ECHO OF A DARK PAST 

Two “pro-America” events 85 years apart demonstrate that, to a disturbing degree, history repeats itself.

On February 20, 1939, 20,000 people packed New York’s “old” Madison Square Garden. American flags festooned the arena along with a giant portrait of George Washington, swastikas at either side. The German American Bund rally supported Adolf Hitler abroad and white nationalism at home. 

Speakers delivered pro-American messages designed to keep the United States out of the war Germany soon started on September 1 by invading Poland. Arms soared in Nazi salutes.

The Bund’s leader, Fritz Julius Kuhn, proclaimed, “The Bund is open to you, provided you are sincere, of good character, of White Gentile Stock, and an American Citizen imbued with patriotic zeal.”

The Bund soon came under investigation and collapsed. Kuhn was convicted of embezzlement and imprisoned. His successor, Gerhard Wilhelm Kunz, proved to be a German spy. In 1941, Kunz fled to Mexico. He was turned over to American authorities and served 15 years in prison for espionage.

See and hear some of the Bund rally with the seven-minute film, “A Night at the Garden.”

Last Sunday, Donald Trump held a rally at the “new” Madison Square Garden. The event emphasized MAGA themes: secure the border, rid the nation of all illegal immigrants and make America safe for real Americans. 

I do not equate being a Trump supporter with being a Nazi. But millions of Trump supporters define “real Americans” as white Christians. Trump adviser Stephen Miller delivered a Bund-style message: “America is for Americans and Americans only.” Sadly, Miller is Jewish.

I saw snippets of the Trump rally. They included jokes by insult comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who introduced the event. Puerto Rico, he asserted, is “a floating island of garbage.” Also, Blacks cut up watermelons for Halloween. 

Other speakers frightened me even more. Their voices were strident, their words angry, their faces contorted with rage. They had no intention of making a logical case for Trump. Rather, they played to the mob’s worst instincts: hate “the other.” It was, in a word, ugly.

Vice-presidential candidate JD Vance’s take on Hinchcliffe’s humor? “We have to stop getting so offended at every little thing in the United States of America.”

“Every little thing?” Really?

Consider this truly big thing: Many Republican leaders condemned Hinchcliffe’s supposed humor. But as in the past and regardless of Trump’s crude and cruel remarks, they refused to disavow Trump.

The United States has had a long history of populism and isolationism based on the protection of two oceans. Long-range ballistic missiles blew isolation up only decades after Charles Lindbergh made the first non-stop solo flight from New York to Paris in 1927. He became a hero. He later visited Germany and was impressed with Hitler. Lindbergh became a well-known figure in the America First movement. Ultimately, his reputation suffered horribly.

This Tuesday, Americans who don’t vote early go to the polls. To be clear, I do not equate Trump with Hitler. But I fear Trump’s desire to be an autocrat, undercut the Constitution and make some Americans second-class citizens (hopefully no worse) while threatening to imprison his political opponents. 

If Trump wins, an echo of a dark past will sweep across this nation.

If Kamala Harris wins by a narrow margin, an echo of 2020 also will resound.

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2 Comments

  1. Sandy Lipkowitz on November 2, 2024 at 6:53 pm

    I’m emotionally exhausted. Between the US, Ukraine, Israel, Putin employing North Koreans to fight his battle. Anti Semitism. and on and on. I need good news this week with an election result to prove we all haven’t gone mad.

    • David Perlstein on November 2, 2024 at 7:51 pm

      Sandy, the only good news I can provide is that I’m moving forward as I write the first draft of my new novel. The “bad” news: It involves isolationism and America Firsters in the 30s, McCarthyism in the 50s. I won’t ask you to take a look at where this nation may go as presented in my novel from a few years back, “2084.”

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