April 1, 2018: Hey Joe!, Future on Loan, April Fool

“It is as if we hold the future on loan; knowing not when it will come due.”

----from “The Quotations of Chairman Joe”

I remember waking, a half century ago, to a clear sunny morning and the songs of birds at my window. I had gone to bed the night before after watching President Johnson’s speech on Vietnam which ended in his startling announcement that he would not seek another term as President. I was elated. I hated to see Johnson leave the national scene because he had done so much for civil rights and for the poor in of this country. We have not seen his like since. But the specter of Vietnam hung over the upcoming election like the grim reaper. I had long since joined the ranks of the dissenters and had been voicing opposition to the war since late in 1965 so the candidacies of first Eugene McCarthy and then Robert Kennedy held out great hope that we would begin to change our tragic course in Southeast Asia. On this day it looked as if all things were to come to pass. It felt as if there was a new dawn in America. I remember grabbing a quick breakfast and then heading out the door unto Sixth Street toward my car heading off for classes in Allendale. I got about half way across the street when I encountered my old friend John Hierholzer. “Hey Joe!” he shouted, “What do you make of Johnson’s speech last night”? I stopped in the middle of the street as he drove his car up to me, “It looks like Bobby’s got it now!” I shouted back in glee. “There’s no one but Humphrey standing between him and the nomination, he should be able to beat Hubert”, I said. “Remember what day it is”, John admonished. “What day is it?” I asked. “April Fool’s Day” was his response. So it was.

I had first met John at St. John's Lutheran when I was in second grade. I still remember it. I was assigned my seat and behind me was seated the new kid in school who was full of questions about what to do and where to go. He kind of latched on to me and we became fast friends. I lived in the country then so we saw each other only during school, but later that year we moved into the city down by the river near the old factories and he brought me home with him a few times and introduced me to his parents. In due course we moved into the same block, our house being just around the corner. John and I went through the rest of grade school, junior high school and high school together. Upon graduation we applied to the same college so again we were classmates. On this morning we ran into each other as each of us was about to drive the thirty miles to the Allendale campus. His welcome and familiar voice always carried a note of caution, a trait he picked up from his stern German father. John was the kind of friend every mom wanted their son to be around, whenever we had the urge to do something rash or stupid one could always depend on John to point out the folly of it and make us stop and think. So when he told me it was April Fool’s Day a chill shot through me; a certain indescribable foreboding. I quickly shrugged it off marking it down as one of my friends odd remarks, for which he was so well known, hoping there could not possibly be any significance. I was wrong.

It has been fifty years now since that terrible time, that time so full of promise, that time when all our life lay before us. It was also a time in which none of us spoke about the future. At school no one asked what one's father did for a living. No one asked “What are you going to do when you graduate?”, for everything was held in abeyance, the future itself suspended in disbelief as we all awaited uncertain fate. It was as if we held the future on loan knowing not when it would come due.

For half a century now we have wandered in darkness as the Generation of Swine have squandered the national treasure. Now, this April First, we await the fool's gold mouthpiece, the hollow horn, as the quintessential Boomer, our very own Caesar Disgustus, makes a pig's breakfast of what is left of this republic.

“An Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh”.

Impeach and Imprison.

_____________________

Note: This essay is a re-write of one posted on this day ten years ago in 2008, marking another milestone in remembrance of the year that marked the zenith of American power and prestige, but also marked, with the coming of the modern conservative movement, the destruction of the social contract as well as the beginning of the end of the American empire.

March 31, 2018: Landmark Observance, Rock and a Hard Place, Yes! Yes! Yes!

“Great Leaders don't grow on trees”

                           ----Mother

Today is yet another landmark observance of that time half-century ago when anything and everything seemed within our reach. On this date in 1968, President Lyndon Johnson addressed the nation in a speech to the nation about the war in Vietnam. The speech had become necessary in the wake of the January Tet Offensive during which South Vietnam had been temporarily overrun by insurgent forces. Images of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon under assault, and raging battles lasting weeks in the old provincial capital of Hue where street fighting was literally block, by block, house by house, door to door.

Johnson had accepted at face value, as had most of the nation, the assurances of General William Westmoreland, then commander in the field. Recent biographies have thrown doubt upon the veracity of Westmoreland as well as his role in creating illusions of victory; for he had purposely manipulated the facts on the ground in order to tell the president what he thought the president wanted to hear. Now the president would tell a nation, grown impatient and weary of war, what it so desperately wanted to hear. This, tragically, had led the president to tell the nation that there was, in his unfortunate metaphor, 'a light at the end of the tunnel'. Now, it appears, that light was nothing more than a speeding locomotive.

Much has been made in the hand-wringing in the aftermath about the lessons of Tet. Pro-war advocates still contend that the battles were a huge defeat for the Vietminh, and that the nation should have pursued its objectives in the wake of the 'victory'. But this analysis misses the point entirely. Yes, as Johnson was about to address the nation, now 50 years ago this evening, he could report the heavy casualties inflicted upon the enemy and that it would take years for Hanoi to recover. Indeed, it would be another 4 years, almost to the day, before our adversaries could mount another major offensive. But missing in this argument is that there would, inevitably, always be another and then, seven years later, finally, another.

Johnson had finally absorbed what he had always suspected. In historian Michael Benchloss' book “Taking Power”, Benchloss publishes for the first time recorded telephone conversations from the oval office in the days immediately following the assassination of President Kennedy. Here one encounters Lyndon Johnson in frank conversation with his Senate mentor Richard Russell of Georgia wondering aloud, in the fall of 1963, whether anyone—even the United States—could ultimately prevail in Vietnam. These people are a warlike people, the President told his former Senate colleague, citing Vietnamese history. President Kennedy, confronted with a crisis in neighboring Laos in 1962, had wisely demurred from military intervention. Now the drumbeat for war in Vietnam was growing and the calls that the dogs of war be loosed were becoming ever more insistent. On these recordings one can hear a deeply troubled president cite the fact that the Vietnamese had fought the Chinese for over 300 years before they finally were able to free themselves. Johnson knew, as Ho Chi Minh would later declare in 1966, that our children and grandchildren will still be fighting this war. It was always a real possibility, if not a dead --certainty. Now, Tet had confirmed his worst fears.

Johnson found himself caught between a rock and a hard place. To ask the nation for ever greater sacrifice in the defense of such a corrupt regime; a sacrifice seemingly without end was, simply, not tenable. To sue for peace was, in the wake of all the jingoistic Sabre-rattling, unthinkable.

Many historians, from LBJ biographer Robert Caro to MSNBC's Chris Matthews, have duly noted that since his days in Congress, LBJ was always writing his resignation speech. Indeed, Lawrence O'Donnell in his “Playing with Fire” a book commemorating the 50^th anniversary of that terrible year 1968, points out that several anti-war activists—Allard Lowenstein among them—were pointing out to Robert Kennedy, Gene McCarthy and anyone else who would listen that LBJ would, if push came to shove, quit.

And so it was that as a reluctant RFK pondered the times, Lowenstein and others coaxed a quixotic Minnesota Senator to enter the race, challenging LBJ in a limited number of primaries. What followed was a stunning performance in New Hampshire in which McCarthy polling at around ten percent finished with an astounding 42 percent of the vote, Lowenstein had found his peace candidate. Then, on March 16, Robert Kennedy entered the race. Now the President faced with war on one side and a surging peace movement on the other, felt the ground shift beneath him.

From the White House, Johnson addressed the nation. He had two endings to his speech. As he approached the end of the speech he signaled Lady Bird Johnson what he would say. She was the only other person who knew of the alternate ending and they had agreed upon a prearranged signal. Accordingly, as he ended his address to the nation he told the country that, in effect, Walter Cronkite was right. That there had to be a negotiated settlement. That the effort would require his undivided attention and that to do this he had to remain above the partisan struggle now unfolding in the process to choose a new president. Then he said it “ accordingly, I will not seek, nor will I accept the nomination of my party for another term as your president.”.

I remember watching the speech alone. My mother was in the kitchen, my step-father was working second shift. In any case, I was the family's only dissenter and in our house the “generation gap”, as it came to be known, was real and palpable. They supported the President and this was anticipated to be yet another speech on what was becoming an all-too-familiar drum-beat. I quite expected the same and when the President announced that he was sending more troops into the maw of war, my heart sank. Then, he pulled a rabbit out of his hat, inviting our adversaries to join us at the peace table. When he withdrew from the race by god I leaped from the sofa, exclaiming “Yes!Yes! Yes!” My mother asked me why I was so animated. When I told her, she looked puzzled, perplexed, crestfallen. Then she said “you know, great leaders don't grow on trees”.

An observation that was soon enough brought home.

“An' Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh”

Impeach and Imprison.

February 27, 2018: Most Trusted Man, Losing Middle America, Truth to Power

This year marks a half century since that time so long ago when the conservative movement rose the ascendancy of American politics. The fateful year that began with so much promise and ended with the ultimate booby prize, marked the beginning of the emergence of a toxic, vitriolic, and insidious cancer upon the body politic. From time to time, in the ensuing posts, I will take moments to remember that fateful year and mark the milestones. Today is one such occasion.

On this date, 50 years ago, CBS Evening News anchorman Walter Cronkite did something that, at the time, was extraordinary. It is difficult to imagine a time when those who report the news do not editorialize but simply report what they see; but that was the norm 'back in the day'. Consequently, in poll after poll, Cronkite was reputed to be the most trusted man in America, finishing a close second behind god himself. Such was his stature that n the 1971 movie “Cold Turkey”, a story about a clergyman who leads his community to accept a challenge by a tobacco company to quit smoking for thirty days, the effort reaches truly national indeed mythical stature when Cronkite, played by Ray Goulding of the comedy team Bob and Ray, appears amid angelic choir with a florescent light forming an overhead halo.

Cronkite stepped 'down' from his pinnacle to voice, for him, a singular editorial opinion. He had gone to Vietnam in the waning days of the Tet Offensive to see for himself. Tet is the Vietnamese New Year celebration and the communists had launched, in late January of 1968, a massive offensive to coincide with the country's national celebration, hoping to catch the South Vietnamese forces unawares. Visions of the U.S. Embassy under attack put lie to the administration narrative that the end of the war was nearly at hand, with only some mopping up operations left to be done. Cronkite went to Saigon and was lectured by General William Westmoreland who instructed the veteran reporter to 'do his homework'. Cronkite did. He left the headquarters and went out into the field touring, among other places, Hue where bitter block by block and house to house fighting had been going on for weeks reducing the once grand colonial capital. It reminded him of the ruins of towns and villages he had seen while reporting from the field in World War II.

He returned home convinced, as he reported on this night 50 years ago, that it was clear 'to this reporter' that victory cannot be won. It was also clear that it was not possible for the other side to win. What the country faced, he told his fellow Americans, was a stalemate demanding a political settlement. Negotiations.

President Johnson, watching the telecast, turned to one of his aides and said “If we've lost Cronkite we have lost middle America”. Johnson realized at that moment that—to paraphrase Richard Nixon—the war will no longer play in Peoria. Accordingly he began to talk to First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson, about retiring from office.

Cronkite was, through his position in the press, speaking to the nation. But in a very real sense he was addressing an audience of one: the President of the United States. Johnson got the message. Barely 6 weeks later, in an address from the Oval Office to the nation, Johnson confirmed Cronkite's assessment, declaring a willingness to meet our adversaries at the peace table while suspending certain military actions, the need to devote full time to any upcoming negotiations, that he would not seek nor accept the nomination of his party for President of the United States.

The myth, pilloried so well in the film, was that Cronkite's shift into open skepticism if not opposition, turned the country against the war. It is central to the conservative narrative that the press had sold out the country and gave credence to the paranoia concerning the press that had fueled what, until that time, was nearly a singular grievance on the part of Richard Nixon. Cronkite's influence was wide, but not nearly so deep. The conservative critique makes too much of such influence. It would be another three years before polls began to show a palpable majority questioning the wisdom of the war, another five years before the United States had withdrawn nearly all its forces, and seven years before the South Vietnamese government, a tin-horn dictatorship rife with corruption, would fall. In sum the country didn't turn on a dime, the war dragged on for nearly three quarters of a decade. But the corner had been turned.

Then, of course, there were the upcoming returns from the New Hampshire Primary where Senator Gene McCarthy would perform beyond all expectations denying the once invincible Johnson a clear majority finishing with 42 per cent behind Johnson's 49. Not only had McCarthy, due to the arcane rules governing how delegates were awarded, shown how vulnerable was the president on the war issue, but had actually won a majority of the delegates. The outlook for the president, electorally speaking was grim. Polls had him well behind in upcoming Wisconsin and, in the wings, awaited Bobby Kennedy.

Coming as it did just before Johnson had replaced Robert McNamara with Clark Clifford at Defense Secretary, and as his council of 'wise men'--Johnson's Kitchen Cabinet—itself began to change its tune and echo Cronkite's chilling assessment, those closest to the President had begun to change their minds and speak newly discovered truth to power. The president had ears and responded accordingly.

Contrast now with our present situation where ensconced upon the throne sits a man who neither understands, nor reads, nor listens. Imagine if you will, our very own Caesar Disgustus caught in the currents of such national torment.

“an' Br'er Putin, he jus' laugh and laugh.”

Impeach and Imprison.

See. Bowden, Mark. “Cronkite's 'Stalemate”' The New York Times Tuesday, February 27^th 2018.

page A19

December 14,2014: Thank Lyndon Johnson, Measure in the Details, Because Liberalism Works

On Thursday morning, December 10, my wife suffered her second stroke in 7 years. The first occurred in October of 2007 while she was in the employ of the University of Georgia engaged as the administrative assistant to the Chief Information Officer. The stroke damaged 3 of the 12 main nerve bundles that make up the cerebral cortex, leaving her with some difficulty with motor skills, some weakness, and a propensity for scanning speech to return when fatigued. She soldiered on nonetheless, returning to work within a couple of months and working for an additional 4 years. As the stresses of employment became more and more obvious we were able for her to leave her employment fearing another stroke would surely result if some dramatic changes were not forthcoming. What followed was a period of unemployment and then, when it became obvious that she could no longer work, a claim for disability. In mid summer of 2012 she filed her claim and was speedily granted the benefit after a review of her medical records. Because, for some insane reason, health insurance does not become available for two years she was unable to seek medical care until she qualified for medicare under the social security disability act. Previously there had only been a one year wait but ‘Ol Two-Cows’ extended the waiting period doubling the time one has to wait until on qualifies for medical assistance. So the nation now poses the absurdity of denying medical treatment to disabled persons for two full years. Such is the logical consistency and the compassion as exemplified by political conservatives.

In any case she was able to first get health insurance when she became eligible nearly a year ago with the introduction of the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, or ObamaCare as it is widely known. This, in effect, reduced the two year wait to see a doctor by about four months. She then qualified for Medicare under the Disability Act. Having insurance she could now seek treatment. 

While it has been stressful dealing with the events of the last days, one would have to ponder what would have befallen us if this had happened a year or two earlier when we had no insurance and could get no insurance given her medical history of ‘prior conditions’? The answer is at once obvious: the resulting expense would have been financially devastating, reducing the household to poverty, facing trade offs between medical expenses and food.

I’ve had the misfortune of encountering many a swine and the larvae of the swine on the internet, as I have commented on various issues of the day. Often I will get some knuckle dragging bonehead who will tell me straight out that taxes are theft, and that no government is the best government. The fool, if pressed, would no doubt reveal that he is in his twenties or early 30's and doesn’t see why ‘he’ should pay for someone else’s benefits. Of course he can, afford this ignorance, or thinks he can, because he is presently covered by his employment or is in pristine health at the prime of his life. What he doesn’t understand, and will make no effort to understand is that we are what he will be. At some point he too will no longer be employed and will have to either insure himself or will have to rely on government insurance.

The experience of my wife is a text book case; a standing justification of Lyndon Johnson and the liberalism that he exemplified. She lost her job at the prime of her productive years not because of incompetence or failure but because she could no longer physically deal with the stresses and strains. Having suffered already a major brain injury (brought on by stress) she was forced from the labor market long before she reached her golden years. Did her employer step up and see to it that she would keep her insurance and, therefore, her medical security? No he did not. The institution did what every employer does in this country, viewing the employee as a commodity, an interchangeable part, much as any piece of office equipment. They simply let her go, and replaced her with someone else, leaving her to fend for herself. This is the situation millions of workers in this country face every day as they are downsized, let go, forced by medical issues to leave the workplace early, or the company simply declares bankruptcy and wiggles out of its obligation to its workforce.

The point should now be obvious. If you are relying on your employment to care for your medical needs you may be in for a rude awakening, especially if you develop a serious, chronic, or end of career illness. Some may step up and do what is right, but most will not and you will find yourself damn thankful that Lyndon Johnson and now Barack Obama have come to the rescue.

When Medicare was passed it cut poverty among seniors by nearly two thirds. There are reasons for that, given that most of what one will spend on medical care occurs in the late stages of life, at a time when one no longer works and is on a fixed income. For this reason Lyndon Johnson set up a government insurance program in which everyone is compelled to contribute through payroll taxes. The program works. It isn’t perfect, but it sure as hell beats the alternative. As someone who has faced the real prospect of an event like this happening with no insurance at all, it is of some great comfort that for the last year or so we have had a measure of security, secure enough to make that ambulance call last Thursday morning. For that I take a moment and thank my stars for Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Ask me why I’m a Liberal? Because liberalism works.