Equal Justice Under Law

 

I had a dream last night.

I saw my father trying to dig a fox hole under a hail of artillery fire and bullets. Scared, covered in snow, and freezing, he and his friend were digging in and firing a machine gun at the advancing Germans.

Dad was one of over one million Allied soldiers, battling the last major Nazi offensive at the Battle of the Bulge. His unit, the 80th Infantry Div., part of the Third Army, was pulled from ongoing combat positions, then rushed miles in the worst winter conditions, in open trucks and in summer uniforms, to help stop the Nazi offensive and relieve Bastogne. 

Back home, a group of US Congressmen and America First Party people were demanding that FDR sue for peace with Hitler. They said the vastly superior Nazi armies could not be defeated and the U.S. must immediately get out of the war.

WWII in Europe officially ended just five months later with the surrender of Nazi Germany*. 

A little while later, surviving Nazis gave-up records with the names of the US Congress people and others, paid by the Nazis to influence public opinion and pull our troops out of the war. Sadly, these elites never faced justice for their treasonous activities. They went unpunished.

Prior to Pearl Harbor another group of wealthy white men attempted to overthrow the government of the United States. Their, “Wall Street Putsch” or “The Business Plot,” failed in large part due to Major General Smedley Butler’s public outing them as the traitors they were. But because they, too, were wealthy elites, they were never brought to justice.

While I have never been a supporter of Donald Trump, I realized that he will be credited for one good thing: transforming the Fourteenth Amendment myth into reality.

His crimes were so numerous and so egregious, including his attempted overthrow of the US government, that even his societal position as a white, wealthy, privileged male, and past president, failed to keep him from facing justice.

As a result, “equal justice under law,” finally began to become a reality in the United States. 

That was my dream.

Along with thousands of others, my dad’s comrade died that day. 

That was not a dream. It was a nightmare.

*Battle of the Bulge: The Greatest American Battle of the War

Rachel Maddow uncovers a WWII-era plot against America in 'Ultra' | Fresh Air

Rachel Maddow's new podcast, Ultra, is about ultra-right-wing groups that sided with Hitler's Germany, and plotted to overthrow the U. S. government before World War II. It led to the largest sedition trial in American history. Ultra is also about sitting members of the U. S. Senate and House of Representatives who colluded with a German agent to spread Nazi propaganda to millions of Americans with the help of American taxpayers’ money. 

“FRESH AIR” from WHYY, the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues, is one of public radio's most popular programs. Hosted by Terry Gross, the show features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.

Rachel Maddow Presents: Ultra