It’s been more than 75 years since the end of World War II. Most of the men and women who fought in that war against German and Italian fascists and imperial Japanese bent on world domination have since passed into history.
Today, as we watch American democracy sliding toward the edge of a cliff, the question arises: Who will be left to stop the fall?
I just finished watching a six-part documentary on the Smithsonian Channel entitled, “Apocalypse: The Second World War.” It should be required viewing for every American, especially those who are too young to remember a father or mother who served overseas in the years 1941-45.
It especially needs to be seen by members of the Republican Party, with emphasis on those who compare coronavirus mask requirements in 2021 to the murder of six million European Jews before and during the war, and any others who believe the January 6 insurrection was nothing more than a casual outing by tourists visiting the Capitol.
More on that later, but first, a condensed version of history:
The second world war was fought between the Allied powers of mainly the United States, Great Britain and the Soviet Union against the Axis alliance of Germany, Italy and Japan. The Axis countries shared an obsession for world domination, were disenchanted with the Treaty of Versailles that had ended WWI and were driven to political totalitarianism, ultra-nationalism and fascism as a result, starting about the time of Adolph Hitler’s rise to power as German dictator in 1933.
The war in the Pacific started in 1937 when Japan invaded China as part of its global conquests. Germany invaded Poland two years later to launch the European war, gaining Italy as an ally in 1940. France and England declared war on Germany and united to defend Europe, and the U.S. entered the war after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.
Both my father and my father-in-law fought in the Pacific Theater against the Japanese, and both have been dead for many years. If my father were alive today, he’d be 108 years old. I was born five years after the end of the war, which makes me 71 today. Likewise, the sons and daughters of the other brave Americans who fought to preserve democracy are living out the latter portion of their lives.
Which brings me back to the question: After we’re gone, what happens next?
The Smithsonian documentary is culled from more than six hundred hours of video taken by “front-line soldiers, top-secret operatives, resistance fighters, and private citizens” who experienced World War II first hand. Much of it is graphic in nature, but out of necessity to tell the true story of the war. Watching it, I couldn’t help but wonder what my father and the others of his generation who fought against the fascists would think about America today.
I’m not going to rehash all six episodes of the series or revisit the entirety of World War II, but how can you watch Hitler speaking to hundreds of thousands of adoring, chanting fans without remembering our former president inciting rallies of his own? The crowds were much smaller, of course, but they were no less enthusiastic.
And how can you learn about German propaganda and its Big Lie without thinking about Trump’s Big Lie and the Republican Party’s failure to refute it? (A recent poll shows that 53% of Republican voters don’t believe Joe Biden won the last election.) And I could go on ….
You may not agree with me that fascism could ever replace democracy in America, but look around before you criticize. It’s happening all over the world … again. Did you see where the authoritarian leader of Samoa recently lost his re-election but refused to transfer power, locking the true winner out of Parliament? Have you looked at the political climate in the U.K. or parts of Europe recently? Check out the rise of far-right nationalism in Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and most other European countries. And that’s just for starters.
Back at home, the bogus vote recount underway in Arizona and the avalanche of voter suppression bills working their way through state legislatures are not really intended to overturn the 2020 election, which can’t legally be done. Instead, they are setting the stage for partisan state lawmakers in the future to throw out results of legal, fair elections if they don’t like the results and to literally appoint the next president of the United States.
Think about that for a minute, then go watch “Apocalypse: The Second World War” and tell yourself it can’t happen here. (That’s what the world thought in 1933.) Your next question should be, “But if it does, who’s going to stop it?” Let me know if you have the answer to that one.
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