Plus Ça Change, Plus La Même Chose

RCM_1969_07_July (dragged)

Despite being what can only be described as a certifiable model train nut, I’ve also been an armchair model airplane enthusiast for most of my life. My dad built and flew them when he was a kid back in the 30s, and, in fact his brother was a partner in a well-known company from the period (Comet Model Airplanes), so the modeling gene/disease is inherited. Although I really don’t build or fly, one of my favorite websites is a resource for old plans and periodicals, and I enjoy studying them with a bit of an eye towards maybe taking the plunge to build one of these things. At any rate, while perusing the latest downloads, I came upon the July 1969 issue of R/C Modeler Magazine, featuring a US Army sergeant in dress uniform on the cover. Not thinking too much of it, I scrolled through the file and stopped at the editorial by then editor Don Dewey (apologies if it’s a bit hard to read):

RCM_1969_07_July (edit)

At this particular point in history, when the very existence of the American ideals of democracy, and its attendant basic freedoms, are being threatened by a radical and violent minority in our society…

When “Americanism,” a word for which generations of fathers and sons have fought and died,  is considered to be no more than an emotional outcry from the decadent establishment…

When the lump in your throat as the Stars and Stripes pass you at an Independence Day parade is considered a cancer…

When the very spirit of pride in being an American is mockishly [sic] satirized by some as a paunchy, balding, middle-aged man with a photo of Kate Smith in his pocket, and standing on a street corner wearing a VFW hat and waving a small paper flag…

When the democratic right to dissent is twisted around to mean a license to kill and destroy that with which you disagree…

When a cloud of darkness threatens to cast its shadow across a great nation of free men…

At this point in history, we would like to ask you, our readers, to share with us a very special dedication of this July issue of a very insignificant publication, to a very significant group of individuals.

Dewey goes on to list an extraordinary group of men who share two things in common – love of the hobby/sport of model aviation as well of love of country, evidenced by the citations, medals and wounds received in the line of duty.

Men such as Sergeant Phil Phillips, who appears on the cover of this issue in the new Army dress blues… a man who has seen service in two foreign wars with two branches of the service… a soldier who holds, among many honors, the Combat Infantry Badge, Vietnamese Ranger Badge, the Bronze Star with “V”, the Army Commendation Medal, the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Clusters and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.

But what really struck me was the opening of the column. His description of the state of the nation at that time is exactly the same as what we are witnessing today with the anti-AMERICAN left, an assault that has been ramped up and non-stop at least since 9/11/01 and on full display for all to see during last week’s Democrat National Convention.

It was a spectacle that included the waving of flags from North Korea, the Soviet Union, Cuba, and the Palestinians but not one single American flag – except for the ones that were being burned alongside that of Israel. A crowd of thousands who booed, jeered and turned their backs on a Medal Of Honor recipient, a former Secretary of Defense and banned the presence of police who were in uniform, lest they draw the ire of the crowd. And a party that had as its major contenders a full-throated, anti-American Marxist and a now nominee who, though steeped and suckled at the teat of that poison ideology, uses it merely as a means to turn this nation in to her own personal fiefdom while selling our security and future to the highest bidders.

It is bitterly ironic to read the words in an editorial from a niche magazine published some 47 years ago and to have them be such an accurate description of the anti-American left of today. The only difference being that the latter is no longer a fringe movement but represents a majority of voters who twice elected a fellow traveler to the presidency, and even more frighteningly comprise the mainstream “establishment,” occupying and dominating most of the government, courts, media and academia.

Let that sink in.

 

 

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