Just some Political banter

Tonight I was watching a Vietnam special with my dad for a bit(didn't watch it all) and I saw some pretty crazy things. Nixon came in as a "change" agent... "get out of Vietnam now". Obama came in as a change agent. Guess what, it worked! Nixon changed the foreign relations landscape, Obama is attempting to do the same. The parallel's are all too close between current events and what is happening now. You can see it throughout history. This is why, even though I didn't pay attention to history growing up, I have found a love for it since college. I think it is very important to know the past history and be aware of what is going on in the world today. You can draw tons of parallel's and see different senarios repeating themselves. It is absolutely facinating.

On the history/political front, lately I've been watching the political landscape a little closer than I was before Obama got in office... just checking out his latest moves, and many things have left me mortified. I don't like a lot of what I see, but at the same time, I don't want to be like the Bush haters. Constant hate, refusal to admit when they do something good, and nitpicking every idea even if they secretly agree. I think you can be a critic, but do it without looking stupid and being constantly hateful... something that it seems like people in Washington refuse to do. That is when I saw this commentary. I thought it was refreshing. While I don't agree with everything, I do agree that while I may not like what Obama is doing, agree that the final goal is similar and bring forward your own ideas. That is what we don't see enough of in Washington. Just because you disagree with someone doesn't mean you have to tear them down. You can like the person, think they seem like a nice guy, etc... but disagree with their opinions.

Back to Vietnam... Nixon immediately pulled out with a time table, giving control to the SOuth Vietnamese. Next thing you know, the North Vietnamese are crossing over the border and taking land from the South.

Anyways... I think viewing anything in the context of history immediately makes it that much more interesting. Too many times, as Americans we look at the present. Look at all the foreclosures... most of those people didn't look ahead, they didn't plan. We as Americans need to plan for the future and look back at history for parallel's to our lives today. It would immediately make the decisions we are making now a little bit more informed ones.