"Mr. Hoover, do you think that the American Press Wartime Code of Conduct, promulgated and enforced last year, is not enough?"

Hoover muttered: "I think that is the most basic criterion, and it is no longer adapted to the new situation and requirements -- not that there are problems with the norm, but that there are many loopholes and problems in it." Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 For example, there is a public opinion that we should not be hostile to the Germans, but should concentrate our efforts on fighting the Japanese. In a normal thinking and political atmosphere, this is certainly understandable and discussed, but now our British allies are highly sensitive and nervous, and if the topic is discussed with great fanfare in the newspapers, what do you think if you are a British parliamentarian? ”

Someone said in a strange way: "Great Britain cannot pin all its hopes of victory on us, and the United States has paid a heavy price and provided continuous support for their involvement in the war." As the media noted, we are only allies, not mercenaries of the British Empire. ”

"That's true, but for an ally who has handed over the Navy's capital ships to us and basically wiped them out, even the slightest hint of wavering on our lips will magnify them tenfold and potentially make a disastrous choice."

Hearing the words "basically light", everyone looked up at Admiral Jin in amazement.

The latter nodded sadly: "Director Hoover is not exaggerating, the tonnage of the Royal Navy's capital ship, which was once the world's first, is only 150,000 tons, not to mention that compared with us, it is much inferior to Italy, and none of the capital ships they are lying on the slipway can be commissioned before 1944." In the Indian Ocean Campaign, the North Sea Campaign, the North Atlantic Campaign, and the Panama Campaign, the British and American navies lost more than 1 million tons of capital ship tonnage and more than 500,000 casualties. The naval forces of the three Axis countries were not only numerically overwhelming, but also superior in quality. ”

"If we stop aiding Britain for more than 2 months, Britain will collapse directly." Roosevelt, who had not spoken, added, "This is a dying patient, can we say anything too exciting?" ”

There was a commotion in the venue, everyone was dumbfounded, and for a large number of parliamentarians who did not have military experience, the impression in their minds was still stuck in the past: at that time, the United States was first, Britain was second, the Japanese navy was less than 7 percent of the United States, and the Italian and German navies together were only a fraction of the United States.

"Why did the Navy conceal its losses and exaggerate its achievements?"

"Who is primarily responsible?"

"What do we do next?"

Hoover ignored these questions and continued: "From our standpoint, it seems that we can discuss whether Europe is first or Pacific first, but do you know what the British media say? ”

Most people looked at each other: who was full of food and kept an eye on how the British newspapers were published?

"The Times published an article some time ago: ...... If it weren't for the fact that the Americans supported and repeatedly encouraged us to fight the Germans to the end, the United Kingdom would have been able to reconcile with the Third Reich a long time ago, at that time we still controlled Africa and the Middle East, and the routes to both South Africa and India were unimpeded, Hitler had no intention of annexing Great Britain, and even sent Deputy Führer Hess to negotiate secretly three years ago, and the illusory endorsement of the Americans hurt us! In the future, if we can't support it, they won't bet their lives here, they have the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean to rely on, it's a big deal to pat their butts and leave, but we and the European continent are only separated by the shallow English Channel......"

Hoover finished reading it with a blank face: "Isn't this comment in the United States in accordance with press freedom?" But as far as I know, the reporter and editor have been suspended for reflection because the report is considered to be sowing discord between Britain and the United States, where the British are well ahead of us. ”

Below, there is another group of excitement.

"Distinguished Members of Parliament, for the reasons set out above, I sincerely request that the following matters be discussed and voted upon:

First, the Anti-Sedition Act of 1917 and the Anti-Sedition Act of 1918 should be revived and immediately and effectively amended and strengthened;

Second, comprehensively strengthen the implementation regulations and scope of application of the "Code of Conduct for the Wartime Press";

Third, the National Security Regulations in Wartime were enacted, authorizing the FBI to monitor suspicious and disloyal people, but the final conviction and punishment were enforced by the judiciary at all levels;

Fourth, the FBI was expanded and the budget was supplemented, which would roughly require an additional 8,000 agents and a budget of $94 million in 1943. ”

The "Anti-Espionage Act of 1917" and the "Anti-Sedition Act of 1918" were laws urgently enacted by the United States during World War I. Many people, consciously or unconsciously, have formed an illusion: it is easy for the United States to win the war, and there is no need to change too much!

So the two bills were repealed in 1921 and never enforced since, even after Pearl Harbor there was no idea of reactivating them in the United States, and Hoover now picked them up from the pile of old papers.

Hoover's report, of course, was communicated with Roosevelt in advance, and as a mature politician, no one would take the words of secret room politics to the public: that is not courage, that is suicide! But what Hoover wanted to do was too big to bypass the public and Congress, and needed to be moderately packaged and stimulated, and Roosevelt's promise to keep Hoover through also had his own political considerations.

Germans, French, and Hispanics are all groups with a high proportion of white Americans, and many members of Congress are from these ethnic groups, and racial equality has always been part of Washington's political correctness, so Hoover used a clever term - suspicious and disloyal people.

Isn't it possible to manage suspicious and disloyal groups in advance? You can't object to this sentence anywhere.

As for the 150,000-200,000 employees and $2 billion budget that Hoover envisioned, of course, it could not be achieved overnight -- the FBI now has only a total of just over 1,000 people, and it is impossible to swell to 100,000 at once, so Hoover wisely chose a small goal: 8,000 people and 94 million budgets. Even if Congress was willing to pass, it would bargain, and he thought that even a third of it would be acceptable to cut it down to a third - take your time.

After Congress passed the regulations and budget, the choice of hiring these employees was in Hoover's hands, and he could hire any ethnic group he wanted, and no one else could pick out the thorns -- just like in the United States, although there is no law explicitly stipulating that blacks cannot be hired when hiring government workers, blacks are really dispensable in Washington's political territory -- many things can only be understood but not spoken!

Roosevelt had been watching the reactions of the crowd in the audience, and generally speaking: the reactions of the legislators of the Old East and New England were normal, and it was obvious that most of them were of Anglo-Saxon descent, and no one would doubt their loyalty; The Mississippi Valley legislators—most of whom were of French descent from the French colony of Louisiana, were quieter, and did not think they would have a problem—and France was not now a belligerent in the Great War; Irish and Hispanic parliamentarians mostly hold the same views as France; The most staunch supporters were Jews, who understood that once the Third Reich swept the world, the Jews would not have a good life, so the level of support was the highest, and some of the unhappiness and inconvenience passed for a while.

The apparent disagreement can be divided into three categories: on the one hand, politicians of German and Italian origin, who are now indignant, not only because of their large numbers, but also because they may have been labeled "suspicious and disloyal" for some reason, which is extremely unpleasant; On the other hand, there are the politicians associated with the bills, such as the media giants, whose interests are directly challenged, and the independent intellectual class, who defend civil rights, claim to be the guardians of freedom, and essentially oppose all laws that infringe on freedom, for whatever reason; The last category was Roosevelt's political competitors, who were not ignorant of the importance and necessity of these bills, but who were vehemently opposed to anything that might strengthen Roosevelt's authority out of the need for political struggle.

This reaction did not surprise Roosevelt, and he smiled at Hoover, applauded him for the success he had just sparked the discussion, and told him with a look in his eyes that I would give these congressmen a little surprise when they looked at me next.

An unexpected episode arose, and Arnold, commander-in-chief of the Army Airlines, trembled his hands and handed a telegram to Roosevelt, who hurriedly glanced at it a few times, and his face changed dramatically. Roosevelt was about to get some surprise for the congressmen, but he didn't expect the unexpected episode to be more violent than expected.

"Now I would like to convey to you the ......report of the battle that I have just received," Roosevelt said in a low and sad voice, "I am very sad to tell you: a few hours ago, the Eighth Air Force dispatched 1,417 planes to attack Berlin to avenge the air raid on New York......

The audience cheered at first, but by the time Roosevelt finished reading the second half of the sentence, everyone was dumbfounded.

"The fleet encountered a precision ambush over Berlin, encountered more than 800 prepared fighters, including more than 300 of the latest jet fighters that had never been shown by Germany, and the Army Aviation suffered heavy losses, and finally returned safely with less than 300 aircraft, a loss rate of more than 80%, and the commander Brigadier General Curtis Lemay was missing, probably martyred." Roosevelt raised his head, "The Joint Chiefs of Staff believe that a spy has stolen operational information, and before the truth is known, I will order the cessation of all air raids on Germany." (To be continued.) )