Populist Reform of the Democratic Party

neoliberal capitalists who see in any crisis an opportunity. I have read how the trade unionists, leftist COMMUNISTS thought when Hitler rose to power Germans would realize how extreme and dangerous he was and then they would have a chance at gaining power. Not so, right after he was sworn in as Chancellor in Berlin in 1933 at the REICHSTAG the building burned, and Hitler blamed and scapegoated the communists, one of many rival enemies. That leftist faction was dead or put in camps within 6 months I heard.

The fate of German communists during Hitler's official rise was posted in response to a post here last year (2012) along the lines of: when people see how bad Romney or another candidate is there will be a real chance at counter action. Not sure about that since I heard labor and political science experts a few years ago state that when a major economic crisis occurs, the rise afterwards historically tends to come from the RIGHT, not the left. I understand that now (Nazis, TeaParty).

Sinclair Lewis' political novel, "IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE" of 1935 is a fictional story of a demagogue populist (like Huey Long) who becomes President and takes over the US by gaining trust and favor with the people during economic depression. While promising a 'chicken in every pot' and 'everyman a king' (H. Long) he also manages to assume total power through the use of strongmen militia/Brownshirts, the elimination of any dissidents and other repressive measures, in the name of restoring peace and order.

Lewis' book is an interesting read and thought to be the source the famous comment,

"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross", although this cannot be verified.

Reading more in the last few years I never realized how close the US came to a fascist coup until learning of the actual conspiracy of the takeover of the WH during FDR's first months as President in 1933 by major US industrialists extremely opposed to FDR's policies, with the military assistance of respected hero, Smedley Butler, the decorated Marine Corps Major General. But Butler declined the proposition and testified before the US Congress the next year, 1934 about the Fascist Plan. The Conspiracy is often referred to as 'THE BUSINESS PLOT to Take Over the White House', and it was real.

Smedley Butler's 1930s publication, 'WAR IS A RACKET' is a revealing look into the US military industrial operations on 5 continents, in service to US corporations like United Fruit and Standard Oil from Central America to China in which Butler was employed for several decades.

The 1920s and 1930s following the ravages of WWI were economically and socially destabilized times, filled with labor strikes against trade unionists after the Russian Revolution of 1917, the collapse of old Empires in Europe and the ineffectiveness of liberal democratic governments. The time proved right for the entry of strongmen dictators like Mussolini, Hitler and Franco who utilized many dislocated, unemployed soldiers from WWI.

There was even talk that FDR might have to resort to such extreme measures because of the depth of the Depression and the outcry of the BONUS ARMY of WWI Veterans camped out in tents and shanties in Washington DC, even on the US Capitol Building grounds, in 1932-33 demanding their war certificates be cashed early because times were so desperate. (End of tome, a favorite subject!).