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On This Day — Nazis in America and Four Freedoms

 

On this day, February 20, — Adolf Hitler secretly met with German industrialists to arrange for financing of the Nazi Party’s upcoming election campaign.

Many had business ties to companies in the United States.

On this day in 1939 — Madison Square Garden Nazi rally: The largest ever pro-Nazi rally in United States history is convened in Madison Square Garden, New York City, with 20,000 members and sympathizers of the German American Bund present.

The event took place two days before George Washington’s Birthday, as a pro- Americanism” rally.

What did these 20,000 people think “Americanism” was?

“A Night at the Garden”

“When Nazis Took Over Madison Square Garden”

Listen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:German_-_American_Bund_Rally_Address_by_Its_Leader_Fritz_Kuhn.mp3

Thank heavens for better news a few years later.

On this day in 1943 — The Saturday Evening Post publishes the first of Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms in support of United States President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address theme of Four Freedoms.

“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

The first is freedom of speech and expression — everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way — everywhere in the world.

The third is freedom from want — which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants — everywhere in the world.

The fourth is freedom from fear — which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor — anywhere in the world.

That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.” — Franklin Delano Roosevelt[

Woe to Kings and Preachers Absuing Power Bible Chat

Dismatntling Democrcy

This is one of the most important pieces of historical and social analysis in circulation today.

Here is a gift link to the entire article:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/01/hitler-germany-constitution-authoritarianism/681233/?gift=iMJg-7IJTfexsLg-Vif3j6X5d3QrTesvCu3y1M1vXOk&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

There is more to democracy than voting on the first Tuesday of November. We must participate on Wednesday.

No matter who is in power in the White House, the Congress, or the Courts, they need supervision, accountability, transparency, oversight, and regulation. That involves the press, the academy, and you.

Ultimately, it is you.

There is no substitute for you. You are the collective king of the USA. You are the government. ("...of the people, by the people, for the people ..." Does that ring a bell?). You are the authority, and you are the "anointed ones."

So, vigilance is required and that involves being educated, considering the rational of the "other side," and being involved the public discourse.

Since I pay my annual subscription to this publication, I am allowed to give you the gift of this article to consider as you consider other things as well.

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/01/hitler-germany-constitution-authoritarianism/681233/?gift=iMJg-7IJTfexsLg-Vif3j6X5d3QrTesvCu3y1M1vXOk&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share


And a word from the scriptures:



Why Wednesday in America


America on Wednesday

Wednesday is coming to America.

Will we be gracious in defeat or victory?

Will we be incapacitated if we lose? Will we be vindictive if we win?

Will still be all Americans whatever the outcome?

I am making known my views and preferences this season as a citizen and a voter, but someone is going to win, and someone is going to lose on Tuesday, and many will be very unhappy.

Wednesday is coming whether we are ready or not. We may not know the outcome of the election, but the election will be over.

The American experiment and experience are too important to abandon for any ideology that is lesser than the whole.

Wednesday is coming.

At that point, we will have some choices we must make:

  • Build consensus where we can, or say, “Forget it.”
  • Rebuild relationships or just be angry.
  • Compromise or calcify.
  • Negotiate or stalemate.
  • Listen or keep talking over each other.
  • Speak freely or freeze in silence.
  • Work for the common good or sabotage the process.
  • Seek reconciliation or retribution.
  • Contribute or just complain
  • Love our country or hate our political enemies.
  • Speak and seek truth or believe misinformation.
  • Find solutions or create an impasse.

I think who we elect is important.

I think one outcome will be very difficult and will send the wrong message to the world about Christianity and democracy. I will be depressed and discouraged if it turns out one way.

However, the country may make that decision and will have to just learn from it and deal with it.

But I will not reject my neighbors with whom I arduously disagree
I plan to keep loving God, my neighbor, and my country and working for a better America where all people are treated with dignity and given opportunity to grow.


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