OK, this whole Skull and Bones thing.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

Does it honestly, seriously, really matter a damn? If you look in GD Primary, it's splattered everywhere like a two-year old's lunch. Should I care?

[youngred]

1. I don't

:shrug:

[GOPisEvil]

2. I don't give a crap, really.

To me it's just like any other fraternity-type organization. I don't think it's evil, necessarily.

[terrya]

3. My take on it is that it's sort of like the Trilateral Commission...

If you fear the influence of the Trilateral Commission in the government, then you'll be equally worried about Skull and Bones.

[punpirate]

7. Well, perhaps....

What I worry about are the attitudes about secrecy engendered by membership in this society. It was apparent in Bush I's administration (however much they might protest to the contrary), and is more than evident (rather, is quite egregrious) in Bush II's bunch.

I'm equally concerned about all those folks in this madcap fraternity who came under the sway of Henry Stimson and his bullshit about the need for America to dominate the world. The neo-cons didn't create Pax Americana. Henry Stimson was at it long before most of the neo-con assholes were out of diapers.

Cheers.

[ikojo]

4. As I understand it Skull and Bones is like a fraternity

on steroids. In years past people would join a frat while in college not only to party the years away but to ensure future business connections. Fraternities also served to assure upper class parents that their boys were going to be associating with others of their same socio economic status.

Skull and Bones members continue to help one another out long after they are intiated in the organization. I am of the understanding that all bonesmen see themselves as comrades. Do we want comrades of Bush as the nominee?


Just my opinion.

[northzax]

9. you mean people who were associates 35 years ago?

think, for a moment, about the people on every club, team or association you ever joined as a student. want t obe judged by them all individually?

[trof]

5. Probably not.

I don't think they've taken over the universe or anything.
Members tend to come from wealthy/powerful families, but...hey...it's Yale. Lots of wealthy/powerful families send their kids there.

Matter of fact, I belong to the same fraternity as the two Georges, and I don't see US taking over the world either.
Not even Alabama.

There IS, however, an interesting phenomenon at the University of Alabama. There is a political machine there (called "The Machine", how original) that controls student government. Most of the major players in Alabama politics are former Machine members.
spooky

[Raven]

6. It's a red herring.

Bush certainly can't use it against Kerry. It's a bulls**t issue but if that's all they have...great...bring it on (I love that line coming from John Kerry's mouth!).

[trof]

16. red herring

You aroused my curiosity.

The Word Detective explains that the curing process turns the fish a red color and lends it a distinctive smell. The fish was tied to a string and dragged through the woods to teach hunting dogs to follow a trail. Later, red herrings may also have been used to confuse the hounds in order to prolong a foxhunt or to test their ability to stay with a scent.

[Valjean]

19. Bullshit issues

Bullshit issues are resolved by a simple listing of the facts.


Oops, wait neither candidate will say ANYTHING about Skull & Bones.

No Bones is NOT a simple fraternity. It is an organization whose sole purpose is to get their members into positions of power. They are honor bound to one another and they know each others dirt.

How can Kerry realistically oppose George W Bush if the Skull & Bones society can out all of Kerry's little secrets. Kerry could be a simple shill in disguise meant to merely offer the ILLUSION of a choice. Both of Kerry's wives were related to Skull & Bones members.

No the government of the United States belongs to the people. It DOES NOT belong to elite secret societies who will give ABSOLUTELY NO COMMENT as to the nature of their organization.

George W Bush publicly distanced himself from his Blue Blood past in order to do well in the "Red States". We all know how much southerners hate snotty "eastern elites". We'll low and behold Bush is the member of the MOST ELITE of clubs bent on getting their members into positions of power. Indeed George W set out and hired a bunch of Bonesman.

There are 300 MILLION people in this nation. And yet the 800 or so members of Bones are ALWAYS on the short list for other Bonesman. It is the most EXTREME form of white male affirmative action EVER.

And John Kerry is a member. Indeed, Kerry isn't a "distant" member. He tried to recruit the current editor of Slate magazine to be a member while he was on his summer break. The guy flat out refused because they didn't admit women.

So we see a portrait of a man in Kerry who says one thing and does another. He throws OTHER veterans medals over a wall for nice photo ops. But HIS medals are intact and hanging on his walls. He was FOR women's rights, but he joined a secret society that explicitly forbid the membership of women until recently.

All Kerry need do is talk openly about Skull & Bones and what happens their in order for this issue to go away. If he can't, that means he is beholden to the Bonesman over the electorate.

We already have a president who governs strictly for an inner circle of individuals. We don't need another. And we certainly DON'T need a Democratic nominee who hangs out with George W Bush on his weekends off on a private island.

[CanuckAmok]

8. Seems to me, that...

it's basically a very well-conected frat, but with one important difference:

Part of the initiation requires that potential members disclose their entire sexual history, in a ceremony which can take hours.

To me, that seems like the kind of thing which can be used as blackmail against one, later in life. Say a prospect disclosed that he once got a 13yo pregnant, they could confirm his story and use it to control him, should he go into politics or another form of public life.

[Valjean]

20. Blackmail

Agreed, excellent point.

We have no idea what kind of dirt the Bonesman have on Kerry. That is why secret society's like Bones and Scientology are 100% un-American. They are everything that McCarthy accused communist "agents" of being.

I remember that the Republican's made a big deal out of Bill Clinton's alleged extra-marital affairs (they all turned out to be bogus). They said that they could be used to blackmail a president.

Well here we have a major booze-hound who now occupies the White House and was REQUIRED to disclose these things to his fellow Bonesman. Where is the outrage from Republicans about this fragile presidency.

Indeed, a woman DID enter a civil lawsuit against President Bush for rape. No big money man like Scaife or Kuch came to her aid. Well, it turns out that she "committed suicide" while her case was pending. Is this how Bonesman deal with threats to their members (along with sabotaging small aircraft). What other great outrages did our Booze hound president commit while he "young and dumb". What secrets do Skull & Bones hold him with?

What does Kerry know about George W Bush that he CANNOT disclose to the public because his own "secrets" would be outed.

This is a VERY powerful issue that would turn folks in the RED states against Bush. But Democrats certainly couldn't use it if "no comment" Kerry was the nominee. Nor could they bring up the Bush accuser's "suicide" because Bonesman are bound to one another by oath. Exactly how COULD Kerry attack Bush since he is sworn to loyalty of other Bonesman???????

[KamaAina]

10. From Alexandra Robbins, author of "Secrets of the Tomb"

when she was on Coast to Coast:

Skull and Bones is dedicated to nothing but the preservation of Skull and Bones. There are, however, cliques within Skull and Bones that may (my paraphrase) be bent on world domination or whatever.

The biggest controversy within Skull and Bones recently has been over the "tapping" of women. Bush* and Poppy were agin it (surprise!); Kerry was for it. Thus, while Kerry and Bush* are indeed both Bonesmen, we may assume that they belonged to different factions within Skull and Bones (and, of course, that the Bush* faction is the truly evil one)

Edit: Who knows what "Screts" the Tomb holds?! :-)

[terrya]

12. Supposedly, the skull of Geronimo is in their possession

I know, ha ha, the "skull" of Geronimo...

But I thought I read somewhere that a member of Skull and Bones stole it.

Ok, if I'm wrong, PLEASE correct me.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

14. no, that's apparently true. Or was it Tecumseh?

[Valjean]

21. Another issue

This is another issue that Democrats cannot use against Bush if Kerry is the nominee. Bush commented that "Women would be the ruin of Yale". Yet Kerry joined a "secret society" that did excluded women. At the same time, he supported equal rights for women. Is this the highest form of hypocrisy????

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

26. When Kerry was in college the women's movement was just getting

started and wasn't on the national register. Uh, yeah...this will be a VERY big campaign issue..it might even trump a fucked up war, a jobloss economy and tax cuts for the wealthiest with service cuts for the poor and infirm...glad to know my priorities weren't straight.

[truthseeker1]

11. I think there's a lot more to it than that

But that's just me wearing my tinfoil hat. Sorry, I've read too much about Skull & Bones, Bohemian Grove, the Trilateral Commission, etc. to support ANY Bonesman.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

13. A few people have mentioned this naked-in-a-coffin tell all session.

This may lead to information that Bush can use against say, John Kerry (this is a purely hypothetical situation);). Wouldn't it be more reasonable to assume that any inductee would just make stuff up to get through the initiation?

[geniph]

15. I don't know that it much matters

WHAT groups a person joins when they're 18 years old. It's what you do as an adult that matters more. Skull and Bones is not the KGB or the Nazi Party. It's a bunch of dumb damn rich kids trying to make themselves feel superior. It's the adults that remain involved in it that give me the willies.

[Valjean]

22. Nazi's and Idol Worshiping

Skull and Bones is not the KGB or the Nazi Party

I'm not sure. Skull & Bones reportedly has a "Nazi shrine" in the tomb. That, as well as worshiping a pagan goddess (I am the Lord thy god, though shalt have no other god before me).

The Nazi shrine bit comes from the all girl break in team that got into the tomb.

Wow, just think how well this will play in the "red" states. And realize that Democrats can't use it if Kerry also participated in those rituals and walked in front of a Nazi shrine without IMMEDIATELY withdrawing from this fascist organization.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

17. Many (earlier) Presidents and Prime Ministers have been Masons.

Do you think this has had a serious influence on their positions and policies?

Presidents who were Masons include -

Washington, Jackson, Buchanan, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Harry Truman, Johnson, Ford

[Screaming Lord Byron]

18. OK, maybe the Masons don't have that much influence.

Seems Salvador Allende was a Mason.

[Valjean]

23. Masons

Mason's provide public services. Notably the Shriners are involved with hospitals for disabled children.

The Bonesman do no other service but to themselves (and reportedly, on each other :-0)

[moof]

24. This is not just a frat or a group with secrets.

It is " THE " secret group.

You have to be very rich to even go to the college where S & K is.

It is exclusive to Yale.

There are only 15 people tapped each year.

So it can not be compared to any other group
like the masons which or Delta Deta Delta.

Also from what has been said about the boneheads, it seems very
likely that they have robbed more than a few graves and taken the plates off many cars for trophys in their aptly named tomb.

Here's some math for anyone that does not think this crew are at best
in need of closer investigation wider publicity.

Did you belong to a frat or sorority in college ?
How many people were in your pledge group ?
Have you ever worked in place with a large number of employees
where you met members from your chapter working with you ?

Do you know how many boneheads work at the C.I.A. ?
Do you know how many boneheads have run the C.I.A. ?

The ratio seems to be much higher than most people would think,
but then lots of people think Hitler was German.

[Exultant Democracy]

25. God, some people are ignorant

The Skull and Bones is pretty dried up, after they started to let women in the whole alumni organization fractured. The college members can't even afford booze like most of the healthier societies at Yale, because they have been all but cut off financially.

For anyone who has never been a member of a group of this type it is hard to explain the type of bond you have with other members, but trust me the bond isn't enough for a good man like John Kerry to help a bad man like Bush. (The most he would do is give him the secret handshake, buy him a few beers, and sing a few of the songs)

[moof]

27. A little more specific , please.

"For anyone who has never been a member of a group of this type it is hard to explain the type of bond you have with other members, "

Exactly, so how is it you feel qualified to explain it ?

To save time & effort what "group of this type"
are you a member of, if it is not a secret.