Believe it or not, this actually happened...

[TXUSMC]

The year was November 1960. It was about ten days before my 8th birthday. The evening of election night... John F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon.

My parents had an election party. Invited all of their friends, who were almost all co-workers of my Dad at Delta Air Lines... lower-middle management types. My parents served snacks, beer, and highballs (never hear that term anymore). In the foyer (or what served as a foyer),  as folks came in and gave their coats to me and my younger siblings, there were two bowls on a credenza. One bowl held campaign buttons for Nixon, and the other held buttons for JFK. Folks grabbed a button and a drink, and settled in to watch the election results. My Dad wore a Nixon button, and Mom wore a JFK button (she was Catholic).

Can't remember which of the three networks they watched, but it was probably ABC, because my Dad liked Huntley and Brinkley. Wasn't long until me and my siblings went to bed in the back of the house. We weren't around to see the results, but the next morning, I could see that both bowls of campaign buttons had been sampled. Never heard a contrary word all night. And JFK was our President-elect. No riots or social upheaval, although Vietnam was starting to simmer.

The odds of that same type of election party happening today would be... zilch. My parents' generation grew up in the Depression, which ended on December 7, 1941. My Dad, along with most of the men at the party that night and others of their generation in 1960, fought in WWII, came back home, and rebuilt not only America, but Europe and Japan. They put men on the moon, not once but so often we got bored doing it. Built the Interstate highway system. Built nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines. Introduced the jet age to air travel. Added Alaska and Hawaii as states. And did a lot of other stuff, too.

Am glad my folks are not around to see what happened to their country, but I'm glad that I can remember what it was like, and sad that my kids and grandkids cannot.

YMMV.

[janice6]

33 minutes ago, TXUSMC said:

The year was November 1960. It was about ten days before my 8th birthday. The evening of election night... John F. Kennedy vs. Richard Nixon.

My parents had an election party. Invited all of their friends, who were almost all co-workers of my Dad at Delta Air Lines... lower-middle management types. My parents served snacks, beer, and highballs (never hear that term anymore). In the foyer (or what served as a foyer),  as folks came in and gave their coats to me and my younger siblings, there were two bowls on a credenza. One bowl held campaign buttons for Nixon, and the other held buttons for JFK. Folks grabbed a button and a drink, and settled in to watch the election results. My Dad wore a Nixon button, and Mom wore a JFK button (she was Catholic).

Can't remember which of the three networks they watched, but it was probably ABC, because my Dad liked Huntley and Brinkley. Wasn't long until me and my siblings went to bed in the back of the house. We weren't around to see the results, but the next morning, I could see that both bowls of campaign buttons had been sampled. Never heard a contrary word all night. And JFK was our President-elect. No riots or social upheaval, although Vietnam was starting to simmer.

The odds of that same type of election party happening today would be... zilch. My parents' generation grew up in the Depression, which ended on December 7, 1941. My Dad, along with most of the men at the party that night and others of their generation in 1960, fought in WWII, came back home, and rebuilt not only America, but Europe and Japan. They put men on the moon, not once but so often we got bored doing it. Built the Interstate highway system. Built nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines. Introduced the jet age to air travel. Added Alaska and Hawaii as states. And did a lot of other stuff, too.

Am glad my folks are not around to see what happened to their country, but I'm glad that I can remember what it was like, and sad that my kids and grandkids cannot.

YMMV.

I know what you mean.  We have lost the "civilized approach" to life.

[Peng]

The rise of idiot sensational cable opinion outlets has caused all of this.  MSNBC, CNN and Fox are the 3 worst.

Their products are no longer information but rage, and it sells well.

Granted the media has changed a bit also from when they used to cover up for Kennedy's women and hide things for politicians.

I always ask my sister who is a liberal why she watches them.  It does not inform and only serves to enrage.  Since she's already voted for the rest of her life, I fail to see the point.

At least if they were truly informed on issues and mad that's one thing, but to always hear the same side of every story with convenient omissions does not even do that.

Oh well.  Outrage is a hobby I guess, it's just not mine.

[Historian]

This was a wonderful posting.  Except for the last line.  That was a sad way to end it.

I think we can keep America around a while longer if we vote correctly.

There's so much to fix.   But like many of you, we truly know, we can and will fix it.

This is only over if we give up.

 

 

[tadbart]

@Historian our generation and those our elders, are gonna die off. There aren't the numbers of decent young people to hold conservative values in our government. We've been out-bred, probably 5:1 over our lifetime. The gimmedats have already won, they just haven't crossed the finish line yet. Stopping them and setting things right in this country, involves truly distasteful actions, the kind that there just aren't the numbers to carry out. We aren't in Civil War times, or WWII times, where kids dropped their plow, lied about their age, and picked up a rifle. Today's generation won't pick up a rifle, or even put down their phones.

[Historian]

9 minutes ago, tadbart said:

@Historian our generation and those our elders, are gonna die off. There aren't the numbers of decent young people to hold conservative values in our government. We've been out-bred, probably 5:1 over our lifetime. The gimmedats have already won, they just haven't crossed the finish line yet. Stopping them and setting things right in this country, involves truly distasteful actions, the kind that there just aren't the numbers to carry out. We aren't in Civil War times, or WWII times, where kids dropped their plow, lied about their age, and picked up a rifle. Today's generation won't pick up a rifle, or even put down their phones.

You need to start reproducing.    Get on it!

Go now and do your patriot duty to get that booty!

Edited August 26, 2020 by Historian

[TXUSMC]

There was a day when Americans needed the news, and not talking heads who told you how to interpret it. The giants of television journalism... Walter Cronkite (CBS), John Chancellor (NBC), and Chet Huntley and David Brinkley (ABC)... brought us the news nightly, with little if any editorial comment. The viewing public watched, and made up their own minds.

A wistful reminisce...

Edited August 26, 2020 by TXUSMC

[railfancwb]

Not necessarily out bred, but out imported. How many illegal immigrants? 20 million? 30 million? Plus how many legal immigrants? Does anyone really know? And it has been said that 80% of immigrants from Central and South America - legal and illegal - will always vote Socialist/Communist. Doubt that? Look at Argentina and Venezuela. Both were in the upper tier of world economies at one time or another. Look at them now under Socialism. And since photo ID for voting is unlikely in many places, does legal/illegal/citizen... or even alive... matter?