Prescott Bush: Senator and Oil Man Extraordinaire

Sen. Prescott Bush, R-Conn, attemps to 'disassociate himself' from Missouri Sen. Stuart Symington during a hearing on Capital Hill in this Aug. 17, 1962 file photo. Government documents show that Bush, the grandfather of President George W. Bush, was one of seven directors of Union Banking Corp., seized by the federal government because of its ties to a German industrialist who helped bankroll Adolf Hitler's rise to power, government documents show. (AP Photo, File)--Common Dreams 10/18/2003

Little did I know over 40 years ago when I would see the friendly face of then CT Senator Prescott Bush on the old black and white TV in Hartford, that his grandson would be the megalomaniac war mongering POTUS today. Prescott Bush represented old New England values and qualities, as far as I learned, and the rest was no big deal until son George H.W. got to be head of the CIA and you know the rest.

Now the name Prescott Bush returns in a fanciful if not sinister story of grave-stealing and history:

HARTFORD, Connecticut (AP) -- A Yale University historian has uncovered a 1918 letter that seems to lend validity to the lore that Yale University's ultra-secret Skull and Bones society swiped the skull of American Indian leader Geronimo.

According to Skull and Bones legend, members -- including President Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush -- dug up Geronimo's grave when a group of Army volunteers from Yale were stationed at the fort during World War I. Geronimo died in 1909.

So what, you ask? Well, nothing, I say--except the familiar recounting of past members of the Yale Skull and Bones society:

Only 15 Yale seniors are asked to join Skull and Bones each year. Alumni include Sen. John Kerry, President William Howard Taft, numerous members of Congress, media leaders, Wall Street financiers, the scions of wealthy families and agents in the CIA.

Members swear an oath of secrecy about the group and its strange rituals, which are said to include an initiation rite in which would-be members kiss a skull.--AP

What’s to be concluded from this bit of mythology-turned-fact—that there’s more than meets the eye about most of what we think we see? That’s good enough for me.

[Thanks to Rigorous Intuition for referencing the CNN article]