This is no doubt going to age me but I remember the 60’s quite well. When some people think of the 60’s right away they are mentally carried away to the “Love In’s”, the “Flower Child”, pot smoking young people, and of course “Woodstock”. Oh, but there was so much more to the 60’s than just tie-dye, “free love”, and out of control young people.
I especially remember how acceptable it was to speak out against the US Government. Oh, it did not happen overnight by any means because for all too long there was an endless line of “Kiss-Ups” in society. The media was in no hurry to stick its neck out and so questioning “the fuzz” or demanding answers from “The Man” was just not in vogue. In fact the media at the time was pro-government for the most part and didn’t want to be seen as a “fink”. Sound familiar?? Anyone who opposed the government on anything was seen as a “hippie” or Anti-American. Of course the word “hippie” was to be used as a cuss word to the point that parent’s cringed if they had a “hippie”, a socially aware young person, or “flower-child” in their family.
As time went on and more abuses by the Nixon and Johnson Administrations became better known, dissent became increasingly more acceptable. This dissent wasn’t an overnight sensation, as “Watergate” will always stand testament to. The issue of dissent started out as barely a whimper and eventually grew into a young person’s deafening roar. Eventually there were demonstrations almost every day and usually involved the ongoing Vietnam War or the latest example of government abuse. In fact, when the information leading up to Watergate finally came out Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein and especially The Washington Post received death threats and were continuously vilified in hopes of keeping them quiet. So it wasn’t easy, and plenty of people ended up in jail for daring to question the government, but persistence paid off and everyone became more comfortable with the issue of questioning everything. In other words, it was only through hard work and persistence that 60’s young people found their voice and were willing to use it for whatever cause they associated themselves with.
Fast forward 40 years and we discover our society did not learn very much from history. Our government has run amok and “We The People” has allowed it to happen with barely a whimper in protest. So what steps did we a take and what decisions were made that Americans overlooked or ignored that now makes Senator J, William Fulbright’s warning, "Our government will soon become what it is already a long way toward becoming, an elective dictatorship" appear to be a reality?
The world was willing to come to our aid and also join us in an attempt to battle terrorism with those famous words 'Today we are all Americans' - NATO allies pledge support. For just a moment in time we had the chance to unite the entire world in the common goal of irradiating terrorism and George Bush’s words of “You are either with us or against us”seemed promising. It was not to be though because America did not stand up and demand that Bush and Cheney choose the path best for future generations and us. Instead, the chance of a lifetime was thrown to the trash heap of history and America went down another path.
For the last seven and a half years we’ve had an administration headed by Vice-President Cheney who learned very well from history. Richard Cheney took lessons in the Nixon and Ford administrations as well as secretary of defense under the first President Bush. He learned well to push the bounders of “executive privilege” especially when dealing with a stubborn Congress. We’ve seen many examples over the past seven and a half years of Cheney’s ability to learn well and apply those lessons from the 1960’s that Arthur Schlesinger called the “imperial presidency” In fact, with a title of Vice-President, Dick Cheney asserted he is part of the Legislative Branch and not part of the Executive Branch and so not required to cooperate with the National Archives office to oversee the handling of classified data since 2003.
It’s obvious that this Administration will get away with breaking the law and thanks to Nancy Pelosie will not have to worry about meeting Nixon’s fate. Had the residents of California seen the issues and candidates a little differently “…challenger promises Bush impeachment” life might be much different today. Even Ralph Nader: "Impeach Bush & Cheney!" who took campaign money from the Republicans in 2000 claimed that Bush and Cheney should be impeached.
We used to have laws that even the President and Vice-President had to abide by. That is not to say past administrations have not broken the law and gotten away with it. Far from it, every administration for the last 200+ years have broken the law in one way or another but through the years there have not been many impeachment proceedings. Meaning of course that Americans are a very forgiving people, a people who after voting expect someone else to attend to the details, or we are a very ignorant lazy people who don’t care. Hopefully, America will wake up soon. In the end though history will be the judge of what kind of a society America is and I fear that final determination will not be a kind one.
