Learn from history Mr President: Vietnam RUINED LBJ.

[Union Yes]

LBJ brought change, reform and social justice. Then, undid it all by escalating the war in Vietnam.

What should have been a fine legacy of social change was undone by his decision to escalate the war.

It ended his presidency.

Not only did war destroy Johnson's legacy but it appeared to ruin him as a person as well. War changed LBJ as a person. How?

The war dead.

Johnson carried the burden of the war dead to his grave. It weighed heavily upon him.

War undid his legacy of 'Master of the Senate' and his legacy of social change as president. But it also appeared to undo him as a person.
..............................................................

War will undo Barack Obama's presidency as well. IMO it already is.

Mr. President, you'll carry the burden of the war dead with you every day of your life. Can you really live with that Mr President?

Pres Obama, you still have a chance to change the disastrous course of warmongering that we as a nation are on.

[yurbud]

1. even if Johnson knew it would do him in, he probably remembered Kennedy's death everyday

Kennedy refused to follow the script on the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the later case, he probably prevented a nuclear war. His thanks was a bullet in the head. That probably gave LBJ pause whenever his better angels told him to pull out of Vietnam.

[anonymous171]

10. Kennedy was a hawk. If he was killed by a conspiracy, it was a conspiracy of bankers

The Military and the MIC had no problem with the man.

[yurbud]

14. a hawk who called off a war with Cuba?

[David__77]

2. LBJ ruined LBJ.

He was a war criminal and never got the justice he deserved. Vietnam was the victim of his evil decisions.

[Thothmes]

3. Have to agree with you. If he had been prosecuted

for his actions in vietnam, might have caused the Bushes to pause and reflect on the consequences of launching unnecessary wars.

[girl gone mad]

4. At least he had some guilt over it,

which is more than we can say about any of the sociopathic warmongers who succeeded him.

[Union Yes]

8. Agree. nt

[Smarmie Doofus]

5. Yes. To a point.

But Obama hasn't... so far; maybe it's coming..... pulled a Gulf of Tonkin scam.

However, he foolishly missed the boat to disengage from both Irag AND Aghanistan and they are effectively , from this point, his legacy.

I know he's young... and missed the VN era. But sometimes I wonder just how well-read he is. And how young and/or well read the braintrust is.

[invictus]

6. Obama will not have any good legacy to undo. He did not bring change, reform, or social justice.

He brought billion dollar corporate bailouts, unfunded health insurance mandates, and more war. On the bright side, his last name is not Clinton or Bush and he isn't a senile, ill-tempered 73-year old war criminal.

[anonymous171]

11. Obama is going to be remembered as a 21st Century James Buchanan.

Compromisers are rarely judged well by history. Ineffective compromisers even less so.

[TexasObserver]

7. Recommend

[robdogbucky]

9. Agreed

"...Kennedy refused to follow the script on the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis..."

and from all accounts was not willing to go along with the program launched in SE Asia. Think CIA/Diem assassination.

As far as the current president not having a Gulf of Tonkin, he may yet in the Afghan-Pak complex.

Our ally in ME needs protection. Check

Oil flow needs to keep coming. Check

CIA in area to assassinate and de-stabilize. Check

Civil/religious war in Afghan. Check

US doing all in its power to escalate and continue the occupation/chaos in Afghan. Check

Pak next door to Afghan. Check

Vacuum of power in Pak. Check

Nuclear weapons in Pak. Check

Oogly-Boogly Iran becoming de-stabilized nearby. Check

Neocons program on schedule. Check


Plenty of room for a Yemeni flareup to initiate own Gulf of Tonkin. Check



Just my dos centavos

robdogbucky

[Bigmack]

12. The quote you're looking for....

"If I left the woman I really loved-the Great Society-in order to get involved in that bitch of a war on the other side of the world, then I would lose everything at home. All my programs…."

Will Pres. Obama repeat Johnson's history?

[TicketyBoo]

13. Johnson had other forces

at work on him.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11202009/watch.html