Can I get something off my chest? "America First" slogan

[Pototan]

I have been disgusted since I first heard this slogan rolled out by Trump and his supporters.

Am I to believe that 40% of my fellow countrymen have no sense of US or world history? or, worse yet, that they are sympathetic to fascism.

Any American with any understanding would know that that slogan was coined in the 1930's by Fascist sympathizers Henry Ford, Charles Lindburgh (who personally received the German Iron Cross from Hitler, himself) and Father Caughlin (he was the Tucker Carlson of his day). This group was antisemitic and anti-American.

How is it that when Trump came up with this historically insensitive slogan somebody in his orbit didn't say: "are you kidding. Do you know what that slogan has meant in US history"?


The kindest interpretation of this slogan's rollout and acceptance by a large proportion of the American public is ignorance. The other interpretation, well, is far worse. That they do understand and agree.

[Effete Snob]

1. It's intentional

They know.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Yes, they know what the slogan means. It's why they use it.

[doc03]

5. They chant USA USA USA while beating cops with flags and

destroying the capital. They drive around with flags on their car like General Patton
and they hate democracy.

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. Annette Bening, playing the part of Sydney Ellen Wade in the movie "The American President" ....

Said it well;

“These are people who claim to love America but clearly can’t stand Americans.”

[KentuckyWoman]

24. One of my all time favorite movies.

I have a DVR that recorded it in 2010 and I'm still saving it. I watch it fairly regular.

[A HERETIC I AM]

26. One of mine too....

But I think some people on the right think the speech the Prez gives near the end where he says “I’ll go door to door if I have to, but I’m gonna get the guns!” Is something an actual Democratic President actually said!

[Mr.Bill]

3. Trump's words said America first.

His actions were more like America only.

[KentuckyWoman]

25. Forgive me but no.

His actions were more like Trump only. I don't believe he gives a tinker's butt about America OR Americans.

[Mr.Bill]

27. That's a fair point of view.

I was mainly thinking of him wanting to quit NATO and the UN, rather than lead them.

[WarGamer]

4. More nationalism than fascism... the "f word" is horribly overused.

[Pototan]

8. 1940 at Madison Square Garden

[WarGamer]

12. So? What does an 80+ year old video of American Nazis have to do with my post?

Let me repeat...

'America First" is more nationalistic than Fascist.

I can give you some reading if you need it.

Also... the phrase was first popularly coined (in the US) by Woodrow Wilson in 1916, far before the Nazis or WW2.

[Pototan]

13. how about something a little more contemporary?

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/documenting-hate-charlottesville/

This was only 5 years ago. the similarities of these two videos make my point.

[WarGamer]

14. You're all over the place.

I simply said that America First is more nationalistic than fascist and you're posting stuff to try (?) to make a point???

And several people have already corrected your false statement about the origins of the phrase.

Just a note for you... DU has a lot of REALLY smart people here and BS and nonsense and even mistakes will be called out quickly.

Any American with any understanding would know that that slogan was coined in the 1930's

[Pototan]

15. when it was most historically connected

doesn't mean "the first time it was used".

America First in the 1930's was a fascist sympathizing movement which is most associated with that phrase.

I'm sure we can find people who used that phrase as far back as the American Revolution. But it is historically most connected to Lindburgh and Henry Ford, because it was not just a phrase, but a movement to support Hitler.

[Pototan]

16. Perhaps I can give you a little suggestion on something to read on the subject

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Lindbergh/Germany-and-the-America-First-movement

You see, it was not just a phrase, but an America First Committee and it is described here as a movement, just as Trump describes it as a movement.

There is also an America first PAC, just as the pro-Nazi group formed the phrase into a committee.

It's not about who said it first but who elevated it its historical position. Trump wasn't the first person who ever uttered "Make America Great Again." Reagan used that phrase in a speech in the 1980's. but MAGA will forever be associated with Trump, just as America First will always, historically, be associated with the Nazi sympathizers of the 1930's, such as Charles Lindburgh and Henry Ford.

I don't want to split hairs with you. After all, I came to this site to discuss issues with people who hate Trump as much as I do.

[Justice matters.]

28. Thank you!

I'm tired of the seemingly rush to defend the 'semi' FASCISTS here.

My ignore list is suddendly growing today.

[Pototan]

29. Well, we are of the same mind

I found it a little strange as a new DUer to see multi-post, long time DUers rush to minimize my point, which remains the same.

"America First" was a movement most associated with Charles Lindburgh, Henry Ford, Father Coughlin and the registered "America First Committee" that stood against accepting Jewish refugees and other immigrants fleeing the Holocaust that was engulfing Europe at the time. And extolling the virtues of Fascist Germany under Adolf Hitler and urging Americans to ignore the war in Europe.

I would expect the nit picking to come from my Trump loving relatives and less so from DUers.

Color me surprised.

[malaise]

35. All fascists

Rec

[DemocratSinceBirth]

6. The people who use that term know exactly what they're doing.

[happybird]

7. It makes me think of that movie 'Head of State'

“God bless America and no place else.”

Ugh. That character was such a d-bag.

[magicarpet]

10. Notify tRump how offense and insensitive it was......

Dollars to donuts Steven Miller introduced that phrase into the Orange Fuhrer's lexicon. Knowing full well it would excite the attentions of the White Nationalists and white power Klan and communities.

(White) AmeriKKKa First...

(Black) Shit hole countries last.

This bullshit proudly rolls off their lips day in and day out. The Fascist racist creed of hate and violence.

[ITAL]

11. It was actually coined by Woodrow Wilson

Or at least Wilson's campaign managers in 1916. It was one of the slogans used by Democrats promoting Wilson's neutrality policy during The Great War. The Zimmermann Telegram in 1917 and German resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare eventually changed Wilson's mind, but he tried for multiple years to steer clear of direct involvement in the war.

[Pototan]

20. The Phrase is most historically associated with Lindburgh

and the Hitler apologists leading up to WWII.

Reagan said in the 1980's "Make America Great Again" during a speech. But that phrase will forever be associated with Trump.

It's not who said something first, but who elevated a saying or phrase to national conciseness that puts it into historical perspective.

[Pototan]

22. Reagan said it first "MAGA" in 1980

Please don't think that I agree with this ad. I'm just posting this to prove the point that it is difficult for a new phrase to be original. But history usually credits the person or group who elevate that phrase to dominate America's conciseness.

Thomas Jefferson was most likely not the first person to use the phrase "All Men are Created Equal". I believe John Locke said it before him, and most likely it was said even before him. But Jefferson is who we attribute that phrase to.


https://

[ITAL]

23. Coining a phrase

Is generally meant to be the person, or people, who said it first. Not who made it famous.

[usonian]

17. Some things never change.

[Pototan]

19. Wow, thank you

You get my point.

[usonian]

21. For more about this 1920's march on Washington and others:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/08/17/the-day-30000-white-supremacists-in-kkk-robes-marched-in-the-nations-capital/
https://monovisions.com/vintage-photos-of-ku-klux-klan-parade-in-1920s/
https://allthatsinteresting.com/ku-klux-klan-march-on-washington

[BumRushDaShow]

32. And you can go back 70 - 80 years before that

https://exhibits.library.villanova.edu/index.php/chaos-in-the-streets-the-philadelphia-riots-of-1844/know-nothings

[niyad]

18. Welcome to our DU family.

[dflprincess]

30. If you haven't done so yet,

Listen to Rachel Maddow's Ultra podcast. The parallels to the 1930s and today are laid out well.

[aggiesal]

31. If you haven't heard Rachel Maddow's podcast ULTRA, recommend listening ...

https://rachel-maddow-presents-ultra.simplecast.com/episodes/episode-1-trip-19

[Just A Box Of Rain]

34. Maddow's Ulta (and the OP of this thread) ignore the fact that both the America First Committee

and the broader nativist-isolationist movement, which directly or indirectly benefited the Nazis, had significant support from the far-left as well as the far-right.

For example, both the so-called “progressive” “Fighting Bob” La Folette and his one time running mate and fellow populist Burton Wheeler where key members of the America First Committee leadership. The “progressive” Hiram Johnson was a prominent supporter of America First, and the ranks were full of left leaning members.

The Socialist Party was completely isolationist prior to Pearl Harbor and The Communist Party embraced the Hitler-Stalin Pact as long as it remained operational under the orders of Joe Stalin.

While dominated by right-wing isolationists (many of who were pro-Hitler), the isolationist movement including America First had the support of many on the far-left, who opposed FDR and the Democratic Party (including FDR’s policy of arming the allies).

Too much “revisionism” going on.

[Pototan]

37. There are always aberrations in History

There were slaves who fought for the Confederacy, but that was an aberration.

Since we are talking about WWII, let's look at an outlier Pro-Hitler German Jewish group headed by Max Neumann. Although they supported Hitler in the election of 1932 and numbered 6,000 members, I think we can agree that they were an outlier, just as the examples you gave were outliers. FDR was the progressive of his day.

Link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_German_National_Jews

[Just A Box Of Rain]

38. Aberrations? Nearly the entirety of the socialist and communist left was isolationist with

Nazism on the march in the 1930s. Both the far-right and the far-left opposed FDR's forward-thinking internationalism, and this aided Hitler.

These were not "outliers" and your attempts to link Jews with Nazism are deeply offensive.

[ananda]

36. America is code for white.

Other people are not considered Americans.

[Johnny2X2X]

39. Make Germany Great Again

The MAGA movement was very much modeled after the Nazi movement in Germany, some of Trump's closest advisors have been open about that. Make Germany Great Again was in fact a slogan used by Hitler. Germany First was Nazi propaganda before it was Nazi Sympathizer propaganda here in America.

Trump and his advisors studied Goebbels and Hitler intently, they used the same tactics he used to gain power.

And there are countless examples of it. From America First to MAGA, to scapegoating of "the other", even to stage design and fashion. Nazism was in fact the blue print for MAGA.