Republicans & Conservatives: Archives

jack,

We boomers do love to whine, especially about ourselves. Sad, funny, and above all else, as you say, narcissistic. But we didn’t turn out to be a very liberal generation after all, based on the voting outcomes. The true liberals were in the Greatest Generation. The boomers are a sell-out generation, as the current state of Washington, the environment and the world will attest. Too bad. We might have been a contender.

Jack said: “Turn on any radio, and you can still hear the music from our misspent youth.”

Whose ‘our’ keemosabe? This Tonto’s youth was not misspent, born 1950. Speak for yourself, bubba!

You think this generation isn’t in rebellion. They are rebelling against the political system through abstinence from it. They are rebelling against Iraq by insuring our military DOES NOT meet its recruitment quotas.

We obliterated the generation of the 1930s. We call them the silent generation for good reason.

Yeah, they are almost all dead. That’s a pretty good reason for their silence. My, what a grasp of the obvious.

Many boomers don’t remember what it was like to be young - no really they can’t remember.

It’s called Alzheimer’s, Jack.

One reason many in my generation want to say Iraq is like Vietnam is because they want to relive their youth…

You mean that youth you just said they can’t remember? How illogical can you get, Jack? I will read on to see… And no, they want to say Iraq is like Viet Nam because the parallels are strikingly obvious to all but the sheep following the shepherd named Bush.

My generation was responsible for the hippie revolution, but we redeemed ourselves a decade later by spearheading the Reagan revolution, so we have a mixed legacy.

No, the Hippie generation was largely from the W. Coast and North East, who went on to enjoy the highs of the economic prosperity as managers, scientists, social scientists and pastors and ministers outside the Evangelical Southern Baptist cults. While the Reagan revolution was a result of Southern KKK’er’s and progeny of slave owners deserting the Civil Rights Democratic Party for their new home in the Republican Party where they could rub elbows with corporate CEO’s and Oil Barons.

That is how we lost the war on poverty despite the large outlays of money.

Odd, Bush and Republicans are fond of saying more poor folks own their own homes than at any time in our history. Are you referring to the homeless? They are a result of our nation closing down psychiatric hospitals for the wonder drugs of the pharmaceutical companies who failed to notice that schizophrenics forget when to take their medication and likely view the medication as a Republican plot to get rich through stock investments in the Drug Companies.

If we had legalized Marijuana instead of removing regulation from pharmaceuticals, people might not be dropping dead from their meds like VIOXX today.

This generation clean up our messes? Perhaps. But one thing they will do, sure as anything, is turn against the Republican Party when they learn of the $16,000 tax debt Republicans added to their payroll deductions from 2000 to 2005, when they enter the work force. Republicans are cutting taxes for this generation of workers while raising them excrutiatingly on the next generation that can’t vote yet.

That will be the Republican legacy. “Another day older and deeper in debt…” Johnny Cash, weren’t no hippie.

i thought the baby-boomer generation went until 1963.

john, not sure about the date the baby boom generation ended, but removing 52,000 healthy young American males from the gene pool (not to mention all those who survived without testicles) during Viet Nam War might have had something to do with the 1963 date sounding about right.

The Hawks today are still trying convince the world that we should have made those 52 thousand names on that Black Granite Memorial 100,000 or more to wipe that smear off our historical record.

While the military chiefs are drafting plans and documents for drawing down our troops in Iraq, as soon as next summer, Bush is out there saying we must stay the course. The only way that can make sense is if defending his decision to take us there is what is at stake.

The Sunnis are vowing more violence and threatening Civil War in Iraq. They may be the smallest religious faction in Iraq, but the Sunnis are the largest faction of Muslims in the world. This is not going to look good on Bush’s historical resume’, doubling our enemies every year he is in office. Not good at all.

Typical snooze reading was posted by David about five minutes ago. When I was twenty (born 1950) I marched against Vietnam, hung out with Teddy Kennedy, burned by bra, and screamed F You Agnew while being tear-gassed by the riot police down in DC. At 25 I was divorced, had 3 kids under age 5 (Thanks alot free love movement!) and was still protesting. Anything was fair game. Save the trees! I shouted. Legalize drugs! I shouted. If I couldn’t find a lib cause I made one up-that hasn’t changed, libs still do it every day.
When Reagan was elected I dropped out, all the way out. After all we called him “Ray-guns” and wisely told anyone who cared he imprisoned all those anti-war people in concentration camps out there in CA. Like I said, if we couldn’t find a real cause we gleefully made one up.
Something strange starting happening after that. I found out that: Welfare creates poverty, it kept me and the kids dirt poor for years. Unemployment works great if you’re in a union, and it didn’t much matter what party was in power down in DC. When Dukakis let the killer free at home in Mass I started wondering. About me.
So I quit. I wasn’t a liberal anymore and I sure wasn’t a conservative. Those right wingers still scared me half to death. They would show up eventually and take what little I had anyday. I really believed that. If I didn’t go to church I’d surely go to hell. So I stayed out, and I mean out of the whole political scene.
Then came Clinton. I watched this guy from the start, he and Hillary side by side on the couch saying Jennifer Flowers was full of beans, he smoked pot but never inhaled and went to England so he wouldn’t get drafted. A lib’s dream candidate! But I looked at him and realize he wasn’t real. He stepped out of the Kennedy clone machine. He was everything I didn’t like in a politician. Then, of course, it was “All about sex” and all I could think of was that if my son (now 25) lied to a grand jury he’d have his butt in jail. If he was overtly suggestive to a woman I’d ground him for several months at least. I took a friend in for an abortion which was OK by me then, until she told me it was her tenth.
Then I thought about it. Ten abortions? Ten lives snuffed out because our boomer generation promoted irresponsiblity, unaccountability? Ten loving childless couples could have adopted the child of their dreams. But, no, she had the right to choose and she chose abortion rather the pill. I looked at my kids, what if I had aborted one of them? They’ve given me nothing but grief through the years but they have the right to live.
All this thinking was frightening, I was fast becoming one of those crazed right wingers. Then I thought about God some more and what He meant to our country’s founders, I thought about the millions of servicemen who have died so I can go out there and call the president a moron. I watched Saddam Hussein butcher tens of thousands of men, women and children and wanted to kill him myself. I didn’t need to find WMD’s to want a mass murderer caught.
Then came Al Gore and through the debates I watched a guy struggle so hard to turn himself into another clone from the Kennedy clone machine and it was a laughable, yet sad sight night after night. I had no clue who George W Bush was and I didn’t care-he wasn’t Gore so I was voting for the guy. At least I could understand him and didn’t need a pundit to translate. His words were pure and simple, direct, no flowery additions, no “it depends on what the meaning of the word is, is.” Then I met him and I was full-fledged converted.
Along came 9-11 and there was a man who stood strong. Who took charge. Who shouted, We are coming for you! And he meant it. And he still does. I have noticed things have gotten better since I registered Republican. I have noticed hypocrisy beyond any I ever perpetrated in my 20’s spewing everywhere from the mouths of folks on the left. Their blindness saddens me, their lies outrage me, but mostly I pity them.
It’s wasn’t easy growing up a baby boomer. It wasn’t easy putting away my toys and looking at the world as it really is instead of through a fog of drugs, lies, and tacky slogans. But I did it, and I am proud of myself. I am proud of my country, I am not ashamed of being an American.
The best part of it all is more and more of us booming righties are standing up now, tall and straight and looking at you lefties right in the eyes and telling the truth you can’t bear to hear.
You are in the minority. You are losing elections. Fewer and fewer people take you seriously. And it’s getting worse for you every day.

Falyn, well you found Jesus, and now you can kill in “HIS” name, or support those who do. Yes, you have come a long way, baby!!!

David:
With the Viet Nam war, death both American and the Vietcong, was shown nightly. With Iraq, we’re shown nothing. The hawks have proved one thing; control the message and you will win the war at home.

When was the last time someone, on the television news, reported the number of civilian Iraqis killed during this war?

Falyn, its not getting worse for us, I have never been better off. It is getting worse for your and my children. Facts, you owe $16,000 more in taxes to the federal government today than you did when Bush came in office. Fact, Bush has never vetoed a single dollar of waste, fraud, and abuse. Fact, —Ah, never mind, you don’t want the facts, that’s obvious. :-)

Falyn:
Legislating morality is a slippery slope. Your heartfelt story is a very personal one. But everyone in America has their own story and their own legacy. No one person’s story is better or worse than another. Whenever someone is faced with hard decisions, I cannot judge them or fault them for making a decision that I may or may not agree with. A person’s motivation for making hard decisions is defined by individual support systems. And some people have better support systems than other.

i, too, am proud to be an American. i’m a proud American that believes in the opportunities afforded to people; all people. Not just people that i happen to have a shared experience with, but all people. i’m proud to be an America that believes that every person, no matter what color, creed, religion (or lack thereof), sex or sexual orientation can have the opportunity to prosper if they so choose.

i do not need to judge anyone for i am a proud American.

john, I don’t disagree. But, I will point out, that propaganda to move a population to war in the absence of a direct attack upon the people, has accompanied every campaign our military has ever waged including the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.

The technology for propaganda has changed, that’s all. All War Presidents, Democrat or Republican, have propagandized, manipulated the facts and truth, in order to sell war to those who will have pay most dearly for it. It is a practice I would hope will be replaced one day with an honest president who freely admits the people will pay the price, and ask them if they want to pay it instead of lying and distorting reality to get them behind the politics of it.

Maybe in my daughter’s lifetime, or her daughter’s.

David,

“The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.”
H. L. Mencken

It is getting worse for your and my children. Facts, you owe $16,000 more in taxes to the federal government today than you did when Bush came in office.

What makes you think she gives a damn about her children?

“I looked at my kids, what if I had aborted one of them? They’ve given me nothing but grief through the years but they have the right to live.”

She ought to cross stich that phrase on a pillow.

David, personally i can’t speak to how other administrations promoted their brand of wartime propaganda, but it appears that this administration’s approach is a bit more…. passionate.

Aside from their Orwellian approach to informing the American public, this administration went as far as to push recruitment for the military into wonderful places like the No Child Left Behind Act. With NCLB a public school would forfeit public funding if they do not allow access for on-campus recruitment of the US military.

i too hope someday this country leaders will be honest with its citizens. One can only hope.

Burt asked: “What makes you think she gives a damn about her children?”

Because not only do her parents say so, but her teachers and the parents of her friends all say she is a wonderful caring person. She befriends the Nerds others won’t, she befriends a new black student before others can taunt her, and she has conned her parents into taking in 3 strays, 2 cats and one dog which were sickly and without a home.

That’s why I think she will care. She will care enough to insure she does not become a mother before she is ready to be the best possible parent for them that she can be. She has been taught to care about people, not protoplasm. She was raised that way.

What have you done for your kids lately?

Faylin:

Thanks for your story. Had you written it from the other point of view (moving from conservative to liberal), you’d undoubtedly have gotten a gush of love from writers of the left persuasion. But since you showed a journey moving away from their point of view, all you get is their scorn.

Which proves that they don’t care about the logic you use, the history you observe, the decision making you employ etc. They really only seem to care about the result.

On the other hand, I’ll applaud you for the level of soul searching you did. I appreciate those who experience life and learn from it. Honestly, I’d feel the same as if you went from conservative to liberal, since I’d recognize that at least you were basing your convictions on something valid (experience) rather than just soundbytes from the headlines. I’d disagree with your conclusion if you moved from right to left, but i’d respect your process.

I do agree with Burt though. Your post didnt make you sound like a loving mother. Perhaps you ought to rethink how you wrote that, or whether it accurately depicts how you feel.

David

My comment about memory was alluding to the Timothy Leary quote that if you remember the 60s you weren’t there. I was a joke.

The war on poverty I was referring to were all those government programs that created the underclass we know today. You know, the public housing, welfare without requirements etc. This damage is being undone by welfare reform that I thank Clinton for.

I don’t think you are properly characterizing the Reagan Revolution. A lot of the same people participated in both. Hippies, it turned out, made very good managers and moneymen, as you point out. And they turned into good Republicans. Remember that Reagan was very popular and carried all the states in the Union except Mass.

“Sixteen Tons” was written by Merle Travis. I first heard it with Eddy Arnold and Tennessee Ernie Ford. I don’t recall that Johnny Cash ever sang it.

The Baby Boom is sometimes taken to 1963 or 1962. Some people don’t start it until 1947. I don’t think there is an “official” baby boom. You and I are both part of it, since we fall between the narrowest dates.

John Trevisani

The news I watch (Newshour on PBS) lists American dead by name and so do many other news shows. The numbers are smaller so they don’t have the daily count, which, I am sure you will agree, became largely meaningless.

And I think is says something that I write something that covers a sixty year period and all you guys can think of in the end is George Bush. He is really powerful that he can cause such obsession.

Jack said: ” He is really powerful that he can cause such obsession. “

Yep, he holds the most powerful job in America. Stating the obvious again.

I stand corrected, it was Tennesee, not Johnny. My Dad, a Ford worker sang that song so much I tried to shut it out, with no success…

Hippies, it turned out, made very good managers and moneymen, as you point out. And they turned into good Republicans.

A temporary phenomenon of that generation, they love fads you know. Wait till 2006 to see just how temporary Grover Norquist warns…

David,

I’m confused. I was referring to Falyn’s attributes as a mother, not your daughter.

David

I have been waiting a long time. I think the shift started in 1980. I chose to vote Reagan that year. So did many others. Maybe we will all change our minds in 2006/8/10/12 etc. That is possible, but there is no reason to believe it.

Faylin-

Your story was great. I hope to hear more from you now that you are on the right side. You’ve learned the hard way! You should be proud of your acheivement.

I really hope you won’t let any of the self important jerks who frequent this site to discourage you from expressing yourself and sharing your viewpoint. It is hard to fathom where some of these people get their gall! Just take it with a grain of salt and keep on writing!

Monica

Burt, in that case the confusion was all mine. :-) But your statement directly followed your quote of my comment.

Jack,

I too began to move toward the right in the eighties until I started hearing what the far right was espousing. That scared the beejeezus out of me.
When the right started sounding like a latter day John Birch society I scrambled back to the center.

Rocky

Actually, I think the center has moved right, so if you were moderate right in 1980, you are now center and if you were center in 1980 you are probably left.

Jeez Jack,

I would think that most of my generation were left of center during the 60s and 70s.

BTW don’t you have to pass through the center to get to the right from the left?

Why the comments regarding my attributes as a mother? That is one of the many reasons I did grow into the right side of the aisle-the automatic negative judgments of the left. I had a decision to make as a single mom and I chose life for my unborn child and if the left feels the need to ask why I was a single mom it is becuase I was raped. My daughter is the product of that rape. She is now 23, married, with 2 children and is as liberal as one can be. I chose life because the alternative was not acceptable to me. Guess I did something right.

Falyn Everett
Excellent description of how you went through the changes you did. I applaud you.
The challenge about your abilities and desires about motherhood were just ignorant remarks. Ignorant is defined as having no knowledge.

Rocky
You brought up the JBS. What about the JBS scares you?

My apologies!

Someone like Falyn who says her children have given her “nothing but grief through the years” should be considered mother of the year.

Heck, Santorum should have put that quote on the cover of his book.

Jack said: “That is possible, but there is no reason to believe it.”

Yes, there millions of reasons to believe it. All those anti-war pollees. Or how about Grover Norquist’s statement this morning on C-Span’s Washington Journal, that if Iraq is on our windshield instead of in our rear view mirror come the 2006 elections, it could spell trouble for a number of GOP candidates.

I mean you can discount the left’s reason, but, when McCain, Norquist, Lott and a number of others on your side and in the know, say there is reason to expect it, you just might want to listen.

Falyn, I respect your choice. Only you can decide if it was the right one or not - NO ONE ESLE has the right to judge your decision to keep and raise, or discard, a fertilized egg in your body. That is a decision only you are justified to make.

t,

“You brought up the JBS. What about the JBS scares you?”

This from the John Birch website,

“We invite all men and women of good will, good conscience, and religious ideals, who share our vision of preserving freedom, to become members. Please begin equipping yourself to preserve your freedom now”

I grew up in Riverside Ca. just a stones throw from Orange County, a hotbed of the John Birch society during the 60s.

As inocuous as they may sound on the surface, any group, outside of the mainstream that espouses a “vision” to preserve freedom makes me nervous. It makes me wonder who they wouldn’t find “acceptable”, to their dream.

Falyn:

I also applaud you for the decisions you have made.

You stated, “They’ve given me nothing but grief through the years”. Do you know why they have given you so much trouble? You also said your 23 year old was very liberal. Do you suppose your earlier life style contributed the their problems?

To David:

Several times in recent posts, the subject of Christian bashing has come up & usually someone will say, “Give us an example of Christian bashing”. To which I seldom reply because people’s words speak for themselves. But, I do have a question I would like for you to answer.

What did you mean when you used the phrase, “Evangelical Southern Baptist cults”?

What were you implying when you made the statement, “Falyn, well you found Jesus, and now you can kill in “HIS” name, or support those who do. Yes, you have come a long way, baby!!!”

Perplexed

JAM,
Although I may be considered a part of the Baby Boomers (born 1959), the truth of the matter is that I had no vioce in what happened to our society at the time The Elders and Youth of the Time made peace. Who’s Right and Wrong; What’s Right and Wrong; Who really cares; are just a few things that I grew up having to deal with.

Now as the Children of the 70’s prepare to take a hold of the raines of the Establishment, is the Youth of the 60’s ready for their judgment? For my Generation was promised a “Better World” and if President Bush is the Standard of Excellence and Intellect that I am suppose to admire than your generation is in for a very rude awakening.

I was born in 1962 — I have always heard this referred to as the first year of “Generation X”.

“We used to say that you couldn’t trust anyone over thirty. Now anyone under forty is suspect.”

My, how hypocritical of you.

“We obliterated the generation of the 1930s. We call them the silent generation for good reason. The presidency jumped right past them. We went from the GI - Generation GHW Bush to boomer Clinton without ever stopping to let the silent generation board the train.”

Yeah, they were too busy having children which they proceeded to spoil rotten. Maybe that’s why you Boomers act like you’re the Center of the Freakin’ Universe?

“We disparage the generations that followed us calling them brand X or just slacker.”

Actually, I think Generation X is really a name we gave ourselves — to distinguish ourselves from you guys. We distained all the early 70’s “Me, Me, Me” crapola, and/or Pseudo Spirituality that somehow ultimately degenerated into the Fake Disco Glamour of the mid 70’s.
Some of us born in the early 60’s fell under the boomer spell (and somehow became hippie-ish — in other words, throwbacks to an era not of their own making). Others (such as myself) were thoroughly disgusted and angered by how you let your idealism slowly slink away into Manicured Suburbia and Materialism while letting the country go to the Dogs (Reagan Revolution). Punk Rockers view what began then as the Decline of America.
For those not familiar with the punk rockers of my generation, you may find it interesting to know that despite the fact that plenty of us used to do drugs, generally speaking, we’ve always been extremely politically aware — and the overwhelming majority of us were and are still, hard-core Liberals.
As for the Slacker label — well, we grew up too. Maybe not in a way that meets with Boomer approval — but we don’t care, we never did. We’ve always been DIY independent thinkers, and believe that rules were made to be broken.
You’d be amazed how many people in my age group ended up running their own businesses. Obviously we had/have trouble with Authority — maybe because we don’t see how our parents generation, or you all, have made the world a better place?

“Our consciousness was forged in the 1960s.”

Our’s was forged in the 1970’s — but I for one, see plenty of new-school DIY punks quite often. Long may the spirit live!

“We have been fighting culture wars ever since and so has the whole country. The fault lines in today’s politics opened then.”

You mean, YOU”VE been fighting the culture wars. Gen Xer’s don’t seem quite as hung up about the cultural stuff. I think for the most part, we tend to be live and let live, and it takes quite a lot to actually shock most of us.

(One reason many in my generation want to say Iraq is like Vietnam is because they want to relive their youth - sing again the songs of peace, maybe even bring down a president.

Maybe because they feel they’re experiencing deja vu. And btw “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding?”

“My generation was responsible for the hippie revolution, but we redeemed ourselves a decade later by spearheading the Reagan revolution, so we have a mixed legacy.”

Like I just said, in spite all your early idealism, and your later abandonment of reason, how are the Boomers making the world a better place? I’m still trying every single day, but all I see is you guys letting the Constitution be torn to shreds, and allowing our country to be taken over by Neocon Chickenhawks, The Corporations and The Evangelical Christians.
(btw, this isn’t directed at all you boomers — I know plenty of you never gave up the values of your youth, or your Reason.)

“We were the first mass educated generation. Back home from college, we lorded our erudition over our parents and created a generation gap by rejecting many of their prosaic values. Only now are we beginning to understand that they may not have been as dumb as we thought.”

Punk rockers often took a lot of flak from our parents because of how we dressed, but I think the truth is, we actually had more in common with our grandparents. If they could manage to get past our wardrobes and really sit down to talk with us, they often realized that our generation had more in common with them than their own children.
The only difference was, they were Do It Yourself types who learned to live creatively and never threw anything away out of necessity (because of the Depression), while we were that way for other reasons, such as the desire to protect the environment, or because we tend to angrily reject the mindlessness of rabid consumerism, or because we highly prize creativity, and unique individuality.
People who lived through the Depression learned how to do so many things for themselves. It’s amazing how many of the really useful things I know I learned from my grandparents. None of them saw any wisdom in a throw-away society.
They considered it totally foolish — and it is.

“The relaxation of mores relating to sexuality, marriage, work and social control benefited the well off and well educated people who reveled in the new freedom, but it fairly well and good destroyed the families of the less well off and uneducated. That is how we lost the war on poverty despite the large outlays of money.”

The only reason the war on poverty can’t be won is because people in this country stopped trying to win it — and because many folks stopped caring about their neighbors altogether. I feel this truly began during the Reagan years (he quickly gutted the Great Society programs), and hasn’t stopped since (Bush is doing his level best to kill off the New Deal).

“We may not go quietly into that good night (boomers think Bob Dylan said that), but we’re going just the same. It is too bad that we get so fast old and so slow smart.”

That’s a sweeping generalization, because I know many boomers who are very well read, indeed.
On a personal note, I love Dylan Thomas. I also love Yeats and Burns, as well. The celtic people have certainly produced some damn good poets…

“Maybe our kids will build on what we accomplished and clean up some of the messes. We hear a lot about their problems, but the kids are all right.”

I agree, but we shouldn’t wait for them to clean up our messes with the environment — because it might be too late. There is plenty we can and should be doing right now in that regard.

J. Anthony Matel,
You hit the nail on the head.

David R. Remer,
We are selfishly heaping astronomical debt onto future generations ($8 trillion in debt, representing $50 trillion in interest (in 2005 U.$. dollars).

Unless the massive entitlements are drastically reformed now, this country is on the path to ruin.

We can’t keep heaping so much debt onto future generations.
Currently, it would take 127 years (or more) to pay down the $8 trillion National Debt (with $50 trillion in interest and principal).

Government has grown to nightmare proprotions.
Enough is enough.

All young Americans should rebell against the fraud being perpetrated upon them.

Generation X stands for Extreme and if our Elders want a culutre war than why not provide them with one that will see every Human on Earth Economically Viable and Financially Independent?

Adrienne,
Did you know that Every American could become a Millionaire within a Generation? Raise the Value of The Dollar, and put an end to Entitlement Programs or at least a big dent in it with just a stroke of a pen? $20.00/week @ 7% interest for 40 years makes the grade easily. Since Payroll Taxes are to be used as a Social Insurance Program than what better way to insure a citizens well being than making them Economically Viable and Financiallt Independent so that they can live a Simple Productive Life.

Perplexed asked “What did you mean when you used the phrase, �Evangelical Southern Baptist cults�?”

I meant the Robertson’s who preach assasination and godlessness of any who disagree with them. I meant the South’s and Midwest’s Christian KKK, a cult if there ever was one. I meant Tammy’s Hubbie for whom the congregation’s plate offerings and young sweet thangs were his primary interest and motivation.

Any of this sound familiar. I would have thought it was obvious.

My first comment would be - If someone has had ten abortions she has bigger problems than the Roe v Wade decision. I work in the medical field and am continually amazed by the war stories surrounding the medical community and medical procedures. Somehow I have trouble with your ten abortion story. If your story is true be a real friend and get her some mental help for her issues
One some issues I am liberal and some conservative. I spent 27 years in the military and understood that I accepted the responsibility to go where my govt sent me. In a fire fight I did not worry about why I was there I worried about staying alive and keeping my fellow soldiers alive. The military taught me the priorities should be - accomplish the mission and then welfare of my men. My family has a long history of military service going back to the LT that stepped off the Bona Nova in the early 1600s. That service to the military stopped with my generation. My sons do not serve. When they told me that they felt that it was expected for them to join, I made no comment but put them in my car and went to see my father. He is a WWII and Korean vet. I don’t separate the generations. I learned long ago if you seek answers in life seek out the ones who have lived it longest. He told them in no uncertain terms that this was not the choice to make. I fully agree with him. So while I do not join parties or take across the board liberal view or a conservative view, I am one of the quiet ones that make a small difference to my family and friends. I can’t change the big picture but I can change the small one around me. If enough feel the way I do then one voice talking to another can soon become a thousand. That changes the big picture. The service members deserve our support but not necessarily the cause. I believe that the two can be separated in spite of the opinion of those that served one tour got out and have made their service the high point of their life. That may not be a fair statement but most career soldiers that I know have found a life beyond the military and generally do not join in with the various pro-war groups.
Is this country too much indebt? Yes there should be no question of that truth. How do we fix it? Well we need to make some hard choices now or circumstances will make harder ones. Where do we start? Maybe by stop spending what will be billions of dollars on a war that we can?t afford. Maybe by not spending millions/billions on medical procedures that only prolong quantity and not quality of life. Maybe by not having the largest prison population in the world. There are many opportunities but were have to start somewhere. All generations have contributed to making this nation what it is. All share the blame and the praise.

C.L.O,
You are right and the first step that America and the Nations have to face up to is the fact of Law that states A Nation must provide their Citizens wth everything they need and want within Reason and Availablity for that is The Law of Nature.

Supply and Demand may play a role in the Market, but it is going to be the Country’s that learned from The Riddle of a Righteous Nation who will conquer OBL and his Rapitalistic Friends. Not in Words, but in Action the fight that started in the 60’s most be taken to the extreme by Generation X. However, The Children of the American and Human Spirit must build the 21st Century in a manner that leads to an Energy-Free; Environmental Positive Economy that sees every Human on Earth and Above living a simple productive life for that is The Laws of the God of Nature.

And that takes proving to alot a people that Common Sense and their unalienable Right to know by their Spoken Word when something is right is the end point of which political debate is used for as envisioned by Our Founding Fathers.

I am not sure about your Law of Nature. I prescribe more to the John Smith law that says if you do not work, you do not eat. I am a big fan of personal responsibility. What I think we owe to others is opportunity to work. If you work in a low paying job because you do not take the opportunity this country gives you for education and/or job training then I really do not think I owe you what you want but can’t afford. There are different circumstances of course for each case and I am speaking generalizations here. However, if I am proceeding on a course of action based on the belief that the govt program promised to me will be there then the govt needs to make sure they keep the program in place unless they give me advance notice of a change.
Just a point of information - Our Founding Fathers were generally speaking of white male landowners so their views were somewhat limited.
As for enviromental issues again one voice works here. If people do not buy it, they will stop making it. Just how many little white plastic bags does one need? How many eight track tape players do you find in the store these days? Needs vs Wants-interesting concept. That comes back again to personal responsibility.

The Law of Nature used under The Federal Common Sense Law of 1830/40 states that someting has to exist in the real world, hence Nature and can be defined with certain traits. Hence, since All the exists in the Universe to include itself consumes, Life could be said to be one great experiement in consumption. The hat trick is to get over the idea that a CEO and a Dishwasher at your Local Resturant don’t want to secure a Simple Productive Life.

The 80’s should teach everyone that without Indians, the Cheifs have no tribe to rule. And if that is not enough than try The Law of the Land. The Ethical and Moral clearity brought to The Law and Society under “We the Consumers” totally puts “We the People” over our Societal Tools like Commerce.

Falyn,

The best part of it all is more and more of us booming righties are standing up now, tall and straight and looking at you lefties right in the eyes and telling the truth you can’t bear to hear. You are in the minority. You are losing elections. Fewer and fewer people take you seriously. And it’s getting worse for you every day.

Thanks to Nature Laws, this is temporary. Soon, Alzeihmer then death will reduce this avantage.
Enjoy it until the last minute.

Oh, by the way, don’t expect *any* thanks from your kids’s kids for the mess you created and, if I understand your post, you accept full responsabilities for.
Except for Bush and busheeps, obvioulsy.

C.L.O.

Great post. I’m still enjoying it!

Jack,

Great first post. Sounds a little too much auto-winning, though. Well, at least you show accountability.

I’m from so-called Generation X myself (1969), and this gap between baby boomers and my generation exists in France too.
Often, my first reaction, shared with this generation, is to blame boomers for the mess.
But soon the next reaction is to learn why and how it happened, then what should be done to fix it ASAP.
Side reaction is to keep blaming those boomers who are still big narcisists but in charge while they cant anymore ignore the mess outthere.

Because time is counted, and we all need these boomers today in charge to help us (newest workforce) fix it, the faster the better. Having to wait they give back power to next generation is too costly. 20 years can be very long.
Plus, it allow them feeling not responsible for some of the mess they created.

One obvious solution for us younger is to stop avoid voting and start acting like citizens in charge: Vote! Take (back) charge.

Oh, Jack, BTW, John Trevisani asked:

When was the last time someone, on the television news, reported the number of civilian Iraqis killed during this war?

To witch your replied is:

The news I watch (Newshour on PBS) lists American dead by name and so do many other news shows.

American deads != civilian Iraquis killed.

I guess John get a point here, right?

Falyn,

I re-read my first post. I fear one could find it critizing the messenger not the message.
It was not my will.
Take nothing personal here, I really was trying to critize your message bottom part.

Sounds a little too much auto-winning

Damn, bad english, sorry guys.
That should be “auto-whinning”, right (?!).

Great article. Anybody who thinks the Boomers were born after 1960 needs to ask someone born after 1960. I’ve done it a lot. The answer I get is, “Well, they say I’m a Boomer.” When I ask if the feel lkie a Boomer they say no. Neither do I. I was born in 1963.

I really hate to say it but us boomers (I was born in 1946)have realy messed things up.
We weren’t old enough to vote when the supreme court in it’s ‘great wisdom?’ kicked prayer out of the schools. But sense then we have taken that stupid ruling and ran with it.
Today a kid cann’t even mention God in school without getting in trouble.
What is the result of our kicking God out of everyting we can.
1.We have more crime.
2.Our prisons are overflowing.
3.We have children as young as 12 having babies and feeling no shame.
4.Drug use is at an all time high.
5.Everyday thousands of babies are murdered beause their mothers donn’t want to except the responsibilty of their actions.
6.Kids are killing kids.
7.Kids are killing their parents.
These are just a few of the things that are aesult of our kicking God out of everything we can. and it aint gettin any better.

David said:

“I meant the Robertson’s who preach assasination and godlessness of any who disagree with them. I meant the South’s and Midwest’s Christian KKK, a cult if there ever was one. I meant Tammy’s Hubbie for whom the congregation’s plate offerings and young sweet thangs were his primary interest and motivation.”

This was your answer to my question concerning part of a paragraph you wrote. In fact, I’ll include the paragraph:

“No, the Hippie generation was largely from the W. Coast and North East, who went on to enjoy the highs of the economic prosperity as managers, scientists, social scientists and pastors and ministers outside the Evangelical Southern Baptist cults. While the Reagan revolution was a result of Southern KKK’er’s and progeny of slave owners deserting the Civil Rights Democratic Party for their new home in the Republican Party where they could rub elbows with corporate CEO’s and Oil Barons.”

You are arrogant & ignorant. You have the audacity to try to say the hippie (of which I am sure you were part) generation prospered & became the intellectual elite, while those of the Bible belt were nothing more than ignorant racists. Perhaps you can give me the name of a democrat, who was part of the clan, who left the Democratic Party & became a republican. To the best of my knowledge, the only member of congress who was part of the KKK was Senator Robert Byrd (D). When it comes to rubbing elbows, the liberal elite of the democratic left would be nothing without the finances of George Soros. Who just so happens to be the founder & chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC.

You used the term Southern Baptist. Neither Robertson nor Tammy’s Hubbie were Baptist. So, when you deside to slander a Christian organization, make sure you have the right one.

You never answered about your comment concerning Falyn, finding Jesus.

Perhaps she made a spiritual decision & perhaps she didn’t, but you had no right trying to make fun of her decision to change beliefs.

I believe you are angry because she once believed like you & now has a conservative view. As a result you lashed out by attacking her beliefs. You also launched an attack on a denomination that has nothing to do with Robertson of Baker. I think you owe all Christian people on this site an apology. Your hated for Christians has clouded your ability to converse intelligently with anyone on this site. You are the epitome of a Christian basher.

Perplexed

Well, maybe I can top David in blasphemy…

Ron, I think you’re being too hard on the Boomers — it’s really God you should be blaming for the decline of our morality. I mean, He could have made us however He wanted, and so, He should have made us much more robot-like rather than giving us a free will, an inquiring mind, and a challenging nature. Then he could have called all the shots.
Actually, when you think about it, from the very beginning He made some pretty Colossal Mistakes. For instance, why’d He let that Serpent into the Garden? And and for Heavens Sake, did He have to plant the lovely, temptingly red-fruited Tree of Knowlege right smack dab in the center of Eden Proper? That’s some poor planning on the part of the Ultimate Landscaper, I’d say…

Adrienne,

“And and for Heavens Sake, did He have to plant the lovely, temptingly red-fruited Tree of Knowlege right smack dab in the center of Eden Proper? That’s some poor planning on the part of the Ultimate Landscaper, I’d say…”

It was an Intelegent Design.

I really do hate myself sometimes.

Ron
If you really think that

1.We have more crime.

When actual violent crime is down

2.Our prisons are overflowing.

True enough actually as the result of our “War on Drugs” the prisons are full of street dealers and users. With little legal aid and plenty of plea bargains the poor do not stand much of a chance. Throw in the mentally ill becaue we shut down the mental hospitals and yep it is pretty full. Call me when the importers start to go to jail in large numbers.

3.We have children as young as 12 having babies and feeling no shame.

Yes it would be so much better to go back to the times when there were bad girls, children were labeled bastards and were given a life of shame and the girls went to visit a “relative” aka homes for unwed mothers and gave the baby up for adoption. Of course those with money went out of the country, those that didn’t found a back street guy to take care of the problem. Oh and not let’s forget the boys who made those babies walked off because he was not held accountable. Child support enforcement is a recent event in time.

4.Drug use is at an all time high.

The legal druggies of the valium and diet pills in the 50s and 60 never existed.

5.Everyday thousands of babies are murdered beause their mothers don’t want to accept the responsibilty of their actions.

And of course fathers of the babies are pushing for reform so that they can be holding jr in their arms

6.Kids are killing kids.

Unfortunately that is not just a recent event

7.Kids are killing their parents.

nor is this one

and all of this is happening why again? Oh that is right we are not praying in schools. It is hard to be right or left when both lack the common sense that God gave them. Guess I’ll stay right where I am in the middle.

:^) Rocky, you might hate yourself sometimes, but I think you’re great most of the time.

Thank you, thank you very much.

Elvis just doesn’t come accross on a keyboard.

Rocky, I think for channelling Elvis, a little of phonetic spelling might come in handy:
Thank you…, Thank you verrra muuuch…
Really conjures up the Enormous White Jumpsuit, no?

Adrienne,

“Really conjures up the Enormous White Jumpsuit, no?”

Yep, I am thinking the enormous Elvis in the enormous jumpsuit.

thank ya…thank ya verra mussshh

That works pretty well Thanks.

“Yep, I am thinking the enormous Elvis in the enormous jumpsuit.”

Yeah, he may have been part of the Silent Generation, but he was definitely a Boom-Boomer towards the end…
(Groan) :^/ Sorry, just my pathetic attempt to get back on topic.

Ron,

We weren’t old enough to vote when the supreme court in it’s ‘great wisdom?’ kicked prayer out of the schools. But sense then we have taken that stupid ruling and ran with it. Today a kid cann’t even mention God in school without getting in trouble.

You’re not the only country that rule religions (all) out of public schools. And from any of our laws. State / Religions full separation. France did it long ago too.

And since, guess what?
That’s not worse than before.

These are just a few of the things that are aesult of our kicking God out of everything we can. and it aint gettin any better.

Any proofs, facts, numbers linking these things direct relation to religion(s) ruled out of schools to share with us?

Or is it just your belief here?

- Philippe Houdoin

Belief of course, Philippe. I can’t remember the last time I saw a fact or statistic over on this side. :)

Philippe,
State and Religion is seperated by Nature as well. For while it is the duty and responsibility for Government to take on The Devil of Civilization does not All Religions teach us to fear The Devil? This natural seperation is why The Founding Fathers said by The Laws of Nature and The God of Nature. Both The Laws of Man and Heaven most be considered Unalienable Right Regardless or they fail the Test of Time.

The problem of teaching a Religion over a Nation is you teach the Citizens to fear the Devil that as a member of a Free Society is duty bound to attack. So don’t cry about putting Religion back into the schools, but bitch about teaching our Children how to find out what is Unalienable Right Regardless so that America can build a Nation that most Chirstains, Jews, and Moslems can only dream about. Cardinal Knowledge is a neat tool and once learned gives a Citizen the Unalienable Rights envisioned by The Founding Fathers.

Falyn

At 25 I was divorced, had 3 kids under age 5 (Thanks alot free love movement!)

I had a decision to make as a single mom and I chose life for my unborn child and if the left feels the need to ask why I was a single mom it is becuase I was raped.

Er, what’s your story?

Yawn, the “Boomer” stereotype, yet again. White, black, male, female, veteran, non-veteran, northern, southern, eastern, western, rich, smart, poor, dumb, doctors and lawyers, wine makers and winos, George W. Bush, Mohammed Ali, and millions of anonymous nobodys struggling to make ends meet, millionaires struggling to make more money…

Yeah, yeah… we’ve heard it all before, many times. And it’s right next door to racism.

The real problem is irresponsible and unaccountable government, and the people that tolerate it.
OK, the blame lies with all of us. But, it’s certainly not the fault of our children who only recently became old enough to vote.
It just happens that the largest group of previous generations remaining is the baby boomers.
We’re selfishly heaping astronomical debt onto our children ($8 trillion representing $50 trillion in interest in the coming decades).
How greedy is that? It’s not next door racism. It’s simply irresponsibile.

It’s also the myth perpetuated by politicians and clung to by voters: that we can all live at the expense of everyone else.
We live in the age of selfishness, moral and fiscal bankruptcy:
____________________________
[1] oppression, totalitarianism, legal plunder (i.e. unjust executions and incarcerations, abuse of eminent domain, election fraud, wealth redistribution, etc.)
[2] courage, responsibility, revolution and/or civil war
[3] liberty, abundance
[4] selfishness, complacency, fiscal irresponsibility
[5] apathy, dependency, fiscal and moral bankruptcy, return to step [1]
_____________________________
We’ve been through this cycle 2 or 3 times already (i.e. American Revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression, etc.)

Are we a product of the cycle?
Or is the cycle a product of us?
That is … is it inevitable?
Is it simply our nature to repeat history over and over?

At any rate, unfortunately, we’ll probably have to go through step [1] and [2] to get back to step [3].

Those that don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat it.