-> ...   
   ->    
   ->  -> ...   
   ->  ->   
   ->  ->  FS> I disagree.  Lyndon Johnson's beloved Vietnam "war" caused a   
   ->  FS> general   
   ->  ->  FS> distrust of government, followed by a distrust of *all*   
   authority.   
   ->  ->  FS> Then the so-called "counter culture" came up with expressions   
   later   
   ->  ->  FS> dubbed "politically-correct", i.e., those expressions they   
   agreed   
   ->  FS> with.   
   ->  ->   
   ->  -> Here we agree. :)  Looking back I have no problem spotting just when   
   ->  FS> most lost   
   ->  -> faith with the government - and it's that damn VN war.   
   ->  ->   
   ->  -> I'd go even a bit farther in defining it:  The draft.   
   ->    
   ->  FS> I think it was the draft which especially bothered the draft-age   
   kids   
   ->  FS> -- and that's certainly understandable.  I thought the "war" was   
   ->  FS> called-for -- at first.  I turned against it when I saw that most   
   of   
   ->  FS> the "North" Vietnam POWs were actually from the South.  Hence it   
   was a   
   ->  FS> civil war.  And I think the US should avoid all civil wars.  Let   
   the   
   ->  FS> "natives" fight it out.   
   ->    
   -> I'd say avoid both civil and religious wars.  But seems we never learn.   
      
   True, but we must remain militarily strong -- for defense purposes only,   
   since a lot of nations would like to attack us if they could be assured of   
   victory.  And a weak USA might convince them of that.   
       
   ->  -> many young men fled to Canada, and was really the first time the   
   powers   
   ->  -> couldn't rally the masses to the cause. (What the hell ever that   
   was?)   
   ->    
   ->  FS> That was the basic problem:  What WAS the cause??   
   ->    
   -> After the K thing, a war not fought to a victory, I think most we   
   becoming   
   -> aware that unless we're attacked, why are we spending blood and treasure   
   in   
   -> these types of wars - a question still valid today BTW.    
      
   True ... but easily forgotten, it seems ...   
       
   ->  -> WWII had young men flocking to enlist - MOST did in fact, but of   
   course   
   ->  FS> others   
   ->  -> waiting for the call from the friendly draft board. :)   
   ->    
   ->  FS> After the attack on Pearl Harbor the nation developed intense   
   ->  FS> patriotism in most people -- and it lasted until the war ended, not   
   ->  FS> like the brief patriotic flurry following 9/11.  Even *I* was   
   jazzed-up   
   ->  FS> with patriotism, so I volunteered to enter the Army.   
   ->    
   -> You, and many others.    
      
   Yeah, well I couldn't defeat both the Nazis and Japs *alone*.  Be   
   reasonable.   
      
   ->  -> Next was the K thing.  Here the first wave was reserves called back,   
   ->  FS> don't   
   ->  -> recall a lot of enlisting, but of course the draft caught us.   
   ->    
   ->  FS> The Korean "war", sometimes called "The Forgotten 'war'", was never   
   ->  FS> popular with the majority of the public, probably because "winning"   
   was   
   ->  FS> not seen as absolutely critical as winning WWII WAS!   
   ->    
   -> Yup, war was to stop 'the spread of communism.'  Yet after 3 years of   
   fighting   
   -> all we did was go back our side of the line.  I'll concede we might have   
   -> stopped it from spreading south, but we failed the next time with VN,   
   and today   
   -> N Korea is still a pain in our ass.     
      
   Amazing, isn't it.  Now with "Little Kim" running the North Korean show who   
   knows wot will turn up next??   
      
   ->  -> Then the VN thing, and I'm at a loss to figure out just what   
   happened   
   ->  FS> there.   
   ->    
   ->  FS> I think it's known now that the North Vietnamese "navy" did NOT   
   ->  FS> actually attack us as LBJ had falsely claimed.   
   ->    
   -> Oh yeah, not our finest hour.   
      
   But don't blame "us"; blame the government officials who got us *in* that   
   mess   
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