Asimov's SF, June 2007

by Dell Magazine Authors

  Wallace, an agricultural expert, also said, “Even if by some chance we should win, we would probably have to try to feed the whole world afterward. No country can do that."

  Support for Wallace's statement came quickly from both sides of the partisan aisle. Even Senators and Representatives who supported Roosevelt's war initiative seemed glad of the chance to distance themselves from it. “If I'd known things would go this badly, I never would have voted for [the declaration of war],” said a prominent Senator.

  White House reaction was surprisingly restrained. “We will not set a timetable,” said an administration spokesman. “That would be the same as admitting defeat."

  Another official, speaking anonymously, said FDR had known Wallace was “off the reservation” for some time. He added, “When the ship sinks, the rats jump off.” Then he tried to retract the remark, denying that the ship was sinking. But the evidence speaks for itself.

  * * * *

  May 9, 1942—Miami Herald

  MORE SINKINGS IN BROAD DAYLIGHT

  U-Boats Prowl Florida Coast at Will

  The toll of ships torpedoed in Florida waters in recent days has only grown worse. On May 6, a U-boat sank the freighter Amazon near Jupiter Inlet. She sank in eighty feet of water.

  That same day, also under the smiling sun, the tanker Halsey went to the bottom not far away. Then, yesterday, the freighter Ohioan was sunk. So was the tanker Esquire. That ship broke apart, spilling out ninety-two thousand barrels of oil close to shore. No environmental-impact statement has yet been released.

  There is still no proof that the U.S. Navy has sunk even a single German submarine, despite increasingly strident claims to the contrary.

  * * * *

  May 11, 1942—Washington Post

  MOTHER'S DAY MARCH

  War Protesters Picket White House

  Mothers of war victims killed in the Pacific and Atlantic marched in front of the White House to protest the continued fighting. “What does Roosevelt think he's doing?” asked Louise Heffernan, forty-seven, of Altoona, Pennsylvania. Her son Richard was slain in a tanker sinking three weeks ago. “How many more have to die before we admit his policy isn't working?"

  A mother who refused to give her name—"Who knows what the FBI would do to me?"—said she lost two sons at Pearl Harbor. “It's a heartache no one who hasn't gone through it can ever understand,” she said. “I don't think anyone else should have to suffer the way I have."

  Placards read END THE WAR NOW!, NO BLOOD FOR BRITAIN!, and ANOTHER MOTHER FOR PEACE. Passersby whistled and cheered for the demonstrators.

  * * * *

  March 12, 1942—Los Angeles Times

  JAPAN BATTERS U.S. CARRIERS IN CORAL SEA

  The Navy Department has clamped a tight lid of secrecy over the battle in the Coral Sea (see map) last week. Correspondents in Hawaii and Australia have had to work hard to piece together an accurate picture of what happened. The Navy's reluctance to talk shows that it considers the engagement yet another defeat.

  One U.S. fleet carrier, the Lexington, was sunk. Another, the Yorktown, was severely damaged, and is limping toward Hawaii for repair. American casualties in the battle were heavy: 543 dead and a number of wounded the Navy still refuses to admit.

  In addition to the carriers, the U.S. lost a destroyer, a fleet oiler, and 66 planes. Japanese aircraft hit American ships with 58 percent of the bombs and torpedoes they dropped. Prewar predictions of bombing accuracy were as low as 3 percent.

  Navy sources claim to have sunk a Japanese light carrier, and to have damaged a fleet carrier—possibly two. They assert that seventy-seven Japanese airplanes were downed, and say Japanese casualties “had to have been” heavier than ours. Given how much the Navy exaggerates what it has done in the Atlantic, these Pacific figures also need to be taken with an ocean of salt.

  * * * *

  May 15, 1942—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

  WALLACE SAYS FDR LIED

  President Expected War, VP Insists

  Vice President Henry Wallace broke ranks with Roosevelt again in a speech in Little Rock, Arkansas. “Roosevelt looked for us to get sucked into this war,” Wallace said. “He was getting ready for it at the same time as he was telling America we could stay out.

  "I see that now,” the Vice President added. “If I'd seen it then, I never would have agreed to be his running mate. The USA deserves better. How many women—and men—are grieving today because the President of the United States flat-out lied? And how much more grief do we have to look forward to?"

  Stormy applause greeted Wallace's remarks. Arkansas is a longtime Democratic stronghold, but FDR's popularity is plummeting there, as it has across the country. After Wallace finished speaking, shouts of “Impeach Roosevelt!” rang out from the crowd. They were also cheered.

  Asked whether he thought Roosevelt should be impeached, Wallace said, “I can't comment. If I say no, people will think I agree with his policies, and I don't. But if I say yes, they will think I am angling for the White House myself. The people you need to talk to are the Speaker of the House and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee."

  A reported also asked Wallace if he would seek peace if he did become President. “A negotiated settlement has to be better than the series of catastrophes we've suffered,” he replied. “Why should our boys die to uphold the British Empire and Communist Russia?"

  * * * *

  May 16, 1942—Washington Post

  IMPEACHMENT “RIDICULOUS,” FDR SAYS

  Beleaguered Franklin Roosevelt called talk of impeachment “ridiculous” in a written statement released this morning. “I am doing the best job of running this country I can,” the statement said. “That is what the American people elected me to do, and I aim to do it. We can win this war—and we will, unless the ingrates who stand up and cheer whenever anything goes wrong have their way."

  Roosevelt's statement also lambasted his breakaway Vice President, Henry Wallace. “He is doing more for the other side than a division of panzer troops,” it said.

  Wallace replied, “I am trying to tell America the truth. Isn't it about time somebody did? We deserve it."

  House Speaker Sam Rayburn declined comment. A source close to the Speaker said he is “waiting to see what happens next."

  * * * *

  May 26, 1942—Honolulu Star-Bulletin

  YORKTOWN TORPEDOED, SUNK

  Loss of Life Feared Heavy

  A day before she was to put in at Pearl Harbor for emergency repairs, the carrier Yorktown was sunk by a Japanese sub southwest of Oahu. The ship sank quickly in shark-infested waters. Only about 120 survivors have been rescued.

  The Yorktown's complement is about nineteen hundred men. She also carried air crew from the Lexington, which went down almost three weeks ago in the Coral Sea. Nearly as many men died with her as did at Pearl Harbor, in other words.

  The plan was to quickly fix up the Yorktown and send her to defend Midway Island along with the Hornet and the Saratoga. Midway is believed to be the target of an advancing fleet considerably stronger than the forces available to hold the island. Now the two surviving carriers—one damaged itself—and their support vessels will have to go it alone.

  If the Japanese occupy Midway, Honolulu and Pearl Harbor will come within reach of their deadly long-range bombers.

  * * * *

  May 28, 1942—Honolulu Advertiser editorial

  STAR-BULLETIN SHUT DOWN

  Censors’ Reign of Error

  Because bullying Navy and War Department censors unconstitutionally closed down our rival newspaper yesterday, it is up to us to carry on in the Star-Bulletin's footsteps. We aim to tell the truth to the people of Honolulu and to the people of America. If the maniacs with the blue pencils try to silence us, we will go underground to carry on the fight for justice and the First Amendment.

  From where we sit, the fat cats in the Roosevelt administration who think they ought to have a monopoly on the facts are worse enemies of free
dom than Tojo and Hitler put together. In dragging us into this pointless war in the first place, they pulled the wool over the country's eyes. They thought they had the right to do that, because they were doing it for our own good. They knew better than we do, you see.

  Only they didn't. One disastrous failure after another has proved that. Up till now, the USA has never lost a war. Unless we can wheel FDR out of the White House soon, that record won't last more than another few weeks.

  * * * *

  May 29, 1942—Cleveland Plain Dealer

  DEMONSTRATORS CLASH DOWNTOWN

  Pro- and Anti-war Factions, Police Battle in Streets

  Thousands of protesters squared off yesterday in downtown Cleveland. Police were supposed to keep the passionately opposed sides separate. Instead, they joined the pro-FDR forces in pummeling the peaceful demonstrators who condemn the war and, in increasing numbers, call for Roosevelt's impeachment and removal from office.

  Anti-war demonstrators far outnumbered the President's supporters. Those who still blindly back Roosevelt, however, came prepared for violence. They were armed with clubs, rocks, and bottles, and were ready to use them.

  "War! War! FDR! Now the President's gone too far!” chanted the peaceful anti-war forces. Another chant soon swelled and grew: “Impeach Roosevelt!"

  FDR's supporters then attacked the anti-war picketers. Vicious cops were also seen beating protesters with billy clubs and kicking them on the ground (see photo above this story). Some protesters withdrew from the demonstration. Others fought back, refusing to be intimidated by Roosevelt's thuggish followers or by the out-of-control police.

  "This can only help our cause,” said a man bleeding from a scalp laceration and carrying a NO MORE YEARS! sign. “When the country sees how brutal that man in the White House really is, it will know what to do. I'm sure of it."

  * * * *

  May 31, 1942—Honolulu Advertiser

  HORNET, SARATOGA SAIL FOR MIDWAY

  America's two surviving fleet carriers in the Pacific left Pearl Harbor yesterday. Sources say they are bound for strategic Midway Island, about one thousand miles to the northwest.

  With the carriers sailed the usual accompaniment of cruisers and destroyers. The ships made a brave show. But how much can they hope to accomplish against the disciplined nationalism of Japan and the determined bravery of her soldiers and pilots and sailors?

  This strike force seems to be Roosevelt's last desperate effort to salvage something from the war he blundered into. The odds look grim. Japan may be low on scrap metal and oil thanks to FDR, but she is long on guts and stubbornness. If the Navy fails here, as it has failed so often, the outlook for Hawaii and for the west coast of the mainland looks bleak indeed.

  * * * *

  June 1, 1942—Official proclamation

  HONOLULU ADVERTISER NO LONGER TO BE PUBLISHED

  WHEREAS, it is provided by Section 67 of the Organic Act of the Territory of Hawaii, approved April 30, 1900, that the Governor of that territory may call upon the commander of the military forces of the United States in that territory to prevent invasion; and

  WHEREAS, it is further provided by the said section that the Governor may, in case of invasion or imminent danger thereof, suspend the privilege of habeas corpus and place the territory under martial law; and

  WHEREAS, the Honolulu Advertiser has egregiously violated the terms of censorship imposed on the territory following December 7, 1941;

  NOW, THEREFORE, I order the said Honolulu Advertiser to suspend publication indefinitely and its staff to face military tribunals to judge and punish their disloyalty.

  DONE at Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, this 1st day of June 1942.

  (SEAL OF THE TERRITORY OF HAWAII)

  —Lt. Col. Neal D. Franklin

  Army Provost Marshal

  * * * *

  June 7, 1942—San Francisco Chronicle

  DISASTER AT MIDWAY!

  Carriers Sunk—Island Invaded

  The Imperial Japanese Navy dealt the U.S. Pacific Fleet a devastating blow off Midway Island three days ago. Though Navy officials are maintaining a tight-lipped silence, reliable sources say both the Saratoga and the Hornet were sunk by Japanese dive bombers. Several support vessels were also sunk or damaged.

  Japanese troops have landed on Midway. The Yamato, the mightiest battleship in the world, is bombarding the island with what are reported to be eighteen-inch guns. Japanese planes rule the skies. Resistance is said to be fading.

  When the Japanese succeed in occupying Midway, Hawaii will be vulnerable to their bombers. So will convoys coming from the mainland to supply Hawaii—and so will convoys leaving Hawaii for Australia and New Zealand.

  Japanese submarines sailing out of Midway will have an easier time reaching the West Coast. They could even threaten the Panama Canal.

  This war has seemed to be an uphill fight from the beginning. For all practical purposes, it is unwinnable now. The only person in the country who fails to realize that, unfortunately, lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington.

  * * * *

  June 8, 1942—Baltimore News-Post

  ROOSEVELT TEARS INTO PRESS

  Blames Leaks for U.S. Defeats

  Trying to shore up flagging public support for his war, FDR lashed out at American newspapers in a speech before cadets at the Naval Academy in Annapolis yesterday. “How can we fight with any hope of success when they trumpet our doings to the foe?” he complained.

  The cadets applauded warmly. Whether Roosevelt could have found such a friendly reception from civilians is a different question.

  "Reporters seem proud when they find a new secret and print it,” he said, shaking his fist from his wheelchair. “If printing that secret means our brave sailors and soldiers die, they don't care. They have their scoop."

  According to FDR, the staggering loss at Midway can be laid at the feet of newsmen. Our own military incompetence and Japanese skill and courage apparently had nothing to do with it. However loudly the young, naïve cadets may cheer, the rest of the nation is drawing other conclusions.

  * * * *

  June 9, 1942—Washington Post editorial

  Responsibility

  Nothing is ever Franklin D. Roosevelt's fault. if you don't believe us, just ask him. German U-boats are sinking ships up and down the Atlantic coast? It's all the newspapers’ fault. The Navy and the Army have suffered a string of humiliating defeats in the Pacific? The papers are to blame there, too.

  Throwing rocks at the press may make FDR feel better, but that is all it does. What he really blames the newspapers for is pointing out his mistakes. Now the whole country can take a good look at them. Roosevelt does not care for that at all.

  With him, image is everything; substance, nothing. Have you ever noticed how seldom he is allowed to be photographed in his wheelchair? If people aren't reminded of it, they won't think about it. That is how his mind works.

  But when it comes to the acid test of war, image is not enough. You need real victories on the battlefield, and the United States has not been able to win any. Why not? No matter what Roosevelt and his stooges say, it is not because the press has blabbed our precious secrets.

  The fact of the matter is, whether we read codes from Germany and Japan hardly matters. Even when we have good intelligence, we don't know what to do with it. Example? The Japanese tried out their Zero fighter in China in 1940. General Claire Chennault, who led the volunteer Flying Tigers, warned Washington what it was like. It came as a complete surprise to the Navy anyhow.

  Most of our intelligence, though, was incredibly bad. We were sure France could give Germany a good fight. We were just as sure our navy could whip Japan's with ease. We fatally underestimated German technology and resourcefulness, to say nothing of Japanese drive and élan. Japan and Germany are fighting for their homelands. What are we fighting for? Anything at all?

  FDR is too sunk in pride to get out of the war he stumbled into while the country still ha
s any chestnuts worth pulling from the fire. He will not—he seems unable to—admit that the many mistakes we have made are his and his henchmen's.

  And since he will not, we must put someone in the White House who will. Impeachment may be an extreme step, but the United States is in extreme danger. With this war gone so calamitously wrong, we need peace as soon as we can get it, and at almost any price.

  * * * *

  June 11, 1942—Boston Globe

  WALLACE PLEDGES PEACE, IF...

  Vice President Henry Wallace said American foreign policy needs to change course. “I'm not the President. I can't make policy,” he said last night at a Longshoremen's Union banquet. “Right now, the President doesn't even want to listen to me. But I can see it's time for a change. Only peace will put our beloved country back on track."

  Wallace did not speak of the growing sentiment for impeachment. After all, he stands to take over the White House after Roosevelt is ousted. But he left no doubt that he would do everything in his power to pull American troops back to this country. He also condemned the huge deficits our massive military adventure is causing us to run.

  With his common-sense approach, he seemed much more Presidential than the man still clinging to power in Washington.

  * * * *

  June 16, 1942—Washington Post

  RAYBURN, SUMNERS CONFER

  Articles of Impeachment Likely

  House Speaker Sam Rayburn and Judiciary Committee Chairman Hatton Sumners met today to discuss procedures for impeaching President Roosevelt. Both Texas Democrats were tight-lipped as they emerged from their conference.

  Sumners offered no comment of any kind. Rayburn said only, “I am sorry to be in this position. The good of the country may demand something I would otherwise much rather not do."

  Only one President has ever been impeached: Andrew Johnson in 1868. The Senate failed by one vote to convict him.

  Sumners has experience with impeachment. He was the House manager in the proceedings against Judges George English and Halsted Ritter. English resigned; Ritter was convicted and removed from office.

  Sumners has also clashed with FDR before. He was the chief opponent of Roosevelt's 1937 scheme to pack the Supreme Court.