Wulfie's Wurld

Commentary: I remember the 60's. (cross-posted on The Donnybrook)

There are some who might suggest that this means I wasn't having a good enough time. That's fair.

What I remember in particular, at least for this piece, is the 1964 election. Goldwater versus Johnson. I was 14, politically active, and growing up in a blue-collar Democrat town. I was convinced that Goldwater was the only viable candidate running, and that if Johnson was elected, the US would fall to Communism. I couldn't understand how the people around me could be so stupid. I hoped the rest of the country wasn't so dumb.

When the election results came back, I went into a bit of a funk. How many more years would it be before we had to start learning Russian in our schools? I was determined I would never, ever, eat those damned fish eggs.

And you know? Johnson was as bad a president as I feared he would be.

But we survived. And we survived Vietnam. And Watergate. And Iran-Contra. And even a BJ. And eventually it occurred to me that maybe the US was stronger than I thought. Maybe there was something dynamic and wonderful in the Constitution. Maybe the Vietnam protesters weren't Commies after all, but concerned individuals whose right to disagree with me was a fundamental part why the American experiment was so strong and so robust. Maybe America is better than the guy who happens to be holding office.

It's like a pendulum. It may swing one way for a while, than the other way for a while, but through it all, America moves forward.

Only, it's happening again. I've become fearful the way I was back in the 60's. I don't see the pendulum moving back. I'm getting nervous.

Okay, maybe I voted Democratic for the first time in my life in 2000, but that was only because I didn't want a dimwit in the White House. I figured Gore was so bland he wouldn't hurt anything, but at least wouldn't embarrass us. But that Bush won didn't bother me that much. America was stronger than either Gore or Bush. I was encourage when I saw him select Colin Powell. He's surrounding himself with good people, I thought. Even a dimwit with good counselors can't go too far wrong. Like most people, you don't "hope" the person you didn't vote for will fail. That's stupid. It's our country, and whomever is in office we want to succeed. When 9/11 happened, I found myself hoping that this mediocre man would shine like a Lincoln. Maybe a cowboy was a good thing to have at that time.

Besides, stupidity makes for good comedy, and we can all use a good laugh now and again.

I don't feel that way any more. I don't see anything to laugh at. I'm afraid. Not of the terrorists (and yes, they'll strike again--it's what they do), but of that dimwitted cowboy, his cronies, his bobble-headed Congress, and the religious right that seems to want to do away with the separation of Church and State. For the first time since the 60's, I fear for America. Is the Constitution strong enough to withstand what appears to be an orchestrated onslaught from within? I hope it can. I fear it won't.