jhetley: (Default)
jhetley ([personal profile] jhetley) wrote2006-11-10 08:47 am

Those who fail to learn the lessons of history...

For the eternal optimists who think Peace Will Rule The Planets if we can just kick out Shrub and substitute a Democrat, _any_ Democrat, I point you to the example of LBJ...

[identity profile] sclerotic-rings.livejournal.com 2006-11-10 02:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Don't get me going. Not only are all of the biggest local public-funded boondoggle projects not named after the Bushes named after Johnson, but I share a birthday with him.

[identity profile] wcg.livejournal.com 2006-11-10 03:31 pm (UTC)(link)
No question. Lyndon tried to fight a War On Poverty and a War in Vietnam at the same time, and it wrecked the economy, the armed forces, his Great Society programs, and brought an end to the progress that had begun with FDR.

In my younger days I simply hated LBJ with a deep burning anger. As I've gotten older and studied the man, I've come to understand him more and see him as being like a tragic Greek hero enmeshed in his fatal flaws. He truly did want to do good things.

[identity profile] jhetley.livejournal.com 2006-11-10 04:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, I believe Shrub truly wants to do good things. Problem is with his definitions...

[identity profile] wcg.livejournal.com 2006-11-10 04:48 pm (UTC)(link)
True. Heck, I even agree with some of his definitions. GWB's great failing, as I see it, is his clumsiness. At LBJ had skill.

[identity profile] kightp.livejournal.com 2006-11-10 06:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Some of us have never harbored under that delusion. Personally, I just wanted to restore some balance to the game. If that results in fewer Congressional "accomplishments," that's just fine by me. (-:

[identity profile] starcat-jewel.livejournal.com 2006-11-11 06:30 am (UTC)(link)
Even a slim chance is better than a ZERO chance. And I'm not convinced it's all that slim; you are failing to make allowances for individual difference.