As far as I remember, there were standards even for beachwear. So they were very strict.
Well everyone is doing it, America has to do it too (but unlike the rest, our proposal is the correct one, America fuck yeah)
The Iron Eagle III - Fallen Eagle
- Thread starter Kaiser of Brazil
- Start date
I think they both have rules like that. Smith is as conservative as the integralists, the difference is that he is Protestant. He was even called a Protestant integralist
That can be fixed at a later point. Long and his decades of corruption need to be dealt with NOW. Of course we already know Smith is going to pull some stupid shit and spark an all out civil war so its not like it matters.
Something I like about this timeline is that it takes the time to explain why these events are happening and a slow buildup, like having the Second American Civil War as a result of "Death by a Thousand Cuts"
Let's recap:
(1) Worse-off great depression overall for the USA, leaving them in a much weaker position.
(2) USA is more isolationist due to the KKK, so the UK isn't able to do much to stop the Axis rampage other than signing peace while it still has something to bargain with.
(3) A much more drawn out and bloody Pacific War, permanently tarnishing any prospect of military intervention. (Keep in mind, American interventions have mainly been economic and diplomatic. Even militarily, they're selling it to their population as a quick get in get out affair.
(4) Massive undermining of the government via the cover-up plan, that tried to save lives pragmatically, which tragically made(3) a reality.
(5) The Entire Presidency of that very racist president after Wheeler died, formenting civil unrest.
(6) - Long
(7)- Long
(8) - Long
(9) - Long's Trucker Puppet
(10) - Long's Mob Puppet
(11) American Isolationism throwing away the one shot, the one oppurtunity to break the Nazi Empire after Hitler's death.
(12) American isolationism allowing the Nazi's to entrench themselves outside of Europe and further expand their influence. (Read, Syria, Italy, Turkey, and the conversion of these regimes towards the gospel of National Flagellation, sorry, National Socialism.)
(13) - American Isolationism leaving the USA's position in Asia in tatters, winning the war yet losing the peace.
(14) Economic Crisis caused by Longist Policies
(15) Political Crisis caused by Longist Policies (Gradual dismantlement of American Democracy in all but name, political extremism rising to the point where compromise is becoming unreachable)
(16) Social Crisis caused by the Government turning a blind eye to growing corruption, consumed in their plays for power against one another.
(17) With all of these in mind, let's go towards Afghanistan but 100x worse!
Congratulations, you have the United Ticking Time Bombs Of America!
Let's recap:
(1) Worse-off great depression overall for the USA, leaving them in a much weaker position.
(2) USA is more isolationist due to the KKK, so the UK isn't able to do much to stop the Axis rampage other than signing peace while it still has something to bargain with.
(3) A much more drawn out and bloody Pacific War, permanently tarnishing any prospect of military intervention. (Keep in mind, American interventions have mainly been economic and diplomatic. Even militarily, they're selling it to their population as a quick get in get out affair.
(4) Massive undermining of the government via the cover-up plan, that tried to save lives pragmatically, which tragically made(3) a reality.
(5) The Entire Presidency of that very racist president after Wheeler died, formenting civil unrest.
(6) - Long
(7)- Long
(8) - Long
(9) - Long's Trucker Puppet
(10) - Long's Mob Puppet
(11) American Isolationism throwing away the one shot, the one oppurtunity to break the Nazi Empire after Hitler's death.
(12) American isolationism allowing the Nazi's to entrench themselves outside of Europe and further expand their influence. (Read, Syria, Italy, Turkey, and the conversion of these regimes towards the gospel of National Flagellation, sorry, National Socialism.)
(13) - American Isolationism leaving the USA's position in Asia in tatters, winning the war yet losing the peace.
(14) Economic Crisis caused by Longist Policies
(15) Political Crisis caused by Longist Policies (Gradual dismantlement of American Democracy in all but name, political extremism rising to the point where compromise is becoming unreachable)
(16) Social Crisis caused by the Government turning a blind eye to growing corruption, consumed in their plays for power against one another.
(17) With all of these in mind, let's go towards Afghanistan but 100x worse!
Congratulations, you have the United Ticking Time Bombs Of America!
Smiths 4 and 5 don't make him look good either. Smith is just no good.
Smith's Morality laws include:
1) The Illegal Substances Act
(Criminalized the sale, trafficking and consumption of several types of substances from Marijuana to Cocaine and Opioids. It also placed heavy restrictions on the sale and advertisement of Alcohol and Tobacco.)
2) The Protection of Mediatic Decency Act
(Imposed several censorship guidelines for the media against the depiction of explicit or immoral acts, from curse words to dressing codes for actors and actresses. It also placed restrictions on depicting immoral characters as protagonists.)
3) The Family Protection Act
(Criminalized Abortion on all stances except for life-threatening situations, which still require at least 3 independent doctors to confirm the procedure as the only possibility to save the mother's life. Furthermore, it would prohibit the majority of the types of contraceptives, with the "Pill" being included in the Illegal Substances Act.)
4) The Federal Anti-Sodomy Act
(It regularized a Federal law against Sodomy which include from compulsory treatment to incarceration, it also criminalized the promotion of homosexual behavior, which is vague enough to give the police ample discretion on the matter)
5) The Family Unity Act
(It officialized the already existing consensus for Divorce and toughened it's requirements and proof test. Despite Smith's desire for it to be only granted on grounds of adultery, it still remained essentially as it was, but when added with the remaining acts and the instructions from Washington's courts, it made the process significantly harder.)
6) The Suppression of Prostitution Act
(It associated prostitution with the spread of veneral diseases, essentially Smith would claim that all prostitutes were vectors of diseases "both of body and soul". By this Act, if one person claimed to have caught a veneral disease from a brothel, it was sufficient for all prostitutes involved to be charged criminally as if purposefully transmitting a disease or at least serving as an accomplice, a crime far harsher than the crime of prostitution, which also would see it's penalty increase.)
7) The Suppression of Vice Act
(An expansion of the Suppression of Prostitution Act to include other "harmful vices to society", one of the main ones being gambling. Gambling was made into a Federal Offense, as well as Casinos or gambling houses in general. Part of Smith's war against the Mob.)
These were some of the main laws made during the Smith Administration, approved by the Populists, Democrats and a non-insignificant amount of Republicans during the height of the Third Great Awakening. Several of these acts were deemed blatantly unconstitutional, however the Supreme Court voted to uphold all of them.
A whole chapter could even be written about the amount of trouble this brought, especially between the Smith Administration and the State of Nevada.
He’s right as long as you hate social welfare for the poor, no national healthcare for everyone, and don’t think education should be a universal right. I can understand him hating the corruption, and wanting to get the economy on track. Yet wanting to destroy crucial things that assist the common folk is ridiculous. If Long removed all the private prisons, should Goldwater bring it back? His hatred of socialism, is far less fit or justifiable in a world where serious communism is reduced to just China.An appropriate poster which captures the feeling of every sane American rn:
Also he doesn’t seem anymore fit to handle the crisis in Mexico than Smith. His plan is just to more modernize the army and destroy a lot of towns. Somehow that won’t backfire, and it will convince the Mexicans he’s just a nice man just wanting to help the people. No candidate it seems has either the foresight nor understand that helping a corrupt regime stay in power is not a good thing. All he’ll do is empower both the Integralist and Socialists he hates so much. No amount of bombing or atrocities will change that. As bad as the Mexican Expedition/Intervention in Veracruz was in WW1. At least Yankees left before there was trouble. Here they have neither the support or excuse to intervene long-term.
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On that note, considering it seems there would be a 5-way race, this makes me wonder who the three other candidates would be. I'm going to bet that they're going to "represent the Populist Party's "left-wing"", "*Rockefeller/Liberal Republican", and "Dixiecrats".
So the USA will collapse into civil war, not gonna lie I am impressed by the sheer incompetence of the American leadership, one million Americans died to bring down Imperial Japan only for it to be back, the USA is isolated on a global scale, with a failing economy, an backward military. Germany is not in any better situation, but the sheer fact that the old psychotic leadership has been replaced by a more sane leadership means there are fewer chances of a general collapse.
Well whatever, with this occasion, I hope we will see more of the nations of the Linz Pakt , the internal working of the Reich like what is happening in the annexed Scandinavia, Benelux its the population speaking German by this point?maybe more of Africa, China etc. I find them more interesting than the collapsing USA.
Well whatever, with this occasion, I hope we will see more of the nations of the Linz Pakt , the internal working of the Reich like what is happening in the annexed Scandinavia, Benelux its the population speaking German by this point?maybe more of Africa, China etc. I find them more interesting than the collapsing USA.
It is already confirmed (atleast i think) that the Dixiecrats and Populists will be split and i can easily see something bad happening that results in Powell breaking the left-wing off. All we need now is for the Republicans to split or for another player to show up, im thinking the latter will happen.
Yeah I agree with that. I think seeing how Iran is working is more interesting. Can’t imagine it would be fun working with Greater Syria on one side and India on the other side.
I have to wonder how the American Civil war would turn out? Will it be like the first civil war with somewhat proper lines of division or will it be closer to the Syrian or Russian civil wars with multiple sides fighting each other? If nothing else I do believe it would be closer to the Russian/Syrian one simply due to the greater division within America, the greater ability of arms, and general greater political division overall.
Outside of that considering civil wars I also wonder where the American refugees will go to? Mexico is not that much of an option considering what is happening there so I guess Canada, Australia, and Britain are options which would greatly help them develop with all of that new people. Actually who would sell to the different sides of said war as well?
Overall a lot to wonder about.
Outside of that considering civil wars I also wonder where the American refugees will go to? Mexico is not that much of an option considering what is happening there so I guess Canada, Australia, and Britain are options which would greatly help them develop with all of that new people. Actually who would sell to the different sides of said war as well?
Overall a lot to wonder about.
On that end, I imagine a disproportionate proportion of those who died in the Angriff were from Scandinavia and the Benelux countries in an effort to break the old national identities of these countries.
IV - A VERY UN-CIVIL ELECTION
THE IRON EAGLE
FALLEN EAGLE
A VERY UN-CIVIL ELECTION
FALLEN EAGLE
A VERY UN-CIVIL ELECTION
His message was not as popular as he had hoped it would be, 1964 taught him that better than any other year. Barry Goldwater was still unchanged, if anything his convictions only became stronger after the outrageous excesses and the dictatorial-esque rule of the Populists these last four years. He said Populists, not Smith, not Hoffa, he only saw them all as the "Populists" and Huey Long was their Master, he even doubted it was really the mob who killed Hoffa and not Long himself when the dog was out of his leash. But enough of these conspiracies, that won't win him votes, the ones who believed in the "Martyr Hoffa" story were the Leftists and he would never get a single vote from them considering his proposals.
He published his program to the public after his nomination was confirmed, the "Freedom Agenda" had a quite charming name and, contrary to the Populists, his agenda meant what he said. There were so many words like "cutting" and "slashing" that the Smith campaign already started to spread the same trick he did last election that Barry wanted to end the American Welfare system. If he could follow his heart and play down in the same mud of the Populists, he for sure would do that if he was President, or when he was President, but he knew that Washington would just change it's Master if he agreed to go down that same path like this Political Advisor was blabbering about.
"I thank you for your... insight, George, but this is just not my plan, if we get into that White House then we have to do things in the right way, anything else is just keeping the Chicanery for another four years."
George Lincoln Rockwell was an odd man, Barry could sense something off when they talked and in the way his eyes moved during the conversation. If it was up to him, he would not have picked someone so... suspicious, but that was Walker's pick and the General would never accept the deal if he could not pick at least a third of the Cabinet, including the Campaign Advisor who would soon be the Chief of Staff of the White House, if they actually get a win here. Rockwell talked of parades with American Flags, using the Sons of Liberty instead of the Secret Service because "those belong to Smith, it's more likely they put a bullet to your head if they see you winning". Then he talked of training them to march, it was his' the idea of using the Fourth of July for nation-wide political rallies, on the same day Smith was nominated for the Populists with Johnson as VP. Sometimes Barry wondered if it would not be for the best if Johnson was his VPOTUS.
All these methods just felt too "oppressive", they were meant to represent a Free America, but Rockwell was pushing for goose-stepping militiamen marching with banners to rally around a political leader. As a man with Jewish blood, that gave Goldwater a shiver, but the awful thing is that it worked, he could still recall when Long pulled the same trick in the 1960 nomination when Hoffa was picked as POTUS candidate. The people took a liking to parades, Smith did the same trick and even used church groups. It is a sad fact that political rallies nowadays included party militias while even the Nazis got rid of their own SS.
Goldwater now was seated on his car as they were headed to the next rally, but he was looking more forwards to the debate on Television next week, when he would go face to face with that disgusting man again. He doubted before but now he saw Smith as the closest this country has ever been to becoming a Reich, the way he was starting to go after the Jewish League, the way he incited racial hatred between blacks and whites, the way he grew his power and authority, suppressing protesters, making his own GESTAPO, entrenching his command over the Justice system, it reminded him of an ominous phrase he once read: "When Fascism comes to America, it will be dressed with the flag with a cross in hand".
Smith hated him and he knew that, that is something he had to use, as far gone as many Americans were, the word "Nazi" would still drive the point across. He had to make Smith show his true self, a hidden Nazi who would turn this whole country into a dictatorship if he was allowed, and he had seen the hint of what he had to do years ago. He was President, he was arrogant, and he could be baited into revealing his face to America, and Goldwater, the Jew, was going to be the victim of the attack of a Nazi President. That was what could bring down the Populists in the people's eyes, it would be such a complete rout that even Huey Long would not be able to scheme his way into victory.
He published his program to the public after his nomination was confirmed, the "Freedom Agenda" had a quite charming name and, contrary to the Populists, his agenda meant what he said. There were so many words like "cutting" and "slashing" that the Smith campaign already started to spread the same trick he did last election that Barry wanted to end the American Welfare system. If he could follow his heart and play down in the same mud of the Populists, he for sure would do that if he was President, or when he was President, but he knew that Washington would just change it's Master if he agreed to go down that same path like this Political Advisor was blabbering about.
"I thank you for your... insight, George, but this is just not my plan, if we get into that White House then we have to do things in the right way, anything else is just keeping the Chicanery for another four years."
George Lincoln Rockwell was an odd man, Barry could sense something off when they talked and in the way his eyes moved during the conversation. If it was up to him, he would not have picked someone so... suspicious, but that was Walker's pick and the General would never accept the deal if he could not pick at least a third of the Cabinet, including the Campaign Advisor who would soon be the Chief of Staff of the White House, if they actually get a win here. Rockwell talked of parades with American Flags, using the Sons of Liberty instead of the Secret Service because "those belong to Smith, it's more likely they put a bullet to your head if they see you winning". Then he talked of training them to march, it was his' the idea of using the Fourth of July for nation-wide political rallies, on the same day Smith was nominated for the Populists with Johnson as VP. Sometimes Barry wondered if it would not be for the best if Johnson was his VPOTUS.
All these methods just felt too "oppressive", they were meant to represent a Free America, but Rockwell was pushing for goose-stepping militiamen marching with banners to rally around a political leader. As a man with Jewish blood, that gave Goldwater a shiver, but the awful thing is that it worked, he could still recall when Long pulled the same trick in the 1960 nomination when Hoffa was picked as POTUS candidate. The people took a liking to parades, Smith did the same trick and even used church groups. It is a sad fact that political rallies nowadays included party militias while even the Nazis got rid of their own SS.
Goldwater now was seated on his car as they were headed to the next rally, but he was looking more forwards to the debate on Television next week, when he would go face to face with that disgusting man again. He doubted before but now he saw Smith as the closest this country has ever been to becoming a Reich, the way he was starting to go after the Jewish League, the way he incited racial hatred between blacks and whites, the way he grew his power and authority, suppressing protesters, making his own GESTAPO, entrenching his command over the Justice system, it reminded him of an ominous phrase he once read: "When Fascism comes to America, it will be dressed with the flag with a cross in hand".
Smith hated him and he knew that, that is something he had to use, as far gone as many Americans were, the word "Nazi" would still drive the point across. He had to make Smith show his true self, a hidden Nazi who would turn this whole country into a dictatorship if he was allowed, and he had seen the hint of what he had to do years ago. He was President, he was arrogant, and he could be baited into revealing his face to America, and Goldwater, the Jew, was going to be the victim of the attack of a Nazi President. That was what could bring down the Populists in the people's eyes, it would be such a complete rout that even Huey Long would not be able to scheme his way into victory.
The title of "most divisive election in American History" is thrown around very easily, ever since 1800, with other notables such as 1824, 1860, 1876, 1912, 1932, 1952 and 1964. But of these, the 1968 election could be included at least in the top 3 as the Populist Establishment, a powerful system set up almost two decades earlier which commanded American politics with a strong and corrupt grip, saw it's strongest challenge yet. The nation was divided, at war both across the borders and within it's borders, with the worst economic depression since 1929 suffocating millions and the socio-political pressure threatening to rip the country apart as two completely opposed candidates ran for election, a rematch of the already divisive 1964 election. Gerald Smith and Barry Goldwater, considered once as two extremists in their respective parties, saw the moderates around them fall from grace and, as a result, were left as the most viable alternatives for the next four years.
Smith, the incumbent President, renewed his links to the Populist base by picking Lyndon Baynes Johnson as Vice-Presidential candidate, in hopes of keeping the party united, claiming to be moderating his stance on civil rights. The Populist left, kept apart from the Smith Administration and threatening to split off ever since the Hoffa affair in 1963-64, would stay within the Party once again if only because Smith was the only possible alternative to prevent the rise of the hated Goldwater, a man who threatened to destroy the entire American Welfare system established during the Long Presidency.
Goldwater, the challenger candidate once more, would unite his own Party by making an agreement with the Radical Anti-Longist Society for the Defense of Liberty, a group which once reunited only a small portion of the Republicans in the late 50s and now was a nation-wide organization within the Republican Party which held roughly half the seats of the GOP in Congress and several State governments. The Republican left, seeing no option but the lesser evil and in hopes of breaking the Populist political machine, sided with Goldwater for this election, the Overton window shifting so much within the Party that Richard Nixon, Californian Governor, was considered leader of said Republican Left for proposing a Civil Rights Act.
And what of the Orphans? Those who were left feeling with no horse in this race were mostly located in the left, who either opposed Goldwater for his pro-business and anti-welfare stance, or for his reluctance to support Civil Rights legislation out of personal ideology. As for Smith, the left despised him for his Morality campaign, dictatorial methods and anti-civil rights decisions such as repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and his suspected involvement in the assassination of Martin Luther King. Many in the left, especially amongst the Unions, still held a strong sympathy for the Populist Left, mainly due to the legacy of Jimmy Hoffa, seeing by many as the High point of the Labor movement. In fact, his reputation was much restored in the years after his death among leftists for his support for Civil Rights and Labor Legislation, as well as the fact he presided before the Economic downturn fully materialized in America. Others, especially in Black Communities, were radicalized by the Smith Presidency and saw little point in voting, especially with the racially-biased literacy tests in the Southern States and the growing government repression under the excuse to fight terror.
The Black Panther Party was growing in popularity among black communities in the Deep South and in the inner cities of the North and West of the country. The Panthers were left in the eyes of many as the only organization fighting back against a government-imposed racial repression, many times compared to the German Reich or to the Boerstaat. Refusing to join in the electoral system or partake in the same "moderate" tactics of other organizations, the Panthers were becoming the only viable solution for many African Americans, especially in the South, to fight back for the rights taken away from them. Neither of the Candidates represented their interests and the Political system in charge was one that held little trust after years refusing to make meaningful changes except to make their lives worse. Massacres such as the one in Chattanooga would be reminded by the Black Community and drove thousands to join the Panthers, and even those who did not join, refused to cooperate with government authorities in finding those who did.
The American left also began to approach Socialist ideas more openly, with Hoffa being again held up in the name of Martyrdom. The "Trucker President" was seen as a common man, a unionist who was able to get to Washington only to be betrayed by a corrupt establishment and allies of big business who assassinated him and pinned the blame on the Italian-American community. This was the kind of mentality promoted even by the Mafia itself using their remaining influence after the government crackdown under Smith. Socialism had it's image rehabilitated in the eyes of many who looked back on men like Eugene Debs, Henry Wallace and more contemporary examples such as George McGovern and Sidney "Sid" McMath. But especially the Senator Adam Clayton Powell, who began to approach these groups and openly began to refer to himself as a Socialist, driven so by the radicalization in the American left after 4 years being pushed to a breaking point.
To the right, the 1968 election was more between deciding on a flavor for their own cake, as Goldwater represented the right supportive of free market and opposed to the Populist agenda, while Smith represented the Paternalistic right, neither of the candidates showing open interest in approving Civil Rights legislation on the racial matters. But still, there were those groups more radical in American Society and, with a recent SCOTUS decision which allowed the use of Nazi imagery, these groups went more public without fear of repercussion. The American National Socialist Party (ANSP) was one of it's leading organizations with thousands of members across the country, led by the War Veteran William Luther Pierce, who was once accused of threatening and even assaulting Jewish civilians during the Nazi-Israeli War, an incident of which he was declared innocent by the courts. Pierce was a militant who was believed to be in contact with the German SD, although some believe the SD never even bothered to reach out for him. The movement would gain a certain level of strength with the growing racial tensions in America, especially in the Deep South, although it was still living in the shadow of a much larger and "traditionally American" organization. The Klan as a centralized entity was crushed by Huey Long during his first term as President, but the rhetoric and enablement of Smith, with his emphasis also on "Christian American values", gave strength for a decentralized return of the organization, which at times provided "assistance" to the State Authorities in the Deep South. Although it would not have the same power and membership as before.
In the American Right, the Society for the Defense of Liberty was, by far and large, it's strongest and most well-organized organization, with it's own unofficial "paramilitary", the "Sons of Liberty". A militia group which grew enormously in number during the late 1960s, the Sons of Liberty were known for it's overtly nationalistic rhetoric and military marches "in the defense of the American Republic". In public ceremonies, they would often swear allegiance using a military salute to the American flag like it was done in the school system. They were well-armed and organized, led unofficially by George Lincoln Rockwell and Edwin Walker, officially being the "Youth Wing" of the Society for the Defense of Liberty, although in their ranks there were thousands of war veterans. They believed that the Populist Party and many of it's predecessors had corrupted and perverted the American Republic and were attempting to systematically dismantle it's system by taking a dictatorial control of the Courts, Congress and the Executive chair of States and in Washington. They were not overtly friendly to the Civil Rights movement, keeping an ambiguity while openly opposing the Black Panther Party's terroristic methods. The Society had powerful backers in the lobbying groups among corporations and it's membership included much of the Republican right nationwide.
And in this mood of national division, the country would head into an unwinnable war, the task of subjugating a population of roughly 50 million citizens south of the border under a government which lost most of it's popular legitimacy, propped up by American blood in a fight against a coalition which included the Left, Center and Right of Mexican Society. Although at the time the war would still be relatively non-controversial compared to how it would become later, the first cracks were already beginning to show by the time the November Election came along. The optimism of victory in Mexico was still keeping a ressemblance of unity across most sectors in American society, with the war being seen as a fight against both Nazism and Communism. Most of the opposition was gathered around left-wing groups, Longists, Catholics and the Mexican-American population, many of the latter having still family connections to the territory now turned into a warzone. What could have been a quick revolution had turned into a sluggish stalemate and, to make matters worse, President Smith was reluctant to fully committing to the War when there were opportunities in the early stages to deal crippling blows to the enemy forces.
The Guevara guerrilla strategy was not yet fully adopted by the Mexican Revolutionaries, many Sinarquists and defecting elements of the Army had decided to face the US military in direct confrontation, however the lack of numbers in the initial intervention force would prevent the army from capitalizing on such battles to pursue the enemy. Instead, the Mexican insurgents would come to adopt Hit and Run tactics similar to the Revolutionary Era in the 1910s, others such as the Zapatistas would fully adopt guerrillas which were catastrophic during the fight over the Yucatan Peninsula. The American doctrine, focused yet on the capture of major urban centers, directed the Wheeler strategy to secure the major cities of Mexico to the detriment of a major effort in the countryside. The sheer size of the country and the hostile local population would draw the Army into, ironically, a similar situation to what the IJA faced in China: Overextended units which lacked any de facto control of the countryside around the urban centers they captured.
This would lead to an increased deployment of troops, but in 1968, Smith refused to do so in the belief that the draft would only exacerbate tensions before an election, he was aware of his own unpopularity but still believed that his victory was a God-given fate reserved to him and expressed so repeatedly in public events. Smith would spend much of his campaign going around churches and even preaching in pulpit about his own policies. On the other hand, Smith began to show a greater hostility towards Catholicism which he did not show in the previous years, speaking about the Catholic connections to the Mafia at most. Now, he spoke of many Catholic clergymen openly speaking of supporting Mexican Sinarquistas, he spoke of the Pope in Rome being a puppet of Nazism and the Pope in Brazil being the spokesman of "Catholic Fascism", he spoke of the "Papism" of the Catholic Church, with pulpits being used to spread Anti-American ideals.
This drove right into the old anti-catholic rhetoric in America which put Smith in conflict with Long, Huey was not a Catholic and yet he feared what the loudest voice of the Populist Party speaking out against Catholicism would do in Louisiana. He was never as popular in New Orleans as he was in the rest of the State, but the Long Family would be terribly struck on the national stage if they could not show strength in their own state. Smith's rhetoric on the Catholic church did not change, but he did sideline it after a meeting with Governor Russell Long in June, which was used by the Goldwater campaign as another example of President Smith being but a puppet of the Long Family that has held power in the country for two decades.
The nomination process of the two candidates was a foregone conclusion at that point, a rematch of the previous election which was already so close that it drove the results to be set by the House. President Smith, with a strong hold over the Right-Wing of the Populist Party and the blessing of the President of the Party, was chosen unanimously to be the Populist Candidate on the 4th of July of 1968, during a grand ceremony held in Washington DC. Despite the reservations held by many Populists with the security concerns that their unpopularity would lead, Smith was adamant in having the nomination in the Capital City. The security system included many members of the Party who had spent the previous year forming their own militias, many of them coming from Southern States, the "Jefferson Brigades", many being actually members of the Democratic Party which did not run a candidate of their own that year, instead the old Party, long decaying since the split of the Populists, had reduced itself to becoming a small group of senior politicians who held strong positions in the Deep South, politicians who now were fully throwing their weight in support of President Gerald Smith.
The Jefferson Brigades overlapped many times with other far-right groups such as the Klansmen and even members of the American National Socialist Party, who began organizing in response to the Black Panthers in the Deep South and in many major cities across the country as "Neighborhood watches" at first, eventually evolving into paramilitary organizations that were at first decentralized across the country, mainly established across the south and the Midwest, in rural areas and small towns. The movement, inspired by the Minutemen of the Revolutionary War era and in an idealized version of Jeffersonian populism, was unified in a national convention by Willis Allison Carto, a lawyer and war veteran associated to the Right-Populist movement born in Indiana, living much of his early life when the Klan held a de facto control of the State until the Longist machine cracked down on it, despite that, he would associate himself with the Longist right and soon became one of Smith's strongest supporters.
Carto's "Jefferson Brigades" were unified in 1967 in response to the radicalization of the Civil Rights movement following the death of Martin Luther King and the subsequent riots, receiving the non-official endorsement of the Smith Administration, some suspecting even going as far as weapons and funds from the ASA. During the nomination, the Jeffersonians would be a part of the security stratagem which also included the Secret Service itself. After the nomination process was finished, Smith held a rally that same day in the Jefferson Memorial, speaking out in favor of "America's Noble Soul" which was threatened by Oligarchs gathered around Goldwater (who had won the nomination just an hour earlier), as well as "Communists and Degenerates" who spoke out in favor of terrorism and threatened to tear America from within. Not only Smith promised to end the economic recession by "Making Wall Street pay the bill for their exploitation", but he also swore a quick conclusion in the Mexican War, a Pacification of the Black Belt, a change in the First Amendment to name America as a "Christian Nation", a tough stance on criminality and public programs to fight unemployment.
The Ceremony was also marked by protests, Washington was a city with no small number of Afro-American citizens who feared the prospect of a second term for President Smith, those people would make their voices heard through a protest in the Lincoln Memorial at the same time as Smith's supporters rallied on the Jefferson Memorial, eventually the two groups came to clash after Smith returned to the White House. The two gatherings were starting to disperse when the two crowds began to confront one another, the Riot Suppression Squadron would be deployed around 1831 PM, the two groups fighting an open confrontation, several of the Jeffersonians were armed during the rally and the first shots were fired at 1828 PM, starting a shootout between both sides that would only be brought under control at 1854 PM, with the National Guard securing the city and the RSS suppressing the protesters with a blatant bias towards the President's supporters. In total, the 4th of July massacre in D.C would lead to the deaths of 19 people, only 1 of them being a Jeffersonian.
The Riot ended in Washington while a rally was held in New York. At the suggestion of Walker, the Republican Party moved it's convention to the 4th of July, the same day as the Populist Nomination, using the holiday in order to increase attendance to the rally at the Madison Square Garden, which was the second time that Goldwater spoke in it. The event was just a reprisal of the one made before when the Society for the Defense of Liberty endorsed Goldwater, now bringing it's weight for the Republican Party to back Goldwater officially. The nomination was contested by the Republican Left, namely by Eugene McCarthy, a former Populist who defected following the death of Jimmy Hoffa and ran as a Republican by claiming the Populist left was too "spineless" to contest Huey Long's whims. McCarthy never truly stood a chance, despite his pro-civil rights platform being more popular than Goldwater, he still retained a more isolationist mindset during his time as a Populist and his opposition to the Mexican war would sink his chances as he was called a "coward" and a "traitor" during the Convention. Goldwater was chosen as the nominee on the same day and a rally by the Sons of Liberty in the streets of New York was heralded as "America's Rebirth", in Goldwater's words, the Sons of Liberty used slogans such as "Extremism in Defense of Liberty is no Vice".
The Campaign season of 1968 was marked by it's violence and viciousness, it was called as the "bloodiest election in American History" by a contemporary source, a period where the sides of the political spectrum radicalized to a point where there was no middle ground. To the Populists, Goldwater represented corporate oppression, a suppression of all the rights and advances made by the Long era in favor of a return to the age of the Robber Barons. To the Republicans, Smith represented a tyranny of a corrupt moralist led by a de facto dictator who held control of American politics for a generation. Either you were in favor of Smith, or you were in favor of Goldwater, and those who despised both lost much of their faith on the very foundations of the Democratic System.
It became common for the militias of both sides to clash openly and, depending on the State, the police could be siding with one side or the other. The paramilitaries of Smith, the Jefferson Brigades, acted without restraint in the Deep South and in many rural territories, whereas the Sons of Liberty began to consolidate their control along the East Coast, the two groups swelling in numbers as the acts began to radicalize both sides. In the deep south, both the Jeffersonians and Sons of Liberty would at times have to face the Black Panthers, which rallied support from disenfranchised groups against both organizations with an outspokenly socialist agenda that also would attract the support of Labor Unions in the region (as many came to be attacked by members of the Sons of Liberty).
The Unions began to encourage their own members to arm themselves to protect the workplace against such paramilitary groups, although that was not even close to the extent it would be later, that would be only the start of a general trend of militarization of the political organizations in America, with all sides invoking the 2nd Amendment to form their militias for "self-protection". Not only that, several minor organizations such as the "Minutemen" led by Robert DePugh, would begin to organize themselves in smaller towns with varying ideologies, but with common methods based around local militia organizations which were inspired by the Revolutionary War-era militias.
But for now, the situation was still calm in the first two months after the Washington Riot (called by some as the DC Massacre), the Populist Left remained tenuously supportive of the Smith campaign officially, but the expected turnout was quite low, and the Republican Left fell more in line with the Party as they saw Smith as a greater threat than Goldwater's mostly indifferent atitude towards Civil Rights. The protests against Smith mostly turned into rallies in favor of Goldwater and those who opposed Goldwater mostly allied with Smith's supporters. The Populist Left mostly would use the image of Huey Long during the campaign, displaying him more prominently as a reminder to their supporters that his reforms were at stake, with a great level of fearmongering that Goldwater planned to destroy the welfare system and minimum wage, similarly to what was used in the previous campaign.
October would prove to be the decisive month, as just one month before the election, there would be a televised debate between Smith and Goldwater once more, perhaps the most watched debate in history up to that point where millions of Americans saw the debacle. Gerald Smith showed initially a better performance against Goldwater than he did in the 1968 election, however the Republican also had more ammunition to throw at Smith over his growing authoritarianism, policies which he described as "Fundamentalistic" and disregard for the Constitution. Goldwater, in return, would receive an attack that he was a puppet of Wall Street corporations seeking to dismantle the Welfare system and his links with the Sons of Liberty, with Smith promising to brand the organization as a terrorist group after his victory.
But then, the debate soon turned into a catastrophe, in it's final moments Goldwater would begin to speak of his plans to overturn the moralistic laws, his plans to free the market and to investigate the corruption in government agencies, but he would be interrupted by Smith speaking on the microphone, calling him a "filthy Jew". Goldwater interrupted his speech, turned to Smith and asked him to repeat his words and, instead of ignoring, correcting himself, or doing literally anything else, Smith only doubled down and the talk turned into an antisemitic rant in national television. When the moderator attempted to intervene, the President instead pointed at him and said "You shut up before I shut your network", and Goldwater instead just let Smith continue on with talking as he decided the election with just a few minutes. The tired and stressed evangelist, convinced that nothing on earth could stop his victory, saw little reason to hold back his words a second longer. He claimed Goldwater to be a puppet of a "Cabal of Liberals and Degenerates" in Wall Street which endorsed the Civil Rights movement as a communist and atheist infiltration to tear down American Society in the name of their "Satanic Ideals".
The President of the United States would, on national television, quote phrases that appeared out of the books of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, he claimed that Goldwater was a "treacherous snake", a new "Benedict Arnold", and soon the 5-minute rant turned into Smith calling Goldwater a tool of the Antichrist to destroy America's chance of becoming a Godly nation. By the end of the ramble, which included even calling Goldwater a "Nigger-loving bastard", Smith had finally stopped with an astonished crowd watching in shock and the Republican doing his best impression of disgust upon seeing the man beneath the Presidential suit, who just revealed the Reverend of Hatred who had ruled the nation for the last 4 years.
It became common for the militias of both sides to clash openly and, depending on the State, the police could be siding with one side or the other. The paramilitaries of Smith, the Jefferson Brigades, acted without restraint in the Deep South and in many rural territories, whereas the Sons of Liberty began to consolidate their control along the East Coast, the two groups swelling in numbers as the acts began to radicalize both sides. In the deep south, both the Jeffersonians and Sons of Liberty would at times have to face the Black Panthers, which rallied support from disenfranchised groups against both organizations with an outspokenly socialist agenda that also would attract the support of Labor Unions in the region (as many came to be attacked by members of the Sons of Liberty).
The Unions began to encourage their own members to arm themselves to protect the workplace against such paramilitary groups, although that was not even close to the extent it would be later, that would be only the start of a general trend of militarization of the political organizations in America, with all sides invoking the 2nd Amendment to form their militias for "self-protection". Not only that, several minor organizations such as the "Minutemen" led by Robert DePugh, would begin to organize themselves in smaller towns with varying ideologies, but with common methods based around local militia organizations which were inspired by the Revolutionary War-era militias.
But for now, the situation was still calm in the first two months after the Washington Riot (called by some as the DC Massacre), the Populist Left remained tenuously supportive of the Smith campaign officially, but the expected turnout was quite low, and the Republican Left fell more in line with the Party as they saw Smith as a greater threat than Goldwater's mostly indifferent atitude towards Civil Rights. The protests against Smith mostly turned into rallies in favor of Goldwater and those who opposed Goldwater mostly allied with Smith's supporters. The Populist Left mostly would use the image of Huey Long during the campaign, displaying him more prominently as a reminder to their supporters that his reforms were at stake, with a great level of fearmongering that Goldwater planned to destroy the welfare system and minimum wage, similarly to what was used in the previous campaign.
October would prove to be the decisive month, as just one month before the election, there would be a televised debate between Smith and Goldwater once more, perhaps the most watched debate in history up to that point where millions of Americans saw the debacle. Gerald Smith showed initially a better performance against Goldwater than he did in the 1968 election, however the Republican also had more ammunition to throw at Smith over his growing authoritarianism, policies which he described as "Fundamentalistic" and disregard for the Constitution. Goldwater, in return, would receive an attack that he was a puppet of Wall Street corporations seeking to dismantle the Welfare system and his links with the Sons of Liberty, with Smith promising to brand the organization as a terrorist group after his victory.
But then, the debate soon turned into a catastrophe, in it's final moments Goldwater would begin to speak of his plans to overturn the moralistic laws, his plans to free the market and to investigate the corruption in government agencies, but he would be interrupted by Smith speaking on the microphone, calling him a "filthy Jew". Goldwater interrupted his speech, turned to Smith and asked him to repeat his words and, instead of ignoring, correcting himself, or doing literally anything else, Smith only doubled down and the talk turned into an antisemitic rant in national television. When the moderator attempted to intervene, the President instead pointed at him and said "You shut up before I shut your network", and Goldwater instead just let Smith continue on with talking as he decided the election with just a few minutes. The tired and stressed evangelist, convinced that nothing on earth could stop his victory, saw little reason to hold back his words a second longer. He claimed Goldwater to be a puppet of a "Cabal of Liberals and Degenerates" in Wall Street which endorsed the Civil Rights movement as a communist and atheist infiltration to tear down American Society in the name of their "Satanic Ideals".
The President of the United States would, on national television, quote phrases that appeared out of the books of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels, he claimed that Goldwater was a "treacherous snake", a new "Benedict Arnold", and soon the 5-minute rant turned into Smith calling Goldwater a tool of the Antichrist to destroy America's chance of becoming a Godly nation. By the end of the ramble, which included even calling Goldwater a "Nigger-loving bastard", Smith had finally stopped with an astonished crowd watching in shock and the Republican doing his best impression of disgust upon seeing the man beneath the Presidential suit, who just revealed the Reverend of Hatred who had ruled the nation for the last 4 years.
The Aftermath of the "Debate Disaster of 1968" inverted the situation of the polls with Goldwater finally coming ahead even in Populist-alligned networks, the reaction of this would be Smith being kept away from microphones for the rest of the season both by the Populists and by the White House Staff, his campaign was dealt a crippling blow and Goldwater was able to capitalize on it to become the first true chance of defeating the almighty political machine of the Populist Party. Huey Long, no longer as energetic as he used to be, still attempted to pull his connections and began to employ all the tricks he could to defeat Goldwater.
The Press cycle of many networks involved in the War Chest scheme would turn into exposure of Goldwater and appraisal of Smith's decisions, with the President now signing an executive order which increased several welfare benefits and a new "Housing for Veterans" program for veterans of the Mexican Intervention. The news of the fall of Guadalajara was put on the front row and center of the mediatic offensive in favor of Smith while talks about the debate were kept cycling only over the Republican-allied press. Yellow Journalism became even more blatant as rumors were spread of Goldwater being an atheist and even a supposed Homosexual due to his support in the decriminalization of Sodomy.
Of course, Goldwater was also his own worst enemy, during rallies such as in New Hampshire, he would claim that "The American Healthcare System is the true disease in our economy", or other talks about his more controversial policies, one reporter asking if repealing "Morality Laws" included allowing public indecency for instance which led to Goldwater giving a vague answer. But his worst gaffe was made in his campaign in Los Angeles, when asked about the use of Atomic Weapons in order to pacify Mexico, he did claim that "all means should be available to bring a war to it's conclusion" and, when asked about what relationship he would have with Nazi Germany and if he would answer to a policy to thaw the relations of both countries, he would answer "The only peaceful Nazi is a dead Nazi".
With one candidate openly using Nazi-like language and insults in Television and the other one having no apparent hesitation about a Third World War, the 1968 election was perhaps the least civil election in American history up to that point. Still, a winner had to come and, in the day before the election, the Smith Campaign Headquarters would become a war room where the entire machine of the Longist system was given it's longest night, with over 48 hours of phone calls, contacts, agreements, and millions upon millions of dollars being moved from one way to the other across several states, the Speaker of the House would work all of his magic to make Smith the President of the United States for Four more years.
Smith would still have a trick up his sleeve named William Luther Pierce, the head of the ANSP, who called him after the debate and expressed his support for "exposing the Jewish fraud to the world", Smith did not shut down the call and instead he would call for a secret meeting between Pierce and Carto, leader of the Jeffersonian Brigades. In the agreement made, Luther Pierce would be promised several guarantees that the Federal government would shut down investigations against his group and government authorities would turn a blind eye if the ANSP were to "ensure the democratic process" over the State of Virginia. In the week before the vote, thousands of American National Socialists would move over to a "War Headquarters" nicknamed "Wolf's Lair" near Richmond. From there, during the election day, the voting cabins would see a swarm of men wearing Swastikas entering and setting up watches to intimidate voters, as well as to help in the counting. It would come as a surprise when Virginia, a State where Smith was once set to lose by the polls, would vote in favor of the President.
What the Populists did not count with was that many people, simply put, would not vote in that election. While there was a record turnout in most of the States, in the region of the Steel Belt, the Unions would not make any effort in supporting the Smith campaign in the day of the vote. In the Deep South, a mass sit-in protest was made in front of voting booths in places such as Alabama and Georgia, which would lead to suppression by the Police and harassment by the Jefferson Brigades. Despite the open threats of Goldwater against the Welfare system and Labor rights, the American Left would not support another four years of Smith, many did not yet forget Huey Long's betrayal of Jimmy Hoffa, and while these working men and women would not vote for the Republicans, they would not vote for Gerald Smith.
In the closest election decided by the Electoral Vote since 1877, Barry Goldwater would score 269 points over Smith's 259. What was believed to be a sure vote in favor of the Populists by many of the Great Lakes States would turn to abstence and, as a result, the Republicans won the state vote by thin margins (in Ohio, for instance, it was a difference of 2 thousand votes which led to a recount that confirmed the results). The Populist Left in places such as Washington, Oregon, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia and Pennsylvania could have tipped the scales of the election, but the low mobilization and the aftershocks of the debate would ensure that no amount of bribery, blackmail or threats would be able to save the Populists of their defeat, not even their alliance with the Democratic Party.
The electoral results shocked the nation and first among them being Goldwater who, despite everything, did not even believe he could have actually won. His victory speech would end up being mostly improvised of notes he had sketched in the past. He still won the Popular Vote by a margin of 3%, which was surprising for a man with ideas as radical and "anti-popular" as his and more of a demonstration of both the frustration of a new generation of voters with the Longist system and the self-sabotaging campaign made by President Smith. Speaking of Smith, he was at first in denial and actually showed up at the rally, speaking of their God-given victory which would soon be proven in the next days. The Smith campaign would run overtime to attempt a loophole or ordering recounts, turns out that an investigation made by the campaign legal team only led to the discovery that the number of fraudulent Populist votes was almost 10 times larger than those of the Republicans.
Smith studied the possibility of refusing to step down, he claimed that the vote was "stolen by the Magnates and Atheists" of New York, he refused to set up a transition team with the coming administration, and in late December, there were reports that thousands of Jeffersonians were moving into DC, with a camp being set up around the Washington Monument. However, Smith was warned that the armed forces would refuse to participate in an attempted coup and, furthermore, he would be arrested for treason if one were attempted, to the point where, after Christmas, it was reported that there was a conversation between General Frederick Weyland (Army Intelligence) and Major General Charles Southward (Commander of the DC National Guard) about forcibly evicting the President if he refused to vacate the White House on the 20th of January.
The New Vice-President, Edwin Walker, still using contacts in the Armed Forces, would be aware of that conversation and began to plan accordingly. If Smith refused to vacate the White House, he planned to use the Sons of Liberty to ensure his removal and, if the National Guard in DC refused to evict the President, to even seize major strategic and urban centers across the nation, a march on Washington would follow after that. Walker's plans were kept hidden from Goldwater and only shared with his Chief of Staff, George Lincoln Rockwell. It was expected that there would be resistance in Southern and Midwest States, but Rockwell doubted a majority of the Longists would side with Smith if he attempted a putsch in January. Walker still wanted to be ahead of his enemies and instructed the militiamen of the Society to stock up on weapons "in case the good old Reverend decides he wants to meet God sooner".
The electoral results shocked the nation and first among them being Goldwater who, despite everything, did not even believe he could have actually won. His victory speech would end up being mostly improvised of notes he had sketched in the past. He still won the Popular Vote by a margin of 3%, which was surprising for a man with ideas as radical and "anti-popular" as his and more of a demonstration of both the frustration of a new generation of voters with the Longist system and the self-sabotaging campaign made by President Smith. Speaking of Smith, he was at first in denial and actually showed up at the rally, speaking of their God-given victory which would soon be proven in the next days. The Smith campaign would run overtime to attempt a loophole or ordering recounts, turns out that an investigation made by the campaign legal team only led to the discovery that the number of fraudulent Populist votes was almost 10 times larger than those of the Republicans.
Smith studied the possibility of refusing to step down, he claimed that the vote was "stolen by the Magnates and Atheists" of New York, he refused to set up a transition team with the coming administration, and in late December, there were reports that thousands of Jeffersonians were moving into DC, with a camp being set up around the Washington Monument. However, Smith was warned that the armed forces would refuse to participate in an attempted coup and, furthermore, he would be arrested for treason if one were attempted, to the point where, after Christmas, it was reported that there was a conversation between General Frederick Weyland (Army Intelligence) and Major General Charles Southward (Commander of the DC National Guard) about forcibly evicting the President if he refused to vacate the White House on the 20th of January.
The New Vice-President, Edwin Walker, still using contacts in the Armed Forces, would be aware of that conversation and began to plan accordingly. If Smith refused to vacate the White House, he planned to use the Sons of Liberty to ensure his removal and, if the National Guard in DC refused to evict the President, to even seize major strategic and urban centers across the nation, a march on Washington would follow after that. Walker's plans were kept hidden from Goldwater and only shared with his Chief of Staff, George Lincoln Rockwell. It was expected that there would be resistance in Southern and Midwest States, but Rockwell doubted a majority of the Longists would side with Smith if he attempted a putsch in January. Walker still wanted to be ahead of his enemies and instructed the militiamen of the Society to stock up on weapons "in case the good old Reverend decides he wants to meet God sooner".
Huey Long would visit Gerald Smith on the 1st of January, concerned over the growing whispers of a coup in Washington. Naturally, the man already had his seat secure and, most likely, the position of Speaker of the House, as the current alliance with the Democrats still afforded him enough votes to keep that position. But for Huey that did not matter, his health was decaying and it was becoming visible to those closest to him. His son was in the Senate and, despite Johnson losing the election for Vice-President again, he was still a man of his word and would pull the weight to endorse Russell's leadership as Pro-Tempore. But all of that, all of his legacy, would now be under attack and he had to decide if he would fight against a vicious adversary or let his work explode beneath him.
Huey approached the White House with a feeling this would be the last time he could ever set foot in this place, he had lost, despite everything, despite all of his drive, his last election in the national level was a loss. The comfortable majority in the House was now a thin plurality that only survived as long as he could win over his former Democratic rivals, the Senate was not much better and his Party was more fractured than it ever was. If Smith was going to try to pull what he thought he would, then Long was sure that the carnage would allow his foes to tear down all he had created. While they had a loss, they were still one of the biggest parties in America, he had the whole Supreme Court packed with his men, what they could not have was a Civil War.
He walked past so much security that it looked like that place was about to be attacked by an army, he had to be inspected by the staff, many of them being people who once worked for him. Huey Long would walk into the Oval Office where a distressed Smith looked, somehow, even older than him. The conversation was short, first Smith came with all smiles and joy, talking in an exciting way how they would prevent a coup by the Jews or some other nonsense he did not even bother to listen. Long was almost coughing his lungs out last night and now he had no patience to deal with that rambling madman for once second more, thirty years was enough for him.
"Sit down, Jerry, we have to talk, this... this all needs to end."
For a last time, Huey Long had worked his magic in the White House, the Jeffersonians would be dispersed, Smith would spend the rest of the month in tears before retiring in Arkansas to live out his days in his humble park of Ozarks, and there would be a Republican President in America for the first time since Herbert Hoover. Huey Long would limp with a cane and enter his car, knowing that the fight was far from over, even if it was avoided today. The entire machinery of the State which he had built was now going to come after him, and for the last life inside of him, he would fight to his last breath, fight for his legacy and it's future.
But one thing was still deep in his mind, a foggy sense of guilt as he passed near the camp of the Jefferson Brigades, when he thought and reflected of what he just did today. Was that all his fault?
Huh, so Smith goes away quietly after all? I seriously doubt that, me thinks he’s going to backstab Long and try to pull a coup anyway with the help of the Jeffersons.