Posted by
Danielson on Tuesday, September 12, 2006 11:51:37 AM
What would the world be like today if the modern Democratic Party and network news were around on December 8th, 1941? A valid question and one whose answer makes me extremely grateful that they weren’t.
The first thing that they would have done would be to vote overwhelmingly for a declaration of war on Japan, The reason for this would be popular sentiment and anger amongst Americans in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor. This would then be followed by surprise when Roosevelt actually acted on their declaration and sent soldiers into battle. They would claim that they only voted yes because they believed that the president would never really act on it, and that the declaration itself would be enough to show the Japanese that we mean business. In anger at Roosevelt’s nerve, they would have subsequently voted against funding U.S. soldiers in the Pacific, and yet claim that they were patriotic for doing so. They would also insist that Roosevelt had no right to also declare war on Germany and Italy, since they didn’t attack us on December 7. The entire European theatre would be declared a distraction and the media would do their best to insist that there was no link between Hitler, Mussolini, and Japan. Liberals would claim that resources and soldiers were being squandered against non-existent threats, and that our only focus should be on arresting the general who masterminded the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Meanwhile, the media would be overemphasizing military disasters and American casualties and ignoring any successes. The war would be rapidly classified as unwinnable, a quagmire, and a series of retired and disgruntled ex-generals would be given airtime to call the president a failure and a liar. They would claim that his speech following the attack, in which Roosevelt ensured America that they would be victorious, was misleading and painted too rosy a picture. Calls for impeachment would be made, along with calls for immediate withdrawal.
At the same time, modern Democrats would have demanded investigations into what Roosevelt knew about Pearl Harbor and when he knew it. He would be vilified for failure to protect America from the attack and at the same time denigrated for his military response. Polls would claim that 1/3 of America believes that Roosevelt himself was responsible for the attack on December 7 in order to fight an illegal war. Focus groups would be formed in order to discover why Japan hates us. College professors would claim that we deserved the attack and world hatred because of our imperialistic policies, condemnation of the Holocaust, and support for a future Jewish homeland (for liberals, everything can be blamed on American support for the Jews). Roosevelt would be castigated for going it alone and called a “cowboy” for declaring war without the approval of the League of Nations or a sizable international coalition, which would have to include France, even though they were already defeated in Europe by this time.
The Media would try to claim that we shouldn’t see the Japanese as our enemy. Claims would be made that the Japanese are a people of peace, and any admission that American soldiers were fighting the Japanese military would be covered up. There would be many television specials focusing on the peacefulness of the Japanese people and urging Americans not to profile the enemy. The ACLU and Democratic politicians would insist that Japanese prisoners of war be tried and released before the war was over, and while they were in custody, that they should be put up in Hiltons given room service. Reporters would regularly interview top Japanese generals, allowing them to blame the war on Roosevelt. These generals would be praised as enlightened, intelligent, and asked their opinion on American social policies and given never-ending opportunities to spew pure propaganda. Reporters would also have rushed into recently bombed Japanese cities such as Tokyo and condemned the American military for atrocities, civilian casualties, and call for charges against Roosevelt for war crimes.
And most disturbing of all, they would claim that their actions were patriotic and in the best interests of the United States and the world at large. They would ensure America that they had a (secret) plan for victory that they would only reveal when Roosevelt was removed from office and replaced by one of their own.
Thank God the Democratic party of the 1940’s was so dissimilar to that of today and had the guts to defend America. If only today’s Democratic Party could find similar resolve. If only.