"Last Days of Patton" warned of "wallpaper hangers"

This was a made-for-TV movie

The movie "The Last Days of Patton" (1986) shows the war hero very realistic in how he assesses human nature. Europe was in rubble. How on earth does humanity allow this to happen?
Does history not repeat itself? Is human nature not consistent? Is there any guarantee that our U.S. will exist forever as this pulsating force for good in the world, guaranteed to be prosperous? Just because?
Human frailty, imbued in us by our Lord, hovers at all times. So it's ironic and potentially highly tragic, perhaps putting Christianity in an existential crisis, that the great underpinning faith of so many people is tied to our current president of the United States.
Patton understood fundamental human frailties. So in the aftermath of World War II he was not of a mind to discriminate harshly against all former Nazis. He was of a mind to in effect shrug over the issue.
He gives a speech early-on with a term that stuck in my mind. He said every generation has "wallpaper hangers." His reference was to power-hungry despots with a skill for building a following. The following itself becomes deluded.
In effect the great general seemed to be saying "forgive them, Lord, for they are ignorant."
Our current U.S. president recently spoke in Minneapolis. Did this speech really make you proud to be an American? We are awash in news reports every day about the absurdities and raw offensiveness of the executive branch in Washington D.C. For the news media it is starting to seem like a gravy train. How quaint to think back to the days when Larry King had his hour every night. He'd interview some frivolous celebrity who had a misstep and was seeking redemption.
The Clinton-Lewinsky scandal was bad but not existential for the country. Or maybe it was. The fallout from the mess set the stage for a resurgence of the Republican side of the ledger. For a while this seemed within acceptable bounds, though I'm not inclined to vote that way at all. But then we saw "conservatism" of the Weekly Standard kind morph into something different and sinister. It merely cloaks itself in conservatism. Even the pretending may be over. The cult of personality has grown to where many of the followers aren't even abashed about it.
There are local Christian religious zealots for whom voting Democrat would never be an option. They'd sneer and utter cuss words, just like the president, if even presented with that option. So for them - there are lots of them - supporting the Republican-affiliated president is like a default choice.
But can't these people pay serious attention to the news and start doing a critical analysis? This task would seem above them. And many of them attend churches where any embrace of "progressive" ideas might get them tossed out.
 
Whither the great faith?
Yes, Christianity itself faces an existential crisis, if it allows itself to sink or swim in connection to Donald Trump. History can repeat itself. We all have friends with German ancestry and we know these people are not stupid. Quite to the contrary, they can be brilliant. So what happened in the mid-20th Century? They found a scapegoat - the Jews - just like so many in the U.S. now target immigrants. But not immigrants from Norway, I guess. So it's related to color which gets us into a realm much closer than we'd like to admit, to 1930s Germany.
When I refer to the current Trump "rallies" as Nuremberg-style events, I am not exaggerating. Trump has the skill of demagogues. He is the kind of "wallpaper hanger" that Patton referenced in a manner suggesting "they come and they go." A couple of them every generation, he said.
He was not of a mind to dismiss all the ignorant followers who get swept up in the wave. He clashed with General Eisenhower over "de-Nazification." He claimed 98 percent of the Nazis were "forced into it." Can we really claim we'd be defiant of such a movement, if it might cost us our lives? Really? Were the Germans ignorant and weak? Were they primarily just scared? Of course they were wayward. But I'd assert they were just human beings showing the kind of weakness God incorporated in us. Hitler did not become an outright monster overnight. The Allies had to leave rubble all over the place just to exterminate the menace. It was a menace created by our German friends.
The menace builds with nationalism. This can lead to trade wars. Sound familiar? No one wants to admit early-on that horrible military conflict is going to develop from such things. We are instinctively scared of violence and death. So why did Germany wade into it? Not because the people were stupid. It was because of a "wallpaper hanger" who probably should not be dignified by having his name cited. The future will give us more such incarnations of the phenomenon.
 
Decorum, propriety
At present, does it not seem reasonable to think we are seeing the unfolding of a new phenomenon? Could you imagine a standard mainstream "conservative" giving speeches like Donald Trump? Getting huge crowds riled up? Inspiring the same element of rudeness and courseness that you'd see at a big professional wrestling spectacle? That is exactly what it is like.
Could you imagine someone like Jeb Bush behaving like Trump? There was a time when Bush fit the template of standard GOPers. Don't you all wonder what the likes of Bush are thinking as they consume the daily news about this cartoonish leader named Donald Trump? This wallpaper hanger? Mitt Romney is a faint voice of dissent. He needs to flinch in the face of brickbats.
We see the forces for good in Washington D.C. moving oh so tentatively and cautiously, in a truly halting way, making us think the top of this mountain may not be reached. Impeachment? The top of the mountain would be a restoration of intelligent norms in our government, such as the norm of leaving the Federal Reserve alone.
Trump needs dramatically lower interest rates to try to keep the stock market artificially propped up so he can sneak through the next election. Americans have been herded like sheep into their 401Ks. Many experts think the Fed and its printing press are just buying time for the economy. Many argue that delaying the inevitable recession will make the downturn far worse. And, it is in the midst of such financial crises that a "wallpaper hanger" can come along and lead us into tremendous tragedy.
Christianity ought to be with the forces for good at this time. But unfortunately we see the opposite situation, with only outliers like the ELCA being like voices in the wilderness. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is a beacon of reason amidst the madness. But the synod seems to be losing ground. Perhaps I should proclaim "heaven help all of us."
 
Unique figure from history
The main story element in the 1986 movie "The Last Days of Patton" is the car accident that led to the general's death. Profoundly sad naturally. We see flashbacks to the general's earlier life like in World War I. He came from a line of military people.
A German character in the original "Patton" movie (1970) said of Patton, "the absence of war will kill him." The 1986 movie was made for TV.

Poster for original 1970 movie

The first movie might have been a little revisionist. The late general's family was unsettled before seeing it, even weighing the possibility of suing. There were smoldering matters of contention. But the 1970 movie left them feeling satisfied. The movie left behind the minutiae of war decisions and focused instead on the American ideal of simply winning! The war was receding into the past. It was time to call on our better angels, I guess. Also, don't speak ill of the dead?
Are there really any angels coming out of wartime? Hollywood got it right. We all know war is hell anyway. (That quote from General Sherman of the Civil War is really a paraphrase, as are many famous quotes.)

How will Hollywood portray?
What kind of movies might Hollywood churn out about our current chapter of history? Will the U.S. as we've known it even exist any more?
No matter what the media reveal about Trump these days, the administration just marches on. On so many days we think "well, now a line has been crossed." Well, we thought that back when the "Access Hollywood" tape came out.
George C. Scott played General Patton in both the original movie and the TV-based sequel. He played the same kind of character in "Taps" about the rebelling military school, remember? I have often thought the man "over-acts" some. But his success speaks for itself. There are times when he seemed to make Patton a little buffoon-ish, which I'm sure he was not. But when he articulated about "wallpaper hangers," he was dead on with wisdom. Should we all look in the mirror now? How much longer can we laugh about or dismiss all the outrageousness?
Will the "Access Hollywood" tape be too unsavory for even Hollywood to touch in future representations? What does that say about us?
We must consider: If Trump goes down, will he take his followers with him?
Another factor: We know that if Trump fails to win re-election, he loses the "force field" of the presidency. Therefore he will take extreme steps to try to ensure his survival. This has already happened, and what extreme measures will he take to try to keep the economic expansion going, against the odds? It is taboo to put pressure on the Fed. Trump does this blatantly. Fire Jerome Powell? Powell is a very wealthy man and doesn't need the job. Trump needs his. Beware the "wallpaper hanger."
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com