack launched simultaneously throughout South Vietnam , setting off bombs and attacking even the “ invulnerable ” American embassy in Saigon .
Finally , the majority of Americans began to understand that President Johnson had brazenly lied to them about the “ light at the end of the tunnel ” and the fact of how “ enemy body counts ” were inflated across the board by as much as 100 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ especially his “ biggest nightmare , ” were all behind what would play out on March 31st , throughout the next five months , and everything else related to the 1968 political events yet to occur .
Four days later , on March 16th , RFK announced his entry into the presidential race , stating : “ I do not run for the presidency merely to oppose any man , but to propose new policies .
I run because I am convinced that this country is on a perilous course and because I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be done , and I feel that I ’ m obliged to do all I can.
” Two weeks after that , President Johnson announced his departure from the reelection campaign .
Johnson made his stunning announcement on March 31 , 1968 , on a television broadcast that was mostly about yet another change in strategy in his war planning .
That talk ran on for over 4,000 words before he finally came to the best twenty-one-word sentence he had ever uttered : “ Accordingly , I shall not seek , and I @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my party for another term as your President.
” Lyndon Johnson and the ... Kearns Goodwin , Doris Best Price : $ 11.80 Buy New $ 11.99 Parties immediately broke out all over the nation , especially in college town bars and cities across the country .
There has arguably never been such a spontaneous , decentralized , and widespread celebration , before or since .
People of all political stripes , young and old , were literally dancing in the streets , according to the president himself : [ 4 ] “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the first day of my Presidency was actually coming true , Robert Kennedy had openly announced his intention to reclaim the throne in the memory of his brother .
And the American people , swayed by the magic of the name , were dancing in the streets.
” ( Emphasis added ) .
A Deeper Look at LBJ ’ s Decision to Quit : Were There Greater Objectives ?
For a man who had spent decades being obsessed with becoming the president of the United States , after having fulfilled his dream @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a fight meant that he had undergone a powerful transformation : His voluntarily giving up the position for which he had lusted his entire lifetime could only mean that he surrendered it in order to accomplish certain other , even greater , objectives .
His primary concern at that point would have undoubtedly been to ensure that his tenure as president would be enshrined forever in a legacy befitting one of the “ greatest presidents of all time.
” Only a position in the same tier as George Washington , Abraham Lincoln , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of US presidents would be adequate for him , at least in his own mind , a point that he had made himself on numerous occasions .
As Richard Goodwin – the speechwriter Johnson had inherited from JFK – had alluded to on several occasions , to achieve that rarefied status , he intended to “ out-Roosevelt Roosevelt.
” [ 5 ] But to accomplish that , he would have to ensure that no one then alive and in a powerful position to succeed him—anyone who might wish to destroy the myth of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ allowed to follow him into the White House .
Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were the men he feared the most , because he knew that they knew the truth about those myths .
As if on cue , only four days after Johnson announced he would not run again , Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in Memphis .
Two months after that , Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles .
Both of these murders were the result of many months of planning , primarily by the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) and the CIA ( in RFK ’ s case ) with plenty of support and assistance between the two and other governmental entities , including military intelligence and local police agencies , as documented in the referenced sources .
[ 6 ] After the Assassinations – Johnson Attempted to Re-Enter the Race On to Chicago : Redisco ... Rogan , James Best Price : $ 13.76 Buy New $ 19.99 In yet another of a lengthy series of “ startling developments ” that tumultuous year , shortly after the assassinations of Martin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Lyndon Johnson acted to put himself back into the race .
In retrospect , it seems – perhaps too obviously – that whatever his original rationale for exiting the campaign , his concerns had now been resolved and he must have seen it as a great opportunity to come in to the back-door of the convention floor as a knight on the proverbial “ white horse , ” ready to save the country from having to choose between , in his estimation , the two much lesser candidates ( in July , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Humphrey in the polls ) .
According to LBJ biographer Robert Dallek , LBJ ’ s turnaround started shortly after the RFK assassination when he began putting feelers out about the possibility that he could reenter the race by making it known that he would certainly accept being “ drafted ” during the convention , sold to the delegates on the basis that he would be the only Democrat who could recapture the White House .
That led several top aides within his administration , and various party leaders , to state that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ showed promise quickly enough , he might have a chance to save the presidency for the Democrats after all : [ 7 ] It was to be a triumphant moment , but Mayor [ Richard J . ]
Daley and White House aide Jake Jacobsen believed it would be even more than that .
They foresaw a draft nomination if the President would just give the word .
“ That ’ s what I ’ m for , ” Daley said .
“ I ’ m for a draft , and I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ chance he will do it.
” White House aide Jim Jones reported : “ Jake says this convention is going to draft the President if there is the slightest indication the draft will be accepted.
” Johnson , who had never trusted Humphrey to continue his Vietnam policy , met – one month before the start of the Democratic National Convention – with the presumptive Republican nominee , Richard Nixon , who urged Johnson not to give in to pressure from Humphrey to soften his Vietnam positions ; in return , Nixon would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Then-Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford summed up Nixon ’ s response as giving “ us his support in return for inflexibility in our negotiating position , and thereby freeze poor Hubert out in the cold .
Humphrey wants to change the policy , but the President won ’ t let him say so.
” [ 8 ] The evening news stories , meanwhile , suggested that the thousands of young people headed to Chicago would create violent clashes between themselves and the police , with the delegates caught in the middle .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ considerable pressure among many party leaders to have the convention be moved to Miami , the site where the Republican National Convention was scheduled to meet in early August , three weeks before the Democratic convention ’ s schedule .
That proposal had even been supported by Humphrey , but Chicago Mayor Daley was adamantly opposed to it and promised that peace would be maintained .
Johnson not only caused the convention to remain in Chicago despite the high risk perceived by practically everyone else , but he began micromanaging all arrangements , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s son-in-law had to personally appear each morning in line for tickets to get into the convention center , for all members of the family .
LBJ ’ s control over the entire convention was so complete that he “ dictated the city , the date , the officers , the program of the convention.
” Johnson also rejected every one of Humphrey ’ s recommendations for the entire program—the scheduling issues , the speakers , the content of the all-important platform— even for the lower-level officers to be appointed to manage the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was at this point , around the end of July and the early August 1968 , that Johnson had come close to a decision to officially throw his big Stetson back into the ring , which would require actually attending the convention the end of the month ( Aug. 26-29 ) .
He planned to arrive there as a surprise guest , and undoubtedly , in his dreams , he would be received excitedly , even ecstatically , by the happy and relieved delegates , thankful to him for his personal sacrifices all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to his country .
Moreover , he indubitably would have figured on it becoming a triumphant moment in his own personal and presidential history , buttressing his “ legacy ” that had become his greatest priority .
It was in the middle of August when he put a number of aides and speech writers to work on planning the “ Draft Johnson ” movement , similar to how he had meticulously planned many other “ surprise ” events over the course of his career .
Next , Johnson sent his high-level aides Harry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ begin working on a film glorifying his life and extensive achievements , all of which led up to the magnificent program he had brought to the country , called the “ Great Society.
” By maximizing the “ good things ” and playing them up for all they were worth while minimizing the fact that many of them were already being defunded in order to reallocate scarce funds to his war , Johnson felt that the country would finally come to its senses and better appreciate the value of having such a great @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for yet another four years .
He discussed all of this with Chicago ’ s mayor , Richard Daley , who could not contain his excitement as noted above .
[ 11 ] Johnson ’ s longtime aides John Connally and Warren “ Woodie ” Woodward affirmed that “ [ Johnson ] very much hoped he would be drafted by the convention , ” and , moreover , he even sent his de facto chief of staff at that time , Marvin Watson , to Chicago “ to assess the possibility of that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ want to get it on the record , ” Connally said , “ that even though there had been a withdrawal , Marvin Watson was up there for the specific purpose of talking to delegates at Mr. Johnson ’ s ( direction ) .
” John Connally also stated that “ I personally was asked to go to meet with the governors of the southern delegations , with Buford Ellington , Farris Bryant , and that group , to see if they would support President Johnson in a draft movement in 1968 .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ that I went before all those southern governors and asked them if they would support Johnson in a draft , and they said , ‘ No way.
’ ” [ 12 ] The Most Disastrous Convention of All Time The 1968 Democratic Convention is remembered , hands down , as the worst of all time .
On convention eve , August 25th , the violence that had begun three days earlier began escalating further .
By August 28 , over 10,000 student protesters had gathered in Chicago ’ s Grant Park .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Grant Park , a big hog named “ Pigasus.
” A hippie bonfire in Lincoln Park provoked the first of many clashes with the Chicago police .
After a man lowered the city-owned American flag , several policemen confronted the man and , in the melee that followed , began to beat him .
The demonstrators reacted to that by throwing rocks and other objects at the police and hurling words and threats , as well .
At the height of it , the violence extended from Grant Park to the Amphitheater @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as the Chicago police , at Mayor Daley ’ s direction , beat the protesters , outside and inside the hotel .
As author Dallek noted : “ Though the public generally blamed the violence on radicals , later assessments described a police riot sanctioned by Mayor Daley ’ s refusal to grant demonstration permits and instructions to police to protect the convention from ‘ extremists.
’ ” Among the many records set at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago , was that of a sitting president , Lyndon B. Johnson , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” election four years previous , being essentially disinvited to his own convention .
But even worse than that , the incumbent president , who had choreographed the entire affair from afar and had desperately wanted to appear there at the last minute and be seen as the savior of the party and a favorite to win reelection , was so hated by so many delegates that he was not even mentioned by the speakers there .
He confirmed all of this himself , as when he stated : [ 14 ] “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my life .
.
.
How do you think it feels to be completely rejected by the party you ’ ve spent your life with , knowing that your name can not be mentioned without choruses of boos and obscenities ?
” It is interesting that the so-called “ historians ” who consistently vote Johnson into the “ top ten ” list of presidents never mention what his own party thought of him at the end of his reign of tyranny .
What was Really Behind Lyndon Johnson ’ s Actions : Protection @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what caused Lyndon Johnson to decide not to run for reelection—just four days before Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered , and two months before Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated—then , almost immediately deciding to reverse his decision once they were both silenced forever , is perplexing yet possibly quite explainable .
The nub of the matter—LBJ ’ s actions beginning March 31 , 1968 , and ending five months later on August 28 , 1968—comes down to what changed during that period .
There were only two substantive matters related to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy , and ; • the series of primary elections that had just begun , with his poor performance in the first ones and signs of trouble brewing in the remaining , all of which he missed by bowing out .
By the end of June , the primary season was over , his two most feared political enemies were dead , and in early July he had begun planning the resumption of his political career , only three months after having declared to the nation that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Martin , writing as “ DC Dave ” at his namesake blog/website , proffered an answer to the obvious question , in an essay titled “ Did Lyndon Step Down So Bobby Could Be Killed ?
” : [ 15 ] Put bluntly , for the November 22 , 1963 , coup to stick , keeping Bobby out—permanently—trumped keeping Lyndon in for another four years .
As it happens , there were some people in the RFK camp who could already see which way the wind was blowing .
The following quote is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and Times of Jack and Bobby Kennedy by Richard D. Mahoney : .
.
.
some around Bobby began to talk openly about the inevitable .
French novelist Romain Gary , then living in Los Angeles , told Pierre Salinger , “ Your candidate is going to get killed.
” When Jimmy Breslin asked several reporters around a table whether they thought Bobby had the stuff to go all the way , John J. Lindsay replied , “ Yes , of course , he has the stuff to go all the way , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ go all the way .
The reason is that somebody is going to shoot him .
I know it and you know it , just as sure as we ’ re sitting here .
He ’ s out there waiting for him.
” The only thing wrong with Lindsay ’ s prediction , as it turned out , was that it was not a “ he ” but a “ they , ” the official story notwithstanding .
In a pure , fair , and perfect world—where contrived lies and sorcerers ’ myths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were always immediately discovered and replaced with truths , in a time and place where powerful logic , fairness , and sound reasoning would always prevail—DC Dave ’ s explanation would be axiomatic .
Of course , in that world , such atrocities would never occur in the first place , but we digress .
In the alternate universe where Lyndon B. Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover resided , both had long believed that they could do anything either wanted to do and get away with it , one way or the other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and over again throughout his life , in a series of nearly unbelievable but ultimately successful feats that numerous people had witnessed , but about which all were forced to remain silent .
That was done through every device available to those who have access to the most deadly tools of covert operations : murder ; personal threats ; bribery ; changed , destroyed or fabricated testimony , and – for those in the military or in possession of high security clearances – merely government secrecy protocols accompanied by threats of prison , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Note # 1 for a single example among the many ) .
By now , it should become obvious to all that Lyndon B. Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover were among the founders of the insidious , modern “ Deep State ” that is now well established on the same foundation and using the same tools , though now grown to a global , even celestial , scale .
[ 1 ] Among other things “ under his power ” to ensure his reelection , in June , 1967 he had attempted to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the USS Liberty – with its crew of 294 – attacked and sunk by Israel , but blamed on his long-term nemesis , Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser .
The idea was to create a wave of patriotic fury and support for his planned retribution attack on Egypt , joining “ little Israel ” in what became known as the Six Day War .
In his deluded mind , he saw that as a way to create such popularity for himself that his reelection one year later would be guaranteed .
That @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Liberty and the ship ’ s crew mostly survived ; thus , the presidential treason had to be covered up , instead of becoming the source of his planned celebration of victory , where his actions would be extolled as those of a brilliant statesman and leader of the free world .
[ 2 ] Sullivan , William C. , The Bureau : My Thirty Years in Hoover ’ s FBI , pp .
58–59 ; Dallek , Robert , Flawed Giant : Lyndon Johnson and His Times , 1961–1973 pp .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ my books : Who Really Killed Martin Luther King Jr. ?
and LBJ : From Mastermind to The Colossus , Chapter 6 .
[ 7 ] Dallek , Robert , Flawed Giant : Lyndon Johnson and His Times , 1961–1973 pp .
571-572 ( Cite Ref .
“ HHH [ Humphrey ] to Jim Jones , Aug. 5 , 1968 ; Jones Memo , Aug. 21 , 1968 , WHCF [ White House Central Files ] EX/ND19\CO312 ; Bert to Jim Jones , Aug. 9 , 1968 , WHCF : CF : EX/PL1 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Jr. Aug. 15 , 1968 ; Jim Jones to LBJ , Aug. 25 , 1968 ; Califano to LBJ , Aug. 27 , 1968 ; Jim Jones Memo , Aug. 24 , 1968 , 1:10 pm.
, WHCF : EX/PL1 ; Califano , Triumph and Tragedy , 318-20 ) .
[ 14 ] Achenbach , Joel , “ A Party That Has Lost Its Mind : In 1968 Democrats held one of the country ’ s most disastrous conventions ” Washington Post , August 24 , 2018 https : //www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/08/24/a-party-that-had-lost-its-mind-in-1968-democrats-held-one-of-historys-most-disastrous-conventions/ [ 15 ] @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Did Lyndon Step Down So Bobby Could Be Killed ?
” September 23 , 2014 : http : //www.dcdave.com/article5/140923.htm .
The Best of Phillip F. Nelson

(Excerpted and reedited from Who Really Killed Martin Luther King Jr.?)
When he was twelve years old, Lyndon Johnson proclaimed to some friends, “Someday, I’m going to be president of the United States.” Thereafter, he was never shy about repeating that statement to anyone willing to listen and, with time, his resolve never lessened: In fact, it became an obsession of his, so ingrained that it became an inseparable part of his being. Naturally, once achieved, he would do everything under his power to remain in office for as long as possible, and he did just that; at least, until the point that he had no choice left but to drop out.[1]
Lyndon Johnson’s “Worst Nightmare”
From the moment he became president on November 22, 1963, on the tarmac at Love Field in Dallas, Lyndon Johnson lived in fear of the possibility that either Robert or Edward Kennedy might ever become president. Who REALLY Killed Mart... Nelson, Phillip F. Best Price: $17.34 Buy New $15.43 (as of 10:02 UTC - Details)
Johnson felt particularly threatened by Bobby and was so afraid of the possibility of a groundswell of support for RFK’s nomination as vice president at the 1964 Democratic Convention in Atlantic City that he went to lengthy manipulative efforts to prevent any chance of that.[2]
Throughout the first two years after his “landslide” election, as the public got to know him better, even as his legislative accomplishments increased, his popularity numbers declined. It was merely one cause of the public’s distrust of Johnson: what reporters had euphemistically begun calling his “credibility gap” – the result of the growing public realization of his intrinsic dishonesty – the only thing in ascendancy at that point.
By the last half of 1967, his disastrous Vietnam policies had caused increasing public anger due to the loss of so many young men in an unnecessary, unwinnable and completely futile war that had no discernable relation to national security.
Such was the sorry state of affairs within his own administration that many of his most stalwart aides and cabinet officials, such as Bill Moyers and Robert McNamara, had left, under clouds of disgust and confusion, caused in large part by the absence of information regarding whether they had resigned or were fired. In September 1967, Newsweek magazine (which had until then been among Johnson’s strongest supporters) reported: [3]
“He is the first President in U.S. history to be beset simultaneously with a major war abroad and a major rebellion at home—neither of them going well or holding forth any promise of the kind of sudden and dramatic improvement that alone could reverse the rising tide of anger, frustration and bitterness that is cresting around the White House. He is also a President whose own personality has become an issue in itself—an issue, indeed, that seems increasingly to be producing almost as much criticism and contention as the war in Vietnam and the tumult in the ghettos.”
By the end of 1967, some of Johnson’s staff had reported that he had already begun to talk about dropping out of the 1968 election, including his top aide Marvin Watson (who had filled the vacant Moyers position). Best Price: $21.09 Buy New $17.00 (as of 06:30 UTC - Details)
In late January 1968 the Vietcong began the “Tet Offensive,” a surprise attack launched simultaneously throughout South Vietnam, setting off bombs and attacking even the “invulnerable” American embassy in Saigon. Finally, the majority of Americans began to understand that President Johnson had brazenly lied to them about the “light at the end of the tunnel” and the fact of how “enemy body counts” were inflated across the board by as much as 100%.
Johnson’s troubles, and especially his “biggest nightmare,” were all behind what would play out on March 31st, throughout the next five months, and everything else related to the 1968 political events yet to occur.
Robert Kennedy’s Entrée
Likewise, LBJ’s political difficulties, and the March 12th near-victory of Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy over Johnson in the New Hampshire primary, were the impetus for Robert Kennedy to reevaluate his previous position against running for president that year.
Four days later, on March 16th, RFK announced his entry into the presidential race, stating: “I do not run for the presidency merely to oppose any man, but to propose new policies. I run because I am convinced that this country is on a perilous course and because I have such strong feelings about what must be done, and I feel that I’m obliged to do all I can.”
Two weeks after that, President Johnson announced his departure from the reelection campaign. Johnson made his stunning announcement on March 31, 1968, on a television broadcast that was mostly about yet another change in strategy in his war planning. That talk ran on for over 4,000 words before he finally came to the best twenty-one-word sentence he had ever uttered: “Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”
Lyndon Johnson and the... Kearns Goodwin, Doris Best Price: $11.80 Buy New $11.99 (as of 04:47 UTC - Details) Parties immediately broke out all over the nation, especially in college town bars and cities across the country. There has arguably never been such a spontaneous, decentralized, and widespread celebration, before or since. People of all political stripes, young and old, were literally dancing in the streets, according to the president himself:[4]
“[T]he thing I feared from the first day of my Presidency was actually coming true, Robert Kennedy had openly announced his intention to reclaim the throne in the memory of his brother. And the American people, swayed by the magic of the name, were dancing in the streets.” (Emphasis added).
A Deeper Look at LBJ’s Decision to Quit: Were There Greater Objectives?
For a man who had spent decades being obsessed with becoming the president of the United States, after having fulfilled his dream, to then sacrifice that office without a fight meant that he had undergone a powerful transformation: His voluntarily giving up the position for which he had lusted his entire lifetime could only mean that he surrendered it in order to accomplish certain other, even greater, objectives.
His primary concern at that point would have undoubtedly been to ensure that his tenure as president would be enshrined forever in a legacy befitting one of the “greatest presidents of all time.” Only a position in the same tier as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt in the pantheon of US presidents would be adequate for him, at least in his own mind, a point that he had made himself on numerous occasions. As Richard Goodwin – the speechwriter Johnson had inherited from JFK – had alluded to on several occasions, to achieve that rarefied status, he intended to “out-Roosevelt Roosevelt.”[5]
But to accomplish that, he would have to ensure that no one then alive and in a powerful position to succeed him—anyone who might wish to destroy the myth of his “greatness”—would ever be allowed to follow him into the White House. Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were the men he feared the most, because he knew that they knew the truth about those myths.
As if on cue, only four days after Johnson announced he would not run again, Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in Memphis. Two months after that, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles. Both of these murders were the result of many months of planning, primarily by the FBI (in King’s case) and the CIA (in RFK’s case) with plenty of support and assistance between the two and other governmental entities, including military intelligence and local police agencies, as documented in the referenced sources.[6]
After the Assassinations – Johnson Attempted to Re-Enter the Race
On to Chicago: Redisco... Rogan, James Best Price: $13.76 Buy New $19.99 (as of 04:47 UTC - Details) In yet another of a lengthy series of “startling developments” that tumultuous year, shortly after the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson acted to put himself back into the race.
In retrospect, it seems – perhaps too obviously – that whatever his original rationale for exiting the campaign, his concerns had now been resolved and he must have seen it as a great opportunity to come in to the back-door of the convention floor as a knight on the proverbial “white horse,” ready to save the country from having to choose between , in his estimation, the two much lesser candidates (in July, when Richard Nixon was already leading Hubert Humphrey in the polls).
According to LBJ biographer Robert Dallek, LBJ’s turnaround started shortly after the RFK assassination when he began putting feelers out about the possibility that he could reenter the race by making it known that he would certainly accept being “drafted” during the convention, sold to the delegates on the basis that he would be the only Democrat who could recapture the White House. That led several top aides within his administration, and various party leaders, to state that if his latest “peace efforts” showed promise quickly enough, he might have a chance to save the presidency for the Democrats after all:[7]
It was to be a triumphant moment, but Mayor [Richard J.] Daley and White House aide Jake Jacobsen believed it would be even more than that. They foresaw a draft nomination if the President would just give the word. “That’s what I’m for,” Daley said. “I’m for a draft, and I’ll start it if there is any chance he will do it.” White House aide Jim Jones reported: “Jake says this convention is going to draft the President if there is the slightest indication the draft will be accepted.”
Johnson, who had never trusted Humphrey to continue his Vietnam policy, met – one month before the start of the Democratic National Convention – with the presumptive Republican nominee, Richard Nixon, who urged Johnson not to give in to pressure from Humphrey to soften his Vietnam positions; in return, Nixon would not publicly criticize Johnson’s policies. Then-Secretary of Defense Clark Clifford summed up Nixon’s response as giving “us his support in return for inflexibility in our negotiating position, and thereby freeze poor Hubert out in the cold. Humphrey wants to change the policy, but the President won’t let him say so.”[8]
The evening news stories, meanwhile, suggested that the thousands of young people headed to Chicago would create violent clashes between themselves and the police, with the delegates caught in the middle. For that reason, there had been considerable pressure among many party leaders to have the convention be moved to Miami, the site where the Republican National Convention was scheduled to meet in early August, three weeks before the Democratic convention’s schedule.
That proposal had even been supported by Humphrey, but Chicago Mayor Daley was adamantly opposed to it and promised that peace would be maintained.
Moreover, he also promised that if it were moved, he would withhold support for the party’s candidate, presumed to be Hubert Humphrey, the then-vice president. President Johnson, a good friend of and in mind-sync with Mayor Daley, was also against moving it and was rumored to have said, “Miami is not an American city.”[9]
Johnson not only caused the convention to remain in Chicago despite the high risk perceived by practically everyone else, but he began micromanaging all arrangements, down to the requirement that Humphrey’s son-in-law had to personally appear each morning in line for tickets to get into the convention center, for all members of the family. LBJ’s control over the entire convention was so complete that he “dictated the city, the date, the officers, the program of the convention.” Johnson also rejected every one of Humphrey’s recommendations for the entire program—the scheduling issues, the speakers, the content of the all-important platform— even for the lower-level officers to be appointed to manage the entire affair.[10]
It was at this point, around the end of July and the early August 1968, that Johnson had come close to a decision to officially throw his big Stetson back into the ring, which would require actually attending the convention the end of the month (Aug. 26-29). He planned to arrive there as a surprise guest, and undoubtedly, in his dreams, he would be received excitedly, even ecstatically, by the happy and relieved delegates, thankful to him for his personal sacrifices all for the sake of his continued service to his country. Moreover, he indubitably would have figured on it becoming a triumphant moment in his own personal and presidential history, buttressing his “legacy” that had become his greatest priority.
It was in the middle of August when he put a number of aides and speech writers to work on planning the “Draft Johnson” movement, similar to how he had meticulously planned many other “surprise” events over the course of his career. Next, Johnson sent his high-level aides Harry McPherson and Larry Levinson to Hollywood to begin working on a film glorifying his life and extensive achievements, all of which led up to the magnificent program he had brought to the country, called the “Great Society.” By maximizing the “good things” and playing them up for all they were worth while minimizing the fact that many of them were already being defunded in order to reallocate scarce funds to his war, Johnson felt that the country would finally come to its senses and better appreciate the value of having such a great and magnanimous president as he had been for yet another four years. He discussed all of this with Chicago’s mayor, Richard Daley, who could not contain his excitement as noted above.[11]
Johnson’s longtime aides John Connally and Warren “Woodie” Woodward affirmed that “[Johnson] very much hoped he would be drafted by the convention,” and, moreover, he even sent his de facto chief of staff at that time, Marvin Watson, to Chicago “to assess the possibility of that convention drafting LBJ . . . I want to get it on the record,” Connally said, “that even though there had been a withdrawal, Marvin Watson was up there for the specific purpose of talking to delegates at Mr. Johnson’s (direction).” John Connally also stated that “I personally was asked to go to meet with the governors of the southern delegations, with Buford Ellington, Farris Bryant, and that group, to see if they would support President Johnson in a draft movement in 1968 . . . I believed it strongly enough that I went before all those southern governors and asked them if they would support Johnson in a draft, and they said, ‘No way.’” [12]
The Most Disastrous Convention of All Time
The 1968 Democratic Convention is remembered, hands down, as the worst of all time. On convention eve, August 25th, the violence that had begun three days earlier began escalating further. By August 28, over 10,000 student protesters had gathered in Chicago’s Grant Park. The “Yippie” protestors nominated their candidate in Grant Park, a big hog named “Pigasus.” A hippie bonfire in Lincoln Park provoked the first of many clashes with the Chicago police. After a man lowered the city-owned American flag, several policemen confronted the man and, in the melee that followed, began to beat him. The demonstrators reacted to that by throwing rocks and other objects at the police and hurling words and threats, as well.
At the height of it, the violence extended from Grant Park to the Amphitheater; the worst occurred at the Hilton, as the Chicago police, at Mayor Daley’s direction, beat the protesters, outside and inside the hotel. As author Dallek noted: “Though the public generally blamed the violence on radicals, later assessments described a police riot sanctioned by Mayor Daley’s refusal to grant demonstration permits and instructions to police to protect the convention from ‘extremists.’”
Whatever hopes Lyndon Johnson had for becoming the “White Horse” hero and savior were dashed by the hippie protesters. Johnson immediately took steps to distance himself, finally sending a message to the delegates on the 28th that his “name not be considered by the convention.”[13]
Among the many records set at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, was that of a sitting president, Lyndon B. Johnson, who had won in a “landslide” election four years previous, being essentially disinvited to his own convention. But even worse than that, the incumbent president, who had choreographed the entire affair from afar and had desperately wanted to appear there at the last minute and be seen as the savior of the party and a favorite to win reelection, was so hated by so many delegates that he was not even mentioned by the speakers there. He confirmed all of this himself, as when he stated:[14]
“I’ve never felt lower in my life . . . How do you think it feels to be completely rejected by the party you’ve spent your life with, knowing that your name cannot be mentioned without choruses of boos and obscenities?”
It is interesting that the so-called “historians” who consistently vote Johnson into the “top ten” list of presidents never mention what his own party thought of him at the end of his reign of tyranny.
What was Really Behind Lyndon Johnson’s Actions: Protection of His Legacy?
The question of what caused Lyndon Johnson to decide not to run for reelection—just four days before Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered, and two months before Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated—then, almost immediately deciding to reverse his decision once they were both silenced forever, is perplexing yet possibly quite explainable. The nub of the matter—LBJ’s actions beginning March 31, 1968, and ending five months later on August 28, 1968—comes down to what changed during that period. There were only two substantive matters related to the point:
The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, and; the series of primary elections that had just begun, with his poor performance in the first ones and signs of trouble brewing in the remaining, all of which he missed by bowing out.
By the end of June, the primary season was over, his two most feared political enemies were dead, and in early July he had begun planning the resumption of his political career, only three months after having declared to the nation that he was unequivocally ending it.
David Martin, writing as “DC Dave” at his namesake blog/website, proffered an answer to the obvious question, in an essay titled “Did Lyndon Step Down So Bobby Could Be Killed?”:[15]
Put bluntly, for the November 22, 1963, coup to stick, keeping Bobby out—permanently—trumped keeping Lyndon in for another four years.
As it happens, there were some people in the RFK camp who could already see which way the wind was blowing. The following quote is from Sons and Brothers: The Life and Times of Jack and Bobby Kennedy by Richard D. Mahoney:
. . . some around Bobby began to talk openly about the inevitable. French novelist Romain Gary, then living in Los Angeles, told Pierre Salinger, “Your candidate is going to get killed.” When Jimmy Breslin asked several reporters around a table whether they thought Bobby had the stuff to go all the way, John J. Lindsay replied, “Yes, of course, he has the stuff to go all the way, but he’s not going to go all the way. The reason is that somebody is going to shoot him. I know it and you know it, just as sure as we’re sitting here. He’s out there waiting for him.”
The only thing wrong with Lindsay’s prediction, as it turned out, was that it was not a “he” but a “they,” the official story notwithstanding.
In a pure, fair, and perfect world—where contrived lies and sorcerers’ myths could never be sustained, where they were always immediately discovered and replaced with truths, in a time and place where powerful logic, fairness, and sound reasoning would always prevail—DC Dave’s explanation would be axiomatic. Of course, in that world, such atrocities would never occur in the first place, but we digress.
In the alternate universe where Lyndon B. Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover resided, both had long believed that they could do anything either wanted to do and get away with it, one way or the other. Lyndon Johnson had proved that over and over again throughout his life, in a series of nearly unbelievable but ultimately successful feats that numerous people had witnessed, but about which all were forced to remain silent. That was done through every device available to those who have access to the most deadly tools of covert operations: murder; personal threats; bribery; changed, destroyed or fabricated testimony, and – for those in the military or in possession of high security clearances – merely government secrecy protocols accompanied by threats of prison, “or worse.” (See End Note #1 for a single example among the many).
By now, it should become obvious to all that Lyndon B. Johnson and J. Edgar Hoover were among the founders of the insidious, modern “Deep State” that is now well established on the same foundation and using the same tools, though now grown to a global, even celestial, scale.
End Notes:
[1] Among other things “under his power” to ensure his reelection, in June, 1967 he had attempted to have one of his own Navy ships, the USS Liberty – with its crew of 294 – attacked and sunk by Israel, but blamed on his long-term nemesis, Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser. The idea was to create a wave of patriotic fury and support for his planned retribution attack on Egypt, joining “little Israel” in what became known as the Six Day War. In his deluded mind, he saw that as a way to create such popularity for himself that his reelection one year later would be guaranteed. That effort failed when Israel failed to sink the Liberty and the ship’s crew mostly survived; thus, the presidential treason had to be covered up, instead of becoming the source of his planned celebration of victory, where his actions would be extolled as those of a brilliant statesman and leader of the free world.
[2] Sullivan, William C., The Bureau: My Thirty Years in Hoover’s FBI, pp. 58–59; Dallek, Robert, Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961–1973 pp. 162–165.
[3] Newsweek, September 4, 1967, pp. 42-45
[4] Kearns-Goodwin, Doris, Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream, p. 343
[5] Goodwin, Richard, Remembering America, p. 259
[6] Ref. my books: Who Really Killed Martin Luther King Jr.? and LBJ: From Mastermind to The Colossus, Chapter 6.
[7] Dallek, Robert, Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961–1973 pp. 571-572 (Cite Ref. “HHH [Humphrey] to Jim Jones, Aug. 5, 1968; Jones Memo, Aug. 21, 1968, WHCF [White House Central Files] EX/ND19\CO312; Bert to Jim Jones, Aug. 9, 1968, WHCF: CF: EX/PL1: Don Furtado to Harry McPherson, Jr. Aug. 15, 1968; Jim Jones to LBJ, Aug. 25, 1968; Califano to LBJ, Aug. 27, 1968; Jim Jones Memo, Aug. 24, 1968, 1:10 pm., WHCF: EX/PL1; Califano, Triumph and Tragedy, 318-20).
[8] Ibid.
[9] Various sources (e.g. New York Magazine – Jan 19, 1987 – Page 35)
[10] Op. Cit. (Dallek), p. 574
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid., p. 572
[13] Ibid., p. 573
[14] Achenbach, Joel, “A Party That Has Lost Its Mind: In 1968 Democrats held one of the country’s most disastrous conventions” Washington Post, August 24, 2018 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/08/24/a-party-that-had-lost-its-mind-in-1968-democrats-held-one-of-historys-most-disastrous-conventions/
[15] Martin, David, DCDave.com, “Did Lyndon Step Down So Bobby Could Be Killed?” September 23, 2014: http://www.dcdave.com/article5/140923.htm.
Reprinted with the author’s permission.
The Best of Phillip F. Nelson


Beyond Reparations

There is no proposal so foolish that it has no advocates , or sometimes even its fanatics .
If hope springs eternal in the human breast , delusion springs eternal from the human head .
Recently I was scrolling through The Guardian looking for easy targets—The Guardian is an inexhaustible source of these , which are , of course , any journalist ’ s best friends—when I came across an article by Dedrick Asante-Muhammad .
I don ’ t know whether this was the name he had at birth , but whether it was given or assumed , it seems @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or a mere political entrepreneur .
The idea propounded in the article was that every black person in the United States with an identifiable slave ancestor should be given , as of right , $ 20,000 a year for 20 years .
Those younger than 25 should have it put in trust for them till they reach that age .
Thus—only thus ?
—will the difference in wealth between blacks and whites in America be annihilated .
What ’ s Race Got ... Elder , Larry Best Price : $ 46.85 Needless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Guardian , ever on the lookout for yet another reason to feel good about himself and morally superior to the rest of benighted mankind ( or should I say humankind ? )
, will not dismiss this idea with the snort of derision that it deserves , but roll it round in his mind as an oenophile rolls a mouthful of wine round in his mouth .
For such a person , the prospect of economic confiscation—of others , of course—acts as the presence of blood in the sea is said to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the proposal are so many and so obvious that it is difficult to know where to begin .
When American blacks go to Africa , not a few of them are inclined to thank their lucky stars that their ancestors were taken into slavery .
No one , I presume , would suggest that they had incurred a financial debt to the descendants of those who took their ancestors into slavery , and to those who created and maintained the demand for slaves .
The Best of Theodore Dalrymple

There is no proposal so foolish that it has no advocates, or sometimes even its fanatics. If hope springs eternal in the human breast, delusion springs eternal from the human head.
Recently I was scrolling through The Guardian looking for easy targets—The Guardian is an inexhaustible source of these, which are, of course, any journalist’s best friends—when I came across an article by Dedrick Asante-Muhammad. I don’t know whether this was the name he had at birth, but whether it was given or assumed, it seems perfect for a monomaniac, a fanatic, or a mere political entrepreneur.
The idea propounded in the article was that every black person in the United States with an identifiable slave ancestor should be given, as of right, $20,000 a year for 20 years. Those younger than 25 should have it put in trust for them till they reach that age. Thus—only thus?—will the difference in wealth between blacks and whites in America be annihilated. What’s Race Got ... Elder, Larry Best Price: $46.85 (as of 03:50 UTC - Details)
Needless to say, the average reader of The Guardian, ever on the lookout for yet another reason to feel good about himself and morally superior to the rest of benighted mankind (or should I say humankind?), will not dismiss this idea with the snort of derision that it deserves, but roll it round in his mind as an oenophile rolls a mouthful of wine round in his mouth. For such a person, the prospect of economic confiscation—of others, of course—acts as the presence of blood in the sea is said to act upon sharks.
The objections to the proposal are so many and so obvious that it is difficult to know where to begin. When American blacks go to Africa, not a few of them are inclined to thank their lucky stars that their ancestors were taken into slavery. No one, I presume, would suggest that they had incurred a financial debt to the descendants of those who took their ancestors into slavery, and to those who created and maintained the demand for slaves.
Large gifts of money do not always benefit those who receive them. This is true of groups as it is of individuals. I think it distinctly possible that if I had received a large sum at the age of 25 (or at any rate a sum that seemed to me at that age to be very large), I might have used it so unwisely that I would never have recovered from it. Naturally, individuals vary and some would benefit. But in general, good fortune is a more difficult test of character than bad, in part because bad fortune is apt to reduce the scope of choice—and choice is often disastrous for those of bad, juvenile, or even merely weak character.
Read the Whole Article
The Best of Theodore Dalrymple


lewrockwell--2020-07-18--How Omega-3 Might Help Prevent Cytokine Storm

By now , you ’ re probably aware that one of the lethal effects of COVID-19 is the virus ’ ability to trigger a cytokine storm .
It makes sense then that many health practitioners are looking at ways to strengthen and improve immune function .
The good news is there are several strategies that appear very helpful in this respect .
Supplements and strategies that have been identified as capable of modulating immune responses and suppressing cytokine storm include but are not limited to : To this list , we can also add the omega-3 fats docosahexaenoic acid ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) , long-chained omega-3 fats found in cold-water fatty fish like wild-caught Alaskan salmon , sardines , anchovies and krill , just to name a few .
Nordic Naturals Ultima ... Buy New $ 32.49 ( $ 0.36 / Count ) According to the opinion paper “ The Potential Beneficial Effect of EPA and DHA Supplementation Managing Cytokine Storm in Coronavirus Disease , ” published June 19 , 2020 , in the journal Frontiers in Physiology , EPA and DHA are known to affect biological pathways that “ may have direct influence in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 1 : Main pathways for the metabolism of DHA and EPA yielding anti-inflammatory metabolites .
While not mentioned in this Frontiers in Physiology paper , animal-based omega-3 fats , especially DHA , have also been shown to prevent thrombosis ( a blood clot within a blood vessel ) by decreasing platelet aggregation .
As discussed in “ COVID-19 Critical Care , ” hypercoagulation is another complication of severe COVID-19 infection that can have lethal consequences .
Omega-3 also : NOW Supplements , Vitam ... Best Price : null Buy New $ 9.92 ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the authors recommend using “ algae- or plant-based sources of EPA and DHA ” rather than marine-based sources .
I believe this is a mistake .
While microalgae2 do contain DHA and EPA and are a viable source for strict vegetarians , as previously discussed in “ The Critical Differences Between Omega-3 Fats From Plants and Marine Animals , ” most plant-based omega-3s actually do not contain any of the long-chain omega-3 fats , DHA and EPA .
As mentioned , ideal sources of DHA and EPA are marine-based and include cold-water fatty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and anchovies .
If you do not eat these fish on a regular basis , consider taking a krill oil supplement .
To learn more about why krill oil is preferable over fish oil , see the infographic below .
As it pertains to the issue of cytokine storm , the authors of the Frontiers in Physiology paper3 point out there are at least three studies showing that by lowering triglycerides , the risk of developing a cytokine storm is diminished , and krill oil , specifically , has been shown to lower @ @ @ @ @ @ @ You Know Your Omega-3 Index ?
Along with vitamin D testing , measuring your omega-3 level at least once a year is strongly recommended , as being low in this vital nutrient can spell trouble for your health in more ways than one .
One of the reasons why DHA and EPA are so crucial is because they ’ re actually key structural elements of your cells ; they ’ re not just simple fuel .
If you don ’ t have enough DHA and EPA , your body ’ s ability to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seriously impaired .
The assay to measure omega-3 in your red blood cells was developed by William Harris , Ph.D. , in 2004 .
The omega-3 index is expressed as a percent of all fatty acids in the red blood cell membrane.5 Data from studies Harris performed showed an ideal , healthy range of omega-3 is 8 % to 12 % .6,7 GrassrootsHealth co-founder Carole Baggerly commented on the Frontiers in Physiology paper in a personal email to me : “ Based on this data , it is highly likely that the higher @ @ @ @ @ @ @ … I would … get up to the index level of 8.1 % at least.
” Not only do you want to make sure you are getting sufficient omega-3 , but it is also absolutely imperative you limit your omega-6 intake , especially from processed vegetable oils .
I discuss this in greater detail in a section below .
This is another benefit of the omega-3 index test , as it will show you precisely the levels of these potentially dangerous fats in your cells .
How to Test Your Omega-3 Level GrassrootsHealth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , has several cost-effective testing options available as part of its consumer-sponsored nutrient research projects,8 the aims of which are to establish population-based nutrition recommendations based on science-backed data .
Dr Tobias Omega 3 Fish ... Best Price : null Buy New $ 29.96 ( $ 0.17 / Count ) For example , ongoing research by GrassrootsHealth has established the ideal vitamin D range for disease prevention is between 60 and 80 ng/mL .
It conducts the same kind of consumer-sponsored research for omega-3 and magnesium .
For omega-3 , you have four @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Magnesium and Omega 3 PLUS Elements test kit — This kit includes measurements of essential minerals ( magnesium , selenium , zinc and copper ) as well as harmful heavy metals ( cadmium , lead and mercury ) Each kit contains instructions for how to collect your blood sample .
You then mail in your sample and fill out a quick online health questionnaire through GrassrootsHealth .
Your test results will be emailed to you in about 10 to 20 days after your samples are received .
Based on your index result , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GrassrootsHealth ’ s omega-3 index calculator9 to determine the dosage you may require to raise your current level to your chosen target level .
Avoid the temptation to assume that your omega-3 index is sufficient just because you ’ re eating fish or taking a supplement .
Many fish do not contain high omega-3 levels ( you have to eat cold-water fatty fish to reap that benefit ) , and many fish oil supplements are synthetic with questionable efficacy .
As reported by GrassrootsHealth,10 of the first 135 participants in the D*action + @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had an omega-3 index below 8 % , which is the lower threshold for sufficiency , putting them at increased risk for heart disease11 and other chronic diseases , as well as death from any cause .
To learn more about the benefits of optimizing your level , see “ How Much Omega-3 Do You Need ?
” Again , while many need a marine-based omega-3 supplement to get their level up , it ’ s also crucial to limit your intake of omega-6 fats from vegetable oils .
This even includes some @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Aside from the fact that a majority of olive oils are fake , even the real McCoy can cause trouble when consumed in too-high amounts , as it ’ s loaded with omega-6 and therefore can skew your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio .
Ideally , this ratio should be close to 1-to-1 , but because people eat so little omega-3 and excessive amounts of omega-6 , it ’ s not uncommon for this ratio to be closer to 1-to-25 of greater .
When your consumption is this skewed , you may still @ @ @ @ @ @ @ index , even when taking a supplement .
It ’ s important to realize that your body metabolizes omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids ( PUFAs ) into eicosanoids , which are hormone-like substances .
As a general rule , omega-3 eicosanoids are anti-inflammatory while omega-6 eicosanoids have proinflammatory effects.13 Part of the benefits of omega-3 fats is that they block the proinflammatory effects of omega-6 eicosanoids , but if your omega-6 intake is too great , you may still have high rates of inflammation .
Omega-6 fats also:14 • Cause 17-beta-estradiol epoxidation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ compound • Enhance the genotoxic effects of other compounds According to the 2017 U.S. Department of Agriculture report,15 “ U.S .
Trends in Food Availability , ” consumption of healthy saturated animal fats such as butter , lard and beef tallow fell by 27 % between 1970 and 2014 , while consumption of harmful vegetable oils rose by 87 % .
Intake of salad and cooking oils specifically rose by 248 % .
As noted in “ New Study Tells Why Chicken Is Killing You and Saturated Fat Is Your Friend , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Paul Saladino and Nina Teicholz , conventional chicken is also a hidden source of harmful omega-6 linoleic acid , due to the fact that they ’ re fed corn .
So , your best bet is to eat the eggs , not the chicken .
Compelling evidence suggests processed vegetable oils , rich in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids , are likely the primary culprit in our modern diet , contributing to the development of just about all chronic diseases .
I believe they take a greater toll on human health than high fructose @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vegetable oils been linked to heart disease , gastrointestinal diseases such as irritable bowel disorder and inflammatory conditions such as arthritis , they ’ ve also been linked to cancer , especially neuroblastoma , breast , prostate , colon and lung cancer.16 In a November 8 , 2019 , Medium article,17 Maria Cross , a nutritionist with a master of science degree , discusses the science behind vegetable oils and what makes them carcinogenic .
She explains : Similarly , the 2002 paper20 “ The Importance of the Ratio of Omega-6/Omega-3 Essential Fatty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Oils Are Toxic in Their Own Right In addition to promoting chronic disease by throwing your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio off kilter , vegetable oils also have more direct toxic effects .
One of the reasons for this is because they degrade when heated , forming extremely toxic oxidation products such as cyclic aldehydes.21 Cyclic aldehydes cause oxidized low-density lipoprotein ( LDL ) associated with heart disease .
They also crosslink tau protein and create neurofibrillary tangles , thereby contributing to the development of neurodegenerative diseases .
As explained by Dr. Cate Shanahan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food , ” 22 in order to understand how dietary fats affect your health you need to understand how fats oxidize .
The omega-6 PUFAs found in vegetable oils have highly perishable bonds that react with oxygen , creating a free radical cascade that turns normal fatty acids in your body into dangerous high-energy molecules that wreak havoc in a way similar to that of radiation .
What ’ s more , many of the vegetable oils produced today — especially corn and soy oil — are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ glyphosate exposure , and glyphosate has also been linked to gut damage and other health problems .
Omega-6 Oils Are Integrated Into Your Cells Shanahan ’ s book also expounds on the hazards of 4-hydroxynonenal ( 4HNE ) , which is the oxidized form of omega-6 vegetable oil and forms during the processing .
4HNE is highly toxic , especially to your gut bacteria , and consumption of 4HNE has been correlated with having an obesogenic balance of gut flora .
4HNE causes cytotoxicity and DNA damage , and instigates free radical cascades @ @ @ @ @ @ @ omega-6 found in vegetable oils also damages the endothelium ( the cells lining your blood vessels ) , allowing LDL and very low-density lipoprotein ( VLDL ) particles to penetrate into the subendothelium .
Magnesium : Reversing D ... Levy , MD Jd Best Price : $ 23.53 Buy New $ 24.58 Importantly , these oils get integrated into your cell and mitochondrial membranes ( just like healthy omega-3s ) , and once these membranes are impaired , it sets the stage for all sorts of health problems .
They also make cell @ @ @ @ @ @ @ transporters in the cell membrane and slows your metabolic rate , and inhibit the removal of senescent cells — aged , damaged or crippled cells that have lost the ability to reproduce and produce inflammatory cytokines that rapidly accelerate disease and aging .
Vegetable oils also strip your liver of glutathione ( which produces antioxidant enzymes ) , thereby lowering your antioxidant defenses,23 and inhibit delta-6 desaturase ( delta-6 ) , an enzyme involved in the conversion of short-chained omega-3s to longer chained omega-3s in your liver.24 One of Most Important Steps You @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Remember , omega-6 and omega-3 oils are polyunsaturated oils and highly susceptible to oxidation and becoming biologically damaged .
This is why it is NOT as simple as merely adding omega-3 oils to your diet to improve your ratio .
Merely increasing your omega-3 could actually make your health worse by increasing the oxidized fats .
The absolute key is to be assiduous in removing ALL vegetable oils .
You simply should avoid them at all costs .
Another source high in omega-6 oils is chicken meat .
Chicken is very high in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ eat so many omega-6 rich grains .
One of the best ways you can get a handle on how many omega-6 oils you are eating is by using the incredible nutrient tracking app call Cronometer .
If you use the app on your desktop , it is completely free .
As long as you are accurately weighing your foods when you enter them , it will give you a fantastic estimate of how many omega-6 oils you are really eating .
This may be one of the most important and least expensive health @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , as noted in my recent interview with Dr. Chris Knobbe , omega-6-rich oils have a half-life of 600 to 680 days in your body .
That means it can take quite a few years to empty your body stores of these damaging omega-6 fats .
That said , eliminating them from your diet now will , over time , allow your body to rid itself of them , thus steadily improving your health .
Optimizing Your Omega-3 May Be Helpful COVID-19 Prevention In summary , as with vitamin D , optimizing your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ least 8 % may be a strategy that can help lower your risk of an adverse COVID-19 outcome , as omega-3 fats are important modulators of immune function25 and can help lower your risk of a cytokine storm .
Just remember that increasing your intake of omega-3 may not be sufficient .
In all likelihood , you also need to limit your intake of vegetable oils , including corn-fed chickens .
Together , these two strategies should allow you to achieve a healthy omega-3 to omega-6 ratio .
The Best of Joseph Mercola

By now, you’re probably aware that one of the lethal effects of COVID-19 is the virus’ ability to trigger a cytokine storm. It makes sense then that many health practitioners are looking at ways to strengthen and improve immune function. The good news is there are several strategies that appear very helpful in this respect.
Supplements and strategies that have been identified as capable of modulating immune responses and suppressing cytokine storm include but are not limited to:
To this list, we can also add the omega-3 fats docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), long-chained omega-3 fats found in cold-water fatty fish like wild-caught Alaskan salmon, sardines, anchovies and krill, just to name a few. Nordic Naturals Ultima... Buy New $32.49 ($0.36 / Count) (as of 04:49 UTC - Details)
DHA and EPA May Ameliorate Cytokine Storm
According to the opinion paper “The Potential Beneficial Effect of EPA and DHA Supplementation Managing Cytokine Storm in Coronavirus Disease,” published June 19, 2020, in the journal Frontiers in Physiology, EPA and DHA are known to affect biological pathways that “may have direct influence in the outcome of COVID-19”:1
“To date, the molecular events that precipitate a ‘cytokine storm’ or the applicable therapeutic strategies to prevent and manage this process is not elucidated because of the complex nature of this problem.
Recent articles suggest that specific nutrients such as vitamin B6, B12, C, D, E, and folate; trace elements, including zinc, iron, selenium, magnesium, and copper may play a key role in the management of cytokine storm …
LC-PUFAs (long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids) such as EPA … and DHA … are noteworthy because of their direct influence in the immunological response to viral infections. Evidence suggests that n-3 LC-PUFAs can modulate the immune response and function in many ways.
Among these complex immunomodulatory effects, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-1ß (IL-1β) — because of the suspected central regulatory role in the ‘cytokine storm’ — should be highlighted. These cytokines can be affected by dietary EPA and DHA intake (Figure 1).
In addition, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase enzymes that have anti-inflammatory properties, translatable to human COVID-19 infection were shown to improve tissue levels of DHA and EPA, as well as the downstream anti-inflammatory metabolites of EPA and DHA further underscoring the applicability of DHA and EPA in COVID-19.”
Figure 1: Main pathways for the metabolism of DHA and EPA yielding anti-inflammatory metabolites.
While not mentioned in this Frontiers in Physiology paper, animal-based omega-3 fats, especially DHA, have also been shown to prevent thrombosis (a blood clot within a blood vessel) by decreasing platelet aggregation. As discussed in “COVID-19 Critical Care,” hypercoagulation is another complication of severe COVID-19 infection that can have lethal consequences. Omega-3 also: NOW Supplements, Vitam... Buy New $9.92 ($0.04 / Count) (as of 04:43 UTC - Details)
Lowers your risk of lung dysfunction
Protects against lung damage
Protects against secondary bacterial infections
Improves mitochondrial function
Marine- Versus Plant-Based Omega-3
Unfortunately, the authors recommend using “algae- or plant-based sources of EPA and DHA” rather than marine-based sources. I believe this is a mistake. While microalgae2 do contain DHA and EPA and are a viable source for strict vegetarians, as previously discussed in “The Critical Differences Between Omega-3 Fats From Plants and Marine Animals,” most plant-based omega-3s actually do not contain any of the long-chain omega-3 fats, DHA and EPA.
As mentioned, ideal sources of DHA and EPA are marine-based and include cold-water fatty fish like wild-caught Alaskan salmon, sardines and anchovies. If you do not eat these fish on a regular basis, consider taking a krill oil supplement. To learn more about why krill oil is preferable over fish oil, see the infographic below.
As it pertains to the issue of cytokine storm, the authors of the Frontiers in Physiology paper3 point out there are at least three studies showing that by lowering triglycerides, the risk of developing a cytokine storm is diminished, and krill oil, specifically, has been shown to lower triglycerides more effectively than fish oil.4
Do You Know Your Omega-3 Index?
Along with vitamin D testing, measuring your omega-3 level at least once a year is strongly recommended, as being low in this vital nutrient can spell trouble for your health in more ways than one.
One of the reasons why DHA and EPA are so crucial is because they’re actually key structural elements of your cells; they’re not just simple fuel. If you don’t have enough DHA and EPA, your body’s ability to repair and maintain healthy cell structures is seriously impaired.
The assay to measure omega-3 in your red blood cells was developed by William Harris, Ph.D., in 2004. The omega-3 index is expressed as a percent of all fatty acids in the red blood cell membrane.5 Data from studies Harris performed showed an ideal, healthy range of omega-3 is 8% to 12%.6,7
GrassrootsHealth co-founder Carole Baggerly commented on the Frontiers in Physiology paper in a personal email to me: “Based on this data, it is highly likely that the higher omega-3 would help prevent the cytokine storm … I would … get up to the index level of 8.1% at least.”
Not only do you want to make sure you are getting sufficient omega-3, but it is also absolutely imperative you limit your omega-6 intake, especially from processed vegetable oils. I discuss this in greater detail in a section below. This is another benefit of the omega-3 index test, as it will show you precisely the levels of these potentially dangerous fats in your cells.
How to Test Your Omega-3 Level
GrassrootsHealth, a nonprofit public health research organization, has several cost-effective testing options available as part of its consumer-sponsored nutrient research projects,8 the aims of which are to establish population-based nutrition recommendations based on science-backed data. Dr Tobias Omega 3 Fish... Buy New $29.96 ($0.17 / Count) (as of 05:30 UTC - Details)
For example, ongoing research by GrassrootsHealth has established the ideal vitamin D range for disease prevention is between 60 and 80 ng/mL. It conducts the same kind of consumer-sponsored research for omega-3 and magnesium. For omega-3, you have four test options:
Each kit contains instructions for how to collect your blood sample. You then mail in your sample and fill out a quick online health questionnaire through GrassrootsHealth. Your test results will be emailed to you in about 10 to 20 days after your samples are received.
Based on your index result, you will then be able to use GrassrootsHealth’s omega-3 index calculator9 to determine the dosage you may require to raise your current level to your chosen target level.
Don’t Assume Your Omega-3 Intake Is Adequate
Avoid the temptation to assume that your omega-3 index is sufficient just because you’re eating fish or taking a supplement. Many fish do not contain high omega-3 levels (you have to eat cold-water fatty fish to reap that benefit), and many fish oil supplements are synthetic with questionable efficacy.
As reported by GrassrootsHealth,10 of the first 135 participants in the D*action + Omega-3 home testing project, 85% had an omega-3 index below 8%, which is the lower threshold for sufficiency, putting them at increased risk for heart disease11 and other chronic diseases, as well as death from any cause. To learn more about the benefits of optimizing your level, see “How Much Omega-3 Do You Need?”
Source: GrassrootsHealth
As reported by GrassrootsHealth:12
“In studies using a measurement called the Omega-3 Index test, individuals with a low Omega-3 Index were shown to have a 10-fold higher risk of death compared to those with a high index … An Omega-3 Index between 8% and 12% was associated with lower risk for death from cardiovascular disease, versus an index less than 4%.”
Important: Limit Your Vegetable Oil Intake
Again, while many need a marine-based omega-3 supplement to get their level up, it’s also crucial to limit your intake of omega-6 fats from vegetable oils. This even includes some healthy oils such as virgin olive oil.
Aside from the fact that a majority of olive oils are fake, even the real McCoy can cause trouble when consumed in too-high amounts, as it’s loaded with omega-6 and therefore can skew your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio.
Your body metabolizes omega-3 and omega-6 PUFAs into eicosanoids, which are hormone-like substances. As a general rule, omega-3 eicosanoids are anti-inflammatory while omega-6 eicosanoids have proinflammatory effects. Natures Plus Liquid Su... Buy New $19.95 ($1.25 / Fl Oz) (as of 04:18 UTC - Details )
Ideally, this ratio should be close to 1-to-1, but because people eat so little omega-3 and excessive amounts of omega-6, it’s not uncommon for this ratio to be closer to 1-to-25 of greater. When your consumption is this skewed, you may still have a hard time optimizing your omega-3 index, even when taking a supplement.
It’s important to realize that your body metabolizes omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) into eicosanoids, which are hormone-like substances. As a general rule, omega-3 eicosanoids are anti-inflammatory while omega-6 eicosanoids have proinflammatory effects.13
Part of the benefits of omega-3 fats is that they block the proinflammatory effects of omega-6 eicosanoids, but if your omega-6 intake is too great, you may still have high rates of inflammation. Omega-6 fats also:14
Create reactive species that damage DNA
Cause 17-beta-estradiol epoxidation, which in turn generates a carcinogenic compound
Enhance the genotoxic effects of other compounds
Many Consume Enormous Amounts of Vegetable Oils
According to the 2017 U.S. Department of Agriculture report,15 “U.S. Trends in Food Availability,” consumption of healthy saturated animal fats such as butter, lard and beef tallow fell by 27% between 1970 and 2014, while consumption of harmful vegetable oils rose by 87%. Intake of salad and cooking oils specifically rose by 248%.
As noted in “New Study Tells Why Chicken Is Killing You and Saturated Fat Is Your Friend,” which features a podcast interview with Dr. Paul Saladino and Nina Teicholz, conventional chicken is also a hidden source of harmful omega-6 linoleic acid, due to the fact that they’re fed corn. So, your best bet is to eat the eggs, not the chicken.
Compelling evidence suggests processed vegetable oils, rich in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, are likely the primary culprit in our modern diet, contributing to the development of just about all chronic diseases. I believe they take a greater toll on human health than high fructose corn syrup even.
Not only have vegetable oils been linked to heart disease, gastrointestinal diseases such as irritable bowel disorder and inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, they’ve also been linked to cancer, especially neuroblastoma, breast, prostate, colon and lung cancer.16
In a November 8, 2019, Medium article,17 Maria Cross, a nutritionist with a master of science degree, discusses the science behind vegetable oils and what makes them carcinogenic. She explains:
“There are two classes of PUFA: omega-6 and omega-3. Although functionally distinct and non-interchangeable, these two classes are perpetually engaged in a metabolic balancing act, pushing and pulling as they compete for absorption in the body.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with omega-6 PUFAs: we need them … That’s why scientists believe that it is not omega-6 per se that is to blame; it’s the balance between the two groups of PUFA that is out of kilter and wreaking havoc on our bodies.
We evolved on, and are genetically adapted to, a diet that provides more or less equal amounts of omega-3 and omega-618 … Experimental data19 supports the theory that it is this skewed balance between the two PUFAs that influences the development of a tumor.”
Similarly, the 2002 paper20 “The Importance of the Ratio of Omega-6/Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids” points out that:
“Excessive amounts of omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and a very high omega-6/omega-3 ratio, as is found in today’s Western diets, promote the pathogenesis of many diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, and inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, whereas increased levels of omega-3 PUFA (a low omega-6/omega-3 ratio) exert suppressive effects.”
Vegetable Oils Are Toxic in Their Own Right
In addition to promoting chronic disease by throwing your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio off kilter, vegetable oils also have more direct toxic effects. One of the reasons for this is because they degrade when heated, forming extremely toxic oxidation products such as cyclic aldehydes.21
Cyclic aldehydes cause oxidized low-density lipoprotein (LDL) associated with heart disease. They also crosslink tau protein and create neurofibrillary tangles, thereby contributing to the development of neurodegenerative diseases.
As explained by Dr. Cate Shanahan in her book, “Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food,”22 in order to understand how dietary fats affect your health you need to understand how fats oxidize.
The omega-6 PUFAs found in vegetable oils have highly perishable bonds that react with oxygen, creating a free radical cascade that turns normal fatty acids in your body into dangerous high-energy molecules that wreak havoc in a way similar to that of radiation.
What’s more, many of the vegetable oils produced today — especially corn and soy oil — are genetically engineered and a significant source of glyphosate exposure, and glyphosate has also been linked to gut damage and other health problems.
Omega-6 Oils Are Integrated Into Your Cells
Shanahan’s book also expounds on the hazards of 4-hydroxynonenal (4HNE), which is the oxidized form of omega-6 vegetable oil and forms during the processing. 4HNE is highly toxic, especially to your gut bacteria, and consumption of 4HNE has been correlated with having an obesogenic balance of gut flora.
4HNE causes cytotoxicity and DNA damage, and instigates free radical cascades that damage the mitochondrial membrane. The omega-6 found in vegetable oils also damages the endothelium (the cells lining your blood vessels), allowing LDL and very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) particles to penetrate into the subendothelium. Magnesium: Reversing D... Levy, MD Jd Best Price: $23.53 Buy New $24.58 (as of 02:51 UTC - Details)
Importantly, these oils get integrated into your cell and mitochondrial membranes (just like healthy omega-3s), and once these membranes are impaired, it sets the stage for all sorts of health problems.
They also make cell membranes less fluid, which impacts hormone transporters in the cell membrane and slows your metabolic rate, and inhibit the removal of senescent cells — aged, damaged or crippled cells that have lost the ability to reproduce and produce inflammatory cytokines that rapidly accelerate disease and aging.
Vegetable oils also strip your liver of glutathione (which produces antioxidant enzymes), thereby lowering your antioxidant defenses,23 and inhibit delta-6 desaturase (delta-6), an enzyme involved in the conversion of short-chained omega-3s to longer chained omega-3s in your liver.24
One of Most Important Steps You Can Take to Improve Your Omega-3 Index
Remember, omega-6 and omega-3 oils are polyunsaturated oils and highly susceptible to oxidation and becoming biologically damaged. This is why it is NOT as simple as merely adding omega-3 oils to your diet to improve your ratio. Merely increasing your omega-3 could actually make your health worse by increasing the oxidized fats.
The absolute key is to be assiduous in removing ALL vegetable oils. You simply should avoid them at all costs. Another source high in omega-6 oils is chicken meat. Chicken is very high in the omega-6 fat linoleic acid because they eat so many omega-6 rich grains.
One of the best ways you can get a handle on how many omega-6 oils you are eating is by using the incredible nutrient tracking app call Cronometer. If you use the app on your desktop, it is completely free. As long as you are accurately weighing your foods when you enter them, it will give you a fantastic estimate of how many omega-6 oils you are really eating.
This may be one of the most important and least expensive health strategies you can implement today.
Additionally, as noted in my recent interview with Dr. Chris Knobbe, omega-6-rich oils have a half-life of 600 to 680 days in your body. That means it can take quite a few years to empty your body stores of these damaging omega-6 fats. That said, eliminating them from your diet now will, over time, allow your body to rid itself of them, thus steadily improving your health.
Optimizing Your Omega-3 May Be Helpful COVID-19 Prevention
In summary, as with vitamin D, optimizing your omega-3 index to a level of at least 8% may be a strategy that can help lower your risk of an adverse COVID-19 outcome, as omega-3 fats are important modulators of immune function25 and can help lower your risk of a cytokine storm.
Just remember that increasing your intake of omega-3 may not be sufficient. In all likelihood, you also need to limit your intake of vegetable oils, including corn-fed chickens. Together, these two strategies should allow you to achieve a healthy omega-3 to omega-6 ratio.
Sources and References
The Best of Dr. Joseph Mercola