Gosh darn it I hate bursting bubbles, but Al Smith, the guy who the

[happydreams]

dinner last night was held in honor of was...you ready?

...one of the FDR coup plotters as cited by Smedley Butler. He was a known associate of Mafia kingpin Lucky Luciano. Smith,Luciano and John Raskob (another plotter cited by Butler) had a mysterious meeting sometime before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1932 where FDR beat out Smith.
From what I've read he was a nasty, vengeful SOB who hated FDR.

...The committee stated in its final report that it found credible evidence of a contemplated plot to overthrow the elected government with a military coup. Nevertheless, some alleged co-conspirators (supposedly revealed to Butler by MacGuire) such as General Hugh Johnson, (who was head of FDR’s National Recovery Administration), former NY Governor Al Smith and General Douglas MacArthur were never subpoenaed...



http://www.ctka.net/pr399-fdr.html

[monmouth]

1. Wasn't this during the "Boss Tweed" years? I remember my

parents (very Irish) being embarrassed by him, thought he was a nut...LOL.

[11cents]

3. "Boss Tweed" was a 19th century politician.

Al Smith was the first Catholic to be a major party presidential nominee. And I would, em, caution against taking Smedley Butler's word as gospel as to whether he was involved in coup attempts, etc.

[monmouth]

5. Thanks for the correction. I did love those Boss Tweed stories

and the caricatures of him in the papers years ago though. Al Smith had god-awful teeth as I recall and really talked like a bad Bowery boy.

[loudsue]

12. Smedley Butler is an icon in these parts.

You might wanna check your sources.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. Perhaps you're thinking of Tammany Hall.

[monmouth]

11. That's it! Before my time but heard a lot about it. Didn't Al Smith

sing a lot, East Side West Side or something was like his "song?" Used to always have a cig in his mouth and dragging his poor wife all over the place. He was sort of cartoonish...LOL.

[Ilsa]

2. Wow. Now we can remember who Al Smith is every time

they have one of these roasts. Too bad the late governor isn't roasted. That would be more appropriate.

[fascisthunter]

4. Thank You for Making Me Aware

Did not know that...

[happydreams]

14. Butler's account of events blew me away when I first read it....

I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Smith was involved. Then I started looking into Al and the company he kept.

[Unvanguard]

7. Al Smith did not much like Roosevelt post-1932.

He supported the Republicans in the elections of '36 and '40.

That's one of the elements of Harry Turtledove's alternate histories that's never made much sense to me, but that's another discussion.

[mike_c]

8. now that's interesting....

Makes you say "hmmm...."

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

9. K&R.

[Itchinjim]

10. For what it's worth:

Wikipedia entry on Al Smith. Not a big fan of FDR apparently.
And as an Irish-Catholic who remembers his FDR worshiping grandfather proudly talking of voting for Al in 1928, I must say that I'm more than a bit disappointed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Smith

[happydreams]

31. Thanks for posting this. WA Harriman is another one

of those supposed "moderates" that sided with dark forces.

[pnwmom]

13. Al Smith, with all his flaws, was the first Catholic to run for President,

thus paving the way for President Kennedy. (Given that Catholics are about 1/4 of the population, this was long overdue.)

Now the Al Smith dinner raises millions of dollars for area Catholic charities -- the kind of places that gave Obama his first job as a community organizer.

So Al Smith has done a lot more good after his death than during his lifetime.

[sad sally]

16. kinda like Elvis Presley who's made a lot more $$$ since he's been dead?

[happydreams]

hmm, I think trying to overthrow the Prez kinda trumps any good

he may or may not have done.

[pnwmom]

21. That matter is just speculation. What is not speculation is the amount of

money ($4 million this year alone) that these dinners have raised for charity over the years.

[happydreams]

26. For those addicted to religion I suggest www.freedomfromreligion.com.

:hi:

[happydreams]

25. I thought you were going to point out how the Mafia is mostly Catholic.

Unless you know of some who is a Protestant.

Oh, yea there is the Jewish Mafia.

Strange bedfellows by any account.

[Holly_Hobby]

15. Do you have any idea why the Catholics were involved with the dinner?

Thanks.

[pnwmom]

17. Because the dinner raises millions of dollars for Catholic charities

and is a memorial to the first Catholic to run for President.

[Holly_Hobby]

20. Thank you. n/t

[KamaAina]

18. Well, that would explain how they got McLoser to show up

:P

[happydreams]

19. It does get eery when you see the link between the Bushies and the plotters. nt

[checks-n-balances]

22. IIRC, GWB's famous sound bite about the "haves & have-mores"

being there was uttered at this dinner ("I call you 'My Base'") and documented in the M. Moore's F-911.

I enjoyed seeing the comedy last night, but for me it was in a surreal setting.

[machI]

23. Kick

[druidity33]

24. good stuff... kicking. nt

[upi402]

27. Exactly why I beg Obama to stay in the Pope mobile. n/t

[notalemming]

28. Well, Columbus Day is a national holiday...

:shrug:

[PassingFair]

29. But he was such a good catholic!

And Irish!

:sarcasm:

[happydreams]

30. I'm an ex- Irish Catholic, now atheist/agnostic and I approve your sarcastic message.

:hi: