History: The Year is 1932

I've uploaded year 1932 to the TSP Wiki...

http://tspwiki.com/index.php?title=1932

Here are some one liners...


The Lindbergh Baby Has Been Kidnapped -- This tragedy will result in a federal kidnapping law that remains in effect until this day

Here Comes the Dust Bowl -- A winter drought (and other reasons) bring on a dust storm. It's not all one thing though, but close together, certainly.

We Are All Liberal Fascists Now! -- Hitler is negotiating for power. He won't make it this year but H.G. Wells is pushing for "enlightened Nazis.

Notable Births -- Donald Rumsfeld,  Mario Cumo, Ted Kennedy, Nichelle Nichols, Elizabeth Taylor, Casey Kasem, Donna Douglas, Pat Morita

In Other News -- Amelia Earhart, the Purple Heart, the German Enigma Code has been broken, Mars Bars, Milky Way Bars, Buck Rodgers, Tarzan, Jack Benny and radio soap operas!

The Lindbergh Baby Has Been Kidnapped

This is national headline news. Charles Lindbergh has worn the hero's mantel as well as any man could (to this point). He has received the Medal of Honor as an Army reserve pilot crossing the Atlantic solo. The prize money hasn't hurt either. His wife, Anne, is a glider pilot, and 20 months ago she gave birth to a baby boy that they name Charles Jr. On the night of March the 1st, the family nurse puts baby Charles to bed. Two hours later she checks on the baby. He is gone and there is a note demanding money. "Have 50.000$ redy..." Lindbergh grabs his gun and does a quick search. The American people are screaming for blood. They put Norman Schwarzkopf on the case. (Yes. It's General Schwarzkopf's father, but the General is not yet born.) Lindbergh hands off the ransom, but his boy is never returned. Months later, the body is found within sight of home, buried in a shallow grave. The boy had probably been murdered the night of the kidnapping. Schwarzkopf has suspected all along that it was an inside job. The kidnappers knew too much about the location of the nursery and the family routine. Two years later, Richard Hauptmann, will pay for a movie using a gold certificate bill. Marked gold certificates were used to pay the ransom. Hauptmann will be arrested, convicted, and sent to "Old Smokey" which is the New Jersey electric chair. Oddly, a local maid who knew the Lindberghs will commit suicide. We are done. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

My Take by Alex Shrugged
Over the years, Schwarzkopf has been criticized for his handling of the case, but even if he had cracked the case that night, the baby was already dead. There is some doubt about Richard Hauptmann's guilt, but he was just a carpenter with no visible means of support and butt-load of money in his garage. The case against him wasn't perfect, but I wouldn't have lost much sleep over it. It was also clear that he had some help. We can wonder whether the maid was part of the plot, but we will never know. The publicity and the "trial of the century!" resulted in Congress passing the Federal Kidnapping Act which makes it a federal crime to kidnap a person and carry them across state lines. In essence, if enough time passes that a kidnap victim COULD have passed state lines, then it becomes a federal case. ^[4]

Here Comes the Dust Bowl

There is a reason why farmers have been begging for subsidies. It is not all greed and foolishness. During World War 1 there was a sudden upsurge in demand for food products. Farmland in production expanded dramatically as farmers bought land and tried to cash in. Unfortunately, when peace broke out, the farmers were left with large mortgages, too much land in production, and prices falling. They also got used to having plenty of money, but now annual farm income has dropped by 2/3rds. More to the point, the type of farming they are doing has made the land prone to erosion, so when there is a dry winter from 1931 to 32, it is expected that a little dust might kick up during the following windy season. What actually happens is more than a little frightening, and it's just getting started. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8]}

We didn't know what to think. It started way off and it was real, real dark, and the closer it got, it got brown. [...] in thirty minutes it's just like midnight. [...] You couldn't see your hand in front of your face. And it just choked you and choked you with the dust, it was so fine.

It scared the heck out of us. Mother'd pray about it, you know. And us kids, of course we were little, and we stayed pretty close to Ma, I guarantee you.

-- Robert "Boots" McCoy recalling the Amarillo dust storm of January 1932. ^[9]

We Are All Liberal Fascists Now!

I am asking for a Liberal Fascisti, for enlightened Nazis.

-- H. G. Wells, addressing the Young Liberals at Oxford, July 1932. ^[10]

Adolf Hitler has become a naturalized German citizen in order to run for the office of President. (If only he could get rid of that terrible Austrian accent of his. He sounds like a hick... uh... I mean an unsophisticated person.) Hindenburg disagrees with many of Hitler's positions, and frankly, Hindenburg is the only one who could possibly beat Hitler in a straight up election. So... despite failing health, Hindenburg runs for office. Hitler makes a deal or "Gentleman's Agreement" with a retired general (and previous Chancellor) who wants to boot the current "Catholic Center Party" Chancellor out of office. So if the general will support Hitler for President, Hitler promises to support the general's choice for Chancellor. (Cross my heart and hope you die.) There are lots of side deals being made and as it turns out, Hindenburg wins the presidency. Hindenburg offers the Vice-chancellorship to Hitler but he refuses. It is the Chancellorship or nothing. However, the Nazi Party clearly has the momentum. It is a fascist movement.... "a liberal fascism" as H.G. Wells puts it. As promised in a previous deal, Hindenburg dissolves parliament so that new elections can be run. Then he dissolves parliament again. By early next year Hindenburg will agree to make Hitler Chancellor. This will spell the end of democracy in Germany... and eventually the retired general will leave political life, but Hitler will remember him. Despite the endorsement, Hitler will have the man assassinated during the Night of Long Knives. But that is later. For now, rest easy, if you can. ^{[11] [12] [13]}

My Take by Alex Shrugged
The whole plan created by the establishment German elders has been to manipulate the democratic process in order to eliminate democracy and go back to something resembling business as usual. Adolf Hitler was able to hijack that process at the end, inserting himself as the beneficiary of the establishment's hard work, and completely supplanting them. Hitler's movement was a youth movement. The cynical parents of the Roaring 20s, gave way to a HERO generation, but don't let that label fool you. A HERO generation gives you change you can believe in. They set things right as they perceive right to be. They are energetic, motivated and absolutely love those Hugo Boss uniforms the Nazis wear. As it said in the Hugo Boss ads (paraphrasing) "Supplying National Socialists since 1924!" It was actually 1928 but why quibble? They provided the uniforms for the Hitler Youth, SS, and the SA which were the "Brown shirts". ^{[14] [15]}

Notable Births

• Donald Rumsfeld (Living): Secretary of Defense under Gerald Ford and George W. Bush. (He hammered the press corp.) ^[16]

• Mario Cumo: A major force in the Democrat Party, father of NY Governor Andrew Cumo and Chis Cumo at CNN.^[17]

• Ted Kennedy: The lesser brother of John, and Robert. Senator Kennedy flipped his car into a river and swam to shore leaving Mary Jo to die. Did I mention his dog's name was "Splash"? (If you think I am flipping him off, that is because I am.) ^{[18] [19]}

• And in Entertainment...

• -- Nichelle Nichols (Living): Lt. Uhura of the original Star Trek series, and one of 1st black actresses NOT serving pancakes on TV. ^[20]

• -- Elizabeth Taylor: Amazing in Cleopatra, she has been dead since 2011, but I still see her in commercials! ^[21]

• -- Casey Kasem: The American Top 40 disc jockey and the voice of "Shaggy" on Scooby-Doo. ^{[22] [23]}

• -- Donna Douglas: Sweet Elly May Clampett of The Beverly Hillbillies. ^[24]

• -- Pat Morita: The cook on Happy Days, Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid and the voice of the Emperor in Disney's Mulan. ^[25]

**Note: (Living) means they were alive when I checked on 2017-Jan-17.

In Other News

• Amelia Earhart flies solo across the Atlantic to Ireland. A farmhand asks, "Have you flown far?" She replies, "From America." ^[26]

• The Purple Heart is revived. The original was established by General George Washington. ^[27]

• The German Enigma Code has been broken by the Polish Cipher Bureau! Wait. The movie said that English geniuses broke the code. As the Enigma Machine became more complex, the code had to be broken again. ^[28]

• Mars Bars are introduced and Milky Way Bars are repackaged. Frank Mars and his son Forrest are going to sell a lot of candy. ^{[29] [30] [31]}

• Buck Rodgers, Tarzan, Jack Benny and radio soap operas! What next???!!!

This Year in Wikipedia

Year 1932, Wikipedia.