The Free Mason Factor

tin foil hats ahoy!

Every president this country has ever had has been a Free Mason, including Shrub. whether or not you subscribe to the "they're a powerful elite group that secretly rules the world" or not, that's a fact.

I was talking to a friend yesterday, and I don't know if it's true, but she told me that Dean is not.

My question is: is Kerry a Free Mason? I assume because of the Skull & Bones thing that he is. (gotta believe there's a connection between these secret societies) Anybody actually know? What about Edwards?

The next questions then are: Was Dean doomed from the start because he wasn't a Free Mason? Is this a bigger conspiracy than just the media and the establishment out to get him. Can a man who's not a Free Mason actually ever become President? And if my grandfather was a Free Mason how come I'm not...and how do I claim my rightful heritage?

enquiring minds want to know...

•  what the?

  This is even worse than the skull and bones thing. Was Clinton a Free Mason? Was Reagan? This kind of thing is just getting bizarre. We can find enough actual nefariousness in the "take down" of Dr. Dean (weird robocalls, media complicitness) before we have to start exploring these angles...

  by JMS on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 01:31:02 PM PDT

•  weird coincidence then

  I'm not saying it's true, I'm not saying it's not, I'm just saying it's a wierd freakin coincidence that EVERY president has been a member of this little club. I have to believe there's something to it.

  by gregonthe28th on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 01:36:35 PM PDT

•  Not a fact

  Although most of the first ten or so presidents were freemasons, it has become less so over time. At this point, only a little over half have been.

  This is a non-issue, if ever there was one.  

  Dean was doomed because his personality was too hot for a cool medium, and people were turned off. His strenght on the campaign trail became a big liability on TV.  "The Scream" was the exclamation point to a sentence that had already been written.

  by al Qidder on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 01:42:22 PM PDT

  •  you're right

    i've done some more research and not all presidents were masons. not the first time i've been wrong

    by gregonthe28th on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 02:13:58 PM PDT

•  a little web research

  Which presidents were freemasons?

  Not every president was a freemason but clearly they have had some influence on the history of the country. How much is left up to the tinfoil hat crowd to argue about.

  by lukas on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 01:46:07 PM PDT

•  It's just a campaign stop

  for politicians....

  In many small towns, the freemasons are one of three or four service/social clubs that most of the upstanding citizens in the town belong to.  It's like the Lion's Club, or Kiwanis.  I think you'd find most presidents, senators, etc., etc. are members of some or all of those other organizations as well.

  People running for office in towns like that usually try to join (you have to be invited or sponsored); it probably doesn't pull in too many extra votes most of the time, but maybe a few, and it gets you out in the community, and shows you to be a responsible, concerned citizen.  That's all.  It's the opposite of the conspiracy... they become freemasons because they want to run for office, they don't get into office because they're freemasons.

  by eebee on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 01:50:15 PM PDT

  •  Actually,

    the Freemasons are a little more sinister than the Lions or Elks.  They are very secretive, so no one is really sure what they are up to.

    As for their influence on politics, it is evident in that weird pyramid/eyeball thing on the dollar bill. That's a Freemason symbol. They had some influence over the forming of the country, but not much since about mid-19th century.

    by al Qidder on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 01:57:55 PM PDT

•  Nothing to it

  I'm a free mason, having joined because many generations of my ancestors on my father's side of the family were masons. I have had nothing to do with it since I joined ten years ago at the age of 21, and I strongly suspect that the masonic tradition in my family will end with me.

  Mostly, it's a bunch of old men sitting around socializing. The rituals were of course taken very seriously at one time, but anymore they're a formality. It's more of a social group now than anything, and since I am so much younger than most of them, I have a hard time relating to them. They're good people, but believe me when I say that there is no secret cabal of these guys running the country from the shadows.

  by Devin on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 01:51:32 PM PDT

  •  You ever read

    Foucoult's Pendulum? Great read. Way better the The Name of the Rose.

    by Marius on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 01:55:15 PM PDT

    •  Don't forget the Stonecutters Simpsons episode...

      ...another classic riff on the masonic conspiracy stuff. They even have a theme song:

      Who controls the British crown?
      Who keeps the metric system down?
      We do! We do!
      Who leaves Atlantis off the maps?
      Who keeps the martians under wraps?
      We do! We do!
      Who holds back the electric car?
      Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star?
      We do! We do!
      Who robs the cave fish of their sight?
      Who rigs every Oscars night?
      We do! We do!

      I'm not sure if it's more dangerous, or less dangerous, than the actual freemasons...

      by Christopher on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 02:08:49 PM PDT

•  They're coming to get me

  I been on the run from the Free Masons since I discovered the underground control center for their fleet of submarines.

  I actually caught a glimpse of their leader.  He's eight feet tall and wears a black and yellow leisure suit.  

  What's really interesting is how on the front of the leader's head his curly bangs are twisted to form two stalks, as if they conceal antennae.

  I'm sorry I told you this.  You will be happier if you can forget it.

  by wetzel on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 02:01:59 PM PDT

•  whoa

  Sir, please put the tin-foil down and step away from the girl.

  by Sharon on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 02:07:18 PM PDT

•  It is the Illuminati who defeated Dean.

  In fact, I am sure that the scream was actually a response to their diabolical mind control techniques and Joe Trippi was a plant to get our hopes up with the Internet campaign and then bringing the ship foundering to the rocks.

  If Dean can get an invitation to the Bilderburg meetings, however, he will have a chance to be injected with the blood of the descendents of Sirius who rule us all.

  by Magenta on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 03:51:48 PM PDT

•  yeah, it's true

  they are one of the forces behind this whole shit-fuck mess we're dealing with. and we'll keep dealing with it because so many people have been conditioned to dismiss "conspiracy" theories.

  but then again, what is politics but a conspiracy to attain power?

  to the guy who said they're just a bunch of harmless old men, remember, there're 33 degrees to freemasonry. why? because unless you're scum enough, you don't move up in degrees. if you're honest, or righteous in any way, you can't be trusted with the real conspiracy, and you don't move up past a certain degree.

  i don't have the last word on the freemasons, but the ignorant who do not think conspiracies exist are just that--ignorant.

  by john10 on Wed Feb 04, 2004 at 06:47:43 PM PDT

  •  Dude...

    ...I think you need some more LSD. You're espousing conspiracy theories, but they aren't nearly crackpot enough. Try again.

    by Devin on Thu Feb 05, 2004 at 02:44:34 PM PDT

    •  believe what you want

      by john10 on Thu Feb 05, 2004 at 04:47:42 PM PDT