[Scott from the Left Coast]

Yes, you are right. I was not attempting to cast blame or aspersion, simply voicing my amazement of how complacent we were then -- compared to today it seems a whole different lifetime.

[Teacher317]

It honestly feels like about 4 months chronologically for me...

It feels like an earlier lifetime to me, though, in that there are flags everywhere, a prevailing love-of-country feeling in the air, cooperative neighbors, open discussions in public, and everything seems new and different... just like when I was about 8 years old.