Monday, March 10, 2008

Swap Just One Word


Swap just one word -- "Iraq" for "Vietnam" -- in the following text from forty years ago. If that doesn't give you the chills, you might want to check your pulse:

Look at our problems abroad. Do you realize that we face the stark truth that we are worse off in every area of the world tonight than we were eight years ago? That's the record. There is only one answer to such a record of failure, and that is a complete housecleaning of those responsible for the failures and that record. The answer is the complete re-appraisal of America's policies in every section of the world.

We shall begin with Vietnam . . . Never has so much military and economic and diplomatic power been used so ineffectively. If after all this time and all of this sacrifice and all of this support there is still no end in sight, then I say the time has come for the American people to turn to new leadership not tied to the mistakes and the policies of the past. . . . .

Richard M. Nixon, Acceptance Speech at the Republican National Convention, Miami, 8/8/1968.



Today's Rune: Protection.

7 comments:

Lana Gramlich said...

The more things change, the more they stay the same. *snort*
BTW, if you get a chance, please vote for my drinking story; "My First & Last Experience with Scotch."

Anonymous said...

A'int it the truth...

Sidney said...

The old: Those who do not remember the past...passage comes to mind.

Erik Donald France said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Erik Donald France said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Erik Donald France said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Erik Donald France said...

Nixon also said in the same speech: "When the strongest nation in the world camn be tied down for four years in a war in Vietnam with no end in sight; when the richest nation in the world can't manage its own economy; when the nation with the greatest tradition of rule of law is plagued by unprecedented lawlessness [oh, sweet hilarity] . . . and when the President of the United States cannot travel abroad or to any major city without fear of a hostile demonsration, then it's time for new leadership in the United States of America."

Ha!