Random thoughts — post-election

The newscasters last night made a point of saying that the Vietnam War failed to produce a president, unlike most wars in our history. The tangled history of our relationship to that war — its unpopularity and the revisionism surrounding its history, etc., driving what is a permanent ambivalence toward the era.

But I think it is important to note that the Vietnam era did produce two presidents who did not serve in the war — Bill Clinton and George Bush. The question then is what this says about our relationship to that time, five Vietnam-era candidates, two who were opponents of the war (Clinton and John Kerry), twosupporters (John McCain and Bush). Again, ambivalence.

So now, we move beyond the war (hopefully) and can close that political chapter in our nation's history. If we're lucky, we can put the '60s culture wars to bed.

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Sent from my Verizon Wireless LGVX9900 device.

Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie. View all posts by hankkalet