tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356601405469434111.post8066647625759043677..comments2024-01-01T19:49:13.788-08:00Comments on The Vigil: November 22nd: A Day Which Lives in InfamyVigilantehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07640246609540057997noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356601405469434111.post-80280978457911095282008-11-24T19:16:00.000-08:002008-11-24T19:16:00.000-08:00The 2nd & 3rd tragedies, the deaths of MLK &am...The 2nd & 3rd tragedies, the deaths of MLK & RFK, left Progressives without a leader to contest with the America's fist war criminal, Richard M. Nixon. All the Liberals could put up was LBJ's sychophant Hubert Horatio Humphrey. Progressivism lay dormant for forty years.Vigilantehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07640246609540057997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356601405469434111.post-69620808371534157492008-11-24T13:27:00.000-08:002008-11-24T13:27:00.000-08:00I think LBJ had his heart in the right place, if n...I think LBJ had his heart in the right place, if not his head. Unlike Bush he didn't wage war so he could ensure re-election. He actually believed it was the right thing to do. As to Texans I know a lot of them, but there are few I like.MadMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16753739401363847764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356601405469434111.post-62391329717381350312008-11-24T11:40:00.000-08:002008-11-24T11:40:00.000-08:00Jolly Roger, exception to political Texas scum: A...Jolly Roger, exception to political Texas scum: <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=110-h20070227-17&person=400314" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">Ann Richards</a>. I admire her daughter, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cecile-richards/what-would-ann-do_b_106291.html" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">Cecile Richards</a>, head of Planned Parenthood. Ann Richards would have been a great president; and I would probably vote for Cecile, also.<br><br>We can, however, blame Texas for voting Bushit over Richards as governor. He never won either presidential election and I don't recognize him as president. The next 56 days can't go fast enough for me.<br><br>Thanks, Boris. Trust <i>The Nation</i> to print the truth. I read the article and the letter—chilling description of the battles. As against the war as I was (and am), and as much as I thought I knew, I didn't know much about the horrific reality.<br><br>I'm conflicted about <a href="http://www.ushistory.org/us/56e.asp" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">LBJ</a> as scum, who did so much for Civil Rights and social programs, yet I can't forget Viet Nam.<br><br>Yet, in 1965, LBJ had the following conversation with Mike Mansfield [from <a href="http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/prestapes/d4.html" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">NPR</a>:<br><br>LBJ: My judgment is, and I'm no military man at all. But. . . if they get a hundred and fifty [Americans], they'll have to have another hundred and fifty. And then they'll have to have another hundred and fifty. So, the big question then is: What does the Congress want to do about it?...And I think I know what the country wants to do now. But I'm not sure that they want to do that six months from now. <br><br>NPR: Opinion polls in spring of 1965, showed Americans favoring military action in Vietnam two to one. But Johnson knew that support would erode if expanded fighting sent more Americans home in body bags. In a June 21, 1965, call with Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, Johnson described with almost stunning prescience how the future might - and in fact, would - unfold, with domestic opposition growing to a distant war the U.S. did not know how to win."<br><br>[Entire <a href="http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/prestapes/d1.html" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">article</a>]<br><br>I always wonder whether <a href="http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/prestapes/johnson.html" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">LBJ</a> wanted to get involved with <a href="http://www.extrememortman.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/LBJ%20Lyndon%20Johnson.jpg" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">'Nam</a> or whether the public, in fear of the continuing Cold War, pushed him into the fray.<br><br>Of course, <a href="http://stonezone.com/lbjwhitewash.php" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">others</a> call him "a crook who abused the power of his office, a liar, self-centered, crude, abusive man. He deserves credit for forcing through the 1964 Civil Rights Act after a lifetime of being the key strategist of the Southern block of the U.S. Senate, a role in which he filibustered and blocked every anti-Lynching and Civil Rights bill." <a href="http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/01182008/watch4.html" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">Bill Moyers</a> has a different perspective.<br><br>As concerns Texas politicians, LBJ was an enigma, maybe only semi-scum.Stella by Starlighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16385761338190877425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356601405469434111.post-10635246824799448292008-11-23T06:53:00.000-08:002008-11-23T06:53:00.000-08:00Trail of tears? Read more about the trail of tears...Trail of tears? Read more about the trail of tears' unknown excesses: Here's is the <a href="http://www.thenation.com/special/turse/ConcernedSergeant.pdf" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">Concerned Sargeant's letter</a> reporting one Mai Lai a month. Written in 1970, it was declassified only in 2002. And <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081201/turse/3" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">here's the context</a>. We Americans have no idea of tears.Borishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13887019984342458931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356601405469434111.post-9368481313619107402008-11-22T17:58:00.000-08:002008-11-22T17:58:00.000-08:00'cept for Ron Paul.'cept for Ron Paul.GetaLife-ReadUrNewshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07831438748638620815noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356601405469434111.post-73490102086075696422008-11-22T17:01:00.000-08:002008-11-22T17:01:00.000-08:00The assassination of John Kennedy marked the first...The assassination of John Kennedy marked the first ascension of a war-happy (though never in combat himself) Texan squandering tremendous amounts of American money and lives in a war that benefited few besides KBR.<br><br>Did we learn? Twice since then, we've sent a Texan to the Oval Office (although the third Texan never won cleanly,) and what did we get each time? Yep. WAR.<br><br>Hopefully, this country will never make that mistake again. Texas politicians are scum, even the ones you might think you like.Jolly Rogerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15386411633471396349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356601405469434111.post-45381542041786414532008-11-22T16:42:00.000-08:002008-11-22T16:42:00.000-08:00Vig, how can 45 years have passed? I remember hea...Vig, how can 45 years have passed? I remember hearing about JFK's assassination as a young child at school. I couldn't stop sobbing.<br><br>I agree with that America would have withdrawn and not fought in Viet Nam had Kennedy lived. But, MacDaddy, as far as the "high-brow arrogant" French, they were smart enough to get out and let us foot the bill. Kennedy, felt Vietnam needed to be won by the Vietnamese, not by Americans.<br><br>Damn, Mike, that's a story I'd like to hear. You are right. This is one of those memorable occasions that never leave you. For me, it's not history, but an acute memory.Stella by Starlighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16385761338190877425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356601405469434111.post-72527697181598515352008-11-22T15:41:00.000-08:002008-11-22T15:41:00.000-08:00Vigilante: I was told that he was against the war ...Vigilante: I was told that he was against the war in Vietnam, which he characterized a "war with the French." I was told he had already begun the process of withdrawing soldiers from Vietnam behind the scenes and was going to make the plan public after re-election. Unlike that idiot Bush, who didn't listen to Powell, who knew something about fighting war on enemy grounds, he listened Gen. MacArthur and decided that this war was not being won by the French (Remember: The French got their high-brow arrogant asses kicked at Den Ben Phu in 1954, I believe); and it wouldn't be a good war for us either. I was told that he had already withdrawn 5,000 troops before he was assassinated.MacDaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01483912561779369669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8356601405469434111.post-15324210859530507332008-11-22T12:54:00.000-08:002008-11-22T12:54:00.000-08:00I can remember each of those days as if they were ...I can remember each of those days as if they were yesterday. There are just some things that never leave you. I would share those memorable occasions but that would be akin to me providing a resume on line. I think I will skip that :-) Great post Vigil!!MadMikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16753739401363847764noreply@blogger.com