Baker is himself a pretty fascinating figure for a peep into the insane corruption of mid-20th century US politics. Basically the fella was a pimp who ran a private intel/blackmail service using his ladies.
> insane corruption of mid-20th century US politics
Not sure things have changed that much in the meantime, to be honest. Nowadays you've got the US Dept. of Education being run by the sister of the guy that runs one of the biggest and most despicable mercenary companies in the world, and regarding sex-related blackmail I still regard the escort-related thing that happened to Eliot Spitzer as a blatant set-up. If it matters I'm not an American and I've never set foot in the States, these are just my opinions on the American political life as seen from half a world away.
I agree with you completely (as an American), and I always bring up Bobby Baker specifically to get fellow Americans thinking in this direction. I mean, this is known -it's even in his Wikipedia entry. Imagine all the filthy tricks going on elsewhere in the modern day with small recording devices. Spitzer was probably a setup. I also look at Dennis Hastert as being controlled by someone. He was eventually convicted of money laundering to cover up raping a young boy. American media acted like it never happened!
What about Dominique Strauss Kahn as president of the IMF at the time. People in finance where referring to a certain position in the market as the London whale.
Yes, I remember this. I wonder what a proper historian would do with modern life? Court intrigues didn't go away with Royalty: they just more pervasive. Yes, I feel like a prophet mentioning this before Epstein was arrested again....
