Gotta wonder how Fox News would have reported Japanese Internment...

[Postman]

during WW II....

They really would have been in a dilemma.

Would they have applauded the racist, Unconstitutional treatment of an entire race of American citizens in their xenophobic stupor?

Or

Would they have attacked FDR as the hated left-wing communist liberal?

We can only guess. But I'm pretty sure Adolph Hitler would have loved Fox News.

[muntrv]

1. They would have applauded the racist

treatment.

[Ignacio Upton]

2. They would have followed the Republican isolationists

In 1940 and 1941, then would have change their tune after Pearl Harbor and supported whatever FDR did, as long as it didn't involve forcing corporate America to comply forcefully.

[bullimiami]

3. basically you are saying they are cheerleaders to wherever they think

the power lies.

[Nomen Tuum]

9. Time Magazine LOVED Mussolini

Luce just kissed Il Duce's ass every chance he could. Mussolini was Time's Man Of The Year several times in the 30s, and Fortune Magazine was basically an organ for the Fascist Party.

Just go to a library and read the asskissing Time Life and Fortune did before World War 2. It's astonishing!

You can also add bigots like Henry Ford, Father Charles Coughlin, Billy Sunday, Dr Townsend and other assorted right wing wackos of the 20s and 30s who idolized Mussolini and hated Jews.

[Ignacio Upton]

12. Huey Long too

He may have been nominally a left-winger, but he and his desciples actually banded to together with Coughlin and Dr. Townsend to nominate a third-party candidate in 1936 (actually, this wasn't Long, but the sucessor of his various organizations. I think that Smith was his last name.)

[GrumpyGreg]

16. And old Joe Kennedy didn't like Jews. I don't get the point of

this entire thread.

[Kutjara]

4. Very interesting question.

On balance, I think racism would have won over fascism (it's a more primal emotion) and they would have been overjoyed at internment. They'd then bash FDR by claiming that the internees were living high on the hog at taxpayers' expense while 'real' Americans were fighting and dying in the Pacific.

Never underestimate the power of the media to create the truth.

[gordianot]

5. They would have found a Michelle Malkin and justified it as necessary

[Lisa]

14. something like this actually happened ...

A group of Japanese-Americans who supported the government's side (and tried to suppress anyone who protested) did arise -- the JACL. As for why people would do this ... there are a bunch of possibilities. Fear that if they were seen to be rebellious, the government might crack down further? Vestiges of militarism in those who'd grown up under the Japanese military dictatorship? The desire to erase the accusations of "traitors in our midst" by being superpatriots? Loyalty towards powerful personalities who were involved? Desire for power over others? (some of them worked with the government on isolating individuals felt to be negative influences)

There was considerable division within the community about how to respond to the internment, and when people were asked to take a loyalty oath, some of the pro-constitution activists were indignant that such a thing would be proposed (would the patriotism of any other Americans be challenged in such a fundamental way?). Others felt they should just sign the oath and get it over with, and not make such a big deal in case they were made out to be troublemakers by the non-Japanese who wanted to expel them from the country entirely. As far as I'm aware, some of these divisions (even within families) continued right up until the present day ... many of the people who were interned are elderly or have died, but their kids can often tell you about some of the stuff that went on.


"In San Francisco, magazine publisher James Omura protested the imminent expulsion of all Japanese Americans from the West Coast. Three individuals in California and Oregon defied military curfews imposed only on persons of Japanese ancestry. But their voices were overwhelmed and opposed by the widely publicized statements of the Japanese American Citizens League and its national spokesman, Mike Masaoka. The JACL pledged the cooperation of its members, and the government saw in JACL a group with which to work to carry out the President's program of mass exclusion and detention. The JACL's motto, "For Better Americans in a Greater America," proclaimed its desire to prove that its members were loyal to the U.S. and not Japan. To that end, JACL provided names of Issei leaders to the FBI, opposed all test cases, and urged the creation of suicide battalions to create unquestionable proof of loyalty in blood."


http://www.pbs.org/itvs/conscience/
http://www.resisters.com/

[gordianot]

15. My Grandfather was 2nd generation German American.

From the stories he told several of his relatives should have been placed in a camp during World War II. They were all good Republican Bundt members.

Since they do not look different it didn't happen.

[Lisa]

17. my best friend from college is German-Canadian ...

Growing up in a small town on the Prairies, she had to endure other kids pulling her hair and throwing rocks at her, calling her a "Nazi". Most of them probably grew up to be conservatives (that town today is very right-wing and went ga-ga over our Bush-wannabe Prime Minister). She and her whole family are solid liberals (she'd definitely be Dem if she were in the US), and she works for the national parks agency and is an dedicated environmentalist.

[SoCalDem]

6. There are several funny "reports" here..enjoy

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1ldyn/id2.html

sample

[sheelz]

7. Just like they did for Gitmo...

Gitmo Cookbook:

Baked Tandouri Chicken Breast, Mustard-Dill Baked Fish, Lyonnaise Rice, and Fish Amandine are just a few of the recipes you’ll find in the Gitmo Cookbook. We’ve tested them, and they are inexpensive, easy to make, and delicious.

:grr:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

8. They'd call it "Operation Freedom from Freedom."

[johnnypneumatic]

10. they would be trying to blame the democrats for creating "resorts"

luxury resorts for all these japanese immigrants coming in and costing americans tax dollars

[Lisa]

11. I don't think they'd have had any trouble doing both things ...

...applauding the internment (and the "loyalty oath" administered to those in the camps, plus making internees eligible for the draft) -- while simultaneously decrying FDR being soft on "terra-ists", and not being prepared to fight the war.

Unfortunately, my entire family was interned during WWII, and they actually did encounter people who were just like that! I recently encountered a guy, while I was canvassing for the election, who said that he hoped more terrorists would launch attacks in North America "so all the liberals defending the Arabs will look bad".


The same people would likely express distrust and loathing of Jewish-Americans (and their presumed "commie intellectual" tendencies), while painting the USA as the liberators of European Jews and a beacon of tolerance and democracy.

[originalpckelly]

13. No, they would have said FDR was too weak...

and that the camps were too easy for the Japanese. At the same time they would also call him a racist for putting only Japanese in the camps.

[Marr]

18. Japanese relocated to Safety Camps.

You know- to keep them safe from harm while we investigate their ties to the Japanese government.