I agree. As a viet vet who went over during the early years (1965 -66) and then afterward went to college on the GI bill starting in the fall of 1969 I had the opportunity to observe the anti-war movement through two sets of lenses. My take on the thesis of the article that the Tea Parties echo 60’s protests holds no water. The 60’s anti-war movement primarily consisted of young college age students (and drop-out punks later on) who had a self-agrandized perception of themselves as too valuable and too privileged to go serve and possibly put their precious lives at risk. the Tea Party movement is made up of responsible people with jobs or who have retired after a life time of working. Two completely different demographics.
Thanks for your service, snoringbear. To be honest, it was the treatment by the antiwar movement of men like you that cemented my vehement dislike of them.
My dad was in the Navy at the time, and we lived in Japan and the Philippines during the most tumultous years of the Sixties (1967-1972) and for me, to read about the things those people had to say about people like my father, my friend’s fathers, and men like you, just pissed me off.
I vowed, if I could contribute anything in any way, I would not give the left free reign to slander and mistreat our military the way they did during and after Vietnam.
Fortunately, I have found I am not alone in this sentiment, and that there are a lot of Americans now who are not just going to sit back and let the left do as it pleases.
I love you characterization of many of those anti-war demonstrators as having a “...self-agrandized perception of themselves as too valuable and too privileged to go serve and possibly put their precious lives at risk...”
That is just SPOT ON!
Just like today, the organizers were/are older established communists who were/are anything BUT "anti-war". They worship(ed) monsters like Mao, Che, Castro and even Stalin. Hard to be an anti-war pacifist when these are ones heroes.