What If They Gave a War...?

[IDemo]

By Tony Long
02:00 AM May, 25, 2006

1968. It was the height of the Vietnam War, the year of My Lai and the Tet offensive. Student riots in Paris nearly brought down the French government. Soviet tanks put a premature end to Czechoslovakia's Prague Spring.

In the United States, the streets were teeming with antiwar protesters and civil rights demonstrators. Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated within two months of each other. The Democratic convention in Chicago dissolved into chaos. And by the summer, America's cities were in flames.

The world was seething, and for good reason. There was a lot to be angry about. It was a lousy year, 1968.

I was in high school then. I quit the baseball team because, frankly, sports seemed frivolous. In 1968, there were more important things to worry about than perfecting a curveball. All very high-minded and, in retrospect, more than a little pompous. But nearly 40 years down the road I don't regret having done it. My political consciousness was awakened and I was actively engaged in the world around me.

But as bad as things were then, they seem infinitely worse now.

http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,70980-0.html?tw=wn_index_19

[savemefromdumbya]

1. Perfecting Curveball is a must these days?

how has the media changed since then?

[DianaForRussFeingold]

2. In a word Censorship!

:patriot: http://www.pbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/reporters/cronkite/censorship.html Also we don't have Walter Cronkite,:patriot: Or Dan Rather.Today we have Corporate run Media and government. http://www.pbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/ . "In 1968, while anchor of the "CBS Evening News," Cronkite journeyed to Vietnam to report on the aftermath of the Tet offensive. In a dramatic departure from the traditions of "objective" journalism, Cronkite concluded his reports with a personal commentary in which he voiced his strong belief that the war would end in stalemate. Cronkite's editorial would later be regarded as a critical indice of public opinion of the Vietnam War." http://www.pbs.org/weta/reportingamericaatwar/reporters/cronkite/ :kick: