A Shift in Priorities

[Kitiem3000]

Prettige kerst to everyone.

How influential is our saint at the moment? Do his followers number in the millions yet? Does the catholic church have an official position on him or even knowledge of him? People do call him a saint after all.

[Expat]

Originally Posted by wietze

A balkanised america?

Ha, no, just Assassin's Creed: Alvin York.

[nerdknight01]

¡ Hi ! ¡ MERRY CHRISMAS TO ALL !.

-To Kitiem3000:
About Alvin York´s numbers i supose that will it be more or less in 400,000 - 600,000 totally fanatic suporters, and add to that number 50,000 - 200, 000 peoples who likes Alvin´s ideals. A lot of belivers will it be poor, or desesperate or discriminated people. About the " sanint " question, i supose that guy is called with this nickname because he totally change his life for better, and he is helping to poor, people, discriminated people, etc..

Ernie Pyne is one magnificent witness about the people who going to change America for better and worst, in anyway, Alvin maybe and say it again maybe he don´t giving any comand against McAdoo but some fanatic follower, well, and don´t forget that the vicepresident is Hearst, ¡ heck ! something in my guts tell me that guy will it be a worst president that McAdoo.

And finnally, York as Assasain´s creed, ¡ NAWW !, i supose that because the coming chaos and destruction that maybe will it be arrived inside América, how to say, i propose Alvin York´s Gears of War, will see..

Peace and good luck.

[rast]

Hope everybody has enjoyed a merry Christmas.

The ship of democracy which has weathered all storms may sink through a mutiny of those aboard.
(US President Grover Cleveland)

Coming from a meeting with J. Edgar Hoover and Harry J. Anslinger, Alexander M. Palmer, the director of the FCFA, felt kind of exhausted. Damn, he wasn’t getting younger, and this crime fighting business was becoming ever and ever more demanding. Ordering his secretary that he wasn’t to be disturbed for the next two hours, he tossed close the door of his office – and went to pour himself a good glass of brandy at the sideboard bar.

Sipping the strong stuff with relish and smoking a cigar, Palmer, the feet posed snugly on his desk, read through the notes he had taken at the meeting. What a frigging mess! Neither Anslinger with his drug fighting obsession nor Hoover with his penchant for collecting intimate and discriminating personal data really had a sound idea what they, the US governmental authorities, were up against.

While drugs confusing the senses certainly could destroy individual lives and families, they were negligible on the grand scale. As always, the big money was earned with alcohol and tobacco, production and marketing of both being perfectly legal. Therefore, Anslinger’s considerable organisation was just a waste of money. By indicting hemp, Anslinger had created a huge ‘clientele’, which his agents now could chase, without that any progress was achieved in crime fighting. That moron had only had succeeded in criminalising a lot of people, who otherwise would have been regarded as honourable citizens.

Hoover’s FSS was hardly any better. They were collecting all kind of data, but had not yet produced any tangible information about organised crime structures. Palmer didn’t deny that they might be competent spy hunters, but in terms of crime fighting, they so far had contributed nothing but pathetic trifles. Hoover seemed to be far more interested in juicy stories about and unveiling photographs of private and public persons than in fathoming delinquency and racketeering.

Thus, the task rested largely with Palmer’s FCFA and the subservient state police agencies. He had managed to purge his outfit from the inertia habitual under his predecessor. But the enemy also had improved. The little mobster with slum background was still there, but the real criminals today were white collar workers in modern bureaus operating with telephones, typewriters and forms – rather than with revolvers and submachine guns. Human trafficking still might affect girls and women sold to prostitution, but the true trafficking today hit whole work forces and professional branches. And those who controlled the big breweries and distilleries only laughed at the poor blighters who risked their lives for smuggling some ounces of dope into country.

Did the big banks own organised crime, or did OC own the banks? This already had become indistinguishable along the East Coast, where big business and OC had largely gone into symbiosis. True, from deep down the society new strata of petty criminals were growing, but those were for the local police forces to deal with. Also, Niggers, Spics and other aliens were striving to get their piece of the cake. But this wasn’t big money, this wasn’t the machine that corrupted politicians and public clerks.

Where did crime end and respectable business start? This became increasingly more difficult to discern. Well, if one didn’t count the KKK as OC, the McAdoo cabinet certainly was not yet under the influence of the latter. But many levels below the topmost one were in close contact with OC and interacted with it. Matter-of-factly, Palmer could have given up all hope – and done nothing. But that was against his convictions and his belief in the working of US democracy.

But the transitions were so fluent. The more capital involved, the more difficult became discrimination between business, banking and OC. How to gauge men like J. P. Morgan, who had started his career by selling decommissioned faulty rifles back to the US Army for elevated prices? Where did normal business end and criminal activity start? Especially, when the laws only restricted those who couldn’t afford competent lawyers?

Palmer decided to have another brandy. It helped him contemplating the situation more serenely. There was no use in getting emotional. It was all about money, influence and power. Once a big criminal had shuffled together enough riches, a started to require law enforcers in order to protect him from the petty criminals who were growing again from below. Did that make him a respectable citizen already? Was paying taxes a criterion? Or the closeness to political circles?

Palmer sighed. There were no definite answers. On the petty level, things were rather simple. The higher one went up in the hierarchies, the more difficult affairs became to tell apart. He didn’t worry about Disgruntled Grunts, Midwest bank robbers and Nigger drug dealers, his headache were the nimble men in business suits... – This was dangerous, extremely dangerous... – These people were no murderers, didn’t even carry arms; but they could – at any time – hire dozens of cheap killers...

[Kitiem3000]

Where did crime end and respectable business start?

A question that even now still requires an answer.

Anslinger’s considerable organisation was just a waste of money. By indicting hemp, Anslinger had created a huge ‘clientele’, which his agents now could chase, without that any progress was achieved in crime fighting. That moron had only had succeeded in criminalising a lot of people, who otherwise would have been regarded as honourable citizens.

It's nice to see the futility of the war on drugs being somewhat sooner realized then in OTL.

[Archangel]

Palmer is right in his assessment of the real dangers for the US.

Keep it up, rast!

[Peabody-Martini]

It seems as if there is a serious possibility that turf wars between these three agencies is developing. If so it could come at a very bad time.

[Monty Burns]

Originally Posted by Kitiem3000

It's nice to see the futility of the war on drugs being somewhat sooner realized then in OTL.

Indeed. But I doubt that the US ITTL will officially draw the conclusion like this guy.

In any case, I think the stage is being set for conflict: there's several competing, armed groups (KKK, grunts, multi-racial fundamentalists, mobsters), an administration which typically follows the worst choice, and government agencies that will likely prove ineffective and the Greater Depression to hit soon...

[rast]

The right of resisting oppression is a natural right.
(Andrew Jackson)

The simultaneous attacks on Alcatraz Federal Prison and San Quentin State Prison had been executed like military commando raids, fast, efficient – and with utter brutality... Operating ruthlessly with sniper rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, explosive charges and homemade hand grenades, the assailants had killed all wardens coming into sight – and quite a number of inmates, mostly ordinary criminals. Logistics had been equally efficient, shuttling away the liberated political convicts in a flurry of activity, including the use of two harbour ferries and several fast motor yachts.

The official bulletins tried to obscure the number of convicts escaped and wardens slain, but the gossip factory soon spread it all over the town: 236 political and 185 criminal jailbirds had been whisked away; 74 wardens were dead, another 52 had been wounded. About the casualties of the attackers, there only was speculation; none had been found. – In addition, fifteen innocent passers-by had perished, seven more had been injured. – The raiders and their clients had vanished without a trace...

Of course, security for other prisons had been increased; and whole battalions of law enforcers were searching for the fugitives. John Crawford was one of them. He was no longer working for the L.A.P.D. but had been recruited by the FCFA about one year ago. He liked the intelligent detective work often done by the federal crime fighters, and enjoyed the better salary... It had enabled him to buy a house in Sacramento, move the family away from juggernaut Los Angeles and its violent crime scene, and to establish a modest home for his wife and the two kids.

After the jail raids, the Californian branch of the FCFA had been geared to utmost performance – however, without much output so far. The local crime networks claimed ignorance, no useful hints were coming forth. Special Agent Crawford was still one of the rank and file, sent around San Francisco Bay in order to gather information. For John, this was an excellent opportunity to get acquainted with the neighbourhood and the ambiance, but it didn’t produce useful evidence.

Sitting in the habitual evening update briefing, John learned that a snitch had indicated that there might be connections to the L.A. crime scene – without providing hard information. The informer was known as notoriously unreliable. Nevertheless, one had to investigate even the tiniest clue.
“John, you have worked down there, haven’t you?” asked his Clyde Tolson, the man flown in from Washington to direct the operation against the jail busters.
“That’s correct, Sir.”
“Okay, John. – Who’s your partner? Tom Carter? – Fine. I want you and Tom to go down to L.A. tomorrow and find out as much as you can. – I’ll ask the L.A.P.D. and our local office to co-operate to the fullest extent. – You have full power to press this home. Arrest whom you need to arrest – and interrogate’em without mercy. – We need to have results! I don’t mind a little bit of torture, as far as Niggers, Spics or other aliens are concerned. And you may buy whoever is available for money. – Just bring me a trail, a reliable trail...”

[nerdknight01]

¡ Hi !¡ EPIC !.

Alexander Palmer, at first sight he looks as one wise, intelligent guy that he can see the reality of how wrong and corrupt are now the system in America, and he can see the real ultimate danger of the alliance between white collar criminals and bankers, and how diferent is the real criminal world, against the idea of who are the criminals in their boses mind, and now how is asked to attack small mobsters, who did that class of work for survive, and at same time the high maffia are part of the elites, and rich society, and finnally he can´s see how to fight against the mafia low group, without touch, afect the interest of the elilte, in short: what a sad life he is living.

¡ LOL ! that´s i called a real escape from Alcatraz, in anyway, i bet that the ordinary common guy or gal are freacking scary now because a lot of violent criminals are on the run, and i bet that for some days a lot of buisness maybe will it beclosed their doors because of the fear of the criminals. That Crawford´s agent will it be going to California, and i really like to see how is Los Angeles now because the number of Bradley´s grunts, famers who are runing of The Dust Bowl, poor people without work, etc....

And finnally, i find to worry that the law´s autority dosen´t respect civil rights, or human rights in their searsh of criminals, andmaybe more than one exptional situation, now is common in McAdoo´s America that the ordinary cop broken the law/civil liberties in their search of criminals, i try to say that will it be sweet that Ernie Pyre will it be to written some article against Hoover´s mistakes in his searsh of justice.

Good luck.

[Peabody-Martini]

The attacks on San Quentin and Alcatraz would send shock waves through American society, Alcatraz in particular. That island deserves the reputation that it acquired during the first half of the twentieth century. Beyond the walls and barbed wire nature itself works against any escape attempt. Cold water, swift currents and steep rocky beaches see to that. Alcatraz was built to house prisoners who could not be held in other institutions because they were extremely adept at escape or had means of subverting a normal prison, the worst of the worst. Its relative isolation and difficult access handles both groups nicely. San Quentin serves a similar function for the State of California in this era, that would change with the construction of Pelican Bay decades later.

The attack on these prisons was more than just a break out. This was a declaration of war and a potent blow to Federal and State power. The symbolic value of this is massive. Alcatraz was the unbreakable prison and now someone just blasted their way into it. The heavy handed reaction by Federal authorities to these events seems like it will prove to be extremely counter productive.

[zeppelin247]

yea I think what is becoming obvious as timeline goes on is how the weak the government is, I mean you have massive networks going all the way from the grunts and the black drug dealers to the massive organised crime networks and now these radical socialist criminals who see not to be limited by the federal government, I think people are going to go from looking at the federal government to protect them for crime to local law authority which may lead to serious problems in the future

[Monty Burns]

Originally Posted by zeppelin247

yea I think what is becoming obvious as timeline goes on is how the weak the government is, I mean you have massive networks going all the way from the grunts and the black drug dealers to the massive organised crime networks and now these radical socialist criminals who see not to be limited by the federal government, I think people are going to go from looking at the federal government to protect them for crime to local law authority which may lead to serious problems in the future

Probably quite a few will not look to local authorities but to those networks. No black or Hispanic will turn to the local authorities, neither would any leftist or Grunt. And likely many Whites would directly go to the KKK.

Really, we just need a military arm of the Republican party and a military arm for the catholics

[Peabody-Martini]

believe it or not the lack of authority of the US Federal government is by design. This is still the Lochner era in the US, with the power of the US government to regulate commerce limited by a conservative activist supreme court. ITTL events seem to have caused the courts to back off from limiting federal policing powers unlike IOTL. Still in areas that effect most peoples lives the US Government at the state or federal level is either ineffective or largely absent.

[rast]

No one need think that the world can be ruled without blood. The civil sword shall and must be red and bloody.
(Andrew Jackson)

When they had hid the road in California, James Patrick ‘Jim’ Cannon hadn’t guessed that finding the Barrow Brothers would prove to be that difficult. True, he had known that at least half of Texas was searching for the guys ever since the big Eastham Prison Escape – without any success so far... On the other hand, Chestnut and Buckeye Barrow were not hiding timidly somewhere in the wilderness; they – and who remained from their original team – were robbing banks and killing cops all the time. They had become the terror of Northern and Eastern Texas.

Travelling with Tony Patterson had been easy, much easier than anticipated; disguised as white master and black servant, they had encountered no problems. And being perceived as submissive instrument of his master, Tony was enjoying far more liberties than a normal US Negro could hope for today. His livery and his physical appearance provided him authority in many aspects of everyday life; people generally thought that he was not only the butler and driver but also the enforcer of his white boss.

Cannon, the son of a foundry worker and socialist activist, was a veteran of the Socialist Party of America and the Industrial Workers of the World – and he was the foster-son of ‘Big Bill’ Haywood. As former party functionary he was accustomed to wearing formal attire and behaving like a big-head. He had been sent to jail for the first time in 1924, when he had campaigned against the Great Southern Conquest. In 1930, after he had led protest marches and demonstrations against US occupation of Iceland and the Azores Islands, he had been imprisoned again.

Although perhaps a little bit too old, Cannon had volunteered for the Venezuelan alternative after the successful escape from Eastham and the Great Texas Border Hop to Mexico. In retrospect, he was glad to have undergone military training, for him, it had given quite a new meaning to the term ‘class war’. He still shuddered at the memory of these arrogant Middle African militarists – but they had prepared him well for the oncoming struggle with the equally arrogant US capitalists.

The Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas, provided an adequate accommodation for Cannon, who was travelling as an oil drilling equipment supplier from Wichita, Kansas. In this ambience, nobody would be looking for an escaped jailbird from Eastham. And it was quite pleasant to enjoy the luxury of the capitalists – before their world perished in the impending revolution...

Of course, Patterson had to have a separate room, which was quite convenient, because the bloke had a tendency to endlessly screw around with the black chambermaids. He couldn’t help Cannon anyway, who was trying to get into contact with the socialist underground. – This, however, was much more complicated than Cannon had imagined: the reactionaries had radically weed out socialist and anarchist circles. As an inmate, Cannon had had far more opportunities to meet progressive people than now in freedom...

Perhaps, he should task Patterson with finding the Barrows... – After all, Chestnut and Buckeye were mean criminals and not political convicts. Thus, the ancient robber Patterson might potentially be better qualified to ferret out the killing and robbing Barrow brothers. But while Cannon was certain to be capable of evading the ordinary cops, Patterson was liable to attract them like a corpse attracted flies...

They ought to combine their talents... – Cannon strolled over to Patterson’s room and knocked.
“Tony! Drum off your damsel! We need to go on a country cruise!”

[Reichenfaust]

Interesting development, I like those two characters and their roles.

[zeppelin247]

I am so looking forward to some kind of socialist revolution occurring, and wondering what will all the other socialist nations in the world think when it is attempted?

[Bmao]

Originally Posted by zeppelin247

I am so looking forward to some kind of socialist revolution occurring, and wondering what will all the other socialist nations in the world think when it is attempted?

If the US falls into outright Civil War, they'll look at the US the same way they saw the Bolshevik revolution and the bloody civil war that followed. Remember, Stalin began his career robbing banks and shooting up policemen...

[ANARCHY_4_ALL]

I wonder if Zebulon Foster is involved in this underground circus?

[Monty Burns]

Originally Posted by Bmao

If the US falls into outright Civil War, they'll look at the US the same way they saw the Bolshevik revolution and the bloody civil war that followed. Remember, Stalin began his career robbing banks and shooting up policemen...

Now wouldn't it be epic if Pan-European forces invade the socialist states of America to help the anti-communists there?

Seriously: I doubt that there'll be much success of the socialists. You just don't get Americans into socialists (at least socialists in the European sense - after all pretty much everybody is a socialist in the Republican sense). I don't see an outright civil war yet - but there'll definitely be an Uber-Weimar situation in the worst sense, fueled by outright terrorist groups and drug money.