Episode 254: It Can't Happen Here

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Not since the late 1800s has America elected a president twice out of order. Should we worry? Or should we worry about the moneyed forces behind our former president? I explore context everyone should know in this Episode 254: It Can't Happen Here.

On this episode, I read from and referenced: an article from the November, 2023 issue of Smithsonian Magazine; Sinclair Lewis' book It Can't Happen Here; two Wikipedia entries on the fasces and the Business Plot; selections from Upton Sinclair's Lanny Budd series of novels; Jules Archer's book The Plot to Seize the White House; Sally Denton's book The Plots Against the President: FDR, a Nation in Crisis, and the Rise of the American Right; and Chuck Collin's book The Wealth Hoarders: How Billionaires Pay Millions to Hide Trillions.


Smedley Butler addresses the Bonus Marchers, 1932.

I play: two newsreels featuring Smedley Butler. Musically, I play Jazzhar's "Books" at the end. Henry Giroux opens the show backed by KMFDM; and I close today with Julie & Rolf & The Campfire Gang doing "Over the Rainbow".

PS: Fun fact: almost completely coincidentally, I will release this episode exactly 90 years to the day of the last day of testimony of the United States House of Representatives Special Committee on Un-American Activities hearings held in New York City. Is that neat or what?!