Good Morning!

Have you been keeping up with our friends in Minneapolis? There's been a lot of interesting things happening up there in the Twin Cities.

I believe I have seen a whopping two persons of color on the convention floor....Mondo has observed the automated nature of the applause from the delegates, but "their eyes are empty" as if responding by rote, without any passion or conviction.

I'm impressed by the number of hand-painted signs; I don't know if this is the norm for the convention, but I don't recall seeing that at the DNC in Denver...it really makes this convention look like a bunch of low-budget amateurs.

And nevermind that "deer in the headlights" speech from Governor Palin last night....I don't recall ever hearing such a disjointed and unprofessional speech from a major candidate. And they speak of Obama's lack of experience...


But the thing that I have noticed the most is all of those "Country First" signs. I'm finding it vaguely unsettling. Much has been made about Obama giving a speech in a stadium to cap the convention, and of course comparisons were made to certain rallies that took place in Europe in the 1930s. But isn't sacrificing everything on the altar of the state one of the hallmarks of fascism? I know we're all familiar with it, but a brief review of the 14 characteristics of Fascism is in order. How much of this have we seen so far this week?





But that's not what motivated me to check the history books. Sometimes being a WWII geek has it's uses; today is one of those times. After Germany invaded Poland, and the major powers declared war, the United States chose to sit on the sidelines. During 1940 and most of 1941, the so-called "Great Debate" took place over whether or not the US should become involved. Complicating matters was FDR's campaign for the presidency, which was for an unprecedented 3rd term. Many saw him as a warmonger desperate to drive the US to war; others were looking for the slightest excuse to get the US involved.

It's not like there wasn't opportunity; after the Atlantic Charter in 1941, US Destroyers began escorting ships bound for England, and U-Boats began hunting them. Of course we all know Pearl Harbor ended the debate once and for all.

But at last that brings me to the history I was searching for....for there was an antiwar group called the America First Committee. They too thought the United States should come first, but for different reasons. Their charter was remarkably brief, to whit:



Alas....the group turned out to be anti-semitic, but that's a blog entry for another day.

The funny thing is, the America First Committe lives on today. The name was resurrected in 2002 as an isolationist third party. They're tiny; balloting in only two states (MA and FL), but they do have an interesting platform.



I've got to hand it to the GOP leadership, as once again they've taken a theme or an idea that they like the sound of, without checking to see if somebody else might be using the name, or if it has any historical implications.