Politics – Page 7 – South of Town: Notes and Scenes from Texas' Upper Gulf Coast

The 60s vs. Today: Comparing Eras of Protest

How I missed the protests of the 60s. Luckily my duty in 1968-70 was in Fort Carson, Colorado. My sacrifice for my country was minimal. And I never mention it without noting the willingness of others of my generation to make the greatest sacrifice in the service of their nation. Will we ever have that kind of national community again? A community in which a draft from the general population can provide the manpower to fight foreign wars in the faith that our leaders may know what they are doing? They didn’t. But, still, my fellow citizens stepped forward when their nation called.

Earlier this week the managing editor of our local paper, The Facts, invited readers who were around during the 60s to send their thoughts about how present day politics differs from what we experienced fifty years ago. I started my own list but abandoned the project as the list got longer and longer. I decided, instead to send him an essay-style discussion of my observations. It is too long for The Facts to publish so I will post it here.

Mr. Morris began his discussion like this pointing out that he was a child when most of the protests were happening “back then”. You may read his column in the facts here.

I sent him my reply this morning. It follows:

Mr. Morris,

I thought about your comparison of the 60s-70s protests to those of the present. I started a list of the things that are different and when I got to #15, it occurred to me that what I have witnessed in my 77 years has been a passing of power back and forth between the parties but with a spiraling descent of the Republican party to where we are today.

When President Nixon resigned, the public would not tolerate lies from political leaders.

Media was controlled by commercial interests that, in the case of broadcast media, was subject to regulation as users of the public’s broadcast frequencies. Print journalism was big business, too. They reflected a variety of viewpoints but still reported within the constraints of a journalism profession that valued facts and recognized a single reality.

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Before You Get Too Excited about a New Administration . . . .

I read this article in The Guardian on Sunday and have been in a blue funk ever since. Don’t assume that DJT is going to go through the stages of grief and that he will concede and cooperate to allow for a peaceful transition to the Biden-Harris administration.

His behavior is not simply about his childish ego. He is executing a sinister plan to stay in office. And as David Sirota points out in this article, the Democrats continue to take pocket knives to gunfights. Mr. Biden must remember, while being gracious and presidential, that there is no bottom to their evil, that there are obeisant state and national legislators who have shown repeatedly that norms of past behavior have no relevance, and that federal courts that have been stacked with his appointees.

The chances of carrying this off may be slim but the damage done by the obstructionist Republicans during this period between the election and the inauguration of the new president can be serious and far reaching.

2020 – A SILENT GENERATION LAMENT

The cohort of Americans born between 1928 and 1945 has been called the Silent Generation. I didn’t know that I was a member of the Silent Generation until I wrote the piece below and I looked up “generation” in Wikipedia to see if I was indeed a boomer myself or, maybe, even an undeserving member of what they were calling the Greatest Generation. I found out that I am stuck in between the two. We are hardly noticed by the folks who try to generalize about the behavioral characteristics of people born in certain age cohorts.

I was late coming to the Silent Generation so my adult years were spent with talk everywhere about “boomers.” Marketing and media primarily addressed their needs and preferences. I heard so much about boomers that I subconsciously identified and, in any case, I was very nearly one myself since you could say that I was born on the cusp. But as I read more about those years between 1928 and 1945, I could see how completely my life was in the grip of that history.

What follows is very long. If you decide to read it, you will see that it is laid out like a poem. If it reads like prose to you, at least stop for a beat to think before going to the next line. Each bit of our history is loaded with plenty to think about. Yes, Truman and Eisenhower may not excite you. Ozzie and Harriet may bore you. But the kids who first learned about the world from floor model radios and small black and white screens had much to think about. And we have much to regret.

The piece is a personal project. It was completed during the 2020 election campaign and before the Biden-Harris election results were known. Although it is a hopeful sign, it doesn’t really change much. Having lived through alternating and descending stair steps down into Trump hell, I know that it will take more than a single presidential election to get us heading onward and upward again. But we must continue the struggle.

Day 244: Still in Lockdown and Trying to Decide if Things Are Getting Better or Decidedly Worse

His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.

If that sounds a lot like “your favorite president,” do not be concerned. It is not about him, it is from a psychological profile of Adolph Hitler written for the Office of Strategic Services, the World War II predecessor of the CIA. I know, it isn’t considered to be appropriate in American political discourse to throw around the H word when we talk about the loyal opposition.

The document, written for the OSS in 1943, had been classified and was released by the CIA for publication in 1999. World War II was far in the rear view mirror by then and it certainly did not seem that it could ever be used in American politics except, perhaps, as a guide for citizens who need to be eternally vigilant and on the watch for anyone who would use that model in our own domestic politics.

The above quote appears in the report, A Psychological Analysis of Adolph Hitler: His Life and Legend, by Walter C. Langer,^[7][8] which is available from the US National Archives.

There is a crack in everything, That’s how the light gets in . . .

In 2016, Leonard Cohen died the day before the election. I played this song the day after the election and wept. Today you can listen with tears of joy. Always remember: there’s a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.

Pennsylvania. Thank you for your votes that put us over the top. And for preserving the Liberty Bell. There’s a little crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.

Anthem by Leonard Cohen

The birds they sang
At the break of day
Start again
I heard them say
Don’t dwell on what
Has passed away
Or what is yet to be
Yeah the wars they will
Be fought again
The holy dove
She will be caught again
Bought and sold
And bought again
The dove is never free

Ring the bells (ring the bells) that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in

We asked for signs
The signs were sent
The birth betrayed
The marriage spent
Yeah the widowhood
Of every government
Signs for all to see

I can’t run no more
With that lawless crowd
While the killers in high places
Say their prayers out loud
But they’ve summoned, they’ve summoned up
A thundercloud
And they’re going to hear from me

Ring the bells that still can ring

Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in

You can add up the parts
You won’t have the sum
You can strike up the march
There is no drum
Every heart, every heart to love will come
But like a refugee

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in
That’s how the light gets in
That’s how the light gets in

Source: LyricFind

Category: Politics