I am putting up this diary in response to a conversation I have been having with  brinnaine on the Live blog of the armed services hearing.  I am diarying this because I think these are things that need to be talked about with the larger group and I think many of you will have things to add or comments to make to this and that is what I am looking for here…

Brinnaine’s comment:
It’s not so much that I feel that we have gotten there or that it couldn’t be worse, it’s that we LEARN NOTHING. As a seeker and a teacher that is what makes me cry.

Diane101:
Yes we learn nothing, truer words were never spoken..
To me this is like watching a replay of 40 years ago, as well as a replay of 20 or 10 years ago..
Hawks vs. Doves, the eternal struggle…
Policy on intervention, on non intervention, policy of nation building, or not… it is totally circular…and I don’t know why.
One of the problems is that younger people are just not fully aware of what occurred before, sure they may know it intellectually but not emotionally, having not been present at the time of history being made. and not having suffered along with us the oldsters.  I am sure that the same was so with my grandparents with regard to me and my generation.  If they were here now, I often wonder what they would say..what they would think, I personally think they would be very disappointed…at present state of affairs.

Brianne replied:

Do you mind if I ask you to share, the emotion part with me?
Right now I feel so lost, I hug my kids, my husband, I revel in their good health, their very exisitance, I try to be a good person, to make a difference, and to care, but I feel torn up inside, like I need to do more, change something more…oh, I don’t know what I’m talking about, really. I just feel sad, so very sad. I will not despair and I will get over it but at this moment, my tears are paralyzing me.

Thank you so much for engaging — I really need hear that I am not going crazy! 😉

Diane101:
WEll I will try, this is my memory of the past.
I’ll start with Kennedy, I was about 19 and newly married with one child.  We of my generation were so happy that we finally had a president we could identify with and life was very good and peaceful for a brief time…Then came the assination.  Our country and every one in it that was old enough to know what was happening was plunged into deep depair, for our country and for our future.  We were in mourning and that lasted for a very long time.
On the heels of this came Vietnam and all of the attendant problems most notably of which was how it affected each family in the US in a personal way, as the war escalated.  Then the draft and the lottery…My family, my friends, everyone I knew was living in fear of either being drafted or losing a loved one.
That war dragged on and on with full reporting and coverage of deaths and dying, on both sides.  We saw the bodies of soldiers and citizens.  
Then came Nixon and we were so hoping he would bring our troops home, people were in the streets, mass demonstrations, all over the news.
Watergate…eventually led to resignation of Nixon, and a whole bunch of the powers were consigned to prison.
But our country was once again or still in mourning.
Many of us oldsters are still in mourning from our past and as we see the present and future unfolding in this way we cannot help but remember, and that’s why many knew this whole war game all too well.  We could see the progression it would take, and it did..
The only truly safe time I personall ever felt since my childhood, was the Clinton Years, and that of course was marred by allthe scandal and prevented Clinton from doing more in my opinion..

Let’s discuss!!