FOR the first time in the 249 year history of the United States of America, a criminal has been sworn in as President.
POTUS number 45 was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records on May 30, 2024, making him a criminal. Prior to that his parent business company was found guilty of 17 criminal charges. He was also convicted of sexual abuse and defamation in separate civil trials.
Number 45 is also a person who in 2020 had spearheaded the "Big Lie," the biggest deception in American electoral history, which led to a violent insurrection at our nation's Capitol on January 6, 2021. Instigating an insurrection is supposed to be a crime, but number 45 has yet to be charged. Go figure.
A major clause in the 14th Amendment would have prevented 45's eligibility for re-election, but Congress and our Judiciary chose to purposely ignore and or dismiss it. Shame on them. And shame on the Democratic Party itself for being so incredibly clueless, stupid and inept in their attempts to contest this criminal from seizing power during the 2024 election campaign.
Now, is having a convicted felon in the White House going to be a bad thing? Does it portend of dark, chaotic days ahead? I would say yes-- it is. And yes-- it does. But only 50 percent of the voting public probably believes like I do-- the other 50 percent are seemingly supportive of criminal behavior, bigotry, and serial lying (a portion of them are evangelicals too. Go figure).
What this means for the future is that even a murderer could make a legitimate run at our nation's highest office. Of course I can think of one alleged murderer, currently awaiting prosecution in a jail cell in Brooklyn, New York, whose sudden folk hero status might just make him the popular choice in 2028. Now wouldn't that be something? And it's not hard to figure out what his campaign slogan would be.
Yes, unfortunately, Pandora's box has been officially opened here in the United States. And a certain somebody in Russia is laughing his ass off right now.
During the third year of Nixon's first term in office he became mired in something we now refer to as the "Watergate Scandal." It began on June 17, 1972, with a simple break-in at the office of the Democratic National Committee, which was located inside the Watergate Building in Washington D.C., by members of a group associated with Nixon's re-election campaign. Their intent was to plant listening devices. Why exactly they wanted to do this has never been fully explained, only theorized. The burglars were caught that same night and arrested. Later of course Nixon tried to hide his administration's involvement in the whole sordid affair, publicly dismissing the accusations against him as political smears. And America being America, folks believed him, re-electing him in November to a second term. But the Watergate investigation had only just begun, and would last for two more long years.
Finally, on February 1, 1974, a federal Grand Jury prepared a draft presentment that stated that Nixon "unlawfully, willfully, and knowingly" conspired to commit offenses against the United States. The charges were to include bribery, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and obstruction of a criminal investigation. But then, as Congress prepared to impeach him, Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. A month later President Gerald Ford (formerly the Vice President) pardoned him, protecting him from criminal prosecution.
This of course was America's biggest political scandal of the 20th century, and its greatest political embarrassment.
The above illustration, from 1976, shows Nixon as someone's puppet. But who was the puppet master? And did they have anything to do with the Watergate scandal?
Enter Howard Hughes, one of America's richest industrialists, and the alleged puppet master.
Hughes personified the deep state: he was famous for his secrecy, his back-room manipulation of politicians and government agencies, and for making billions of dollars from his work for the Pentagon and intelligence community as their budgets soared through the Cold War and Vietnam era.
Allegedly Watergate was in part the product of secret payoffs by Hughes to Nixon to protect his business empire. Allegedly Nixon feared that their relationship was going to be exposed, eliminating every chance he had at re-election. Allegedly that's the reason behind the break-in. Or so the theory goes.
Now let's move to the present day.
Our 45th POTUS, otherwise known as a convicted felon, appears to be under the influence of one of the world's richest men, a South African businessman known for his arrogance, and expressed, polarizing views. A businessman whose wealth makes 45's wealth look like that of a hot dog vendor. A businessman who allegedly contributed vast sums of money to ensure 45's re-election. Some have even begun calling this person the Prime Minister of America, or the Shadow President.
You know who I am talking about; I don't need to spell his name out. It's just too bad that the artist who painted this absolutely perfect parody of Nixon and Hughes as puppets isn't alive today, or we could ask him to update his illustration to reflect our current presidential situation. Now wouldn't that be something. Ha!
But I know what your next question is: Who does the green hand belong to that controls Howard Hughes? Some might say the "Snake People," an underground species of advanced reptilian beings who are covertly controlling the levers of power in the US. But that sounds crazy, like something Robert E. Howard would dream up for one of his pulp yarns. In essence though, the Snake People are merely a metaphor for large corporations and their 1-percenter CEO's. Howard Hughes was a 1-percenter, but that doesn't mean he wasn't controlled by even larger corporations than himself.
Now, on to your next question: Who painted this classic illustration? Well, before I reveal that information, please allow me to show you how I first discovered him, or rediscovered him, as was the situation.
'From Kummersdorf West-- a Nazi concentration camp staffed with some
of the Third Reich's most talented and monstrous medical men... to
Kummersdorf East-- a Siberian enclave where 100,000 Soviet Jews have
been quietly transferred for some top-secret experiments. What was the
Kummersdorf Connection?'
I CAME across this nightmarish paperback cover and stepback illustration during a recent bookstore jaunt. The Kummersdorf Connection by Eric Ramsey was published by Playboy Press Paperbacks, a book division of Playboy magazine, in 1978. The cover and stepback art were credited inside to Eraldo Carugati.
The name Carugati sounded familiar to me, but not necessarily with paperbacks. So I sat down and performed a process of elimination: Besides books, what was I reading back in the 1970s? Well, magazines for one-- Time, Newsweek, Locus, Sports Illustrated, Penthouse and Playboy. Hmm? Playboy-- sure, that was it-- I remembered now. I collected Playboys back then, had at least four years worth stacked up. Carugati was one of their regulars contributors. And when I got home and started researching I learned I was right.
Eraldo Carugati was born in 1921 in Milan, Italy. After the fall of Mussolini in 1943, Carugati was captured by the Nazis and placed in the Dortmund Concentration Camp. He survived there by painting portraits of German soldiers and creating and trading forged Nazi rations stamps. In 1945 he escaped, and joined the US Army as an interpreter (he was fluid in Italian, English, French and German). After the war he accepted a longstanding invitation from his friend Captain Jack Hart to move to Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. It was to be a six-month visa. Carugati immediately began painting formal portraits upon arrival. One of his first commissions was from Senator Robert S. Kerr, who was so pleased with the artist that he lobbied for him to receive asylum, along with his wife and child. Carugati, forever grateful, then journeyed to Chicago, where he was hired by the firm of Stephens, Biondi, DeCicco, Inc., one of the country's leading graphic design, photography and commercial art studios. It was there that he began producing illustrations for some of the leading magazines in the country, including National Lampoon, Time, Weekend, The Rotarian, and of course Playboy, among others. He also produced iconic album covers for the rock band's Kiss and Rush, and at least one movie poster that I know of (all three are shown further below). Carugati died in 1997 at the age of 76.
Even with all of his commercial success, Carugati never stopped painting
portraits; the Smithsonian Institute owns five of his originals.
One is them is of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (created for the cover of Time magazine), and another is
of Alexander Haig, who was chief of staff under
Presidents Nixon and Gerald Ford and Secretary of State under President
Ronald Reagan.
You would think that paperback covers might have taken up more of Carugati's attention, it being a relatively good paying gig, but for all my searching I came up with only one additional paperback that was officially credited to him, and one that wasn't but should be. Or could be. Both were published by Playboy Press, and are seen below.
This horrific looking cover and stepback art was officially credited to Carugati on the copyright page. The novel it promoted was Shadow of the Knife by Kenneth R. McKay. It was published, as I said, by Playboy Press in 1978. Carugati definitely had a dark side to his imagination, although here he is merely adhering to the novel's actual content, like any good commercial illustrator does.
'He was the NASSAU SLASHER-- a bitter, perverted psychopath who picked his female victims with a surgeon's care, and killed them with a butcher's savagery. Even after a dozen murders he still eluded a huge law enforcement network that was powerless to stop him-- until he happened to pick the wrong victim-- a woman whose husband had the nerve to step outside the law, the brains to track the psycho, and the guts to inflict a brutal, overdue punishment.'
'When are the dead not dead? For a terrified Evanne, the answer is very important. Her dormant psychic ability has surfaced, and now she has accused Charlie Bridges of being a dead man. Only Charlie is alive and well-- or is he? Charlie has a few hours missing from his life, with nothing to show for it but a strange scar on his wrist. And lots of other people in the small college town--perfectly ordinary people--have the same odd scar. Unfortunately for them and for Evanne, they are not ordinary anymore. And the town soon will be a blood-soaked hell on earth.'
Sorceress, Blu-Ray disc release: '...When an evil wizard, Traigon, makes a pact with the dark forces to sacrifice his first born to his God Caligara in order to gain the highest degree of power, he wasn't prepared to have his wife give birth to twins. The twins then escape and grow up to be two beautiful warriors, and they vow to avenge their mother's death, as well as their adopted family's death from Traigon and his army! With the twins blessed with the forces of light and strength of warriors given to them by the magical warrior Krona, and with the help of Valdar the Viking and Erlick the Barbarian, the "two who are as one" take on all sorts of Traigon's minions. From an army of ape men to undead zombies, the twins must overcome one horrific foe after another, climaxing in an all out battle between good and evil!'
My wife and I had a friend and colleague named Danny O'Hara who was a huge Kiss fan. He was also a huge sports fan. His ticket stubs for the events he attended filled several scrapbooks. In the 1990s we used to watch the Colorado High School basketball playoffs together down at the old McNichols Arena in Denver. Those were great games. And great times. Rest in peace, Danny, you and your distinctive laugh will always be remembered by us.
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