[liberallarry]

There are lots of questions to ask - Do I remember correctly? Am I wiser or more observant now? Is "history" an accurate guide? Like that.

I remember other bad times - the threat of nuclear armaggeddon in the '50s, the Viet Nam war, the confrontation with Russia over Cuba. But none of those felt like this.

Those were classic military confrontations with a foreign enemy, or bitter political disputes. This is a world-wide breakdown in civilized behavior, a challange to basic values. Sometimes good things happen when people have to rethink basic assumptions but it's pretty hard to see the bright side.

[potlatch]

I can remember the 50's too, the threat of the 'atomic' bomb was the only bad thing then. I can remember sitting in front of the black and white TV, waiting for news on the Cuban Missial [sp] crises. It was scary then, but I agree that even our own society is so divided now that's it's hard to comprehend.