let my contextualize this. my family is half republican, half democrat, all northern. the northern democrats in the last century were solid union liberals and roosevelt supporters. contrary to the perception of the republicans as a southern & conservative party, however, in the north the history is very progressive & liberal. so it is a different tradition than the current republicans.
so here is the thing.
i have been watching speeches today by roosevelt. now, during my public school days, i was taught by the teacher union history program (not a bad one, i scored perfect on the tests) i was taught roosevelt with lincoln were the high points of US history, but especially roosevelt. if you have also been to US public school, no doubt you have been taught roosevelt = new deal = victory in WW2.
however, i have as i mentioned, been watching these FDR videos. dude's a fucking fascist. no way around it. very, very scary. i am actually questioning the whole thing now - how much of that honorable tradition is a lie? you know?
yes, i'll give you the whole country in depression, the whole world in peril, the ultimately liberal views of the US prevailing = good for globe. but FDR? he was basically a dictator - this makes me very uncomfortable with this period in history, and this is a period which is emphasized in public school as the key to modern america. its a very disturbing thing, if you can imagine.
i am really wondering what is the truth behind my republican relatives and their philosophy of opposing the new deal and isolationism at the time of WW2. granted, you probably have to fight those nazi bastards. but under a dicator? chilling - anyone know what i mean?