President Jonah by Gore Vidal

In this piece, Vidal says he is the first person to publicly refer to the U.S. as an "Empire". He is also the first person who ever publicly said that there wasn't a dime's worth of difference between the Republican and Democratic parties, calling them two wings of the Property Party -- I think it was that assertion that goaded William F. Buckley into calling him a "queer" and threatening to "sock" him on television.

80 years old and still out there speaking truth to power.

http://www.truthdig.com/dig/item/20060124_president_jonah

Lots more Vidal here;
http://www.pitt.edu/~kloman/vidalframe.html

Buckley called him a queer becuase Vidal called him a Crypto-Nazi. Which is about right.

That's a serious allegation (unlike the allegation of being Queer)

I'm fairly confident I know what a Nazi is, in various stripes. I don't know Buckley well enough, but I don't recall thinking of him in that light. What have I missed?

technically, Vidal was groping for "Crypto-fascist" (he's admitted as such); however, unlike Vidal's more lucid labelling ability, he was a bit flustered, because Buckley was being an obnoxious asshole. Vidal is a WWII vet, and he doesn't apply "Crypto-fascist or Crypto-Nazi" lightly. In fact, he's never applied it to anyone else face-to-face since. (However, if he were to call Crypto-Hitchens what he is...)

Buckley was CIA "back in the day". Back in the day, the CIA was... well... deeply influenced by "ex" Nazis.

Google "Operation Paperclip".
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Fascism/Operation_Paperclip_file.html

The Nazi-style of covert ops was a major influence on the nascent CIA.
http://www.statecraft.org/chapter3.html

Nazis not only infiltrated the nascent CIA, but were practically founders of NASA.
http://www.onwar.com/articles/f0110.htm

But where it really starts to get interesting is when Western intel starts to use radical Islamists as assets.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Printable.asp?ID=15344

The dementia which suggests that 'Clique A' is smart (wise?) enough to control 'Radical Clique B' to enact 'Effect C' has resulted in CHAOS.

And tracking back... we find crypto-fascism as the root and the cause.

And then of course there's the Booshes.
http://www.john-loftus.com/Thyssen.asp

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Ergo, if Vidal was being coy by calling out Buckley as a CIA agent, influenced (in no small way by {necessarily crypto} Nazi ideology), his "name-calling" was entirely apropos. Some CIA agents were very, very, influened by Nazi methodology and ideology, as cynical as it is.

If you looked at the 4th link above, you'll notice that the Muslim Brotherhood was a full-on Western asset, and some aspects of it may be true to this day.

Anyhow, (way) more here:
http://spitfirelist.com/Books/books.html

Beyond that, all I can say is there's lots and lots of reading to be done, and lots more writing to be done.

And almost none of it has to do with NASCAR, WWF, PGA, NFL, NHL, NBA, etc... etc... etc...

Did my rambling provide any nutritive value?

as an activist friend of mine once said during the height of the Reagan demolition of progressive rule in Central America, "we all defend our class interests". Personally, I try to defend universal cultural interests, but in general he was pretty much on the mark.

"Wim F Bucklih Jooooooonyia" as he calls himself, has been making money defending cotillions, debutante balls, and polo matches since the time he attended them himself. Fascists of the last century were celebrated by high society of their time, just as many members of high society of their time, and ours, were or are fascists. The linkage between fascism and a liberal economic status quo, in which we all have the right to gorge at the trough, while opportunity to do so is tightly controlled so that those who are already most obese don't lose out, is central to the phenomenon, especially in its early stages. Hitler would never have come to power if he had not attracted the active interest of German industrialist families (since most industry there was family owned), the displaced aristocracy, and the military hierarchy. They sanctioned and supported his rise to power: fascism, and specifically scientific machine fascism of the kind the Nazis implemented, was good for business.

The integration of social, political and business elites of that time, which produced a single homogenized ruling class, has thankfully passed into the dust of history. We have nothing in this country which passes for a social aristocracy of any sociopolitical relevance, the most we have is rich businessmen and other bottom feeders off of free market iniquity. They'll do; we see them place their cronies in political power, and then see their cronies suspend protection of the public interest in favor of their joint further enrichment.

but you beat me to it

here is the alternet link:

http://www.alternet.org/story/31321/

I usually post links emphasizing the liberal/left side of Americans..but I have to admit -- not all polls are as encouraging. Here is some details from Gore Vidal's article --oh by the way did you know that Gore Vidal and Al Gore are relatives? I heard him talk about that once...a little trivia.

snip:
"Meanwhile, the indoctrination of the people merrily continues. "In a 'State of the First Amendment Survey' conducted by the University of Connecticut in 2003, 34 percent of Americans polled said the First Amendment 'goes too far'; 46 percent said there was too much freedom of the press; 28 percent felt that newspapers should not be able to publish articles without prior approval of the government; 31 percent wanted public protest of a war to be outlawed during that war; and 50 percent thought the government should have the right to infringe on the religious freedom of 'certain religious groups' in the name of the war on terror."

snip:
"Meanwhile, millions of adult Americans, presumably undrugged, have no idea who our enemies were in World War II. Many college graduates don't know the difference between an argument and an assertion (did their teachers also fail to solve this knotty question?). A travel agent in Arizona is often asked whether or not it is cheaper to take the train rather than fly to Hawaii. Only 12% of Americans own a passport. At the time of the 2004 presidential election 42% of voters believed that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11. One high school boy, when asked who won the Civil War, replied wearily, "I don't know and I don't care," echoing a busy neocon who confessed proudly: "The American Civil War is as remote to me as the War of the Roses."

We are assured daily by advertisers and/or politicians that we are the richest, most envied people on Earth and, apparently, that is why so many awful, ill-groomed people want to blow us up. We live in an impermeable bubble without the sort of information that people living in real countries have access to when it comes to their own reality. But we are not actually people in the eyes of the national ownership: we are simply unreliable consumers comprising an overworked, underpaid labor force not in the best of health: The World Health Organization rates our healthcare system (sic--or sick?) as 37th-best in the world, far behind even Saudi Arabia, role model for the Texans. Our infant mortality rate is satisfyingly high, precluding a First World educational system."