MAY 19, 2023

On this episode of rethinking heroes, we ask, “How close are we to nuclear war ….or is the cash register of war-profiteering ringing too loudly for saner minds to prevail?  | Plus we speak with a Canadian war historian about the drafting of former Nazis into NATO commanders… and later university scientists. | And, as Florida demonstrates to the nation how even people from out of state ….can now permanently ban books within the state of Florida -  we talk to a bookstore owner in Philadelphia about what the founding fathers would say about governor Ron DeSantis’s actively replicating 1933 Berlin ….on US soil Patriot or poltroon?

Don’t forget to subscribe and like Rethinking Heroes wherever you get your Podcasts and you can follow us across all social media simply by looking for “Rethinking Heroes”.

* Recently, a full-page ad appeared in the New York Times with the headline "War is a Racket." The ad was signed by 28 former national security officials, including retired generals, admirals, and ambassadors.

The ad begins by quoting Smedley Butler, a retired Marine Corps major general who is considered one of the most decorated soldiers in American history. In his 1935 book, War is a Racket, Butler wrote the following: "War is a racket. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the very many."

That Times ad, in America’s paper of record, goes on to argue that the US is currently engaged in a "perpetual war" that is "draining our resources, killing our people, and destroying our democracy." The signatories call on the government to end the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria, and to invest in diplomacy and peacebuilding instead.  This, again, comes from our own highest ranking military officials   The ad has undoubtedly sparked a conversation about the costs of war and the need for peace.

Our next guest worked in Space Command as a senior advisor to the Commander, where our land-based nuclear arsenal was under his command. He says, “This is the most fearful I have ever been of a nuclear escalation” “My goal is to bring awareness to as many people as possible the backstory of how we got here and how ‘silence is complicit’.

With me is, Dennis Fritz is a retired Command Chief Master Sergeant of the United States Air Force. While on active duty, he served as the principal senior advisor to 4-star Commanders at Pacific Air Forces, Space Command, and NORAD …and held several positions at the Pentagon on the Air Force Staff, and the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force’s for Legislative Affairs. He also served in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, as a contracted staff member. Currently he is the Director of the Eisenhower Media Network (Eisenhower Media Network's work is informed by the principles of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th president of the United States. Eisenhower was a strong advocate for peace and diplomacy. He believed that war was a last resort and that it should only be used as a means of self-defense. Eisenhower also believed that the United States had a responsibility to use its power to promote peace and democracy around the world.)

* Each year on May 9th, the world holds an annual celebration called Victory Day - signaling the end of World War II.  But what happened literally days after World War II officially ended? In West Germany, the head of Nazi intelligence, Reinhardt Gehlen, was given a new job by former CIA director, Allan Dulles –who was, at the time, head of West German intelligence. Reinhard Gehlen quickly surrendered to the Allies at the end of World War II in order to work with the CIA before founding Germany’s modern intelligence service with hundreds of former Nazis like him.

By the 1970s, many of NATO’s central European command leaders were former Nazi SS officers Because they could, as they did here in the US – quite literally - not only put us on the moon –but over the moon and onto the world map.  The fact that a certain issue was left unresolved on May 9, 1945, has a lot to do with the gradual resurgence of fascism in a new form over the second half of the 20th century and the current threat of a global dictatorship which we’re seeing in countries like Hungary and Poland, China, Russia, most of the Middle east, and even here at home in segmented states like Florida, where governors, like Ron DeSantis see blacks, gays, and women exactly the same way as the Tailiban …and are two minutes from burning books in the streets as if it were 1933 Berlin.  This is not why my grandfather fought in World War II. This is not why yours fought either.

With us is Matt Ehret is a journalist specializing in history, a lecturer and founder of the Canadian Patriot Review.  He is with The Rising Tide Foundation - a non-profit organization based out of Montreal Canada dedicated to the enhancement of cross-cultural understanding and dialogue between east and west - like seminars, and multi media productions that facilitate greater bridges between east and west while also providing a service that includes geopolitical analysis, research in the arts, philosophy, sciences and history.

* With me is Katharine Milon - one of the managers at Giovanni's Room, the longest-running LGBTQ+ and feminist bookstore in the United States, established 1973. And it is during these times that the staff is celebrating fifty years of accessibility to …  and advocacy for - queer, trans, and feminist literature, as well as maintaining a queer physical space in a rapidly digitized world. Translate this into basically any street in LA, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Miami, London, Rome, Paris, Zurich, Berlin and on and on and on.  But in some parts of America this seems impossible, particularly after recent years in which we are told that America is a white guy country and the rest of us are just visiting.

* © Copyrights by Rethinking Media, LLC All Rights Reserved.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rethinkingheroes.substack.com/subscribe