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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: greenspirit who wrote (120028)	6/14/2005 1:40:47 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 793706

The Vietnam war was a very polarizing event. In my mind, at least, it will always be part of a very complicated time in US history. Black people were fighting for civil rights, and that was no hyperbole. Women were struggling for equality in the workplace, and that was no hyperbole, either. Young people were fighting for more autonomy, and that was not all hyperbole. People who cared about the environment were fighting against pollutors and that was not all hyperbole. It's also not hyperbole to say that the American government, as personified by Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon, lied to the American people about what was going on in Vietnam in order to save face. How do you say, "I love the American ideals of freedom and justice for all, but I don't love keeping black people from voting or having jobs, and I don't love keeping women from most occupations, and I don't love dumping poison in the water and in the air with impunity, and I don't love inflated body counts to make the President look good for an election"? I mean, how do you convey a thought that complicated? If you were there, you remember that just thinking black people should be allowed to vote was enough to make people call you a pinko, while not supporting the Vietnam war was enough to make people call you a commie. There are plenty of people even today who will tell you that Nixon had the right to bug the Democratic National Committee because McGovern was a communist who needed to be destroyed. I think they're probably the same people who will tell you today that Democrats are enemies of America who should be expelled or tried for treason. ;^)