Rectifying Mistakes

Benjamin has finally been bitten by the bug!

The alternative history bug, that is! He has stumbled across my favorite genre, not by all the stuff he sees his Daddy watching and reading, but from a YouTube channel called Alternate History Hub.

He came to me, excited, saying "Do you know how much better history would be if Theodore Roosevelt had been elected President instead of Woodrow Wilson?"

Well, I don't know that for sure, but it certainly would be a logical analysis.  Woodrow Wilson was a racist who thought the movie that celebrated the birth of the KKK (Birth of a Nation) was the greatest thing since being brought mint juleps by house slaves.  Theodore Roosevelt was a progressive (for his times), and moving more that way by 1912 and his running as a third-party candidate (the Bull Moose Party).  On the other hand, Teddy was kind of a jingoistic cheerleader and probably would have entered America into World War 1 sooner.  The early entry into the war may have shifted the balance sooner, and caused an earlier, less costly resolution.  At the same time, unlike our current President, Teddy had superior diplomatic skills, having won a Nobel Peace Prize in the early part of the century, for negotiating a resolution to a conflict between Russia and Japan.  Decisive use of the military combined with a keen diplomatic ability could have resolved the situation in a way that did not later lead to communism and fascism.

Anyway, I am excited that my son is at least thinking about those possibilities.

I love TV shows like Sliders, Timeless, The Man in the High Castle, and Fringe that play with the concepts of alternate histories and parallel worlds.  I also read many books and comics in the genre.  My writings are tinged by my interest in them. 

I came to believe that the most critical turning point in my lifetime happened with the assassination of Robert Kennedy.  I really feel, with all my heart and soul, that RFK would have transformed this nation.  He had an appeal to both the white working class and minorities, a combination that our divided politics have currently made almost impossible.  We were on the verge of many things that seem farther out of reach now.

Other moments have occurred that split history in a negative direction.  Like whatever the hell happened in Florida in 2000.  You don't think that's important?  You will when you realize what two decades of not dealing with global warming has done to the planet's future.  The laxity that allowed 9/11 to occur.  The decision to invade a country not responsible, Iraq. 

And, of course, the terrible chain of events that led to the electoral college victory of the most unsuitable, narcissistic, cruel and nasty conman in American History, Donald J Trump.

Another turning point that is coming is to whether or not the House will impeach the son of a bitch.  Nancy Pelosi is making sounds that impeachment will not be worth it, that it will divide the nation.

The fear is, no matter how clear the case, the Senate will not convict.  And even if the Senate convicts, it will start a martyred movement that is armed, dangerous, and ready to start a civil war.

Leaving him in place is a risk.  Removing him is a risk.

If nothing is done to check and identify his crimes, then it will degrade the Presidency for generations.  We will, in essence, be telling future Presidents they can do anything they want, and they will no longer be checked.

I don't want to impeach the President.  I would rather him go down in flames at the polls in such a humiliating way that it permanently kills fascism in the United States.  But I don't know if we have that luxury.

I believe in the rule of law.  I believe that our constitution and democracy has to mean something, that it cannot be corrupted and transformed at the hands of an authoritarian bigot, one who has committed more impeachable offenses than all other Presidents combined.

Which path will we take?  What will be our reality, and what alternative route will we wistfully long for?

I don't know.  The original sin was those who voted for him in the first place, particularly in those close midwestern states.  It's a difficult mistake to rectify, but rectify we must.

Too much is at stake otherwise.  The fate of the not just this country, but the fate of the world, the resumption of the ascendancy of democracy, the very physical health of our planet - all of it is at stake.

World War One was a horrible tragedy that those of us who can't think past a generation or two have allowed to recede from our minds.  But it not only killed millions, it destabilized the world and led to the rise of communism and fascism, leading to World War Two and then the Cold War.

I fear the consequences of our most recent mistake will be as devasting as World War One.  We are headed down a nightmarish path.  Impeachment may not solve it, it might make it worse.  But I don't see where we have a choice.

Our only hope may be that the Trumpeteers wake up on their own.

But what chance is there of that, Trumpeteers?  What will it take to wake you up?

Which alternate history will you drag us into?