○ BDS, Joe McCarthy, and the New Communist Menace | Tikun Olam |
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Joe McCarthy and his capo di tutti, Roy Cohn
○ Roy Cohn, a Mentor in Shamelessness: the Man who Taught Trump the Power of Publicity | The Guardian |
○ How Joseph McCarthy’s trusted hitman Roy Cohn became Donald Trump’s mentor
- Roy Cohn made his bones working as a junior prosecutor in the Rosenberg espionage case, and served as Senator Joseph McCarthy’s right-hand man for years. He helped send the Rosenbergs to the electric chair for spying, and helped Richard Nixon become president. Roy Cohn was also Donald Trump’s lawyer and mentor for 13 years.
○ LIFE Magazine: The Snarling Death of Roy M. Cohn
Elevated by Joe McCarthy, felled by AIDS, he went with no regrets (1988)
King Cohn | The Nation – Aug. 2009 |
Roy Cohn was one of the most loathsome characters in American history, so why did he have so many influential friends?Briefly, in the nastiest of times, Roy Cohn did certain things that made him worthy of a historical footnote. In the eighteen months he served as Senator Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel, he contributed in some degree to the establishment of what Nicholas von Hoffman calls our ongoing era of two dreadful isms: loyaltyism and securityism.
But, though Cohn was one of the brashest and most easily hated, he was only one of numerous creators of the isms, and his role has probably been greatly overrated simply because he was so adept at publicizing himself.
In any event, the importance of Roy Cohn’s life after that “short, wild ride” in Washington thirty-five years ago was of no significance at all. Except as it illuminated, and still illuminates, the society that fawned over him and allowed him to flourish. In that respect, but only in that respect, it was of enormous significance.
Von Hoffman reminds us that Cohn “lived in a matrix of crime and unethical conduct, derived a significant part of his income from illegal or unethical schemes and conspiracies,” and thrived “cheek by jowl with so many men of sharp practice and dim luster in business and politics” that Cohn’s pal Joey Adams, the comedian, would say of Cohn’s dinner parties, “If you’re indicted you’re invited.”
But important unindicted people were invited, too. And they went. Large slices of the upper crust of New York and Washington snuggled up to him, laughed and entertained one another with stories about his crimes as though they were choice insiders’ jokes, and wrestled for the privilege of partying with Cohn and his crooked and perverse friends. Why choose his company? The sleaze of Roy Cohn was no secret. Why ignore it? Why excuse it? The only important questions forced on us by these books have nothing to do with Roy Cohn, but everything to do with judges and lawyers and publishers and writers and TV stars and politicians and developers-the wealthy and the powerful people who for many years ate Roy Cohn’s shit with a grin.
The linked article asks:
The answer is very simple.
The real “American Dream” is…and has always been…a whitewash job on an American Nightmare, the other side of the shiny coin of the apparently high-minded Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
Start with the phrase “all men are created equal”…written by a group of wealthy and powerful, middle-aged white men who had absolutely no intent whatsoever of letting the unwashed masses into their little club, let alone people of other races…and work your way down into the sewer that is now Washington DC for your answer.
This is all…finally…coming to a head, and we have Donald Trump to thank for it. A minor member of the trillion dollar hustle club, he ratted them all out in terms that even the stupidest among us could understand. Is he some kind of hero? No, more of an anti-hero, someone so flawed personally and mentally that he couldn’t keep his trap shut about what was going on because his lust for ultimate power wouldn’t let him do so.
The universe works in strange and miraculous ways.
Ain’t it the truth!
For almost 250 years this whitewash has held in the minds of most Americans…the ones who were granted the “privilege” of believing it by the color of their skins. Never mind the conclusive evidence that almost everyone of middle or lower class roots who ascended into the ruling class has done so by the use of vicious, morally if not legally criminal tactics. A cursory look at the actions and beliefs of the robber barons of the late 19th century and the political and industrial giants of the 20th century is all you need to know on that account. However, the educational and media systems did such a good job of brainwashing the population that…until now, quite possibly…there has never, ever arisen a majority of people in this country who truly understood that hustle, let alone were willing to take the potentially mortal chances of actually doing something about it.
And so we rolled along, blessed by a massive, almost totally unsettled country with natural resources beyond the dreams of our founding
hustlers…errrr, ahhhh…fathers. We had so many resources that we could afford wave after wave of low-wage immigrants and bless them with living conditions that were better than those that they had fled. We could even let the following generations of immigrants take over the low wage burdens and bump many of the previous immigrants and their children up into a complacent middle class.The decade or so following WWI was the peak of this action. The U.S. was the most powerful, wealthiest country ever known, able to dictate terms to every other nation in the world relatively unchallenged. But then it all began to fall apart. The lower classes got restive. “When do we get a chance to move up!!!???” they clamored. Only there was no more headroom to allow them to move up. Stasis had set in. We were full up. “No more rooms. Sorry. Go fuck yourselves. We’ll give you condoms so you don’t overbreed.”
Plus the other areas of the world…once they recovered from the shock of that massive war…began to say the same thing. “When will it be our turn in the catbird seat?” Successful wars of liberation were followed by “Yankee Go Home!!!” movements of all kinds. Our dominance was enforced in the post-war years by many smaller overtly and covertly wars waged to maintain the economic imperialist position that allowed the U.S. and its satrap-like allies to continue to rule the world economically.
And on and on it went. Fill in the blanks.
The cultural revolution of the late ’60s, massively opposed and eventually stymied by the government.
The Civil Rights movement, surrendered to in name only by that government as it sought to find other, more covert means to ensure an ongoing, skin-marked pool of cheap labor.
The rise of the covert forces as the secret bosses of the whole scene, controlling the media in order to control the masses and the government.
The rise of the corporate classes as total economic controllers of the government. “You don’t play ball; we won’t give you enough money to run your campaigns in our hugely expensive, totally controlled media.” End of story.
And then came the “breakthrough”…the single most important occurrence of the last 70+ years, the digital information revolution.
This one caught the ruling classes totally by surprise. The more that they sought to control it, the faster it grew. When they thought that they finally had a handle on it…cooperation from the tech giants in massive surveillance systems aimed at limiting dissent…independent groups like Wikileaks started poking holes in that control system and successfully publicizing them…that are still unable to be patched. It was as if a million million Berrigan brothers had descended upon the secrets of the government and let the people know just how badly they were being fooled.
And now?
Here’s what one brilliant man has to say about what is happening. From Counterpunch:
It goes on. Read it in its entirety. You will understand more than when you started. Bet on it.
What’s going to happen next? if of course we don’t all fry or drown first?
More of the same until it breaks down of its own moral and tactical faults. And then of course, something elee will happen..
Bet on that as well.
What, exactly?
Beyond my pay grade.
Sorry.
Yup.
In minuscule but readily apparent increments, it must be said. From whirling, molten planet to human beings and beyond.
Evolution.
The life of Life.
Watch.
Something will happen.
Sooner rather than later, it’s looking to me.
Sooner rather than later.
Watch.
AG
Above, the phrase “The decade or so following WWI” should of course read “The decade or so following WWII…”
Sorry…