Friday Open Thread [7.8.2016]

There’s a new biography of Robert Kennedy out. After listening to this interview on Tuesday, I was surprised that this liberal icon used to be a dyed in the wool cold warrior — one that worked for Joe McCarthy at one point.

In the service of objective reporting, there a new biography of George w. Bush out as well.

In between are more than 650 pages of fast-paced if harsh biography. In this telling, Mr. Bush’s religious piety took on messianic fervor leading him to turn democracy promotion into a mission from God. He didn’t listen to the generals and diplomats. He badly bungled the response to Hurricane Katrina. He presided over the diminution of American values by authorizing torture and bugging.

“Believing he was the agent of God’s will, and acting with divine guidance, George W. Bush would lead the nation into two disastrous wars of aggression,” Mr. Smith writes. “Bush’s personalization of the war on terror combined with his macho assertiveness as the nation’s commander in chief,” he adds later, “were a recipe for disaster.”

Ouch. Reviews of this book indicate that this is one harsh assessment of the Bush Presidency. Good.

This journalist tells the story of Roy Cohn being Donald Trump’s greatest mentor. Suddenly, I feel like it all makes sense now. But then there’s this:

AMY GOODMAN: How did you get to? Because he’s refusing to reveal them.

WAYNE BARRETT: Well, they were—they were part of the record of the Casino Control Commission in the ’70s. He would have to submit his tax returns for the first casino that he did down there, at least, Trump Plaza. I mean, one of the great ironies is that his second casino, Trump Castle, was actually built by the Hiltons. And the Hilton family, out of Chicago, was denied a license by the Casino Control Commission, which was all done to benefit Donald. Donald then gets Trump Castle. And the rationale for denying it, which is what they stated in their decision, was that he was—that the Hilton family was represented by a mob lawyer out of Chicago. Here he’s got Roy Cohn, and that’s no bar at all. That’s no bar at all. And so, the irony of it, that’s how he got his second casino.

And so, the casino empire there, what’s so interesting to me is, you know, when we had the Nevada primary, he was always at the Trump Hotel down in Las Vegas. But that’s only a hotel. You know, there’s no casino there. Right? Why is there no casino there? His partner in it, Phil Ruffin, already owns a different casino, so he can qualify for a license. But they build a hotel without a casino—in the heart of Las Vegas. Because—I mean, my only conclusion is that he couldn’t get a license in Nevada. The guy might be president of the United States, but here they have this hotel without a casino in the heart of Vegas. Right?

I mean, I had—when my book came out, I started getting visited by these state troopers from Missouri, because he had applied for a riverboat casino license in Missouri. And these guys were so thorough. They came, and they met me in my house in Ocean City, New Jersey—we call it the house Trump bought, with the book advance, you know. And then they would meet me in my house and at The Village—I mean, my office at The Village Voice. They’d go through all my—they were—they came back and forth. They denied him—they were about to deny him, I should say, a riverboat license in Missouri.

You realize he’s not gotten a casino license since he got one for the Taj. He had the DGE, the Division of Gaming Enforcement, and the Casino Control Commission in New Jersey fixed. He had a—it was rigged for Donald. I don’t think there’s any question in my mind about that. And what wouldn’t be? It’s a company town. The only thing in it is casinos. He owned four of them. He was only legally allowed to own three of them, so when he bought the fourth one, that just became a hotel, and, you know, they closed down the casino in it and just ran it as a hotel. But, to me, there’s no other explanation that I can find as to why he does not have a casino in his hotel in Las Vegas, other than he couldn’t go through the licensing procedure. He was given in 2004 some kind of a clearance by the casino regulators there of suitability. But that’s just a preliminary step. If you’re actually going to get a license, you’ve got to go through an intensive background. And he withdrew before he was going to be denied in Missouri. And he’s never applied for a license in Nevada, where he has a giant hotel. It’s kind of ironic to me that a guy who wants to be president of the United States is afraid to go through a gaming commission licensing procedure.

Interesting, yes? During the casino boom in the US, the Donald got no more casino licenses after Atlantic City.

If you scroll to the bottom of that interview, there are links to more interviews with Wayne Barrett talking about Donald Trump.

The Ku Klux Klan is alive, well and growing in the US — right here, right now, in the United States of America.

In a series of interviews with the Associated Press, Klan leaders said they feel that U.S. politics are going their way, as a nationalist, us-against-them mentality deepens across the nation. Stopping or limiting immigration — a desire of the Klan dating back to the 1920s — is more of a cause than ever. And leaders say membership has gone up at the twilight of President Obama’s second term in office, though few would provide numbers.

Joining the Klan is as easy as filling out an online form — provided you’re white and Christian. Members can visit an online store to buy one of the Klan’s trademark white cotton robes for $145, though many splurge on the $165 satin version.

While not as big as their heyday, there is something deeply wrong with American civilization that these people can regain any foothold in society.

I’m stepping on El Som’s territory here, but Joe Henry and Billy Bragg have released the first song from their upcoming CD, Shine A Light: Field Recordings From The Great American Railroad:

I love these guys.

What interests you today?