2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: I'll be 70 yrs old in May 2016. [View all]beerandjesus
(1,301 posts)And I do take your point, look forward not ahead, etc.; in my own life, and in how I judge the people I interact with day to day, that's something I strive for. (And I've noticed that a couple of the people I found to be quickest to lash out at anyone criticizing Obama, no matter how bad the policy, are now on my side of the Bernie-Hillary divide, and that makes me really happy.) However, I don't think that's a valid way to pick a president--if that's your logic, why not vote for Rubio? He doesn't seem like such a bad guy really, and maybe he'll come around on some of the crazier issues he's spouted off about to appease his base, just like we can hope that Hillary's sudden about-face on the TPP is genuine.
But again, your generation didn't say that about LBJ. You took his ass OUT. And I'm not saying that as an endorsement or a criticism, just as a fact.
Now, LBJ didn't just say, hey guys, it's kinda not cool to gun down unarmed black people; he signed the fucking Civil Rights Act when it was incredibly unpopular not just in his own party, but in his own STATE. In fact, he didn't just sign it when it got to his desk, while his supporters wrung their hands and lamented the fact that he just couldn't do it without Congress: He went out there and twisted people's arms. Yeah, the tide was turning slowly but surely, but he put his own balls on the line in a big way, in contrast with Hillary on gay marriage, where she was literally one of the last Democrats in the national party to come around on it.
Similarly, LBJ instituted the Great Society reforms, like Medicaid. Hillary's talking about baby steps like "re-financing" student debt, she's not talking about progressive reforms anywhere NEAR as bold as those of LBJ.
Yet, Vietnam sealed LBJ's fate. Again, I'm not passing judgment; I could argue either side of this one, but regardless, Vietnam was unarguably one of the most horrible things that's ever happened in American history. So.... given that Hillary didn't just read about Vietnam in the history books, but was old enough to remember the country's experience of Vietnam personally, and voted for the next generation's Vietnam ANYWAY... and given that Vietnam was THE defining issue for your generation, no matter what other great progressive reforms LBJ may have championed and instituted, I ask again:
How the hell can you rationalize voting for Hillary?