What will we name this decade? Let's just never speak of it again (MOANIN' LIBERAL ALERT)

Chicago Tribune ^ | April 14, 2009 | Steve Johnson | Tribune Internet critic

[Chi-townChief]

Think about it. Has there been a lousier 10 years in American history? OK, the Civil War, granted. And the Great Depression wasn't so hot, either, the pictures suggest. But this one has been close enough to an all-time bad to merit the kind of willful amnesia that I'm proposing.

sajohnson@tribune.com

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

Most times are bad, no? I am told the early ‘80s were good, and the ‘50s blissful, by my parents; my grandparents thought the ‘20s were even better than the ‘50s. Then I do the research and it all sounds pretty scary (except for the music).
Me, I didn’t care for the Clinton years, even the music stank. Went abroad and felt shame because my President was an @ss#...

[texmexis best]

Lots of tougher times. 1870s, 1890s (if you weren’t rich it was not at all gay), 1929 - 1945, 1840s, the list is nearly endless.

Ignorant reporters are rampant.

[domenad]

Hell, for most people, virtually every decade from the inception of the country sucked far worse than 2000-2010. The fact that anyone could even summon the brass cajones to complain about it is proof of how spoiled this little bourgeious punk is.

[Billthedrill]

Mr. Johnson might avail himself of a library card and a couple of history books. There was that time the Brits marched in and burnt D.C. to the ground. But then there were bad things that happend during that decade too.

[AnnGora]

Obviously, this ignorant moron never lived through the seventies or was having a brown acid flashback at the time.

[mulligan]

The decade of morons.

[Red Badger]

THE DECADE OF “0”...............

[Carley]

Thank you. It surely sums up what is happening to America.

[chris_bdba]

Gimme more decade.

[ex-snook]

Neo-cons lied, Conservatism died.

[Fiji Hill]

“Has there been a lousier 10 years in American history?”

1770-1780--political instability, war, military defeats

1780-1790--war, political and economic chaos

1810-1820--war, bad economy

1890-1900--depression, drought, war

[Fiji Hill]

Sometimes a period of history, such as a decade, doesn't get named until long afterwards. The "Roaring Twenties" were so named in 1939, the Thirties were dubbed "The Red Decade" in 1941, and the Sixties received the name "The Destructive Generation" in 1988, with the publication of David Horowitz's book of the same name. For that matter, the Renaissance had to wait about three hundred years before it was so named.

I recall that in 1959, commentators were referring to the previous decade as "The Fabulous Fifties," while the new decade was dubbed "The Soaring Sixties," but neither of these nicknames took hold.

[Rockitz]

My Top 5

1. Absolute Zero decade
2. Who left the 60s druggies in charge decade
3. Dejavu Dementia decade or Welcome back Jimmuh decade
4. Building a Pyramid Scheme to the Future decade
5. Government Grifter decade