Conspirator

Conspirator
By Ray Bearse and Anthony Read

While reading Our Finest Hour earlier this year Richard was reading Conspirator. Upon this discovery it was only natural that Richard shall bring it North on his summer trip for me to read. And so I did. Why was it natural you ask? To begin with there are two characters in this book that were main characters in The Finest Hour, that being Churchill and Roosevelt. However the main character in this book was Taylor G. Kent. He was a bad seed from the beginning, where his traits went undetected as he took an embassy assignment to be part of the first team to go to the new Soviet Union in the 1930’s. After being reassigned to England for disciplinary reasons, he was imprisoned for spying, as the term was defined to suit the times of WWII.

The following is a quick note on Kent before I move in to my observations of the book. Yes I did notice something prominent but off the main theme, which was somewhat intentional I believe. Kent was a product of his upbringing as his father had a career in diplomatic service and thus exposing Taylor to the lifestyle. Taylor was also a single-minded egocentric introvert with a bent on sexual escapades and a determination to get even with a system he felt had conspired against him. Early on in his assignment as a code clerk to the American Embassy in the USSR, his status as clerk caused a rude segregation imposed upon him by the diplomats of title. Given the education Kent held as compared to some, Kent did not accept this. To further cause dissent the drab and desperate life in USSR at that time plus the policy to not allow Kent to bring over any American “family or friend” completed the perfect foundation for his transition into espionage. The Soviets took advantage of the situation by providing lovely “girlfriends” to leverage internal embassy information out of Kent. Kent’s voluntary disclosure under the sheets was a corollary to the “extacay” drug problem we have in our world of 2006. He was not necessarily a conscious spy as he was addicted to spying to fill his own agenda. An agenda underpinned with revenge.

However the book really has many conspirators. In fact every person in the book has an agenda, a code word for conspiracy. There is the highly publicized conspiracy theory that Roosevelt plotted a course to bring America into WWII. There is Captain Ramsey a MP in British Parliament with an appeasement agenda over laying his real sentiment against Jews. There was the White Russians who conspired against the Jews and Communist, making them easy allies to Hitler. There were the Republicans who were desperate to find any reason at all to unseat Roosevelt. There was the press, where on the American side the newspapers were owned by a few big names, for example Hearst.

The headline the list of conspirators, Joseph Kennedy a Democrat and Ambassador to England had his own political career (to be president) in mind when he got behind the isolationist movement and spoke out against any involvement in the war. His public reason was England is doomed to subservience to the German machine. Kennedy drew to his side the industrialist and capitalist who had a sole interest in getting on the side of the apparent victor in Europe. For his own career Kennedy in this book turned against England, America, Roosevelt, and Taylor Kent. He alone pulled the trigger that opened the door for British law to convict Kent of espionage. What was Kent’s crime? Handing over 1900 pus documents of diplomatic sensitivity to the enemy. What was Kennedy’s crime, hypocrisy?

Ominous Parallels there are many when comparing to our current world situation. Akin to the Nazi agenda, we have Muslim Extremist Nations and Terrorist making proclamations to wipe Israel off the map and put an end to the West. An end to the West is an end to democracy. Like Roosevelt, we have the Bush administration accused with an agenda to take our country to war. Like the Republicans of the 1940’s, we have Democrats saying everything possible to unseat the Republican Congress and White House. We have our Intelligence Agencies and retired officials writing books where their agendas, code word for conspiracy are SOLD!!! It gets worse, we have moviemakers producing fiction and selling it as fact. The New York Times leads the way and continues to publish sensitive information for the world including our enemy to read. The same information published in 1940 would have had the paper on trial. All of this though is what makes America great. In my opinion the real conspirator and blight on America is Kennedy. Today the wealthy Ted Kennedy has continued in every way the legacy left behind by his father, Joseph..

The differences are worth noting. On December 7, 1942 America woke up. On September 11, 2001, half of America woke up and then…hit the snooze button. In 1940 Churchill’s administration and Joseph Kennedy put away people that today would have likely not even been brought to trial. The compelling difference is London was experiencing nightly bombings by Germany. The British subjects were desperate and in a survival mode, thus willing to forego certain “civil liberties” for survival. Churchill recognized that in order to prevail England had to have EVERYONE on board. Dissenters were silenced, within the law as argued on that day. He did what he felt necessary to espouse a public conscience of not just survival but victory. In this book there is a piece quoted by Churchill’s son where while shaving Winston turned to his son and made that proclamation. The American and English public did not display any sympathy for Kent and his treasonous deeds, or call upon their leaders for to stand in Kent’s stead for a trial. America, the UK, the World and History look upon both Roosevelt and Churchill as prime movers towards the continuation of democracy and civil liberty. The indiscretions alleged were excused by a society united behind its cause. In the 40’s we had leaders who could withstand the winds of conspirators. In America that convincing message is missing.

World history pretty much agrees that Churchill and Roosevelt led the world to a higher standard of civil liberty than their rival. Yet there were then and in some ridiculous circles still are question marks. Again, what makes America great is to not only ask the question but to answer it…properly and then move on. To maintain my standards of “reading the other side” I am requesting Richard to now lend it me Raise and Fall of the Third Reich and Hitler’s Mien Kampf. I will read them along with Bismarck’s book in an attempt to better understand the German mentality that may have been formed over 50 years. I will continue my way through all of Churchill’s books and look into Roosevelt and Truman. I will be looking for Ominous Parallels.