Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973) did a lot of good for the USA. We can thank him for guiding into law a number of lasting contributions to American civil society, many of them associated with his visionary Great Society. Long before he became president, Johnson served as a teacher -- how many remember that? In any case, he took the violent tumult of the 1960s hard -- violence in the wake of civil rights reforms, urban upheaval and the Vietnam War. He bowed out in 1968 and died only five years later. For much more on all this, please see Doris Kearns Goodwin's Lyndon Johnson and the American Dream (1991+) and Johnny Yen's post: http://johnnyyen.blogspot.com/2007/07/lyndon-johnson.html
As Mark/Walking Man has pointed out, today's political right would consider Barry Goldwater a socialist. The John Birch Society of the 1960s has morped into these ridiculous goon squads collectively calling themselves "The Tea Party." Obama must face down such agitated tea-waggers and addled jive turkeys to make improvements to health insurance, strengthening the Great Society.
[Above: A primitive but groovy version of "Somebody to Love" (1965) by The Great Society; compare with Jefferson Airplane's better-produced, better-executed and better-known version utilized most recently to great effect by the Coen brothers in A Serious Man (2009), which happens to be set in 1967 during LBJ's presidency. Grace Slick sings in both versions.]
Some of LBJ's more lasting accomplishments:
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1964
Wilderness Act of 1964
Nurse Training Act
Food Stamp Act of 1964
Economic Opportunity Act
War on Poverty -- Head Start
Voting Rights Act
Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965
Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965
Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act of 1965
Higher Education Act of 1965
Social Security Act of 1965 -- Medicare and Medicaid
Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965
Freedom of Information Act
Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966
Public Broadcasting Act of 1967
Bilingual Education Act
Fair housing
National Trails System Act of 1968
Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968
Aircraft Noise Abatement Act of 1968
Gun Control Act of 1968
Expansion of colleges and universities (including major launch of community colleges)
Incredible record of passed legislation when you think about it. A salute to the good points of LBJ's presidency! And good luck to President Obama getting anything major passed in today's wretched political climate!
Today's Rune: Wholeness.
11 comments:
Something be happening in the collective consciousness right now. The center left is starting to speak after a year of watching and waiting.
I think the 25th may be one of those seminal days when we see exactly what the left is going to do and the obstructionist centrist/far right have as their latest battle tactic.
Personally I think this Spring may just see some mass demo's on both sides of the ideology. Enough of this bullshit.
Some of LBJ's programs though necessary at the time have morphed into too big, too long lived entitlements that should be scaled back or revamped for the evolved society we have today.
Third and fourth generation of welfare without expectation of improvement or performance is one that certainly needs to be looked at again.
AMEN!
Maybe I can link to this on Friday for forgotten books?
Hello Erik, just a check in from your admittedly politically challenged friend--ya smarty pants!
Thanks all for the comments! Mark, I agree that some should be revamped now, but overall, an impressive feat.
Patti -- Goodwin's great. By all means!
Jodi, thanks for checking in ;->
WHEN ARE THE ELECTED OFFICIALS AND THE WANNABEES GOING TO BEHAVE LIKE GROWN UPS INSTEAD OF GRADE SCHOOL BULLIES? THIS COUNTRY OF OURS SHOULD COME FIRST BUT THE GOP AND THE TEA BAGGERS ETC. WOULD RATHER DESTROY OBAMA AND HIS PARTY. ON THE OTHER HAND, OBAMA NEEDS TO GET A PAIR OF STEEL BALLS, PUT UP HIS DUKES AND SMASH THE SOB'S IN THE FACE AND ADD A KICK IN THE GROIN.
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Given how reviled LBJ seemed to be when I was a kid by my elders the love generation, it's a little startling to look back at the amazing, positive things he accomplished while in office, Vietnam notwithstanding.
Always loved that Great Society version of 'Somebody to Love'. I used to have the album - the whole thing's great, my personal favorite being a little antiwar number called 'Grimly Forming'. The Three O'Clock covered it years later.
-JC
Thanks for the shout-out!
A lot of the Great Society programs were scaled back-- under Clinton. There is now a set amount of time you can recieve welfare, for instance.
One program that continues to be popular is the food stamp program-- it's been vital to families hammed by this recession.
That should have been "hammered by this recession." I guess they'd considered themselves lucky if they'd been "hammed" by this recession. Or turkeyed or pot roasted.
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it
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