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In reply to the discussion: Anyone Against War? [View all]

Kid Berwyn

(23,854 posts)
6. Honored to meet you!
Fri Feb 20, 2026, 10:47 AM
15 hrs ago

Why DU matters, in a Göbekli Tepe kind of way:

“War Is a Racket.”

And then came the Wall Street Coup to overthrow FDR.



The McCormack-Dickstein Committee Investigation

Astonished by MacGuire’s plans, Butler knew he would need someone to corroborate his story if he was going to stop the intended coup. Having previously worked as the police captain of Philadelphia, Butler reached out to Philadelphia Record writer Paul Comly French, who agreed to meet with MacGuire as well. During this meeting, MacGuire told French that he believed a fascist state was the only answer for America, and that Smedley was the “ideal leader” because he “could organize one million men overnight.”

Armed with French’s mutual testimony, Butler appeared before the McCormack-Dickstein congressional committee, also known as the Special Committee on Un-American Activities, to reveal what he knew about the plot to seize the presidency in November 1934. The committee at first discounted a large part of Butler’s testimony (even writing in their initial report that they saw no reason to subpoena men like John W. Davis, a former presidential hopeful, or Thomas W. Lamont, a partner with J.P. Morgan & Company).

However, with the testimony of French, and the erratic testimony of MacGuire, the committee began to further investigate the plot. The final reports of the committee sang a different tune, finding that all of Butler’s claims could be corroborated as factual. However, they also stressed that the plot was far from being enacted, and it was not clear if the plans would have ever truly come to fruition.

Quickly becoming known as the “White House Coup” and “Wall Street Putsch,” many major news sources derided Butler’s claims, as the committee’s final report was not made available publicly. Those implicated, ranging from the DuPont family to Prescott Bush, the grandfather of future President George W. Bush, laughed off Butler’s claims. Evidence of the validity of Butler’s testimony was not released until the 21st century, when the committee’s papers were published in the Public Domain. No one was ever prosecuted in connection to the plot.

Butler, for his part, went on to continue advocating for veterans. He also became a staunch opponent of capitalism, which he felt fed war efforts. His views were published in his well-known short book War is a Racket, which was published in 1935. There’s no telling how far the plot to overthrow the President may have gone without Butler’s intervention, but one thing is certain: its failure was the work of one patriotic Major General, and his life-long love of democracy.

https://yesterdaysamerica.com/smedley-butler-and-the-1930s-plot-to-overthrow-the-president/



Now, a century later, the superrich descendants of those traitors are foisting a new traitor puppet and his latest warmongery on America. Again.

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Anyone Against War? [View all] Kid Berwyn Thursday OP
Good God, Y'all Martin Eden Thursday #1
Absolutely Nothin! BidenRocks Thursday #4
Making Money Kid Berwyn 15 hrs ago #5
Count me... Ani Yun Wiya Thursday #2
Honored to meet you! Kid Berwyn 15 hrs ago #6
I am honored by your reply. Ani Yun Wiya 11 hrs ago #13
I'm against stupid wars. Eko Thursday #3
Me, too! Thus, we are Enemies of Fascism. Kid Berwyn 14 hrs ago #7
What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, Ping Tung 14 hrs ago #8
Truth. And who today even remembers Curveball? Kid Berwyn 13 hrs ago #12
Message auto-removed Name removed 14 hrs ago #9
Why not all wars? surfered 14 hrs ago #10
Message auto-removed Name removed 14 hrs ago #11
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