Putin’s Puppet? The rampant distrust and the recent Russian election bombshell has caused my cold war chill to get a lost frostier.
Is the Cold War being taken out of deep freeze?
The accusations of Russia’s interference in our presidential election has sent a big chill down my spine, as childhood memories of the Cold War are quickly defrosted. As distrust and accusations run rampant, the terror of the Red Menace infiltrating our country, is bone chillingly familiar.
The CIA has recently concluded that Russia and Vladimir Putin have interfered with the US election in order to help Donald Trump become president.
It is a familiar cold war doomsday scenario brought into the 21st century.
Red Menace
The fear of Russian intervention, not only militarily but politically was a common thread throughout my mid-century childhood. American’s were convinced hidden communists were lurking everywhere, secretly infiltrating our government, including our very own state department.
Like those two scheming cartoon villains Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale those no goodnick spies carrying out Fearless Leaders secret evil plots, Russians were sinister, sneaky plotters carrying out covert actions just waiting to overthrow a government…including our own.
Russian Menace
Now the possibility that the Russians have stolen the White House for Donald Trump, the candidate handpicked by comrade Putin, is a scenario eerily straight out of the any number of post war cautionary tales.
Even the techniques they used, misinformation and manipulation of the press, creating divisiveness while pitting citizens against each other to weaken us, are the exact same devices we were warned were favored by the Soviets to undermine us:
“His aim is to make you hate your fellow-man and keep you blind to the important things in life. He wants to make you forget the importance of your right to vote as you please—to say what you please—to go where you please.”
Is This Tomorrow?
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
One famous 1947 comic book entitled “Is This Tomorrow – America Under Communism” was an over the top tale typical of the time alerting us of the dangers of a Russian takeover. Over 48 colorful pages it illustrated just how easy it would be for the Reds to take over the U.S.
It Can’t Happen Here:
The comic opens with a dire warning to the young reader:
IS THIS TOMORROW is published for the one purpose – TO MAKE YOU THINK! To make you more alert to the menace of Communism. “Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
Taking their orders directly from Moscow, the story revolves around a group of American Communists led by a man named “Jones” and his propaganda advisor “Brown” a sinister Steve Banyon character who explains how they will manipulate the American media as a precursor to their Kremlin approved takeover of the U.S.
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
They manipulate strike leaders, and stoke racial, class and religious hatred to help weaken America for the Communists eventual takeover.
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
Race baiting and taking advantage of the things that divided this country worked to their advantage.
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
After the plot to assassinate the president and vice president is successful, the party operatives have successfully infiltrated the government and Jones controls the Speaker of the House (who now is the new president ). Behind the scenes Jones becomes the”Chief Advisor” and expands the Executive Powers.
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
Destabilizing journalism as a check on the power of government is quickly implemented. Anyone critical is swiftly punished and unfavorable newspapers are denied newsprint until they agree with the party line. Telephone system and radio network are now nationalized.
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
“Is This Tomorrow” published by Catechetical Guild Educational Society 1947
INCREDIBLE?
“Did our story seem incredible? It is unbelievable—that such a small group could ever dream of enforcing its will upon the majority. But remember that a group for smaller than the number of Communists living and working in America today seized control of Russia in 1917.
No one can refuse to believe what he knows to be true. And we do know that every method shown in this presentation has been used by the Communists in their rise to power in other countries. Starvation, murder, slavery, force—those are the tools the Communists use to carry out the doctrine of Communism.
The Communists are preparing to seize control of America in any crisis. This crisis, real or contrived—will be there signal to move in… and make their bid for power.
This crisis might begin with a flood in Pennsylvania—a drought in the Middle West. Or it might begin with a general strike in some of our large industrial cities—New York—Detroit—Chicago—San Francisco.
It happened in Poland, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and country after country, the world over.
WHERE DO YOU COME IN?
You are the one with whom the Communist is struggling right now. His aim is to make you hate your fellow man and keep you blind to the important things in life. He wants to make you forget the importance of your right to vote as you please—to say what you please—to go where you please—to worship as you please. The Communist really wants you to forget all your rights to individual freedom and liberty.
But you cannot assume your individual rights without assuming individual responsibility.
If you want to keep on living, you must know who the Communists are—and their methods of working. You must recognize the Communist Party line in action and separate Communist propaganda from the factual news of the day.
You are on the defensive in this battle. You owe it to yourself to know all about the invader. He knows more about you than you suspect.
Laughable for its inplausibility, it’s not quite so funny now.
Are the Russians coming? It look like they are already here.
© Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream, 2016. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Sally Edelstein and Envisioning The American Dream with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Envisioning The American Dream 
I was just thinking about this last night.
I remembered how the U.S. had intervened a lot in South America in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s for just cause of course.
In Salvador in 1980…
https://www.thenation.com/article/time-for-a-us-apology-to-el-salvador/
They had also intervened in Haiti in 1915…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_occupation_of_Haiti
So it’s not surprising at all that this also worked for other world powers like France, England…throughout history.
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Sadly, US hands are less than clean when it comes to interfering in Central and South American politics, but as you point out it was for “just” cause.
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The sad thing is how little we now educate our children in civics. The journalism we get on Cable has become partisan. And the news we get on the internet is fake news. The way a lot of people get their news these days is on Twitter. It’s becoming a brave new world and I am beginning to feel like I am stuck in 1984.
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I’ll see your “1984” and raise you a “Fahrenheit 451.” The more people stare at their computers and tablets and phones and recite everything they see on there as fact, no matter the source, made me think of those walls Bradbury talked about, where you’re entertained and surrounded by fiction and never want to leave, you’ll do anything to stay there and can’t stand anything unpleasant (or that you don’t agree with). We’re, in the words of Edward R. Murrow, “wealthy, fat, comfortable, and complacent.” I have no clue what to do about it, and with such untrustworthy sources being poured into our eyeballs, we’re so spectacularly ignorant it’s frightening.
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Unfortunately I think it will get worse before it gets better.
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Another poignant post Sally. Thank you. 🙂
As a simple offer/suggestion, if you don’t mind, all of this deserves at least an investigation. This is a link to sign a petition for an investigation via Avaaz.org. I believer there are only 7-days remaining to have that happen:
https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/didrussiajust/
Thanks Sally. ❤
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Thank you for adding a link to sign a petition. This is extremely disturbing and needs a complete and thorough investigation. This is just the sort of thing the framers had in mind when setting up the Electoral College as a device to deter foreign intervention in our elections. The timing of all this is so tight that I feel as though we should hit a pause button somehow before the final vote next week.
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Could not agree more Sally!!!
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The media is using the blame game to their advantage again. Look at how the media manipulated people into believing Saddam Hussein had WMDs? It was non-stop propaganda every minute throughout 2002-2003. The world is feeling the consequences of the lie today and no WMDs. Next is was Muammar Gaddafi who the media painted as an evil doer. The once beautiful nation of Libya today lays in ruins. In both case the media did not have a single piece of actual evidence. They promoted rumors and hearsay as news. US led NATO began bombing Syria in 2012 after the media used the same tactics on Assad as the evil doer. After Assad asked its ally Russia to help win Syria back for the Syrians the media went wild. Now the media could draw out a double edged sword, and call it Russian propaganda, while the western media could lie without evidence or proof.
Look no further than a mirror at the low voter turnout for the election. A low voter turnout always results in the least likely candidate to come up the winner. How many Americans have been curious enough to discover what Russia has been doing since the fall of the USSR? How many see how the illegal sanctions against Russia have back fired causing unemployment to rise? You are fiddling while you neglect to see your own house on fire.
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When is someone going to come right out and say that Donald Trump is a Manchurian candidate for ex-KGB Vladimir Putin? It should be obvious by now!
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He has been referred to recently as The Siberian Candidate….same flavor
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I’m a student (self-study) of Communism the past eight years ever since watching a professor from AIM.org brief students on the Vernona Files that were released by the Russian agents after the break up of the Soviet Union. The leaks were an inside job from within the Hillary Clinton camp “insiders”. In fact, after one of those leaks, a staffer was mysteriously assassinated at 3am and we haven’t heard any follow-up. “WikiLeaks released the emails from the account of Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta. The website DCLeaks.com was responsible for the embarrassing disclosures from within the George Soros network of organizations.” Accuracy In Media is a reliable source on Communism, fyi. The book by top Soviet defector is a good start to learn more “Disinformation.”
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Spelling is “Venona Papers.”
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