I didn't live through the 60's. For me, this is the ugliest summer in living memory.

[Bicoastal]

Propaganda, racists, and right wing assholes run amuck; insane, dangerous rage issuing forth from our radios, TV's, and the lips of some of our nation's "honorable" public servants.

In recent years, I've seen campaigns and protests, wars and disasters, liberals and conservatives "riled up"--but in the hot, daylight-heavy months of 2009, I've never seen Americans so incomprehensibly angry. It's not about health care, it's not even about issues--it's about the dark, ignorant, disgruntled side of this nation staging a furious last stand.

And while there's a lot of hate out there, it seems as if only part of this hate is actually being enunciated--it's the anger we're NOT seeing that I'm truly terrified of. This concealed anger is something huge, shapeless, and long-standing. It's the feeling that "they" are out to get "us." And "us" will protect itself from its perceived enemies by Any. Means. Necessary.

We are "they." So is our newly elected President.

I'm gonna lay it on the line--if common sense, fair play, and civilized discourse make it through this period unscathed, our country still has a bright future.

If this is a sign of things to come--our country may be on a trajectory that it can never recover from.

[catbyte]

1. I did

and I've never been this scared. Republicans are fucking nuts.

Diane

Anishnabe and Proud

[sandnsea]

2. I didn't live in the south in the 60s

and didn't live anywhere as a black woman or child in the 60s, so I suspect it was much more frightening for them, then. And in other parts of the country as well, Boston comes to mind.

I suspect it isn't anywhere near as crazy as it was then. I just can't figure out how these people got to be so damned ignorant.

[catbyte]

7. I was a young Native American

in Northern Michigan which is tantamount to being an African American in the South, and to me it's scarier now. Maybe I was just young and "indestructible" then, but this seems so illogical and downright crazy now.

Diane

Anishnabe and Proud

[placton]

32. Diane - from a neighbor - you are sooo right n/t

[babylonsister]

12. Yet. I'm not too optimistic. Feels like a powder keg to me. nt

[sandnsea]

Dogs and hoses in the streets

We aren't there yet so we've got quite a ways to go until it's as bad as the 60s. The underlying problem is the same though, manifest destiny.

[SeattleGirl]

30. First thing that came to my mind too

It's getting ugly out there, but not yet as ugly as it was then.

[NOLALady]

24. I was a teen in the South in the 60s.

I remember feeling lucky that I didn't live in California, Boston, Michigan, or New York. New Orleans didn't burn, thank goodness.

But there was a feeling of extreme anxiety. I was watching. Waiting. For what, I didn't know. Everyday the headlines seemed worse than the day before. I was very afraid.

Lately, I've had that exact same feeling. Waiting for IT to happen. Once again, I am afraid. I am afraid for my family and loved ones.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. I did, too.

What's going on today is uglier than I've ever seen before.

I blame the Limbaugh-types and those stupid enough to believe their rot. They have brought hatred to a new level.

[timeforpeace]

28. Ironic, isn't it? This was supposed to be the time of hope, change and peace. But wars and the

economy really have people riled up.

[TheCowsCameHome]

31. Sometimes I long for the days of "duck and cover" -

hiding under your grammar school desk because the air raid sirens were going off and the Russians were about to attack the US.

Life was much simpler then.......

[BecomingBrainy]

4. I think that it can recover

The good thing about common sense, fair play and civilized discourse is that they really never go out of style, they are just forgotten to be used. This too shall pass.

[Mz Pip]

5. The big difference between now

and the 60s is 24/7 cable news and the Internet. People were killed during the Civil Rights Movement. The protests were often violent and filled with anger. People were killed during anti-war protests - Kent State and Berkeley come to mind. THere was polarization between those who believed Vietnam was a huge mistake with those who believed we were keeping the great Red Menace at bay.

Everything today seems to magnified because it's covered and fueled by the cable news stations. I don't think it's as bad as it was in the 60s but that's not to say that it won't evolve into something much worse.

I don't know how this will play out. I suspect the loud and extremely vocal anti- health care/taxes folks are in the minority. That's not to say they can't do a lot of damage.

[Captain Hilts]

6. I remember it. And 1994. nt

[aubergine14]

8. What about last summer? As I recall...

there were plenty of racists lined up to see Sarah and spouting hate speech.:puke:

[kestrel91316]

9. Ugly Americans still abound. I am ashamed of some of my fellow citizens.

[bemildred]

10. This is not as violent yet, but we are starting to think about it. nt

[nonsequitur]

11. I wasn't even born in the 60's but my parents lived throught it and...........

they said it's as bad and may get worse.

[madrchsod]

19. in the 60`s you could quit a job in the morning....

and have a better job in the afternoon. look up "ball of confusion" on youtube.

[ananda]

13. Believe it or not ..

.. the hate and the hot emotions were worse in the sixties.

But the activism and the marches were so profound and so
much better!

[G_j]

14. I agree

But WE were stronger and more optimistic.

[madrchsod]

15. 1968 for me but this year is a close second

thank who ever that no one has been killed and the cities are`t burning...

[Arkansas Granny]

16. There was so much happening in the 60's on so many fronts.

There were the anti-war demonstrations, many cities had race riots, plus the assassinations of JFK, MLK and RFK. I think it would have seemed even worse than it was if we had had the saturation of news like we do now with cable news 24/7 and the internet.

[kjackson227]

17. I did, somewhat...

I remember bits and pieces of the Civil Rights Movement, the JFK assassination (I remember my mom crying and watching the news while ironing), and I remember quite well the MLK assassination.

I was really hoping that after the election all of the hate-mongering would die down, and I'm very disappointed that it hasn't. I have NEVER seen so much hate in this country, and it all started with the campaign when the DEMON PALIN was inciting so much hate at her and McSame's rallies. I am extremely happy that President Obama won, but I'm CONSTANTLY on edge these days. I've even noticed attitude changes at work. I really do think that people are going absolutely insane.

I, like you, feel this is a "make it" or "break it" time for our country. I hope we pass the test.

[AuntPatsy]

18. I lived through some of that, sadly, alot of the acts of violence were simply ignored..

even in the late sixties early seventies.....I recall in our neighborhood, I would say it was around 1971 72 and a family of color moved into the neighborhood, they had apparently bought the house, they did not last six months, I don't know who did it but they had rocks thrown through their windows, had had messages spray painted on the house and their cars attacked..I remember some adults talking about it and they kind of smirked...

I was young but I recall wondering why it was done to them.....

ten years ago in the same area some people had taken it upon themselves to spray paint horrific hateful messages on the houses of anyone of the jewish faith...my son was friends with one of the victims and I remember that poor ten year old young man crying because he was scared to death...

Our history in this country is best ignored because if we continue to ignore it, like a sleeping volcano, it will surely erupt as it simmers to it's boiling point...we have volcanologists who's constant vigil of these sleeping volcano's have saved the lives of those living on it's slopes...'my point being...it is better to be aware than to ignore the very real danger...especially when the pugs are doing their best to keep the fire's going...

[Hell Hath No Fury]

20. When the first shots are fired ---

then you will start to get a feeling for what it was like then. :(

The Palinites/Paulists/Birthers/Birchers/Tea Baggers are acting like they have been hit with some sort of "anger virus", like in that movie "28 Days". They are practically foaming at the mouth, they are so out of control.

But also know, that when these crazies are exposed, the sane recoil and the crazies are further marginalized. It happened after Pat Buchannan spoke at the GOP convention and literally scared the crap out of much of America. His exposure of the bigoted, insane side of the GOP helped get Clinton into office.

I think it is important that America see what is living in the nooks and crannnies of our country -- it is a good reminder for us to remain vigilant. Are they dangerous? Surely -- all it takes is one of them to lose it for damage to be done. Is this a preview of what awaits our country? Only in the short term - say four to eight years. :( The long run? Look at who is doing the protesting -- old, white people who are the last remants of the old, pre-civil rights America.

They will die off.

And with them, much of the hatred.

[Alameda]

21. I lived through the 60s, and this seems worse.

It's like the circles are getting smaller and tighter.

[Are_grits_groceries]

22. I don't think we are there yet.

I think that in the 60s there was a tremendous amount of hate and hope. You had the battle for civil rights and Vietnam. It was brutal.

I think everything seems to be as bad because of the 24/7 news coverage and the internet. It is magnifying what is happening. That isn't to say that there isn't trouble.

I thought the whole world was burning or getting shot in the 60s. If we had the coverage then that we have now, it really would have seemed like the Apocalypse.

You are also talking about a summer. Some of us lived through years of this.

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. I have been living it since 1998.

The right-wingers have just upped the ante.

[create.peace]

25. even all the bad things that happened in the sixties

were tempered or offset but the INCREDIBLE feeling that another way was possible. that is what is lacking these days. people were learning skills, not because of the impending doom, but because it was a powerful thing to do, gave people self confidence because they could make something useful instead of getting consumer goods which were cookie cutter and disposable and oops, i got distracted by responding to an npr opinion piece on the summer of hate.....crap. it was by a self described genxer....

anyway, all things seemed possible then, environmental causes were taking hold, etc.

gotta and do my taxes....

[deaniac21]

26. Not even close. I don't see LA and Detriot burning. I don't see

the national guard gunning down students at Kent State. I don't see anything close to what the civil rights movement went through. I don't see 2 Kennedys and Martin Luther King being killed. I could go on but I hate typing.

[BlueIdaho]

27. Ditto - not even close.

This is a cake walk compared to the bloodshed and political upheaval of the 60's. This summer is all about which set of suits are going to get even richer and more powerful.

[deaniac21]

29. A bingo to your ditto.

[DailyGrind51]

33. The summer of '68 was pretty brutal, the aftermaths of the MLK & RFK assassinations and

the '68 Democratic Convention in Chicago. Personally, I was anxious about the possibility of being drafted and sent to Vietnam. A long hot summer, indeed.

[stevedeshazer]

34. The 60s were much more violent.

How about meeting your favorite Presidential candidate one day, then a few days later waking up to the news he'd been assassinated? And just weeks after the man he had lionized for his tireless campaign for civil rights was killed.

How about having a personal friend shot by the National Guard at Kent State?

How about millions of innocent people bombed, napalmed, murdered in Southeast Asia while untold thousands of our own soldiers were killed, maimed, dosed with Agent Orange, traumatized and stigmatized for those who finally came home?

Cities in flames, Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and many others, rioters angry beyond belief at a government that seemed to have betrayed them?

Yeah, there's a lot of anger today, but I think we're just beginning and we ain't seen nothin' yet. A bunch of fat old white guys disrupting a town hall is not so much a valid comparison with the violence forty and more years ago, but it may be a harbinger of things to come.

[Atticus]

35. There was unquestionably more violence in the 60's, but that is partly because

there were more people in the street actually protesting the bullshit that the military-industrial complex was trying to shove down our throats.

Instead of being satisfied with being "keyboard warriors", we distributed leaflets, collected quarters to send protest TELEGRAMS to Congress and actually risked getting tear-gassed or clubbed. I sometimes think that if the internet had existed in the sixties, we'd still be in Viet Nam.

We do have greatly improved communication with the internet, but communication that does not LEAD to some action is a little bit like foreplay that NEVER goes any further: frustrating as hell for those of us who long to "go all the way". (How long has it been since anyone used that euphemism?)

[deaniac21]

36. We burned the ROTC building at my college.

[spanone]

37. 1968 bobby kennedy, martin luther king....