Vietnam. Watergate. What's Next -- Disco?

There's no longer any doubt about the master narrative of the Bush Administration. Their purpose is to re-litigate the 1970s. Nixon's downfall, let alone all that followed, clearly has stuck in Cheney's craw. All his New American Centurions were so scarred by the fall of Saigon and the Church Committee reforms that even Morning in the Gipper's America didn't do enough to restore the imperial executive and the American imperium. So now we watch as FISA and FOIA are dismantled, checks and balances are declared Congressional overreaching, and the bully pulpit is being used like Stalin's commissars used scissors and a paste-pot to purge and doctor the historical record.

So what's next? No doubt some reactionaries are drooling to undo Nixon's putting the coffin-nail in the gold standard. Perhaps others want to retake the Panama Canal which, after all, we stole fair and square. The Supreme Court's already doing a decent job rolling back civil rights and civil liberties from the 60s; surely overturning Buckley v Valleo's campaign contribution limits is next in line.

I'm putting my money on an attempt by GOP culure warriors to expunge disco from the national memory. Don't you have a feeling that this crowd is still in a world o' hurt from humiliations they suffered beneath a twirling mirrored ball yea many generations ago?

Comments

[wayoutleft]

but you can't really mix digital down to the fat show-band sound. still, everybody is sampling disco but the kids don't know the hidden gems from deep in the back of the crate.
everybody has a different list...i'll just toss out "movin' on up" by yarbourough & peoples; "souvenirs" by voyage; maybe "more more more" by andrea true connection or "cherchez la femme" by dr. buzzard and the savannah band. i always think "one more time" videomix by daft punk is a surreptitious signal from the techno kids in europe saying : 'yes, we know'... nor has disco been well represented on the net... so many anthologies with mediocre filler... cover versions... "please don't get one of those net bee gee's stations going", says someone in my house for whom "please" is a synonym for "achtung".
we could have won in grant park, chicago, 1968; we could have won in the mayday action against the cambodia bombing in dc; we could have won at the whitehall draft riot; dow chemical riots in madison (the little hill moving into the gas); we could have won at kent state, when their fear kicked in and they shot us. that's who could have won. should have won... someday...

[laocoon]

I have always felt that the new conservative movement was 96% reaction to the movements of the 60's. It is sad how many people abandoned the ideals after Watergate. Watergate was a victory that took the wind out of the sails. Then we had the Me decade and Yuppies. Movement people suddenly became interested in becoming rich but some how that led to most of us becoming poorer. A lot of people in this country want an imperial president so long as he is doing what they want and the only freedom that really matters is the freedom to be in a position where you can dictate to others. Great wealth is really about status, control and other issues of human interactions. No matter how much material goods you have you are not wealthy if you live alone on a deserted island. Wealth is about control and influence and status.

[MidnightMike]

They won't be content with the 1970's. If they had their way, we'd back to the days of the Robber Barons, where everybody's kids worked in squalid conditions in their factories to make them rich.
Bush, Cheney, Rove and Co. have done this country grave damage at home and irreparably hurt our abilities and standing in the world community. The worse thing about it all is that they don't seem to care. They got theirs--the hell with the rest of the world !

[Grulg]

Boys that's a scarey thought. I'm waiting for Romney to adopt 'The Night Chicago Died' as his Campaign theme song now.

[wayoutleft]

but you can't really mix digital down to the fat show-band sound. still, everybody is sampling disco but the kids don't know the hidden gems from deep in the back of the crate.
everybody has a different list...i'll just toss out "movin' on up" by yarbourough & peoples; "souvenirs" by voyage; maybe "more more more" by andrea true connection or "cherchez la femme" by dr. buzzard and the savannah band. i always think "one more time" videomix by daft punk is a surreptitious signal from the techno kids in europe saying : 'yes, we know'... nor has disco been well represented on the net... so many anthologies with mediocre filler... cover versions... "please don't get one of those net bee gee's stations going", says someone in my house for whom "please" is a synonym for "achtung".
we could have won in grant park, chicago, 1968; we could have won in the mayday action against the cambodia bombing in dc; we could have won at the whitehall draft riot; dow chemical riots in madison (the little hill moving into the gas); we could have won at kent state, when their fear kicked in and they shot us. that's who could have won. should have won... someday... they will die and we will survive.

[haveaheart]

Bush linking VN with Iraq is more propaganda to excite the "we could have won" crowd who may be able to see what a disaster Iraq is.
An easy way to confuse people who don't think anyway.

How desperate is Bush to want to link the loss in VN with Iraq?


Re Macready . . . .
Americans have to understand the link with the prior assassinations. These people have risen on political violence -- and it's most pronounced and open phase was the JFK coup, followed by MLK, RFK, Malcolm X.

However, the Republican Party FINANCED the start up of the Christian Coalition -- patriarchal religion being the underpining for patriarch and its elitism.

Nixon and Bush are soulmates --
Bush has a little more room to maneuver, but
Watergate with its threat of martial law and using "terrorism" to STOP elections -- see the Huston Plan -- was no less threatening and dangerous to democracy than this Watergate, Part II.

[Economike]

I have heard this theory that we could have won Vietnam floated by wingnuts before. Of course it's always people who have never been in the military. The neo cons can convince some people of this absurdity because the young people are not facing a draft. Parents know there is no danger of their son or daughter coming home in a box. Draft age kids know it won't happen to them. I know there are exceptions but I'm speaking of the majority of people you need to convince to create policy.

[Soulsurfer]

Right on every count but one, Marty.....it was only repuglicans who LIKED DISCO!

[DemandTruth]

That's why I always use the term "regressive right" when talking about them. Let's call a snake a snake, right?

[nowaterboardUSA]

Well disco did bring about punk/new wave in response to that music. Remember the Disco Sucks banner at the baseball game many moons ago!

[saxmaniac]

As ususal, prof. Kaplan, you're spot on. And let's all remember the report that finally nailed Nixon was written by a recent law school graduate, name of Hillary Rodham. That's why she's such a lightning rod. These guys will never ever get over Nixon's downfall, becuase they were losers then -- and losers now.

[Bocababs]

Very funny, Marty...DISCO
But if the Administration is really trying to bring back the Viet Nam War....bring back the Draft....and I swear....it will ALL BE OVER tomorrow.

[ultomatt]

Revisionists! Father really did know best!

[BlueBoomer]

Hey kids, something wierd is going on here...I commented at least once on this blog in the very wee hours of this morning, and the post is GONE...WAZZUP?..I don't recall anything subversive about it...

Anyway,the point I had made was that the next "'70's" thing we may be headed toward with this inexplicable infatuation with Barak Obama and John Edwards is JIMMY CARTER...they are simply the new and not necessarily improved Black&White versions, + 30 years.

Just like in the 70's we're coming off a carnage-filled republican administration, and just like Jimmy Carter, Edwards and Obama are very nice, smart guys WHO ARE SIMPLY "NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME PLAYERS"...at least not for the horrendous times/tasks facing the next President.

SO LET'S NOT MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN...

(Remember, it was during Carter's administration that the first MiddleEast terrorist incident occurred against Americans -- the IRAN hostage crisis -- which Carter was UNABLE to bring to a conclusion before his ONE TERM was up.)

AND SO, for those of us who were around then, we have an obligation to engage young voters (and anyone who slept thru the '70's) who DON'T have the "benefit" of our experiences, (BUT whose votes count exaxtly the same as those cast by "wiser" heads) to help ensure that they truly UNDERSTAND what their vote means, and to encourage them to look at ALL of the candidates, not just the ones the media pushes.

And here's a tidbit for ya' to chew on --

VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE PRESIDENTS SINCE THE '70's HAVE BEEN WASHINGTON OUTSIDERS...

A CANDIDATE OF CHANGE WOULD BE A FULLY QUALIFIED, EXPERIENCED INSIDER!!!...

...Someone who has earned the respect of BOTH houses of congress, and from BOTH sides of the aisle, as well as from INTERNATIONAL WORLD LEADERS.

That candidate is JOE BIDEN...

EXPERIENCE = CHANGE

Don't be duped by campaign rhetoric...
Say "NO" to "Jimmy Carter"...
**********­**********­**********­*********
"I'm sidin' with BIDEN...Y not U 2?"

[thgy]

...the IRAN hostage crisis -- which Carter was UNABLE to bring to a conclusion before his ONE TERM was up.)

I always felt that Reagan was dealing with Iran during his campaign. Making promises to them if they kept the hostages till he was elected. History shows us he perhaps found a way to keep his promise.

[thgy]

I wish Iran would tell us if that is true.

[oafishcad]

The hostages were freed the same day Reagan was innaugurated-any questions?

[laocoon]

I dont think I would call the Iran hostage situation the beginning or first incident. Many presidents have been insiders but ran as though not insiders. Present President I would call an insider. You dont have to live in DC to be inside. Having a father who is VP and head of CIA is pretty inside. The Iran hostage situation was probably not due to Carter or his policies.

[yellowdogdemocratic]

Since when did pulling out of Vietnam become the wrong thing to do? This is the first time I've ever heard a public official blast America for pulling out of Vietnam, and I'm not a young person. I thought everyone was in agreement that it was a mistake to go to Vietnam in the first place. What happened?? Am I taking crazy pills?? Bush & Co. knew that people were going to start comparing Iraq to Vietnam, and that comparison would frighten Americans even more into ending the war. So, they decided to spin this viewpoint (once again) to convince everyone that we were wrong to pull out of Vietnam, so we would be wrong to pull out of Iraq. WILL OUR DEMOCRATIC ELECTED OFFICIALS PLEASE CALL HIM OUT ON THIS????

[JerryKCDC]

I was in college from 1969-73, so I paid close attention to the debate. The split was deep and permanent over whether we should have gone into Vietnam and who was at fault for the outcome.

Many of the older crowd that justified Vietnam were probably also in support of Joe McCarthy and his communist witch-hunting in the '50s.

The neocons who believe that America has a right to dominate the world, are still fighting against the changes brought on by civil rights, anti-war, feminism, gay rights, and human rights movements. In their world, white daddies should rule, and poor boys should fight for the rest of us.

[lunaoscura]

You can tell they're running out of analogies when they're reduced to dragging out one of the most painful wars we've stupidly gotten ourselves into to justify another one of the most stupid wars we've gotten ourselves into. Bush is running out of comparisons. When this example obviously doesn't work maybe he'll drag out Grenada. We did win that war didn't we? Admittedly it was hard to tell since it was over before we even knew about it.

[lunaoscura]

See? St. Ronny knew how to fight wars! When overwhelmed by a massive massacre of US soldiers in Lebanon he brought the troops home, which was the one smart thing he did as they shouldn't have been there in the first place. Unfortunately his ego and his party needed to rectify their sullied image and were determined to win something as long as it was called a war. Just invade some island in the Caribbean to save a handful of American medical students from a handful of Cuban workers. For those who don't recall this glorious war or missed it because it was over in, like, three seconds, it was the War of Grenada. Smashing success it was too!