Let me tell you a tale of a Thanksgiving long ago. The year is 1968 and America had just completed one of the most brutal presidential campaigns in history. The Vietnam War and the Cold War with the Soviet Union and China were raging. At home, social upheaval was at it's peak - war protests, race riots, assassinations, bombings, the sexual revolution and a great division between the World War II generation and the Baby Boomers, who were just becoming adults. The aptly named "Generation Gap".
The choices for president that year were not very desirable. America had to choose between 1) Independent George Wallace - a former Alabama governor who was literally a card carrying member of the KKK, and an old south racist; 2) Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey - Vice President to Johnson who would not run for reelection because he didn't have the stomach for Vietnam anymore. The democrats were split that year. Humphrey wanted to maintain the status quo in Vietnam and Robert Kennedy stood for those who wanted to bring the troops home from Vietnam right away. As we all know, Humphrey won the nomination by default when Kennedy was murdered; 3) And then we have the Republican Richard M. Nixon - Nixon went after the "Silent Majority" vote or the WWII generation of working class Americans. He promised them the moon, especially the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam. His battle cry was "peace with honor". These were not very good choices.
Nixon won with less than 1% of the popular vote, but with a comfortable lead in the electoral college, mainly because Wallace took five southern states. It didn't take very long to figure out that "Tricky Dick" (as he was affectionately known) had conned and lied to all. For one thing he failed to tell us that his "peace with honor" withdrawal from Vietnam would happen at a snail's pace. There were more young men and women killed in the next four years during Nixon's "withdrawal", than the entire time prior to his being elected.
I cannot end this tale without telling you how the young people in America, at that time, kept up the pressure on Nixon without stopping. Every day for years until eventually even the WWII generation couldn't stomach their sons and daughters coming home in a box anymore.
Fast forward to today - Thanksgiving 2016. History sure does have a way of repeating itself doesn't it? This is my message to the young people of today. The torch has been passed to you. Keep up the pressure. It's much easier these days with mobile devices and the internet than taking to the streets. Flood your Congressman's phones, their emails and their social media with your protests. Do the same with Donnie and his cronies. Draw a line in the sand like the youth of 1968. You can make a change. Happy Thanksgiving.
I was 15 years old in 1968. Till next time - R
Personal Note: For those of you who think I'm just an old radical hippie from the 60's - there's some truth to that. But I also gave twelve years of my life in the service of this country. Call me what you will, but I am a true American patriot and it breaks my heart to see what's happening today. I'm not gonna stop till I see this nightmare ended.
The choices for president that year were not very desirable. America had to choose between 1) Independent George Wallace - a former Alabama governor who was literally a card carrying member of the KKK, and an old south racist; 2) Democrat Hubert H. Humphrey - Vice President to Johnson who would not run for reelection because he didn't have the stomach for Vietnam anymore. The democrats were split that year. Humphrey wanted to maintain the status quo in Vietnam and Robert Kennedy stood for those who wanted to bring the troops home from Vietnam right away. As we all know, Humphrey won the nomination by default when Kennedy was murdered; 3) And then we have the Republican Richard M. Nixon - Nixon went after the "Silent Majority" vote or the WWII generation of working class Americans. He promised them the moon, especially the withdrawal of troops from Vietnam. His battle cry was "peace with honor". These were not very good choices.
Nixon won with less than 1% of the popular vote, but with a comfortable lead in the electoral college, mainly because Wallace took five southern states. It didn't take very long to figure out that "Tricky Dick" (as he was affectionately known) had conned and lied to all. For one thing he failed to tell us that his "peace with honor" withdrawal from Vietnam would happen at a snail's pace. There were more young men and women killed in the next four years during Nixon's "withdrawal", than the entire time prior to his being elected.
I cannot end this tale without telling you how the young people in America, at that time, kept up the pressure on Nixon without stopping. Every day for years until eventually even the WWII generation couldn't stomach their sons and daughters coming home in a box anymore.
Fast forward to today - Thanksgiving 2016. History sure does have a way of repeating itself doesn't it? This is my message to the young people of today. The torch has been passed to you. Keep up the pressure. It's much easier these days with mobile devices and the internet than taking to the streets. Flood your Congressman's phones, their emails and their social media with your protests. Do the same with Donnie and his cronies. Draw a line in the sand like the youth of 1968. You can make a change. Happy Thanksgiving.
I was 15 years old in 1968. Till next time - R
Personal Note: For those of you who think I'm just an old radical hippie from the 60's - there's some truth to that. But I also gave twelve years of my life in the service of this country. Call me what you will, but I am a true American patriot and it breaks my heart to see what's happening today. I'm not gonna stop till I see this nightmare ended.
