The threat from within.
It is January 6, 1942.
War rages in Europe and Asia.
And the American ambivalence about joining the conflict has ended.
The surprise Japanese attack on US military installations at Pearl Harbor, Guam and the Philippines shattered the belief that the two oceans would keep the US out of the war.
The ‘America First’ committee, which once boasted 800,000 members, has dissolved.
Military enlistment has surged.
Lines are forming outside recruiting stations, and many are staying open around-the-clock.
The Big Four Allied powers — the US, the UK, the Soviet Union, and China — have signed the United Nations Declaration, pledging they would make no separate peace with the enemy and calling for the unconditional surrender of Hitler and his Axis allies.
‘Their total defeat,’ the Declaration said, ‘was essential for the preservation life, liberty, independence, and religious freedom.’
When FDR stood in the well of the House Chamber on the evening of January 6, 1942, to deliver his State of the Union address, he warned that the enemy’s arsenal consisted of more than bombs and bullets.
Their secret weapon was disinformation spread among the American people intending to divide the nation and pit Americans against one another.
“Hitler will try again to breed mistrust and suspicion between one individual and another,
“one group and another,
“one race and another,
“one Government and another.
“He is trying to do this with us even now.”
Defeating Hitler will require “a unity of will and purpose against him,” FDR said.
And here we go again.
Today, the ‘falsehoods and rumor-mongering’ originates in Russia, whose war of conquest in Ukraine threatens all of Eastern Europe.
Ukraine has withstood the onslaught because of US support, and its hopes for reclaiming its occupied territory require an even greater US commitment.
Trump’s unwillingness to say whom he wishes to prevail in Ukraine, combined with his assertion that he could end the war in Ukraine in a day, have been interpreted to mean he would cut off all US aid once in office again, allowing Russia to prevail.
So, it comes as no surprise that US intelligence agencies have determined that Russia favors a Trump victory in the November election.
Last week, Microsoft reported a shift in Russia’s attempts to interfere in the election.
After stumbling in the weeks following Biden’s withdrawal, the Russian operation has targeted the Harris/Walz ticket with staged videos and AI-enhanced propaganda.
These are funneled to influencers and posted on social media sites along with disinformation broadcast by Moscow-affiliated news agencies.
The US intelligence agencies have obtained a Russian internal planning document which states that “the aim of the campaign is securing Russia’s preferred outcome in the election” by influencing American voters without identifying that the content was coming from the Russian government.
The key message: ‘the US should focus on domestic issues and stop wasting money in Ukraine.’
That’s the talking point.
Targeted voters in the Russian campaign are those in swing states, in Alabama, Texas and Kansas, Hispanics, Jews and video gamers.
So, listen as reporters interview Trump supporters.
The Russian message is getting through.
As the celebrated Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno once said:
“Some people will believe anything if you whisper it to them.”
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I’ll see you tomorrow.
— Brenda
Banner image: Spanish writer Miguel de Unamuno shown during the Spanish Civil War, c. 1936.
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