“Once Upon A Time”, ahhh it’s sad to be living in a fairytale time in our countries history.
It’s more than sad because of the devestation we have caused and the spineless people’s representatives we hire now, it’s a Travesty Beyond Belief, and a future of more we are leaving the coming generations!
There was an interview on NPR’s ‘Here and Now’ today that brought back Memories of ‘when’ and the debacle many of us were caught up in than, those of us who served there and the country. That interviews link is at the bottom.
Listen to the interview, with BU Professor Julian Zelizer and visit ‘American Prospect Online’ to read an advance of what will be in the magazine in March.
A few snippets below, no need to add commentary to a fine piece of re-visiting history.
How Congress Helped End the Vietnam War
Since January 10, when President Bush proposed a “troop surge” in Iraq, the administration has responded to legislative critics by stating that Congress cannot handle the responsibility of conducting an effective war. “You can’t run a war by committee,” Vice President Richard Cheney told FOX News on January 14.
The advice that most troubled Johnson came from the senior southern hawk, Senator Richard Russell of Georgia — Lyndon Johnson’s mentor in the Senate. In some of the most chilling telephone conversations from the Johnson presidential archives, Russell explained to Johnson why this war could not be won and how unimportant the conflict was to the outcome of the Cold War.
As the war in Vietnam progressed, however, and the military situation deteriorated, a few Democrats used the power of congressional investigation to force the administration into a contentious public debate. The most significant proceedings were Fulbright’s Foreign Relations Committee hearings in February 1966. Eighteen months after passage of the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Fulbright decided that he could no longer stand by the president in a war he opposed. He was worried, as were most members of his committee, that the administration’s optimistic assessments were wrong and that a huge buildup of troops would be required in the coming years. He also felt personally betrayed by the president, who had promised to act with restraint.
Congress’s Response to President Bush’s War Strategy
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Listen Here
While Congress debates how to respond to President Bush’s war strategy, we go back to the history books with BU professor Julian Zelizer, who writes about Congress and the Vietnam War in the American Prospect online. While the Vietnam-era Congress had failings, Zelizer writes, lawmakers forced discussions on difficult issues about Vietnam and challenges the White House’s arguments for the war. They also used the budget to pressure the Pentagon.
I’m hoping that with the, Finally, ‘Oversight’ and ‘Congressional Investigations’, long overdue, will end this Travesty that should never have been started and places our so called National Security, along with everything else, into an extremely deep hole of unknowns!
