Ian Punnett was joined by Salon.com founder David Talbot for a discussion on a new series of illustrated Pulp History books that he helped co-create. Talbot said the books present a "raw history" of events that most Americans have never heard about. Talbot's entry in the series, Devil Dog, reveals the amazing true story of General Smedley Darlington Butler, the most decorated Marine in U.S. history.
Butler joined the armed forces at sixteen and fought in numerous conflicts. A turning point in his life occurred during World War I, when he witnessed the "industrial level carnage" of that war and the government's abandonment of returning veterans, Talbot explained. Butler became radicalized after that and devoted the rest of his life to peace and veteran's rights, he added. According to Talbot, Butler was asked to lead an army of 500,000 armed veterans to Washington, DC to overthrow President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Instead, he turned whistleblower and appeared before Congress to expose the plot, Talbot said.
Another book in the Pulp History series (not authored by Talbot), Shadow Knights, tells the story of ordinary citizens who were recruited by the British spy service to sabotage Hitler's war efforts. Talbot likened the accounts in the book to a real-life Inglorious Bastards. Talbot also spoke about his work at Salon.com, the WikiLeaks controversy, and activist journalism, as well as his research into the Kennedy family and the assassination of siblings John and Robert (see Brothers: The Hidden History of the Kennedy Years). Talbot believes both JFK and his brother Bobby were killed by forces in the U.S. government.
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