David Talbot on Robert F. Kennedy's war on crime

[Douglas Caddy]

David Talbot posted this on Facebook on 8/2/2018:

Trump, Dark Capitalism, and the Deep State (cont.)
After news broke during the 2016 campaign about Trump’s notorious boast -- that he could do whatever he wanted to women and get away with it, even “grab ‘em by the pussy” – I recalled a similar cocky claim by the late Chicago Mafia boss Sam Giancana (pictured here in dark glasses). The gangster liked to brag that while dining at the Fontainebleau Hotel, a Miami resort favored by the Mob, he could freely grab attractive women’s buttocks (he used a different word) as they passed by his table. When they wheeled around in outrage, the women – and their angry husbands – instantly realized they could do nothing because they recognized who Giancana was, and the violent power that he possessed.

His crude treatment of women is yet one more way that Trump has established himself as our first “gangster-in-chief.” As Maureen Dowd observed in her Sunday NY Times column, Trump (whom she calls “The Don”) has admired and sought to emulate the Mafia’s tough made men ever since he was a boy and saw the wise guys in action on his father’s mobbed-up construction sites. Trump is no culture vulture, but among the movies he has bothered to see, his top favorites are “The Godfather” and “Goodfellas.”

When he was elbowing his way up in New York real estate, Trump’s mentor was Roy Cohn (pictured here with Trump), the slithering lawyer who fed off clients in the city’s darkest sewers, including notorious mobsters. And when Trump’s real estate empire hit the skids in the ‘90s, it was another fixer lawyer, Roy Cohn wanna-be Michael Cohen, who connected Trump to shady money from the Russian Mafia and criminal networks in former Soviet republics. Cohen’s collaborator in opening up this dark financial pipeline from Russia and Ukraine was Russian-born New York hustler Felix Sater, who as a thug and con artist was just Trump’s type, despite -- or because of -- his criminal record. (He's pictured here, celebrating the opening of a Trump condo complex in SoHo on which the two men collaborated.)

(More about Trump’s connections to Russian oligarchs, criminal networks, and other citadels of dark capitalism can be found on Russ Baker’s excellent web site, Who What Why. Baker is the hard-digging investigative reporter who has shed light on the Bush dynasty (“Family of Secrets”) and many other corners of American power that need spotlighting. https://whowhatwhy.org/…/trumps-ex-attorney-michael-cohen-…/)

I’m continuing to explore the criminal roots of the Trump presidency here because I think it’s vital to understand where his power comes from. It certainly doesn’t come from traditional sources of Republican power, like the Koch brothers’ dark money. The Trump-Koch split exploded on the front page of the New York Times earlier this week, with Trump tweeting his contempt for the energy titans' kingmaking power.

No, Trump’s power flows from money that’s even darker than the Kochs’ –an international criminal syndicate built on real estate, gambling, drugs and prostitution.

This hoodlum power gives Trump the cockiness to stand up to the Kochs, the CIA, the FBI, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN – to any powerful opponent in his way.

More than six decades ago, Robert F. Kennedy launched his career in public life by going after organized crime, first as the chief counsel of the Senate Rackets Committee and then as his brother’s attorney general. One of his main targets, in fact, was Sam Gianacana, whose web of corruption stained the labor movement and the political system. As Ed Guthman, one of Bobby’s top Justice Department aides, told me when I was researching my book about the Kennedys (“Brothers”), RFK’s crusade against organized crime was motivated by a deep fear that its rising power could someday put a president in the White House. We’ve now reached that day.

And we’ve reached it because for decades now, the deep state (and corporate capitalism) have been steadily subverting American democracy, and assassinating leaders like the Kennedy brothers.

So, as engaged Americans, we must struggle to restore our democracy – not simply by relying on Washington security agencies – but by building a powerful, multiracial people’s movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was in the process of doing that when he too was assassinated in 1968 – organizing a remarkably broad coalition around his goal of occupying Washington with a Poor People’s army.

This is another reason I was thrilled to hear Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tell a San Francisco audience yesterday that we all must now pick up King’s fallen banner and resume his bold mission. She has a strong sense of progressive history. As she says, no person in America should be too poor to live with dignity. And our future as a nation should no longer be determined by the deep state – or by dark capitalism.

Edited August 4, 2018 by Douglas Caddy

[Joe Bauer]

The Organized Crime connection to Trump ( both domestic and foreign ) is stark and substantial and has been going on for decades. 

There is a David Letterman show interview of Trump ( I believe in 2013 ) where Letterman keeps poking Trump to get him to answer Letterman's question to Trump regards whether Trump has dealt with New York organized crime members in his many New York City construction ventures.

Trump at first says no...he avoids these kinds of people. Then after more prodding by Letterman he admits to dealing with one or two. Then, seconds later Trump actually says this... "you know... some of them ( Mafia ) are very nice people."  !!!

I am certain that Trump's decades of dealing with domestic organized crime as well as foreign organized crime...is his biggest and darkest achilles heel secret and problem.

Trump's main personal attorneys in the last 40 years have all been Mafia dealing ones.

Roy Cohn, Jay Goldberg and now Michael Cohen.

Goldberg defended Meyer Lansky.

Here is a link to a very enlightening article covering Trump's history with his attorney's organized crime dealings and his history of choosing these types of attorneys and his total addiction to engaging in litigation ( over 4,000 filings! )

 

All the President's Lawyers - The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/05/magazine/all-the-presidents-lawyers.html

Jul 5, 2017 - Donald Trump's life and career have been defined by his legal battles. ... a blue dress shirt and gray slacks, was Trump's exclusive litigator from 1990 to 2005. In the timeline of go-to Trump attorneys, he follows Roy Cohn, who ...

Edited August 23, 2018 by Joe Bauer

[Kirk Gallaway]

6 hours ago, Douglas Caddy said:

David Talbot posted this on Facebook on 8/2/2018:

Trump, Dark Capitalism, and the Deep State (cont.)
After news broke during the 2016 campaign about Trump’s notorious boast -- that he could do whatever he wanted to women and get away with it, even “grab ‘em by the pussy” – I recalled a similar cocky claim by the late Chicago Mafia boss Sam Giancana (pictured here in dark glasses). The gangster liked to brag that while dining at the Fontainebleau Hotel, a Miami resort favored by the Mob, he could freely grab attractive women’s buttocks (he used a different word) as they passed by his table. When they wheeled around in outrage, the women – and their angry husbands – instantly realized they could do nothing because they recognized who Giancana was, and the violent power that he possessed.

His crude treatment of women is yet one more way that Trump has established himself as our first “gangster-in-chief.” As Maureen Dowd observed in her Sunday NY Times column, Trump (whom she calls “The Don”) has admired and sought to emulate the Mafia’s tough made men ever since he was a boy and saw the wise guys in action on his father’s mobbed-up construction sites. Trump is no culture vulture, but among the movies he has bothered to see, his top favorites are “The Godfather” and “Goodfellas.”

When he was elbowing his way up in New York real estate, Trump’s mentor was Roy Cohn (pictured here with Trump), the slithering lawyer who fed off clients in the city’s darkest sewers, including notorious mobsters. And when Trump’s real estate empire hit the skids in the ‘90s, it was another fixer lawyer, Roy Cohn wanna-be Michael Cohen, who connected Trump to shady money from the Russian Mafia and criminal networks in former Soviet republics. Cohen’s collaborator in opening up this dark financial pipeline from Russia and Ukraine was Russian-born New York hustler Felix Sater, who as a thug and con artist was just Trump’s type, despite -- or because of -- his criminal record. (He's pictured here, celebrating the opening of a Trump condo complex in SoHo on which the two men collaborated.)

(More about Trump’s connections to Russian oligarchs, criminal networks, and other citadels of dark capitalism can be found on Russ Baker’s excellent web site, Who What Why. Baker is the hard-digging investigative reporter who has shed light on the Bush dynasty (“Family of Secrets”) and many other corners of American power that need spotlighting. https://whowhatwhy.org/…/trumps-ex-attorney-michael-cohen-…/)

I’m continuing to explore the criminal roots of the Trump presidency here because I think it’s vital to understand where his power comes from. It certainly doesn’t come from traditional sources of Republican power, like the Koch brothers’ dark money. The Trump-Koch split exploded on the front page of the New York Times earlier this week, with Trump tweeting his contempt for the energy titans' kingmaking power.

No, Trump’s power flows from money that’s even darker than the Kochs’ –an international criminal syndicate built on real estate, gambling, drugs and prostitution.

This hoodlum power gives Trump the cockiness to stand up to the Kochs, the CIA, the FBI, the New York Times, the Washington Post, CNN – to any powerful opponent in his way.

More than six decades ago, Robert F. Kennedy launched his career in public life by going after organized crime, first as the chief counsel of the Senate Rackets Committee and then as his brother’s attorney general. One of his main targets, in fact, was Sam Gianacana, whose web of corruption stained the labor movement and the political system. As Ed Guthman, one of Bobby’s top Justice Department aides, told me when I was researching my book about the Kennedys (“Brothers”), RFK’s crusade against organized crime was motivated by a deep fear that its rising power could someday put a president in the White House. We’ve now reached that day.

And we’ve reached it because for decades now, the deep state (and corporate capitalism) have been steadily subverting American democracy, and assassinating leaders like the Kennedy brothers.

So, as engaged Americans, we must struggle to restore our democracy – not simply by relying on Washington security agencies – but by building a powerful, multiracial people’s movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was in the process of doing that when he too was assassinated in 1968 – organizing a remarkably broad coalition around his goal of occupying Washington with a Poor People’s army.

This is another reason I was thrilled to hear Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tell a San Francisco audience yesterday that we all must now pick up King’s fallen banner and resume his bold mission. She has a strong sense of progressive history. As she says, no person in America should be too poor to live with dignity. And our future as a nation should no longer be determined by the deep state – or by dark capitalism.

I like it, David. thanks for passing this on Doug,

[Paul Brancato]

I really agree with this - thanks Doug. No amount of letter writing or phone calling is going to change DC. Either we are successful in overcoming the decades of voter suppression and ‘Russian’ interference, or we are literally going to have to pick up where MLK left off and occupy DC and shut down business as usual.

[Ron Bulman]

Some believe, some don't.  Faith is a personal choice.

Thank you God for letting David Talbot stay with us here on earth.  I pray his recovery will continue for may years.  We need his voice and leadership in the continuing search for the Truth in our society.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/michael-cohen-says-he-arranged-payments-to-women-at-trump’s-direction/ar-BBMfjEA

[Joe Bauer]

Interesting claims and statements from John Gotti underboss and hit man "Sammy Gravano" ( AKA "Sammy The Bull")  in this 1997 interview by Diane Sawyer.

Start at the 25:45 mark and listen to what Gravano says about controlling all the major construction in Manhattan in the 80's and 90's.

At the 26+ minute mark in the interview Gravano says that "even Donald Trump couldn't build a building in Manhattan if I ( Gravano) didn't want it to be built."

Notice also one of the attorneys in the Diane Sawyer interview tapes sitting with John Gotti defense lawyers during Gotti's final racketeering trials was "Jay Goldberg." Donald Trump's personal attorney.

At some point in this interview ( couldn't find the exact minute mark upon a review ) Sammy Gravano also mentions a specific presidential pardon. He infers that President Nixon was paid off with mob money to pardon "Jimmy Hoffa."

It's pretty common knowledge now that Richard M. Nixon ( even though he signed the RICO act in Oct.1970 ) was also not totally absolved of having some connections to organized crime.  He was also obviously encouraged to place mobbed up and totally corrupted Spiro Agnew on his 1968 ticket as V.P.

Agnew was investigated for so many felony crimes after the 1972 presidential election ( construction kickbacks just one ) and forced to resign in 1973 in a plea deal.

Makes you seriously consider whether all this very dark interaction with New York organized crime ( exposed more and more through a growing body of serious and valid research ) will ultimately lead to and be one of the main reasons for Trump's inevitable downfall.

56:22

 

Sammy the bull Gravano interview documentary

MOBSTER MEDIA

865K views

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2018 by Joe Bauer

[Joe Bauer]

The mutual agenda promoting marriage of organized crime with our secret government is one of our nation's darkest and most damaging mistakes and legacies.

The true impact of this extremely long term ( since WW II ) mistake will take many generations to fully accept and face with understanding grasp.

Many of our highest elected officials and many of our highest value constitution guided common good governing principles and policies have been compromised, corrupted or even cut down by this evil cult-like  union.

And it has also occasionally spawned murderous Frankenstein type monsters ( hit men, hit teams ) that were ordered to blindly do their masters bidding when these masters deemed it necessary to protect their interests to that extreme degree.

Isn't it finally time to fully acknowledge and face this monstrous mistake reality?

 

Edited August 23, 2018 by Joe Bauer

[Ron Bulman]

RFK's opposition to organized crime is a deep subject.  One more worthy of discussion than some other topics.  He tried, and made a difference.  But it was bigger than him.  And it went legit in many way's in the 70's and forward.  Though it didn't kill him.

[Paul Brancato]

On August 22, 2018 at 8:30 AM, Joe Bauer said:

The mutual agenda promoting marriage of organized crime with our secret government is one of our nation's darkest and most damaging mistakes and legacies.

The true impact of this extremely long term ( since WW II ) mistake will take many generations to fully accept and face with understanding grasp.

Many of our highest elected officials and many of our highest value constitution guided common good governing principles and policies have been compromised, corrupted or even cut down by this evil cult-like  union.

And it has also occasionally spawned murderous Frankenstein type monsters ( hit men, hit teams ) that were ordered to blindly do their masters bidding when these masters deemed it necessary to protect their interests to that extreme degree.

Isn't it finally time to fully acknowledge and face this monstrous mistake reality?

 

In Godfather 3, which was not so well received, there is a moment in which Pacino realizes that the Capo of a legit Italian corporate behemoth is far more cutthroat than any Mafia Don in his past. I think there's truth therein. Russ Baker refers to George H W Bush as the greatest criminal mastermind of the 20th century. The Drug Trade, which is the nexus between organized crime and the CIA/US military, enforcers of the Corporate world's domination of third world resources (including human) in the 20th century, has its origins in the 19th century British corporate control of Opium. 

[Joe Bauer]

Just viewed the new Trump/Russian corruption documentary "Active Measures" last night.

If just 1/4th of American voting age Americans could see this film, Trump would be crushed in any future election if not pressured to resign well before his current term is up.

I've always suspected Trump was involved with organized crime and for decades, but this film explores and exposes the full scope reality of Russian corruption and Trumps ties to it to a degree beyond anything one can imagine.

If the Trump/Russia corruption information shared in "Active Measures" is just half or even 1/3rd true, we should all be concerned to a rationally sickened, angered and even frightened degree. 

John McCain's presence and comments in the film are made more poignant due his recent passing.

 

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SEPTEMBER 3, 2018 10:40AM PT

Listen: Jack Bryan on the Strange Threats Received While Making Russia-Trump Doc ‘Active Measures’

By TED JOHNSON

Ted Johnson

Senior Editor@tedstewFOLLOW

Ted's Most Recent Stories

 

CREDIT: COURTESY ACTIVE MEASURES

WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton recently sent off a tweet promoting the new documentary “Active Measures,” which opens this weekend, calling it a “fascinating summation of the Russia story.”

“Vladimir Putin has waged a 30-year campaign to disrupt world events, including our last election,” she wrote.

Clinton, late Senator John McCain and a host of other intelligence and foreign policy figures are interviewed for the documentary, as it tries to tie together the ongoing mystery of Putin’s aims, Russian interference and the Trump campaign. While Trump insists that there was “no collusion” and dismisses other stories as fake news, the movie delves into decades-old connections the Trump Organization has had to Russian business interests.

Director Jack Bryan, in a recent interview for Variety‘s “PopPolitics” on SiriusXM, says that during the making of the movie, they received anonymous “threatening” phone calls along with hacking attacks and even one instance where he was followed.

“Then once we announced at Hot Docs… it became bots and trolls and things like that. We aren’t even being released yet, and yet every day our IMDB score goes down because they keep signing in and giving it bad ratings,” he says.

 

 

Film Review: 'Active Measures'

 

“I have never seen this kind of activity on films before. I don’t know as a matter of fact that all that activity is Russian, but some of it certainly is,” he adds. “They have articles in [Russian news outlets] RT and Sputnik …that are very negative about the film.”

He says that a strange incident occurred at Union Station last year when he noticed a man walking in front of him “in a way that seemed very unnatural.”

So Bryan said that he started walking around different areas of the station.

“Everywhere I went he was a few yards behind me until I went down a blind alley that wasn’t a thing, and when he pops around I asked, ‘Why are you following me?’ And he got very strange and just kept around me until I got on my train,” he says.

Although the movie features an impressive number of expert talking heads, Bryan said that they purposely did not reach out to some veterans of the Trump campaign, such as Carter Page and Roger Stone, who have been very visible in telling their views on what happened.

“We wanted to be careful to who we reached out,” Bryan said. “There is sort of a notion that you have to present both sides, but for me I didn’t want to put anything in the film I thought could be fake, I thought could be a lie. I think that Carter Page and Roger Stone say things that don’t make sense when compared to what clearly has happened. So I didn’t want to be spending a lot of time walking things back that people said.”

 

 

Edited September 8, 2018 by Joe Bauer

[Paul Brancato]

Looking forward to seeing Active Measures. 

Since the subject of this thread is Talbot on RFK jr, I thought it worth mentioning for those that live in the SF Bay Area that Talbot is interviewing RFK jr in SF next Wednesday Sept 12 at 4:30 pm at 1687 Market St 3rd floor. I will be there for certain. 

Edited September 8, 2018 by Paul Brancato

[Joe Bauer]

Paul, I would love to attend that Talbot/RFK Jr. interview and to meet you personally as I live just 125 miles South.

However, I don't drive on freeways anymore or venture out of my smaller town home area but maybe once a year, and that is usually by train ( which I would take if attending ) or a designated driver which is hard to arrange anymore.

Also that day ( September 12th ) happens to be my 36th wedding anniversary to boot ( it's also the wedding day date of JFK and Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953 ) and my wife would be devastated if we missed out on our traditional KFC splurge celebration dinner.

Can't wait to read your first hand account of this interview when you get back to us here at the forum afterwards.

 

[Kirk Gallaway]

Thanks for the info, Paul. Sounds like something I should attend. See if I can swing it.

[Ron Bulman]

3 hours ago, Paul Brancato said:

Looking forward to seeing Active Measures. 

Since the subject of this thread is Talbot on RFK jr, I thought it worth mentioning for those that live in the SF Bay Area that Talbot is interviewing RFK jr in SF next Wednesday Sept 12 at 4:30 pm at 1687 Market St 3rd floor. I will be there for certain. 

Wonderful news that Mr. Talbot has recuperated enough to do this and that Mr. Kennedy has agreed to.  Is the event possibly sponsored or might be reported on by someone who would be able to provide a transcript for public consumption?  A video for say you-tube would really be cool.  I wonder if the subject of the repression of RFK II's book by the MSM might be one of Talbot's questions.  If not, worthy of such if there is a Q & A? 

[Mark Lawson]

On 8/22/2018 at 12:55 AM, Joe Bauer said:

Sammy Gravano ... mentions a specific presidential pardon. He infers that President Nixon was paid off with mob money to pardon "Jimmy Hoffa."

It's pretty common knowledge now that Richard M. Nixon ( even though he signed the RICO act in Oct.1970 ) was also not totally absolved of having some connections to organized crime.  He was also obviously encouraged to place mobbed up and totally corrupted Spiro Agnew on his 1968 ticket as V.P.

Here follows a link to a 2009 article that discusses Nixon's Mob connections.  A few of the article's details may have been superseded since then, but otherwise it remains relevant:

Richard Nixon's Greatest Cover-Up: His Ties to the Assassination of President Kennedy - Oct 2, 2009 - by Don Fulsom

"Nixon's ties to the assassination of President Kennedy run deep, from his association with Jack Ruby, his ties to Jimmy Hoffa and the Mafia, and his connection to CIA operative E. Howard Hunt.  On a tape recorded in Nixon's White House office in 1972 he told two top aides that the Warren Commission Report pulled off 'the greatest hoax that has ever been perpetuated.'  No one knew that better than he did...."

From: http://www.crimemagazine.com/richard-nixons-greatest-cover-his-ties-assassination-president-kennedy