On 14 Jun 1995 "Al Rushanan TAL (904)487-1855" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> This from a man who got the Civil Rights bill passed. Masculine
> and feminine characteristics in the same head, perhaps? What makes
> a person start a ground war to gain political capital during a
> campaign (in this case, by being more anti-communist than the
> Republicans), and then turn around and alienate an entire region of
> his party (Southern Democrats) by pushing through a bill to help
> minorities, knowing full well it could cost him the next election?
> I quoted the line because I think it's quite accurate for our
> current situation. Does anybody have a similar quote from someone
> more "politically correct" to avoid the hot button?
Believe me, Al...Johnson knew the calculus of elections. Whatever numbers of
southern Democrats he may have lost because of civil rights legislation, he
gained in southern black votes by voting rights legislation.
And, escalating the war had nothing to do with the 1964 elections; it had to
do with a floundering economy
in need of a jolt. Whatever votes he may have gained from anti-communists was
miniscule compared to the money he got from the military-industrial complex.
The hell with political correctness. In my mind, Johnson was and is a war
criminal. I believed that when I was in Vietnam in 1966 and I believe it now.
Apparently McNamara is beginning to come to that conclusion, as well.
