Ron Callari: Code Of Silence

When the Greek orator Demosthenes died in 322 BC, the goddess of eloquence, Eulogia, ascended to the heavens, not to return to Terra Firma until 1832. At which time she took residence in a gothic tomb tucked away in the patrician environs of New Haven, Connecticut. From that day forward, an aristocratic brotherhood of elitists who call themselves the "Knights of Eulogia," are said to chant anthems and bestow offerings in her honor.

This nefarious society is also known for grave robbing. Deep within the bowels of their denizen is said to be the stolen skulls of the Apache Chief Geronimo and Pancho Villa. Something out of mythical folklore or a Harry Potter novel perhaps? No…actually this tale serves as a real-life backdrop for two of America’s most celebrated politicians of the day.

Secret societies have existed on down through the ages. The average person has almost no knowledge of them and those that do - dismiss them as urban legend or conspiracy theory. Secret societies, however, not only exist; they have played an important role in the shaping of national and international events.

Such is the case with one of Yale University's 200-year-old alliances. The Ivy League is full of organizations, some public and some very private. But none is as covert as a tiny, mysterious fraternity that has somehow spawned two Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, over twenty Senators, and countless Congressmen, cabinet officers, judges, and state officials among its membership.

There's something President Bush and U.S. Senator John Kerry have chosen to keep under wraps. They don't want you to learn about the club they joined as Yale students in the 1960s and have remained connected to for the last 35+ years—the Skull and Bones Society, America's most privileged Ivy League cult.

Yes, while this good ole boys’ network includes amongst its ranks the likes of President William Howard Taft and George Bush Sr., George W. Bush and John F. Kerry will be the first ‘Bonesmen’ to ever go mano a mano for the number seat in the land. This November, these two Yale men will ascend from their campus crypt to take center stage in the next election for the Presidency of the United States.

And the odds of this occurrence happening is near miraculous, since there are only 15 members accepted into the society each year, and only 800 living Bonesmen in the country today.

America is about to choose between two presidential candidates," writes Sam Smith, editor of the Progressive Review, "who belonged to an organization whose values were infantile, elitist, misogynist, anti-democratic and secret and whose purposes include the mutual support and protection of its members as they make their way into the upper ranks of American society and throughout their adult lives. Far from apologizing for this, the two candidates refuse to give open and honest answers about their participation.”

Kerry and Bush are determined, as they run for president in 2004, to avoid responding to questions about their clandestine past, even as they reveal other details about their personal lives.

When Tim Russert asked both Kerry and Bush about the significance of the number "322” (the Skull & Bones code number), both Bonesmen quickly diffused the question with off-handed dismissive responses. Bush in his usual erudite fashion noted that it wouldn’t be a secret society if he were to disclose its secrets!

Bonesmen take care of their own. The current President has staffed his administration with such Bones brothers as Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William H. Donaldson, Assistant Attorney General Robert McCallum, Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago Roy Austin and Edward McNally, general counsel to the Office of Homeland Security.

Skull and Bones cultivates its candidates carefully, favoring the sons of the wealthy. One might call it…the Fellowship of the Ca-ching! It has served as an incubator for two dozen of the country’s well-salted families including the Bushes, Rockefellers and the Whitneys. To nurture allegiance, the society forces members to confess their entire sexual histories so that Skull and Bones, as a eugenics overlord, can determine whether a new Bonesman will be fit to carry on the bloodlines of the powerful Skull and Bones dynasties. A rebel will not make Skull and Bones; nor will anyone who will not sacrifice for the greater good of the organization.

As fellow Bonesmen, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and President George W Bush have quite a few other things in common. Bush invaded Iraq and Kerry supported him. The President proposed the Patriot Act, Kerry voted for it. Bush pushed through the No Child Left Behind Act and John Kerry voted for that as well. Kerry votes in favor of the Patriot Act, Bush signs. Kerry votes in favor of the Iraq war resolution, Bush signs. Kerry votes in favor of the largest increase in military spending, Bush signs (including the endorsement of weapons programs, which Kerry had previously opposed).

And even as these two Bonesmen begin to diverge on their political tactics and promises in the spirit of competition, blue blood still runs deep. So will the American people really be allowed choice in this year’s two party campaign? Or are we simply selecting from two mirror images of the same package?

Will the Knights of Eulogia favor their roots or the general welfare of the nation? It should be an interesting campaign to watch. But what would make it all the more intriguing is when and if Citizen Bush and/or Citizen Kerry finally decides to break their code of silence.

Ron Callari is a freelance journalist and editorial cartoonist who resides in Jersey City, New Jersey. He and co-creator Jack Pittman produce kidd millennium cartoons weekly.

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