Fatherland

The Remake

By Simon Jones

4-25-3

Fatherland, a potboiler by Robert Harris that caused a brief flurry as a 1994 cable-TV movie, begins with the tantalizing thesis that Hitler won WWII, defeating Russia and England, and that after 2 decades of Cold War with the US, President Joseph Kennedy (quasi-fascist US Ambassador to England in the late '30s and father of JFK) arrives in Berlin to make peace with the 75 year-old Hitler.

 

But wait. What have we today: the son of another corporatist president stages a coup, takes over a government now unashamedly run by corporations, defeats Russia and England, invades the Middle East, and gains a stranglehold on the world economy. Pax Americana has arrived, cowing all and sundry into submission with its overwhelming military might.

 

So 'Hitler' DID win! Or rather, the New World's sober, less dogmatic corporatism (remember Mussolini's definition of fascism?), as opposed to the wild, over-the-top version by H in the Old World (which is now in the grips of a pacifist quasi-socialism).

 

Fatherland's hokey dramatic twist is that somehow a few stray Jews survived the holocaust, and a brave American woman journalist teams up with a dissident Kraut (in and out of bed) to spill the beans on the nasty nazis. The peace unravels and US democracy triumphs. "Hepi end!" as the Russians say.

 

In our new improved version, let's call it Disneyland, what do we have: the plucky zios ("We survived the holocaust, so we can do ANYTHING we like now to ANYBODY! And besides, you're an anti-Semite.") have teamed up with US goyim corporatists and Bible-belt apocalyptos to carry out H's botched job. Trust the Jews to do things properly. Hitler's big mistake: if only he had had the sense to make use of this racial dynamo of smarts and energy - promise them their own Palestinian lebensraum and keep the rest for the Aryans.

 

The racism and violence of the zios today at least matches that of Hitler. It's just more calculating, camouflaging itself as an 'eye for an eye.' I won't bore you with rants about the USS Liberty, quotes from the eloquent statesman (and certified war criminal) Sharon about having the US is his pocket, test balloons about the final solution for the Palestinians (mass deportation from the 'so-called' occupied territories), compelling evidence of Israeli complicity in 9-11 ... Just the death toll of since the 2nd Intifada began should be enough to make you wonder about past zio machinations - 800 Israeli Jews have been sacrificed (albeit along with 2000 Palestinians). Meanwhile, hundreds of Palestinian homes are bulldozed, olive orchards razed or poisoned, and replaced by more illegal zio settlers. It appears to be only a question of time until the triumph of Greater Israel.

 

Therein lies the nub or knout, so to speak. The same fascist psychology - ends justify the means, terrorize your victims into submission or, better, herd them into concentration/ refugee camps and kill them off - is at work, and as long as I breathe I have to believe that this will ultimately lead to their defeat, that somehow the forces of justice will prevail. Otherwise life is just not worth living.

 

As there is no longer any Soviet Union to call the US's bluff, we'll just have to think up a new plot twist for our 'Hepi end.' How's this: US inner city blacks, intellectuals, greens, and labor, using civil disobedience and boycotts, and organizing via the internet, join up with people and governments abroad (except the coalition of the coerced and bribed) to oust these neo-fascists, give the UN real power to guarantee world security, disarm, rebuild our devastated cities and save what's left of our dying environment...

 

The only alternative I can see is a string of 'wars of liberation', fomenting chaos and wreaking havoc in country after country. The Bushies have already warned Syria, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela that they are all on Santa's list, so 'better watch out'. I've been brushing up on my Revelations since the Bush coup, and it says that the reign of the anti-Christ will follow just such a scenario, culminating with a fiery conflagration during which the 'chosen' will get a first-class ticket to God while the rest of us burn our asses. Apparently the anti-Christ will sincerely believe he's carrying out God's will, even while he is in the process of destroying God's creation. Sound like anyone you know?

 

No, this 4th Reich, with its magic formula "corporatism + Zionism = neo-fascism" cannot be allowed to triumph. We must reject this ultimate dystopia, with our blood if necessary.