One for the History Books: The Presidential Election on 11-04-2008

Yesterday, the world tuned in to watch history being made in the United States as the first African-American President was elected. Barack Obama, the son of a white American mother and a black man from Kenya became the President-elect against overwhelming odds, but to the joy of so many millions of Americans, both black and white and every other color, all of whom felt he was the right man for the job at the right time regardless of his race.

This was a presidential contest that stirred emotions and excited voters. Even my seven-year-old great-niece was enthusiastic and certain Obama would be elected. At seven, I didn't even know what an election was. The response to this election, as well as the significance of the first African-American being elected, is a tale that will go down in the history books!

Maybe you had to be there in the sixties to realize how monumental this election is. We saw cities burn, and people march and die just so African Americans could win the right to vote. We saw two presidents push an agenda for equal rights, including the right to vote, but the first, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated before his dreams could become reality. His successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, would finally be the one to shepherd the bill through Congress. We heard Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. give speeches urging non-violence as he led freedom marches that would draw attention to the lack of equality or voting rights for our black neighbors, but he wouldn’t live to see those rights happen because he was assassinated. We watched as another Kennedy, Bobby, ran for president with the message of equality plus ending the war in Vietnam, but he, too, was assassinated before his dreams could be realized.

It has been a long, hard struggle for those passionate for change from the beginning, and for those of us who saw our own views about the struggle for basic civil rights evolve. We watched as blacks embraced their right to vote and elected some qualified blacks to office, and as Jesse Jackson, another black civil rights leader, attempted his run for President, to no avail. He wept openly at last night's victory speech, maybe in sorrow that he couldn't have been elected, but more likely because he realized fully the depth of emotion behind and significance of Obama's election.

So now it has finally happened. The right man came along who could stir up the passion of Americans once again, and offer hope for a better world. He was elected President of all of us, even those who perhaps refused to vote for him because he was too black, although he was half-white and raised by white grandparents from Kansas, and of those with idealogical differences. Perhaps his greatest qualification for President, besides being extremely intelligent and seemingly imbued with integrity plus empathy for others, is that he was raised in the multi-cultural society of Hawaii, where every race manages to co-exist in harmony. Still, he would have been one of only a few African Americans living in Hawaii in the sixties, except for those military men and their families who happened to be stationed on the island of Oahu.

We lived in Hawaii in the sixties, and the lessons it offered in racial harmony were not lost on me, a girl who had been raised in a segregated South. Perhaps the lessons of equality also were not lost on Obama as one of a small minority of blacks, but in a society tolerant of “differences.” And yes, there was an undercurrent of racism even in Hawaii in the sixties, but it rarely bubbled to the surface then. Obama was surely aware of it, even there.

And for those of us Americans who have lived through the past eight years of the Bush administration and watched in horror as our country became morally and fiscally bankrupt, Obama’s election is a promise and hope for a new day. I for one realized, and expressed my beliefs even as Bush was running for president, that he would bankrupt our country because of his lack of basic understanding of the economy and the struggles of small business owners and middle class taxpayers. It was discussed among friends who feared the same outcome. I also realized early on that the Bush brand of “Christianity” was not even remotely related to the Christian beliefs I was raised with. As a child of the South I was taught to respect others, to treat everyone equally, to live a life that would make my parents and God proud, and that we should all live by the Ten Commandments. We took seriously the words of God’s Commandments.

The painful sting of the 2000 election for our family was that we, along with millions of other Americans, had our access blocked to the voting booth. Our right to vote was challenged in Court, then the right was restored by a Judge immediately before the election, but we were 1500 miles away and weren’t given time to apply for and receive our absentee ballot, then get it in on time. We also couldn't travel that far on such short notice. It hurt not to be able to exercise our right to vote, so we know how others feel who have their access blocked for any reason.

During the past eight years, we’ve seem civil rights eroded as the Bushies attempted to gather more power in the name of “protecting us from terrorism.” I could write about the Bush fight (or failure) against terrorism, but it has all been rehashed many times on news channels and in news magazines and papers. There’s no point in rehashing it again.

Some of us feared that an honest election would never again take place in the United States, as more evidence was revealed of vote tampering in the 2000 and 2004 elections. I watched in horror as a man explained in a documentary film how he had been contracted to design a program for the Diebold voting machines that would change election results, and claimed that his program was used in Florida in 2000 and in Ohio in 2004 to help Republicans win. Why his information has never received wide exposure is unknown, but I expect that we might hear more about it when the new administration takes office.

Or maybe we won’t. Maybe it’s time for the nation to join together as a team and let bygones be bygones. Still, none of us should become complacent about the possibilities of vote-rigging in future elections, especially with the spread of electronic voting machines. We must all educate ourselves about how elections work and the ways our votes can be stolen or manipulated. Hopefully our voting problems will be solved before the 2012 election. After all, every democratic country in the world does a better job of managing their elections better than we do, and one goal in the next four years should be to ensure that all Americans have free and equal access to vote.

Mainly, this is a time for healing, for renewing faith in our government. This is also a moment to reflect on how far this country has come in the past 40 years, since that historic election in 1968 when the country was being torn apart by racism and the Vietnam war, and a democratic convention was the scene of terrible violence and police brutality.

In reference to an advertising slogan made popular in the sixties, we have indeed come a long way, baby!

This Election is About Our Nation's Survival

Are we currently in a recession or a depression? That question remains to be answered as we watch the stock market's mostly downward spiral.

Will the housing market right itself? Another question without an easy answer. For those who bought their home a decade ago and who plan to live in it for another decade, they may not see the huge financial gains made in mid-decade, but they will probably come out ahead. For those who bought in 2003-2006, their home's value may take a long time to reach the level they paid. That is a sad outcome for those who weren't paying attention to the news, but was forseeable for those who were aware of the economic climate and likely outcome.

The stock market fall and the declining housing market were both predictable, and it didn't take a financial whiz to realize it. We have been spending like there was no tomorrow. Now, we will all be paying the price because of lack of loan sources, lowering limits on existing credit cards, and an economy that will affect small businesses as well as large as they face the fact that without a source of money, they must layoff employees and some even close their doors.

The era of greed is over! The upcoming era may be about surviving through some very tough times.

This isn't written to scare you, but everyone that can, must start taking financial responsibility for their financial decisions. And I realize that there are some people who are already hurting too much to be able to help themselves. We must all become sensitive to the families and individuals who are in desperate straits and need our's and our government's help. But we also have to realize that the government, our government, is now in financial straits, and we may all need to step up to the plate and be willing to pay more in taxes. If we don't, we may find the eventual cost is too steep to ever pay. China basically owns us now. We, the greatest, most successful example of a democracy, the most powerful country in the history of the world, could soon be on our knees begging for mercy.

This election is important. The financial policies of the current administration have been disastrous for our nation, and we must NOT elect representatives and a president who will continue those same or similar policies. We need a really intelligent person to run this country, one who has chosen a running mate that offers more than cutesy, folksy or simplistic declarations. After all, that person will be only a heartbeat away from the presidency. And that's why we also need a president who has the best chance of living through his term. This is not ageism on my part. It's just plain old common sense!

While some of you may not believe that things can get worse than they are now - believe me, they can and will if a wise choice is not made in this election. This is not an election where we can afford to elect a candidate based upon emotions. This election is about our nation's very survival.

How Will the 2008 Election Impact History?

As the election of 2008 approaches, it becomes apparent that this will be a campaign filled with unprecedented fear-mongering and hateful lies. So how do we, as voters, separate the truth from lies?

Well, we can all watch every speech by Obama and McCain that is televised so we’ll know what, exactly, each one says. But watching every speech takes enormous amounts of time and it requires undivided attention so that we don’t simply catch a few words or phrases here and there. And as a matter of fact, so far, we in this household have watched all the speeches. We feel we owe it to ourselves and the future of this country to make sure we vote for the most honest, most competent, most ethical and moral candidate, so that’s why we’ve spent so much time in front of the television this campaign.

We’re constantly receiving emails from people trying to enlighten us on their own political biases. Why, we don’t know, because most of our acquaintances know that we take our responsibilities as citizens seriously, and never believe anything we receive by email until we’ve followed up and checked out the facts. Most times, we find these emails to be false, or to be based on part of a statement made by a candidate that leaves out the most important words in the statement. Maybe our acquaintances are simply checking to see if we’re awake?

Political ads are the worst source of truthful information, so we might as well all hit our mute buttons during these ads because, unless the candidates are talking about the issues (the economy, the war in Iraq, energy prices, etc.), we’re not listening. I want to know what the candidate, if elected president, will do about the issues that involve us, concern us, and affect our future, and I want the truth!

So how can you know what’s true and what’s not without spending hours in front of the TV? There is a nonpartisan Web site that checks email rumors and TV commercials to find out which are true or false. You can find it at www.factcheck.com. And of course, you can also find reports on urban legends at www.snopes.com., which checked out 31 emails about Obama and Clinton and found that only two were completely accurate. Most were flat-out lies.

In an article on factcheck.org, Lori Robertson reports that David Emery, who checks rumors and facts pertaining to the election as author of About.com's Urban Legends page, notes a decidedly anti-Democrat tilt to the bulk of the e-mail chatter. Does this mean that Republicans are meaner, their numbers are larger, or they have more leisure time to spew out hateful, divisive messages? Or does it mean that Democrats are less passionate, or they have less time to send out emails? Emery also says that less than one-tenth of what's circulating out there at any given time turns out to be 100% true. “A substantially larger portion – maybe around half of all the emails or a little more – contain a mixture of facts and falsehoods."

If you are truly concerned about the future of the United States, realize that your vote does count and that this election will make history, no matter which way it turns out. Either we'll have a black president (albeit he's one-half white and was raised by his white family) for the first time ever, or we'll have a woman vice-president, also for the first time. Also consider the positions of the candidates and how their platforms stack up with or against the Bush administration. Will they continue the policies of the past eight years, or will they represent real change from the past eight years? And consider how their decisions might impact the future of the world. Whatever the newly elected president's policies or decisions, they will also go down in history someday.

We all have the opportunity to influence history with our vote.

Is the Cold War that Influenced a Generation, Back?

Growing up in the late ‘40s and ‘50s, the Cold War created a constant sense of danger in our young lives. It was our boogie-man under the bed. Everywhere there were daily reminders—from air raid sirens that blasted at noon each day to the “duck and cover” drills at school. Nuclear annihilation was a constant fear as conflicts between the United States and U.S.S.R. threatened to escalate into a full-scale war. And that would mean one country or the other would use “the Bomb” in order to win.

We children didn’t know if we would live to see adulthood. Heck, we didn’t even know if we would make it until tomorrow! Fear and anxiety among those of us whose families discussed the news of the day was palpable as we said our prayers each night and climbed into bed.

Even if the Cold War wasn’t discussed at home, social studies classes in school reminded us of the threat.

As some of us reached adulthood during those years and later in the ‘60s and ‘70s, the concept of “zero population growth” took hold as we wondered what kind of future we could actually offer our children. We couldn’t promise them a peaceful existence, nor could we even guarantee a future. That was only one result of the Cold War.

The Boomer generation become a very conflicted group of young people: those who thought it might be possible to achieve lasting peace by becoming social activists; and those who ignored the dark cloud and lived as though the tomorrows were an endless canvas upon which they could paint their ideal life. Even with contrasting opinions, most young adults realized that the world situation was serious and become more involved in politics than any previous generation.

In the late ‘80s, a huge sigh of relief was breathed as our enemy in the Cold War, the U.S.S.R., started to disintegrate. Would world peace finally become a reality?

We hoped so, but the one constant in the history of the world is change, and unfortunately, what goes around almost always comes around again. Fast forward 20 years, and once again Russia is trying to assert its power by invading a smaller country that declared its independence from Russia only two decades ago.

How did this happen? Did Russia decide the time was ripe to strike while the United States was distracted by two wars and its President was in China enjoying the Olympics? Is it that Russia wants to assure its access to the oil fields in Georgia? After all, while they were rebuilding their power, the United States had started making inroads into their previous territory by providing military help and training to Georgian soldiers. Was the United States there because of the oil?

It does appear that oil is the commodity over which future wars will be fought.

But now we have to ask ourselves, is the Cold War starting up again? It would certainly appear to be a possibility. It seems that there will always be something to fight about as long as there are people on this earth—just as there has always been. We can only pray that our children and grandchildren won’t have to live with the constant, crippling fear that defined our lives.

Stories that Define the Boomer Generation

Memories of the past. That’s what I prefer to call recent history. The word history conjures up painful sessions of learning boring dates, names, and useless information that couldn’t possibly have been of importance to me.

Now that I’m an adult I realize just how valuable knowledge of our country’s and the world’s history is. In fact as a civilized society, we cannot proceed with courage and conviction without knowing what has happened in the past. So history is extremely important to our very survival.

Since my school days, there’s been one important change in how I relate to history, and that is because I have now lived through several decades of lots of important stuff. All of a sudden, since this is the Baby Boomer era we’re talking about, HISTORY IS HOT!

In my anthology, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ‘40s to the Present, 20 writers (including myself) share stories of growing up through the greatest, most triumphant and most terrifying of times.

As children, we faced the polio epidemic, which forced our parents to keep us at home to avoid crowds so that we didn’t become victims of a horrifying disease that could cripple us, or worse yet, force us to live in an iron lung for the rest of our lives. Today a woman who had been in an iron lung for nearly 60 years and whose story was mentioned in Looking Back, died due to a power outage that shut down the machine that had kept her alive for all these years. Dianne Odell managed to finish high school, attend some college, and write a children’s book—all while encased inside the iron monster. Luckily for most of us, a vaccine was discovered in the early ‘50s that prevented polio so that we, as children, could once again enjoy swimming, movies, and the other joyous activities of summer.

We also lived in fear of the Cold War, Communism, and the BOMB. One writer poignantly recalls living in constant fear and vowing that she would do something about it when she grew up. And she did, which you can read about in the book.

Our world changed as integration and civil and voting rights for black citizens became a pressing issue, finally lifting them out of their second-class status that had existed since the end of the Civil War. I was there when Little Rock Central High became the first Southern high school to be integrated, and when President Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne Division to protect the rights of nine black students and ensure security amid swirling threats of violence and mob protests. But mine isn’t the only story of those times. Two other classmates also write about their memories of that frightening time.

Then President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. That November day in 1963 stunned and shocked our nation and destroyed any illusions of security we might have felt. Next came the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, civil rights leader, and a few weeks later, the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, brother of John F. Kennedy and a candidate, himself, in the upcoming presidential election. We all had to wonder what was to become of our beloved country and us?

The major tragedy of those times was the Vietnam War and the tremendous anger and violent protests it generated among the Boomers. Suddenly our streets were filled with young and old protestors and hippies who voiced their opposition to a war that was decimating the numbers of boys and young men. Some protests were peaceful, but many violent, radical groups were also at work during the war. We could never be sure whether our society could withstand the onslaught of opposition by angry young Americans. Many young people marched and others dropped out of society, choosing communal living and drugs to numb their pain. The ‘60s and early ‘70s were both sad and exciting times to live through.

To have been alive to witness history being made during those decades presented an opportunity to those of us who were young to seriously contemplate how we each might make a difference in the world. And even those of us who sat on the sidelines were affected in lasting ways that will remain forever etched in our minds.

Yes, history is hot when you can picture the past vividly through the lenses of those who lived through it. And that’s what Looking Back offers readers: 24 terrific, poignant and very personal stories by those who lived through the Boomer era and truly know what happened then. Read the book and you’ll understand the events and moments that defined the Boomer generation. And maybe you'll understand why.

Will the Current Recession Make History?

Folks like me have experienced the ups and downs of the economy over several decades, but a recession is always a shock when it hits the middle class. Certainly I can’t know the horrors of surviving the Great Depression during the ‘30s, but my parents and grandparents suffered terribly and survived the worst economy the United States has ever experienced. It affected their entire lives.

Will we see the same type of depression happen in our lifetimes? Unfortunately, none of us can know how the current recession and raging inflation will end. Will the economy get worse before it gets better? And how much worse must it get before everyone in the middle class is affected by the blows. Certainly those Boomers who planned to use their increasing home values to fund their retirements will have to postpone retiring to the leisurely life. Most will have to work into old age, that is, if they can find a job.

Last night on the news, a story featured middle class women who have been forced by the downturn in the economy to live in their cars. And this was in wealthy Santa Barbara, California! One woman had been a notary public with lots of business when houses were selling and her services were needed to notarize financial documents. Then with the economy on the skids, she lost her job, and with it her home.

She’s 67 years old and has a teenage daughter who had to go live with her friends. Meanwhile, the woman draws a social security check and has a part-time job paying $8.00 per hour, which means she earns about $1400 per month. Still, it’s not enough to rent even a small studio apartment. You see, the average rent for a tiny one-room apartment in that part of California is $1600 per month. That’s why the woman is forced to live in her car. Each night, she has to store some of her belongings under her car so there’s room for her and her two dogs in the back of her SUV.

This is a woman who should be enjoying her retirement today instead of scrambling for a place to live and enough to eat. What does that say about the United States and Americans? And for any racists who read this and seek to brush her story aside because you think she might have been an illegal alien or a minority, no, she was caucasian. Race has nothing to do with the status of the homeless in America.

Santa Barbara is one of the few communities that recognizes the homeless problem and has set aside some parking lots for those who must live in their cars. One of those lots is restricted at night to women who call their cars, home. And they have to be out before 7 AM before businesses need the parking spaces. These people are lucky—at least they’ve been able to hang onto their cars. But what about the many others who are left with nothing but the clothes on their backs? So will this be a recession that makes history?

Thousands, and maybe millions of Americans are homeless. Millions are jobless. Millions lack basic health insurance. What will happen to them? Will those Americans who say that everyone has a responsibility to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps finally realize that some people don’t even own boots, nor do they have hope to ever own a pair? Will those Americans finally vote for candidates who offer a realistic solution for the jobless, homeless, insurance-less families, or do they still believe that poverty is each person’s own problem, and certainly not theirs?

The only thing that can prevent the recession from growing deeper and becoming a major historical event is if elected officials face up to the problem and bring unnecessary government spending under control, all while offering a helping hand to those who find themselves in dire straits through no fault of their own. We are our brothers' keepers, although there seem to be a large number of Americans who no longer see it that way!

We live in a unique place in history, when our government is waging war in a foreign land for questionable reasons. There were no terrorists in Iraq until Saddam was brought down, so while some in our country feel smug because they (we) “saved the Iraqi people from the brutality of Saddam’s regime,” the fact is that most Iraqis hate our country because now their homeland is overrun with terrorists and insurgents. Thousands of Iraqis have been killed as well as thousands of our own soldiers.

No, this war was not fought for Iraq’s benefit. Instead, it is making American war profiteers, oil companies, oil speculators, and some of our top elected leaders, rich while America sinks deeper into debt. And all of this is happening while taxes for the wealthy are being cut. Supposedly, cutting taxes for the wealthy has a trickle down effect. I would ask the homeless, jobless, and insurance-less, and even those still in the middle class if any of that trickle down effect has reached them lately?

America’s middle class is paying all of the costs. The question is how long will our citizens willingly accept the status quo before they vote to replace those in charge?

The recession is not simply a problem for people who are having a hard time getting by. When the middle class falls, and it eventually will if there’s no serious commitment to make changes, America’s system of democracy will fold. You see, our unique middle class is what makes our system of government a democracy. In fuedal societies, there are only rich and poor. There is no middle ground. And if our middle class falls, this recession with accompanying inflation will surely become a historic event that will be long remembered for the folly of our leaders who misused their power.

It's up to all of us to hold our leaders accountable. It is within our power to control history.

Politics Will Determine Our Future

This is a long post, but I hope you will stay with it.

Since it is a political season with the upcoming elections taking place in six months, it is important that voters understand how their vote will affect their own interests, but also how it will influence the history of our country, and our planet.

I often wonder what would have happened if Senator Goldwater had won the 1964 presidential election. Would the United States have bombed Vietnam into oblivion, like Goldwater’s political enemies wanted us to believe? Or would the war have ended sooner, with fewer American lives lost? Would anything have changed?

And then there was 1968, when Richard Nixon was elected president. What if Hubert Humphrey had won that election? Would our lives have turned out any different? Certainly, the Watergate scandal wouldn’t have taken place. Still, I have to wonder about the enormous secrets that our government kept from us during the sixties, and how some of the worst finally became public in the early seventies. Would the shame have been any different?

For so many years I felt disenfranchised from the election process. We moved a lot because of my husband’s military career, and sometimes we landed in the middle of a conservative community, while the next move might put us in a more liberal setting. And I didn’t have a voice. My voting opportunities were limited because of not being able to register to vote in many of the places we lived. Things are different now, but then, military spouses were discouraged from becoming part of the communities where they lived. Yet, those communities were where I went to school and worked.

While then, it was confusing to be pulled politically in two different directions, I learned a lot and have been truly blessed to have had so conflicting influences on my life and political views.

What I can’t really comprehend is how this election seems to be attracting voters who hold extremist views. I believe that a person can only hold extremist ideas if they haven’t been exposed to the thoughts, ideas, and lifestyles of a variety of people—conservatives and liberals, rich and poor, educated and not. Maybe knowing the concerns and feelings of both sides gives me a more middle-of-the-road attitude. Still, the far right wing of the Republican party, which seems to have seized control of that party, would probably believe that I’m a wild-eyed liberal because I respect the views of liberals. And the far-left liberals would likely think that I’m a rabid conservative because, basically, I respect conservative values.

I’ve decided to lay out my views for readers, because my feeling is that MOST AMERICANS are caught somewhere in the middle, just as I am. I was raised in a conservative family and still hold conservative values, but unlike many of today's conservatives, ours was a family that believed it was our moral duty to help those less fortunate than us, no matter what their color, religion, or political beliefs. Today, it's impossible for me to buy into the extremist ideals held by those now in control of the Republican Party.

In the first place, as I see it, the conservative view that everyone has personal responsibility for their own and their family’s lives is morally wrong. I realize that it is impossible for people living in poverty to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, because many, many Americans don’t even own a pair of boots. Yes, sometimes someone does overcome overwhelming odds to become successful. Yet, how can the average person who is underpaid, under housed, and undernourished be expected to lift themselves out of poverty without help—a little boost up, or just plain luck? You see, I’ve known these people in places like Hawaii, California, Arizona, Washington, Texas, and Arkansas, and some are my friends.

I believe that it is the moral responsibility for the wealthy to help those who are less well-off. But experience tells me that many won’t. I’ve known these people in Hawaii, California, Arizona, Washington, Texas, and Arkansas, and some are my friends. The only way some will help those less fortunate is by being taxed. And yeah, they don’t like that—but we no longer live in a socially responsible society where all individuals voluntarily help the less fortunate.

There was a time when rich and poor lived in the same communities—sometimes side by side—so helping a neighbor in need was hard to ignore. But now, the rich segregate themselves behind iron gates so they don’t have to ever come face-to-face with a family that is struggling to get by. And the wealthy certainly don’t make it a habit to drive through the communities where homeless people roam the streets. "See no pain, feel no pain" seems to be the current mantra of the wealthy and upwardly mobile.

And some politicians live the lives of the rich and powerful, so don't have a clue what the real world is like. Just today I heard Senator McCain say he wants a healthcare system that will give each person $2500, or a couple or family $5000 to buy insurance on the open market. It sounds commendable, but there are several problems with his plan.

1. First and foremost, $5000 will not begin to pay the cost of health insurance for the average family.

2. Many people who lack health insurance, don’t have it because they can’t get it at any cost. Anyone with a pre-existing condition is refused insurance coverage, period. McCain’s plan doesn’t address this situation.

3. Those who retire before sixty-five face having no healthcare coverage until they turn sixty-five and get Medicare. Of those who had coverage when they worked, most lose it when they retire. And this happens during a period when chronic health problems typically crop up. I can’t even begin to enumerate the number of people I know personally who discovered they had serious illnesses immediately after they retired—long before Medicare kicked in—and long before they thought they might be stricken with diseases like cancer, heart disease, Parkinson’s, diabetes.

4. McCain's plan will only help insurance companies make more money with less state regulation, since he wants health insurance companies to be able to sell cross state lines! Gee, a politician doing something to help his rich business friends? Surely not!

Letting the profit-oriented marketplace become the dumping ground for everyone who needs healthcare will never work because it is profit-oriented. Private companies will never grant healthcare coverage to those who have pre-existing conditions, or are at risk for serious illnesses. So a government-based healthcare plan seems to be the only solution. And for those who claim that government-based healthcare will not work, let me tell you what it’s like.

For all the years we were in the military, and even following retirement, government healthcare was the only type of medical care we ever had. And for the most part, it was extremely good. In fact, since we are now getting healthcare on the open market, we’re finding that private physicians are much less caring, and in many cases, not as skilled. But we do have coverage now—the same as all people over sixty-five. And if we could find healthcare professionals as good as those military doctors we once had, we would have no complaints whatsoever.

Because of the reasons stated above about my having been exposed to, and friends with, people of every race, economic class, and educational level, and a few other reasons, I now hold a broader view of subjects like politics and healthcare than when I was younger. I do believe that society owes all its members basic healthcare, help in securing a good education, and social programs that aid those in need. And now I realize that who I vote for in the presidential race will have a lasting impact on society, including whether we all can live a humane existence, or whether some of us will suffer further deprivation because our tax dollars are used to wage war and wreak destruction in far-off countries instead of providing much-needed services to our young, poor and elderly.

For too many years since I reached adulthood, war profiteers have grown wealthier as our government awarded them billion-dollar contracts, while the young, poor, and less educated of our citizens have lost their lives fighting senseless battles. History was being made then, and it’s being made even now, as you read this. And it’s not always just or good. It’s up to each of us to vote our conscience, and not just for our own selfish concerns. We must remember that elections impact not only you and me, but millions of Americans, and indeed, the billions who inhabit our planet.

And yet, in spite of my beliefs about voting for a person that I think can best rule the country, I have faith that whoever gets elected, it is God’s will, and the world will evolve as God intends.

WHY YOU AND I MUST KNOW HISTORY

"History is knowledge." This is a phrase I wouldn’t have understood back when I was in school because I could not see how history related to my life. Knowing who the signers of the Declaration of Independence were would give me knowledge? Knowing what year the Civil War started and ended was important to me and my life? Why?

What I didn’t understand then was that knowing history WOULD give me knowledge, and power. The dates wars started and ended were not important, in and of themselves. But knowing history put the dates in context, and that was what was important. What was going on in the world when a war started? Why was it fought? Who were the good people and who were the bad? Those were the facts I really needed to learn.

As I remember History 101, it was all about names and dates, and stories that proved the United States government was always on the right side—but was that true? Were our leaders on the right side when they shoved Native Americans off their land so the white man could claim the treasures buried there? Were they right to choose to fight Communism in South Vietnam? Are they right now to initiate a war in Iraq based on the lie that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that they were harboring terrorists?

That, dear friends, is why history is knowledge. Knowing that our government leaders should always be questioned can come only from knowing history. They’re not perfect—and neither are we—no one is! But those of us who lived through the Vietnam War, then followed the news and studied government reports following the war, have learned this lesson. Those of us who lost loved ones in the war, learned the lesson the hard way.

From recent history, I can only discern that many of our citizens have not studied history thoroughly, and history teachers are failing to teach all of the facts about history. Okay, teachers do have a lot of information to cover, and they often teach from books that don’t cover everything. But I feel it is their responsibility to learn the facts and teach them, even though their textbooks may be lacking. Do they read newspapers? Do they read historical books outside the textbook they’re teaching from? Do they even watch the news or documentaries on television?

Well pardon me, but I believe there is a responsibility to future leaders and voters of America to be taught the facts behind history. We all bring our own beliefs to our jobs, be it teaching, as a journalist, or as a parent, but every one who impacts the young in any way has a responsibility to learn the true facts and teach or write them. Not our truth, which may lack depth or be lopsided, but the TRUE and COMPLETE FACTS.

The future of our country depends on those youngsters now learning about the history of their country knowing what really happened. They, like us, can’t make rational decisions on things like: how will this new legislation affect my life in the long run? Which candidate will work to improve the lives of all Americans? Which one will bow to special interests, like the war profiteers, or big business? Will bowing to them negatively affect my own family’s lifestyle, our dreams, my retirement?

We must know what has happened in the past to understand what will happen again in the future, because history does repeat itself. The economy? It’s all been played out before. The war? Well we’ve certainly been there before—and not too long ago!

Unless we all make it our mission to read, watch the news, and study the history we don’t remember or never learned, we have no one to blame but ourselves when the American dream turns, instead, into a nightmare.

Where Were You in the '60s?

As the ‘60s wound to a devastating close, 1968 turned into a counterculture clash against the establishment. The 1968 democratic convention was without a popular peace candidate or leader since Robert Kennedy had been killed, and those in the counterculture did not support Lyndon Johnson’s vice president in his bid for the nomination since he was a hawk on the war. Still, the young, including those under 21 and too young to vote, wanted their voices heard in the election since it was their generation being drafted and forced to fight in Vietnam. So many of them were being killed, or maimed, or losing their minds and souls after witnessing so much violence and devastation in a land far from home.

The differences between the generations came from many issues, but none more divisive than the draft. Many young men who couldn’t afford a college education and the draft deferment it offered, or who had already graduated from college, were moving to Canada to escape being drafted. Those who had already served a tour in Vietnam and didn’t want to return to the killing fields, and those who disagreed with our government’s war policies and inequalities, often deserted from the military and sought political asylum in Canada.

Government officials and the press cursed the young men who tried to avoid the draft or deserted, while their own sons enjoyed the privilege of dodging the draft without question or comment. Some young men having parents or friends with political influence, and who were already graduated from college, used that influence to get into the National Guard or Reserves, which seldom saw service in Vietnam. This was how George W. Bush and others in the current administration escaped service in Vietnam.

To say the war was an unequal opportunity, in many cases dividing the rich from the poor, would be an understatement. While most of the rich and influential sat at home enjoying life as they had always known it, the mostly poor and black young men of our country were forced to fight in the rice paddies and jungles far from home.

As the democratic convention started in Chicago in 1968, thousands of young people who resisted the war had gathered around the convention center for a massive demonstration. However, the police in Chicago were ready for them and used bayonets, tear gas, and other force to attack the demonstrators. At least one demonstrator was reported killed and hundreds were injured, including press members, medical workers, and police.

Hubert Humphrey became the Democratic nominee for president that year, while Richard Nixon was the Republican nominee. Both were disliked by many, if not most, of the voting public, but especially by the young. The decade ended with Nixon being elected president, which eventually lead to challenges to the Constitution and one of the nation’s biggest political scandals—and to the determination of the Republican Party to further challenge the Constitution in the future, and to take steps to enforce its control over the politics of the country.

While many young people were actively involved in the counterculture movement, or in the hippie movement back to the land, or in the civil rights movement, others of us were passively watching on the sidelines. In my case, I never participated in a demonstration, but I slowly but surely began to believe in the cause of the counterculture, as did those in the older generation of my family whose guidance, intelligence, and belief in God had always influenced me. They read, and they studied issues, just as I did, and they, like I, came to believe that things were no longer right in the United States of America.

My own beliefs came from a different place than most others under 30. Being the wife of a military (by choice) man, I was informed in 1964 that I couldn’t actively take part in the political campaign of a presidential nominee. Since we had orders to leave a few days before Election Day, I was not allowed to vote by absentee ballot, so I wasn’t allowed to vote in that election. Then by 1968, we lived on a military base and I was told that since I was not a resident of the State where we were stationed, I couldn’t vote. I was a citizen of the U.S., and my family had been here since before the Revolutionary War, yet I was denied the right to vote. Still, I had every right to become angry about the political situation, just as every citizen did. After all, my husband was actively serving his country!

Would my one vote have made any difference? NO! But, like many others in this country then, and now, I didn’t even have a voice. Maybe all of our votes together would have somehow made a difference.

The ‘60s changed my perceptions of my country and its leaders. My conservative background kept me from actively participating, but the drama of that decade changed the way I looked at politics and its influence on all of our lives. Our democracy was being threatened then, and it is even more under threat now, and it is up to every one of us to stay vigilant so that the forces that shaped the ‘60s never exist again. Still, I’m afraid that those very forces exist today, yet the avenues to protest them or control them have been closed by a media owned by only 6 major media giants, and controlled by our current government.

If steps are pursued to bring the Internet under the control of those few voices, and that attempt is progressing as I write this, I fear that we individual citizens will have all lost our voices. Without the sound of every voice of every citizen, there is no democracy!

Remember that Communism succeeded for so long because the press was limited and allowed only the government’s voice to be heard. Hitler and the Nazis were successful because only their voice and message was allowed to be heard. The only way for any evil empire to succeed is by limiting the type of news (the message) that its people are exposed to.

What can we, as individuals, do? I don’t have any answers. As a journalist, I am skilled at asking questions, and I’m capable of seeing what is wrong with our society, but the problems are so complex now that I don’t have any solutions to offer. Speak out, and you’re branded as a traitor. Question the status quo, and you’re branded as a troublemaker. Well, I’m neither a traitor nor a troublemaker, but I do care that our country continues as a free democracy, and that our Constitution is upheld and respected. Democracy has never been more threatened than it is right now.

I can offer only two suggestions:

1. Each and every one of us should READ the Constitution so that we understand what it says. It’s important that we all know what our forefathers wrote so we can ensure the continuance of the democracy that they fought so hard to establish.

2. Read the book, 1984, by George Orwell. In it you will find the playbook for the way our own lives are being manipulated today, right here in America. Scary? You bet!

God Bless America!

Anti-war Movement, More Assassinations, the Counterculture, and the “Make Love, Not War” Generation

The boomers would become known as the “Make Love, Not War” generation as the ‘60s evolved from frightening nuclear crises and an assassination, to active involvement by boomers, then to dropping-out of society.

To say all boomers became involved in changing society would not be true. Many followed the paths of their more complacent parents, and showed mild to no interest in the rapidly changing political climate. Many others scorned the protestors. But a large number were frightened, stunned, embarrassed by the status quo, and then driven to take an active role in changing the world. While this movement looked huge as it was shown on television, no one knows the actual number of boomers and others who became involved in the counterculture and anti-war movement, or how involved they were.

Still, this movement helped end a terrible, destructive war that should never have been entered into. From the beginning of U.S. involvement, President Eisenhower had stated that French involvement in the conflict was hopeless. Yet, that didn’t stop him from sending aid to the French, including money and military advisors. That finally led to thousands of young American soldiers fighting and dying in the jungles and rice paddies. Why? How? The first two Americans died in July, 1959 in an attack 20 miles north of Saigon.

As protests continued and grew in size and scope, it became politically imperative for some politicians to represent their cause. Robert F. Kennedy, younger brother of President John F. Kennedy who had served as Attorney General under both Kennedy and Johnson, and then elected a senator from New York, decided to run as an anti-war presidential candidate in 1968. As he celebrated his victory in the California democratic primary before heading to the democratic convention in Chicago, he was shot by assassin Sirhan B. Sirhan. The next day, he died, and with him the hopes of millions who counted on him to be the president who would bring peace to the country.

But two months before Kennedy’s death, Dr. Martin Luther King was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee where he had gone to support striking sanitation workers. His assassination stunned the nation and demoralized those fighting in the civil rights movement, most of who were also involved in the anti-war movement. Dr. King had called the United States “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world,” as he spoke out against U.S. policy in Vietnam and suggested a merger of the anti-war and civil rights movement. Yet, he preached non-violence, and was the leading spokesman for the civil rights movement.

The boomer generation involved in marching for the rights of those less fortunate, including young men drafted into the military and forced to fight an unpopular war, watched as their hopes and dreams were buried along with their two leaders. Is it any wonder that many were angry and confused, and subsequently turned to drugs to numb their pain?

Communal living and turning their backs on society seemed the only answer to their pain. Participating in society seemed hopeless, so why continue to support it?

The ‘60s – Racism, Poverty, and Assassinations

The ‘60s were the most tumultuous in recent history—and possibly in all of history. Certainly, none of us expected the decade to become a defining period in our lives. The emotional experience of living through the ‘60s remains like a fresh wound forever etched upon my mind—as if it happened only yesterday.

As the ‘60s dawned, we were already faced with the possibility of nuclear annihilation because of the Cold War. Children were afraid that they might not grow up. Young people worried about what they could do to improve relationships between countries. Newlyweds were concerned about bringing babies into a world so frightening. And around all this turmoil swirled growing concerns about civil rights for blacks.

The boomers were ready to become involved in the political and social climate of the country because the future didn’t look at all promising. Most were brought up in middle class households with televisions that brought the world into their living rooms. They were raised with plenty of material possessions, yet they could see that others in their own country were doing without even basic necessities or rights. And a young, energetic presidential hopeful, John F. Kennedy, inspired them to “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.”

Music became a rallying call for the young. After all, music was important to this first generation raised with rock ‘n’ roll. Rebelliousness had already become evident in the ‘50s, as some music concerned parents because of its suggestive lyrics and dance moves. And some youngsters were inspired to join the jazz and folk scene in New York and San Francisco.

Musicians began to explore writing and performing songs that inspired social change, and the folk revival was born. Suddenly songs had a message about freedom, justice, love for one another, and as the Vietnam War heated up, against war. Freedom marches were held throughout the South to help black citizens register to vote, and to realize that their participation in the process would ensure power. White youngsters went South to help organize civil rights marches, and as a result, some were tortured and murdered by racists who resisted change.

The Vietnam War was heating up during the early ‘60s, but little attention was paid to it at first. Meanwhile, in 1961, a group of Cubans who had relocated to the U.S. after Castro took over their homeland, tried to invade Cuba to free their country from Castro’s rule. Known as the “Bay of Pigs,” this failure led to even further Cold War crises. In October, 1962, Russia tried to supply Cuba with long-range missiles, which created the Cuban Missile Crisis and almost started a nuclear war. A blockade of ships carrying the missiles was enforced by President John F. Kennedy, and eventually they reversed course and headed back to Russia.

Most civilians were aware of the crisis and concerned about the outcome, but few were as terrified as military families, who had been directed to evacuate to underground bomb shelters. I was one of those who chose to stay put, knowing that there could not be a positive outcome to any nuclear attack, and that being in a shelter would only prolong the suffering. Luckily, that crisis passed, but it was the most frightening moment during the Cold War.

Then in November, 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade through Dallas. One man was charged with the assassination, but conspiracy theories abound to this day. It seemed impossible that a man as inconsequential as Lee Harvey Oswald would be capable of creating so terrible a blow to the morale of the U.S.

Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as President on the flight of Kennedy’s body back to D.C., and soon he had escalated the war in Vietnam. He seemed to sincerely want to get a civil rights bill passed to ensure equality among all races, and to get legislation passed that would help all poor and elderly citizens. He finally pushed through the civil rights legislation, and he launched a War on Poverty. During his term in office, the Medicare Bill was passed, ensuring health care coverage for all Americans over sixty-five years.

Johnson was never as popular as Kennedy had been because he was seen as an interloper without the charm or sophistication of Kennedy. But Johnson was doomed mostly because of his support of the war in Vietnam.

WHAT THE PRESS IS SAYING ABOUT "LOOKING BACK"

The following review appeared in “Escapees Magazine,” January, 2008

“There is a quotation, often attributed to the Chinese: ‘May you live in interesting times.’ It is said that this may be a curse; I leave it to each person to determine whether it is a curse or not. But no one can deny that the years since 1940 have been very interesting, indeed. Time seems to have flown by, but that time was filled with extraordinary historical events. This period of history is so aptly presented in Kay Kennedy’s latest book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ‘40s to the Present.

This thoughtful book had me remembering many things from my own lifetime, from the usual, ‘Where were you when Kennedy was shot?’ question to long suppressed memories of hiding under my third-grade desk in practice for a bombing attack. The human consequences of historic moments are vividly recalled (author’s note: by 20 contributors) in this extraordinary book. We are defined by the events of our lives, and each of these writers presents their memories in wonderful, sometimes heartbreaking, detail.

Kay precedes each section of the book with an overview of the highlights of a past decade and a final brief chapter on the future.

I found this book very enjoyable. It was fun remembering personal recollections that I share with others. Even more interesting was experiencing stories of past events that I would have no possibility of experiencing such as a soldier’s memory of a Vietnam battle.”

To read an excerpt or order a copy of the book, "Looking Back," click on link on right.

THE '40s - THE NOBLE WAR YEARS

The chapters on the ‘50s and ‘60s from my book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the '40s to the Present, have been covered in previous posts, so this time I will talk about the ‘40s. This was the decade that drastically changed the world, and it was the beginning of tremendous population growth as “baby boomers” fueled enormous changes in society.

In 1941, the United States joined the war against Japan when it was attacked at Pearl Harbor. Only days later, we also went to war against Germany, helping defend our allies in Europe and beyond. Thus we were thrust into World War II, and most able-bodied men left their homes and families to fight in either the Pacific or in Europe.

Most women stayed home, but a few went to war as nurses and support personnel. Those who stayed home rushed to fill the jobs left behind—especially those that were crucial to the war effort. Ships, airplanes, ammunition, uniforms, and numerous other commodities were vital to winning the war, and those industries had to be sustained. The working wife and mother became, for the first time, commonplace throughout the United States.

When you remember that America had just pulled out of the Great Depression of the ‘30s, when thousands of homeless people starved and froze to death because of lack of jobs, food, and shelter, it’s easy to understand the economic changes that engulfed the country during the war. Suddenly industry was humming as all of America's citizens rallied behind the war effort. Victory gardens were planted to help grow food for families. War bonds were sold to help raise money to fight the war. And rationing was also introduced to American consumers as gas, rubber, some foodstuffs, and other goods were in short supply.

(In the book: "Looking Back", Faye Crawford recalls the War years as a child growing up in Washington State. She remembers savings stamps and some of the shortages faced by her family, as well as her family members who served in the war.)

Laverne M. Brown remembers her parents volunteering to help watch for Japanese planes slipping across our coast from the watch tower in their small Oregon coastal town. Even with watch towers up and down the West coast, a Japanese submarine shelled a military depot at Fort Stevens, Oregon in June, 1942, and in September, 1942, a Japanese warplane bombed Mt. Emily, Oregon and ignited a forest fire. Incendiary bombs were also dropped near Brookings, Oregon.)

When the war ended the country was united in welcoming back its returning war heroes. American society was optimistic about the future and nothing seemed impossible. The war had served as a catalyst for new inventions, including technological advances that would change the world.

And when all those men returned home from the war, they married and started families. With optimism rampant throughout the country, the birth rate quickly expanded into the baby boom. New neighborhoods were built to hold these new families, and suddenly suburbs sprang up across the countryside. New shopping centers were built to service the ‘burbs, and people left the cities in droves to make their home in the new neighborhoods. Living outside of cities meant cars had to be purchased to commute to jobs in town and to drive children to school. New roads had to be built to move all that new traffic.

(In "Looking Back" Nola Rae Lewis recalls the G.I. Bill and its meaning to her after her husband-to-be returned from World War II. They met in college, which her husband attended on the G.I. Bill, and together they later purchased their home with a G.I. home loan guarantee.)

The ‘40s was a great decade with many high points, but it also heralded the start of the Cold War, a polio epidemic, UFO sightings, and various technological advances, social changes, and political scandals. I’ll cover those in the next posting. Meanwhile, you can read about the ‘40s and every decade since by ordering the book, Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the ‘40s to the Present. Just click on the link below the book image to read an excerpt and to order.

Politics and the Media: How the media manipulates politics

As history streams by, we’re all in a position to observe the two major forces that shape history today: politics and the media. To understand how politics is shaped by the media, we all need to understand just what the media is and how it has changed in the past few years. To do that, we need to recognize the difference between legitimate news sources, and what is only perceived to be “the media.”

We’re in the middle of a political campaign, even though the election is still 10 months away, and already, it is getting ugly out there. Never has the opportunity for spreading rumors and outright lies been so easy. But before we talk about today’s problems, it’s important to know about dirty tricks during the 2000 election that could have changed the course of history.

First of all, let me say that I have always registered when possible as an Independent because I’ve always believed in voting for the best person for president, no matter what their party: someone who is honest, who has led a life of integrity up until this moment in time, who basically shares the same values as I. I’ve voted both Republican and Democrat, depending on who was running for office, and a few times, I refused to cast a vote because I didn’t believe I should have to select between the lesser of two evils. Bad is bad, and that’s not a choice. However, in retrospect, I can see that sometimes lies and dirty tricks shape the image we voters have of the candidates, and can influence our choices. Sometimes we make serious mistakes because rival candidates and the media have influenced us. So how can voters today recognize the truth?

As I write about the way media shapes politics, I will use examples without names. That is simply because if I use the real names, some people will skim this article and pick out words or phrases as confirmation of the lies. I fear that simply repeating the rumor or lie could destroy a candidate if I also use his or her name. That isn’t my purpose. I only want to show you how your beliefs are being shaped and challenged without you even realizing that they are.

In the following story, only, I will tell how a real rumor that spread in the 2000 election took hold. I’m telling about it because it is relevant to some things that are already happening in 2008. I will refrain from using the candidate’s name because the rumor was a vicious lie that hurt some innocent people (including a young child), and possibly changed history.

A particular candidate was doing very well in caucuses and primaries until he reached South Carolina. Then suddenly, something called a “push poll” destroyed his chances in that State and other Southern states. The rumor made the candidate in question appear immoral, and it also fired up racists in that state and across the country.

At that time, a push poll asked a question about a candidate, and I’ll have to paraphrase here since I don’t remember the exact wording: Would you be more likely to vote for ***** ****** knowing he adopted a love child he had fathered in *********, or would you be less likely?

First of all, how would a person be supposed to honestly answer that? But you see, it wasn’t really a question that pollsters expected an answer to. The question was meant only to incite moral judgment about the candidate! The child was non-white and had been adopted by the candidate and his wife after his wife found her and another child in a third world country and was told they would die if they didn’t get medical help that wasn’t available there. So the candidate’s wife brought the children home to the United States for necessary medical care, then later she and the candidate adopted the little girl.

So a humane effort by a candidate and his wife was twisted into an ugly rumor that hurt their family and destroyed the candidate’s chances in the 2000 election. Not only that, but when the little girl got older, she Googled her adoptive dad’s name and discovered this nasty rumor still alive out there in cyberspace!

And that’s one of the dangers of the favorite source of information for today’s young people. Lies live on forever on the Web. How can lies and rumors get spread so viciously, so widely, and without challenge, you may be asking? Read on.

The Anatomy of a Lie
Political lies take root several ways, and for various reasons. They start with rabid enemies who will go to extremes to spread untrue stories, and then get spread through non-legitimate outlets (You Tube, My Space, blogs etc) and then re-circulated through television and radio stations that are owned by special interest groups or a single owner with an agenda. Often they then get picked up by the legitimate media because it is anxious to break the “news” first, even though it might not be true and has to be corrected later. And many in the legitimate media don’t ever bother to correct their mistakes! Excuses include: there’s too much news happening to take the time; people have forgotten anyway; let someone else do it.

Here’s a look at the many ways lies become news and we the public are manipulated:

Push Polls
The science of polling has grown exponentially in the past few years as more and more candidates and those already in public office have come to rely on them to reveal the pulse of the electorate. And so has the opportunity to use them for evil instead of the legitimate reasons they were first designed for. And so were born “Push Polls.”

The phrase “push poll” simply means a poll designed to push an emotional response rather than legitimately gauge the pulse of the electorate. Voters should realize that they are being “pushed” if a pollster calls asking a loaded question like: “Would you be more likely to vote for Candidate A if you knew he was a homosexual, or would you be less likely to vote for him?” The suggested “character flaw” can be about anything that will incite those who are prejudiced.

Push polls are a dangerous tool in the arsenal of political consultants and marketing companies that want to create a dangerous or dishonest picture of a particular candidate in the minds of electorate. Just imagine the number of people who won’t bother to further research the candidate through biographies and articles in legitimate (non-biased) magazines and newspapers, but will instead call everyone they know and say, “Did you know Candidate A is a homosexual? I just heard that. Oh no, it’s true or this guy (or woman) wouldn’t have said it!” And then when it is repeated over and over, suddenly it takes on a legitimacy even though it has no basis in truth. I personally know a woman who says (and believes), “They wouldn’t have said it on TV if it wasn’t true.”

Sometimes it’s hard to know when something is a rumor or not, but push polls are designed to start and spread rumors. Push Polls border on being illegal, but although authorities have their suspicions about who commissioned the push poll on the above candidate, they cannot prove it.

The Internet
Just last night, someone mentioned to me an incident concerning a current candidate for president that was seen on television, so she was sure it must be true. However, I remember when this particular story first made the news, then was later retracted when found to be untrue. How did it get traction? The Internet was the source!

The media for the under-35 voter today is the Internet, but most viewers of You Tube and various blog sites don’t realize that it may not be true because they "see it with their own eyes." Editing videos is one of the easiest things to do for those who have learned how to use sophisticated editing programs. They can cut and paste, and splice in pieces of tape until they design the message that they want you to see.

This type of editing has been done to audio tapes since the beginning, and now it’s used for videos. Those who watch them and believe everything in them are being manipulated by sometimes evil forces. Those forces count on these naive, honest, manipulated viewers to help spread what they believe is the “truth.” However, before the Internet or even television, history is full of evil people like Hitler and Stalin who manipulated entire populations of people, including convincing innocent people to help spread their evil messages. Not everyone is honest—no matter how much we wish they were.

The horror of these erroneous tapes today is that often the so-called legitimate media picks them up and runs them on their news programs. How does this happen? I honestly don’t know. There was a time when the media could be depended upon to only present news that could be verified, but in today’s “hurry-up” world, they often sacrifice integrity so their news source can be the first to report something. There’s no attempt to verify it first.

I can’t tell you how horrified I was when I realized a major news station was getting some of its “news” from popular blogs. They present these clips and credit the blog where it originated—never mind that there’s no way of quickly verifying the truthfulness of the information.

Here is a clue about whether a news piece is factual or not: if it doesn’t come from the pen or mouth of a legitimate journalist who has gathered and verified the news, then had an editor check the sources, IT IS NOT NEWS. It might be opinion, or personal thoughts, or an idealistic editorial, or downright slander, but IT IS NOT NEWS!

The Media
Time was when there were three major sources of news in the United States: NBC, ABC, and CBS. Then the media grew and the Internet created a world-wide outlet for information. When that happened, we all believed that we would have more choices. However, that’s not how things have turned out. Today, we have CNN and FOX plus the public stations like PBS and LINK, and various other media outlets. The only thing is, aside from the public broadcasting stations that have to answer to those who donate funds so they can stay on the air, these other new media sources are mostly owned or influenced by a single owner or a like-minded special interest group with an agenda.

So where can you get news that you can trust today? For the most part that is still: NBC, ABC, and CBS—not that they all always get it right. Unless a broadcasting company is answerable to shareholders that reflect a broad cross-section of citizens, or it is public and must present a wide-range of opinions that reflect its public mandate, then it will only reflect the single-owner or special interest agenda. That means that we cannot expect to receive verified news from trained, legitimate journalists if we only watch one of these self-serving broadcasting stations. It is easy to determine whether they are legitimate or not by briefly watching their shows. Do their stories seem to favor only one candidate or political party while ridiculing the other(s)? Do the on-air personalities take on a preachy tone or joke about the news stories they are presenting? Do most of their stories tend to be sensational, almost unbelievable? Any of the above are red flags that should signal that their news is neither honest, balanced, or legitimate.

Another problem is that media is being purchased and controlled at an alarming rate by a few media giants. While almost all radio stations and newspapers were once independently owned and reflected the communities they served, now almost all radio stations and newspapers throughout the country are owned or controlled by only a few people. You can travel from New York City to San Diego, and from Seattle to Miami, and hear the same newscasts and read the same stories in almost every newspaper. If that doesn’t scare you, it should. The fewer media outlets that serve the people, the less free is our press.

Free press was a right guaranteed in the Constitution, but the fewer news sources the public has access to means that we’re all receiving only the news that a media conglomerate deems important. The editorial slant of one or a few media giants is all we receive. And since media giants are “big business,” editorial opinions that favor big business are the only views we will get. Democracy cannot be guaranteed unless all viewpoints of all citizens are represented, young and old, rich and poor.

What binds Americans?
I have a theory that few Americans among us are truly politically far right- or left-wing, but instead reside comfortably in the middle. I believe that we each have mostly either conservative or liberal tendencies, but sometimes side with the opposite wing on certain issues. We are all so different, yet we are still basically the same because we’ve been brought up in a free society—in a country that values differences of opinion and honest, open dialogue about those differences.

Yet if our media continues to consolidate, it will more and more compromise our beliefs and choices. We could all be manipulated into thinking alike, the ideal situation for a dictatorship to take root and flourish. Eventually, we would see fewer choices. When that happens, this will no longer be a free nation—a democracy that is a shining example to the rest of the world.

Democracy will disappear as truth dissolves into lies that manipulate us to hate those who are different; to ignore the rights of those who think differently. And this very moment, the forces of today’s media are shaping our political choices.

We must all be alert to the changes in the way we receive our news, and we must learn how to separate the truth from a rumor or lie. I personally pledge to refuse to be blindly manipulated by rumors or lies that have been shaped and spread by push polls, the Internet, or the media. We all have a duty to search out every source of information on each candidate running for president so that we can discover and understand the real story behind every rumor. It’s imperative to our very survival! Our future as a democracy depends on it!


PERMISSION TO REPRINT: Articles from this blog, "Looking Back" may be reprinted in your own print or electronic media, but please include the following paragraph: "Reprinted from "Boomers Remember History" blog. Article by Kay Kennedy, author of Looking Back: Boomers Remember History from the '40s to the Present; author's Website: http://www.kennedyk.com/.

HISTORY JUST KEEPS ON HAPPENING

Another year down the tube already. My, how time flies, and history keeps on happening all the while time whizzes by. As 2008 begins, will this be a great year that we’ll all look back on fondly, or will some catastrophe wipe the good memories of the year from our minds?

Whatever happens, this will be a major year in politics. For the first time we have a woman and a black man as candidates for the presidency who actually stand a chance of being elected. Of course, they have to survive the State caucuses and primaries, then the Democratic convention first. The best thing happening is that we have candidates in both parties who offer us real choices, for a change.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of 1968, when politics was in turmoil. We lost civil rights leader Martin Luther King and democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy that year to assassins. As the Democrats headed for their convention in Chicago that year, a lot of young people had lost hope for decency in politics because their dreams of someone in the White House who would end the war had been shattered by assassin, Sirhan Sirhan. Remember, young people under 21 couldn’t vote then, so their only chance to even be heard was to demonstrate outside the convention hall. They could be drafted and die in Vietnam fighting a war they didn't believe in, but they couldn't vote against the leaders who were willing to eagerly send other parents' children off to war while helping their own children avoid the draft. There was a lot at stake for those young protestors!

The convention would get ugly as Chicago’s police attacked demonstrators in the streets. A lot of young Americans, like me, refused to go to the polls that year because we thought our choice was limited to the lesser of two evils. Those of us who lived through the turmoil of the late ‘60s remember what it was like to lose both faith and hope that the world could be a better place. Maybe we still have a different set of expectations for our political leaders than those of you who weren’t yet born, or for those who really weren’t paying attention in 1968. And yes, there were many complacent voters back then.

I’m not a political pundit, nor am I an avid student of politics, but I believe that this year, trustworthiness will be the leading characteristic voters will be looking for. Which Republican or Democratic candidate can be trusted to lead our country in a new direction? Which one will keep the promises made in the heat of the campaign? Which one really cares about the plight of the lower and middle economic class, the category most Americans fit into?

I have studied the reputations and backgrounds of candidates already and narrowed my choices. I only hope everyone reading this will take this campaign seriously enough to go behind the headlines and sound bites on television so that they can learn the real story. Too many of us are too busy to even watch the evening news, and instead turn to late night shows or parodies of politics for information. Folks, these TV personalities have their favorites, but their choices should not necessarily be yours. Think about that! Mostly, though, their political comments are jokes. They’re meant as jokes—not to be taken seriously.

And TV channel flippers who happen to hear a loudmouth screaming some obscenity about a specific candidate shouldn’t accept that as fact, either. What I’m saying is that each of us has a responsibility to study issues and read a variety of newspapers and magazines to get our information. I’ve taken it a step further by reading the various biographies of all the candidates because I have the time and enough interest to make sure I don’t live to regret my vote. Plus, I'm a speed reader.

I have a feeling this will be one of the most important votes I’ll cast in my lifetime and I want it to count this time. I hope you do, too!