I just saw the recurring theme of the 33 degree
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreemasonsFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins (theorised to be anywhere from the time of the building of King Solomon's Temple to the mid-1600s). Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around 5 million, with around 480,000 in England, Scotland and Ireland alone, and over 2,000,000 in the United States.<1><2> The various forms all share moral and metaphysical ideals, which include, in most cases, a constitutional declaration of belief in a Supreme Being.<3>
Freemasonry uses the metaphors of operative stonemasons' tools and implements, against the allegorical backdrop of the building of King Solomon's Temple, to convey what has been described by both Masons and critics as "a system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols.
Masons conduct their meetings using a ritualised format. The Scottish Rite, conferring degrees numbered from 4° up to 33°.<32> It is essential to be a Master Mason in order to qualify for these further degrees.
I believe George W took his oath on a Scottish Rite Bible and he is a Freemason...It would be interesting to see how many are Scottish Rite Freemasons in the list.
List of Freemason Presidents
George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln (inducted postmortem by the lodge that he had petitioned for, and was denied, membership in while running for the U.S. Senate), Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Warren Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, and Gerald Ford.
I have no idea who of the Presidents after Ford are Freemasons and what degrees they are???
Its pretty obvious that the SouthWest does carry some weight in Elections