80 years on US still embattled in senseless Cold War with Russia

 

80 years on US still embattled in senseless Cold War with Russia

 

 

May 8 marks 80 years since Victory in Europe Day. That victory kicked off the 46 year long Cold War against our great WWII ally Soviet Union (now Russia).

 

 

Sadly, the 1991 end of the Soviet Union simply transferred the Cold War into a cool war against Russia which has since gone cold again

 

 

We’ve spent the last 34 years ever expanding the Cold War NATO alliance to Russia’s borders to keep them out of the European political economy and guarantee a yearly trillion dollar defense budget to prop up American capitalism. What good is the world’s largest military if you do not have a monstrous enemy?

 

 

That could have been avoided except for arguably the worst vice presidential pick in American history.

 

 

Every American today knows who Harry Truman was but few have a clue about his predecessor Henry Wallace. Wallace, a great 20th century American visionary, was shoved out of the vice presidency in 1944, denying him the presidency upon the death of FDR, and changing America and the world for the worse.

 

 

Henry Wallace has been largely written out of the American Story told to succeeding generations of Americans by the protectors of the American Super Power Myth.

 

Born in 1888 to an affluent Iowa Republican farm family, Wallace increased family wealth with his Hi-Bred Corn Company. But the Depression turned Wallace into a zealous champion of the common man, landing him the Secretary of Agriculture post in FDR's first term. Possibly the most effective New Dealer, Wallace championed the broken American farmer using curtailed production and price supports to ameliorate rampant rural poverty. His unbridled Bernie Sanders like democratic socialism of the 30's garnered him FDR's reverence and the 1940 third term vice presidency.

 

 

Wallace transformed the vice presidency for the good, long before Dick Cheney transformed it for evil. FDR made him what journalists tabbed the 'Assistant President' in his role mobilizing war production during WWII and championing FDR's vision for a truly peaceful post WWII world working in partnership with critical war ally Russia, and seeking end of European colonialism in Asia and Africa.

 

 

 In 1942 he gave his famous "Common Man" speech, declaring the 20th century must celebrate the common man, not just, as Time publisher Henry Luce postured, the American Century. In 1943, he joined with the black community following the Detroit race riot, arguing "We cannot crush Nazi brutality abroad and condone race riots at home."

 

 

His near FDR like popularity made him a lock for VP again on the '44 Democratic ticket. But with FDR fading mentally and physically, party leaders saw opportunity to dump him. His peace proclivities threatened their continuation of a war economy to combat their imaginary new Hitler in the form of Joseph Stalin.

 

 

They closed the late night convention session on the brink of re nominating Wallace for a second term. That garnered time to make deals with the other candidates to move the pliant Harry Truman from last to first in the final VP tally.

 

 

Three months into term four FDR died thrusting Truman into the White House. This set the stage for the Cold War due to Truman's capitulation to the neo-conservatives of his day such as Jimmy Byrnes and Jimmy Forestall who demanded a fresh enemy to keep the emerging Military-Industrial Complex in business. The chance for a truly peaceful post WWII world was irrevocably lost.

 

 

The hardliners won out over Wallace, but undaunted he launched a 3rd party progressive campaign in 1948 to unseat Truman. The McCarthyite red smear and personal attacks on his progressive philosophy doomed him to just 3% of the '48 vote, ending his career. Also ended was any opportunity for America to retreat from senseless Cold War

 

 

That leaves us to ponder if today’s new Cold War will rage on for another 80 years.