Streak
By Mitch Berg
I was a kid during the Bicentennial, 47 years ago today. Even so, I had some awareness of what was going on in the world – and it wasn’t great.
You didn’t need to be of voting age to know that the US and the West had been on a losing streak.
- Vietnam.
- Riots.
- Terrorism – the Munich Olympics in particular. (I also remember the Symbionese Liberation Army episode, although not quite as clearlly as one of my fellow Saint Paulites did).
- Watergate
- The Yom Kippur War
- the Oil Embargo
- Stagflation
And so I pretty keenly remember how weird it felt, seeing the news break on this story – which I’d been following as closely as I could, given that I was limited to TV and newspapers. That unaccustomed feeling that the good guys won one .
July 4th, 2023 at 3:21 pm
Poor timing, Mitch. The Israelis are conducting a little Special Military Action of their own, and slaughtering the fuck out of the Palestinians.
Somehow, I don’t think the Palestinians can expect a parade of celebrities, bales of federal fiat currency or trainloads of NATO military gear.
They’re on their own, fighting Centurian tanks with slingshots…kind of prophetic aint it?
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/26/israeli-raid-kills-three-palestinians-in-jenin-fighting
July 4th, 2023 at 4:42 pm
Maybe I got this all wrong. Could be our greatest allies saluting our independence day by showering the West bank wit Rockets Red Glare!
🤩🧨🎇🎆🚀💥💣
July 5th, 2023 at 6:35 am
Nah
July 5th, 2023 at 7:07 am
Don’t you mean “27 years ago”? 😉
July 5th, 2023 at 7:19 am
Thanks for the shot (in the dark?) of nostalgia, Mitch. It brings back memories of my childhood. I can still hear words like “Vietnam”, “Watergate”, “Saigon”, “Lebanon”, “Guerrilla”, and “Resignation” in the voice of John Chancellor.
Most of that had fallen by the wayside for me by 1976. At that point, it was all about celebrating the Bicentennial. After that party was over, it was all Ford and Carter. Kind of a comedown, really, especially for a nine year old kid.
July 5th, 2023 at 3:03 pm
I was 6. The biggest memory I have of that time is some fireworks and an HO scale train engine with a 1776 red, white, and blue paint job. :/