Skeptic Project

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1850077.stm</p>

Old news, just thought it might make an interesting discussion.

Details a conversation between Nixon and Billy Graham:

>>In the taped conversation, Mr Graham said the Jewish "stranglehold" on the media "has got to be broken or this country's going down the drain".

"You believe that?" Nixon replies.

"Yes, sir."

"Oh boy. So do I. I can't ever say that but I believe it," Nixon says.

"If you get elected a second time, then we might be able to do something," Mr Graham replies.

A lot of Jews are great friends of mine, but they don't know how I really feel about what they're doing to this country

Billy Graham to Richard Nixon
Later in the conversation, when Nixon raises the subject of Jewish influence in Hollywood, Mr Graham says:

"A lot of Jews are great friends of mine. They swarm around me and are friendly to me, because they know that I am friendly to Israel and so forth, but they don't know how I really feel about what they're doing to this country, and I have no power and no way to handle them."

Nixon, who became friends with Mr Graham in the 1950s during his time as vice president in the Eisenhower administration, then advises: "You must not let them know"

Nixon was an anti-Semite, but I don't think he believed in a "world Jewish conspiracy" the way we characterize it here.

I am not a crook.

What do you think was his characterization of it?

The way Nixon was raised and grew up, he harbored a tremendous amount of resentment against people he perceived as "others"--particularly Jews, Communists, liberal Democrats and Ivy League intellectuals which he disdained as the "Eastern Establishment"--mostly professors, columnists, the chattering class and the cocktail party circuit. He saw the Kennedys as the ruling family of this elite.

Given his views on these other groups, I think it's probably at least close to the truth to say that he thought Jews had disproportionate influence in banking, business and Hollywood and that they used that influence inappropriately to their own self-interest.

I think that's different than a "Jewish world conspiracy" which presupposes some sort of top-down coordination or a unified "plot" to rule the world. Eventually beliefs such as Nixon's, taken far enough, cross that line, but I doubt Nixon himself believed in "ZOG" or tripe like that.