Captain Kidd, Tom Kean, and George W. Bush

(Conspiracy Nation, 4/6/04) -- You may wonder how notorious pirate Captain Kidd, Tom Kean, chair of the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 terror events, and George W. Bush could be connected. The short answer is that Tom Kean and George W. Bush are related, through distant ancestor Robert Livingston. Captain Kidd connects to Livingston because Livingston was one of Kidd's partners in Kidd's business enterprises. But read on, for the "rest of the story." Captain Kidd, Scapegoat The skull and crossbones (image, left) flag goes back to renegade Knights Templar who used it as the flag on

their ships. The Catholic Church taught a bodily resurrection of man at the Last Judgement. But the Templars believed that only a skull and two bones were needed to qualify for resurrection -- hence their flag.

Robert Livingston, born in Scotland, travelled to Holland then later arrived in America, in 1674. Incomparably wealthy patroon Nicholas Van Rensselaer hired Livingston to manage his empire. Four years later, Rensselaer, only middle-aged, died, probably poisoned. Among his last words regarding Livingston: "No, no! Send him away! He's going to marry my widow!" Livingston did indeed marry Rensselaer's widow, Alida Schuyler.

In 1696, England had passed laws restricting commerce in their American colonies. To get around the laws, smugglers merely paid bribe money to New York governor Benjamin Fletcher. Illegal smuggling was the foundation of some of America's greatest fortunes.

Besides smugglers, there were privateers. They carried a letter of marque, permission from some nation to engage in piracy against ships of other nations. Sometimes the mission became blurred and privateers became outright pirates.

When some pirates began robbing ships belonging to the British East India Company, a powerful enemy was unleashed. Britain's King William III got an earful of complaints about piracy against East India Company ships. A plan was formed to replace the corrupt governor Fletcher with Richard Coote, the Earl of Bellomont. In England, Robert Livingston and Captain William Kidd were introduced to Lord Bellomont. The three plotted to get rid of Fletcher. Kidd was ordered to fight against the pirates who were attacking East India Company ships.

A small island off the coast of Madagascar, St. Mary's, was governed by pirates and called Libertalia. For some reason, Kidd landed there. He may have switched sides and "gone pirate," or he may have been gathering intelligence on what pirates had attacked East India Company ships. At any rate, so many of Kidd's crew succumbed to disease while in Libertalia that Kidd had to replace them with pirates living on the island.

It is likely that Kidd was pressured by his new crew into attacking an East India Company ship. That became his downfall. When Captain Kidd returned to New York, the new governor, Lord Bellomont, was in an awkward position. He wanted to help Kidd, but couldn't because he'd look like another Benjamin Fletcher. To hedge his bets, Kidd had buried portions of his treasure throughout Long Island, to use as potential ransom, but even this did not save him. "Bellomont's advisers warned him not to go against the British East India company and the powers the company represented." Robert Livingston, on the other hand, was dismayed: if Bellomont would only get Kidd off the hook, Livingston would receive a fortune in buried treasure from his partner Kidd.

At Captain Kidd's trial, "the book listing the owners of Kidd's ship, his partners, and his instructions was missing." Only two eyewitnesses appeared to testify against Kidd, both of them military deserters and pirates. Soon after Kidd's conviction, both witnesses received pardons. "It appears that a deal had been struck, one that convenienced all except William Kidd."

On Friday, May 23, 1701, Captain William Kidd was hung, twice. (The first time, the rope broke.) Right until the end, Kidd declared his innocence and protested that he was a pawn of wealthy men. "Kidd was the scapegoat and, as such, was hanged."

(Source: Secret Societies Of America's Elite by Steven Sora. Destiny Books, 2003. ISBN: 089281959-6)

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