Historical Trend
By Ron Signore
Over the weekend, I observed a docuseries and a miniseries that had me gripped. I seem to be going down a historical rabbit hole that keeps going. The miniseries that had me intrigued was “The Plot Against America.” The setting for this goes down a fictional road of what the United States, er go the world, would have been like if Charles Lindbergh defeated FDR in the 1940 election. Due to being hooked there, I also decided to dive into the docuseries “FDR,” to really understand how and why we could have possibly had that alternative reality set in “The Plot Against America.”
That era of Hitler’s reign coincided with a pivotal time in American history as the prospects of World War II loomed staggard with the current economic climate in America coming through the Great Depression. At this key time in world politics, the United States found itself in a very interesting position on the world stage. The taste from the impact of WWI was fresh enough to have FDR doing a balancing act between aiding and supporting the allied forces in Europe over a Nazi Germany, and maintaining peace time that was desired by the consensus of our country, was a thin line.
In reality, we know the path the United States ended up on after the attack at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. However, “The Plot Against America” takes us down a journey had we not been attacked in correlation to an election win for Charles Lindbergh. This eerie tale, though fictional, has some significant realism to not only what could have been, but what we see today as we observe a political dichotomy that is hindering progress in the United States today.
Should Lindbergh have been elected, with a running mate of Henry Ford as VP, the continuation of antisemitism similar to Hitler’s Final Solution spreads to the states. They put programs in motion to try and “Americanize” Jewish families, beginning with opportunities for children to be placed in a home for the summer in traditionally Christian based areas. In this instance, Danville, KY was the scene for the Levin family, the main characters in this story. The results would be the continual brainwashing by way of propaganda, looking to turn Jewish kids against their respective families upon return.
Before you know it, Lindbergh is having ‘secret’ meetings with Germany and Japan in efforts to form an alliance as we watch Hitler easily sweep through Europe. Lindbergh ultimately wins the vote because of his name being synonymous with being a hero as the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic. Little was known the impacts of that flight as they circle through present time in this story. At some point, because he only travels by plane, his plane goes missing, and ultimately Lindbergh is dead. Two key avenues in timing here that help bring the ideals full circle. The first is that he was flying to Kentucky because of riots that found the Klan front and center violently attacking Jewish people and businesses. The second is that the main competition for Lindbergh as his presidency rolls on is a Jewish member of the mainstream media, who is assassinated for his attempts to call out what is going on.
With Lindbergh missing, eventually dead, Ford takes the reign. Ford, a known antisemite, puts fear into anyone with a brain who understands what is going on. Lives become changed, families separated, damaged, and prejudiced against forcing Jews out of jobs and homes. Supporters of the administration applied their official and unofficial gestapo tactics. Ford even went as far as locking up the First Lady to keep her silent.
Ultimately, the nation comes to it senses, but once again putting us in a position as country of a need to clean up a mess of ignorance. It seems like Democrats, at least liberal minded individuals, are stuck cleaning up detrimental messes caused by conservative administrations. The term liberal minded becomes reflected because I believe that Abraham Lincoln would be more of a liberal ideology that we relate to as democrats today.
The mess, Reconstruction, post-war in 1865 marked a pivotal time of rebuild in this nation from property and homes to industry throughout. The rise from slavery and even white poverty were no easy feat. That wheel of progress Lincoln, and future administrations needed to resurrect, from the Southern Confederacy led by Jefferson Davis, caused turmoil and ongoing resistance to re-unite as one nation. Internal resistance only stemmed for an uprising in ways driven by racism.
FDR had to ride the wave after the Hoover administration put us on the path to the Great Depression. His mind was keen on problem solving, and as a master manipulator overall, his ability to leverage The New Deal into action was like a defibrillation shock to the economy. While this ultimately kept a hesitation into joining WWII prior to Pearl Harbor, the drive for wartime involvement and pride from our country was unparalleled. A democrat, FDR drove a morality that put true patriotism at the forefront. A desire to both fight on behalf of our country, but also industrially creating arguably the greatest relationship between government and industry we have seen. Factory production was incredible to say the least, which without jobs and support, could have truly altered the events during WWII.
In true American fashion, we find ourselves in the same church but different pew. The impact of the policies enacted by Agent Orange allowed for a disaster of epic proportions. We were a part of an unimaginable pandemic that led to lives being lost in greater sums than WWII. A downplay and continual need to discredit the realities of the virus politicized common sense and empathy for our fellow citizens. A cowardice man put at the helm help expedite a path to inflation, the loss of jobs, and worst of all, a doubt in our democratic process. The same democratic processes that we fought so hard for in past wars to defend.
We cannot make this mistake again.
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