1940s Anti-Fascist PSA's Getting New Attention After Charlottesville

A 1940s-era anti-fascist PSA has become
newly relevant, unfortunately.

Back in the 1940s, as Nazis tried to take over the world, the U.S. government released a bunch of public service announcements and films denouncing fascists.  

Made sense then.

Makes sense now, especially after Charlottesville and when we have a president that pretty much gives a wink and a nod to the Nazis and white supremacists who caused death and heartache over the weekend.

There's a 17-minute version of the film you can see by clicking on this link from The Atlantic. 

There's another video, below, that's a more streamlined version of this very relevant clip.

In both versions of the film, we hear words from a blustery fascist American politician that we are now hearing some version of today:

"I see negroes holding jobs that belong to me and you. Now, I ask you, if we allow this thing to go on, what's going to happen to us real Americans?"

The loudmouth then blames blacks, Catholics, Freemasons and immigrants for the nation's problems.

In the clip, a young man is almost persuaded by the rhetoric until the idiot speaker mentions Freemasons, as he's one.

Then a man with an eastern European accent - an immigrant from Hungary who became an American citizen - schools the younger man on just how dangerous this rhetoric is.

The clip should be required viewing for all of us. Here it is:

Some Questions About The Sucker Punch At The Trump Rally

John McGraw, accused of sucker punching
an anti-Trump activist at a Trump rally.  

All everybody's been talking about all day is the sucker punch John McGraw, 78, landed on Rakeem Jones, as Jones was being led out of a North Carolina Trump rally last night.

Jones was there to protest against Trump, and as always, Trump supporters would have none of it.

OK, the Trump partisans don't like the protestors, fine.  

But I have some questions I haven't heard good answers for yet. I'm sure a lot of other people have the same questions

Jones was taken down and into custody right away by police, while they left McGraw alone. Why ws crime victim Jones being treated that way, while the criminal was treated with the utmost politeness by police?

Maybe the police there are Trump supporters and are fine with people getting beat up.

McGraw was finally arrested this morning. Is my theory that the higher ups in North Carolina law enforcement and politics didn't really want to arrest McGraw, but recognized this would turn into a PR nightmare for them if they don't? You know, bad optics.

Was it because people got it all on video, so they couldn't easily concoct some false story that Jones was being violent?

Other people have been hit and pushed and Trump rallies. Why is it, until now, nobody has been charged with so much as simple assault or the even more minor charge of disturbing the peace for doing this?

If I randomly pushed somebody out on the street, wouldn't I get arrested?

Are all the people who attend Trump rallies paranoid nut cases like McGraw? I doubt it, but McGraw's comments give me pause.

Inside Edition asked McGraw why he punched Jones. McGraw replied:

"Well, number one, we don't know if he's ISIS....We don't know who he is, but we know he's not acting like and American and cussing me.."

OK, so anybody who doesn't like Trump is possibly a member of the heinous terrorist group ISIS? And anybody who doesn't like Trump is not acting like and American?

So to get this straight, punching people you don't like is American, but criticizing a political figure is un-American, do I have that right? If that is right, when they repeal the First Amendment and legalize assault? I didn't get the memo on that one.

Or wait! An update! McGraw also said of Jones. "The next time we see him, we might have to kill him."  So now we can murder people whose opinions we don't like.

What if God forbids somebody tries to kill Trump because they don't like him.? Or can we only kill certain people. Liberals yes, but particularly ignorant versions of conservatives get a pass?

Wouldn't it be easier if we just kept current laws in place that forbid us from killing anybody we don't like?

I heard a pundit today say Jones deserved to be punched because he was "rude" for protesting at a Trump rally.

OK, I buy the argument he might have been rude. So we get to punch rude people now? Like the gal in the seat in front of me at the movie theater who's texting and talking through the whole show?

A rather unrelated question: Is McGraw one of those poorly educated people Trump claims to like so much?

Here's a more ominious, large perspective question: If Trump wins, will he or his minions persecute those who fought against his presidential bid?. If Trump loses, will he or his minions persecute those who fought against his presidential bid?

Nervous, mortified, inquiring minds want to know.