I Cogitate
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What if...
What if...
What if George McGovern had won the presidency in 1972 instead of Lifetime Scum Award Winner Richard Nixon?
The Vietnam War would have ended right then and there. Think of how many more Americans would still be alive, would be experiencing intact families and intact bodies, let alone the number of Vietnamese?
The consciousness and direction of this nation would have been raised regarding the have-nots and those struggling to get by.
Fairness and decency, values and integrity, traits McGovern still possesses in abundance, would have certainly had a greater opportunity to take root, rather than the paranoic madness of the unfully formed bizarro that was Richard Nixon.
And for those of you who wish to relax any of the well-deserved scorn still directed at Richard Nixon, here's this: In the film "One Bright Shining Moment: The Forgotten Summer of George McGovern (2005)," longtime Democratic political operator Frank Mankiewicz states in one scene that he has heard the tapes of Nixon proposing that McGovern leaflets be planted in Arthur Bremer's apartment. This was right after Bremer shot and paralyzed George Wallace. Not quite sure if this exemplifies the values of "The Silent Majority" that Tricky Dick spouted off about so often.
Do rent the documentary. For those of you old enough, it will bring back the idealistic memories of a campaign that truly included people of all colors.
McGovern was a true prairie populist, one who stood for fairness and opportunity. He generated the youth vote like no other candidate since (Barack Obama may just do the same). Idealism wasn't an expletive deleted. Hope was real. McGovern spoke his mind, damn the consequences and any 'handlers' or 'focus groups.'
The film runs a bit too long but it is fascinating. Here is a man completely drubbed in a presidential election, an American World War II hero who was vilified by pre-Rovian smears (yes, the McGovern candidacy could trrruuullly be summed as as the one for acid, amnesty and abortion, you betcha ) but one who bears no trace of anger or bitterness at the haters and do-anything-at-all-costs-ers who pervert themselves in order to win. This includes Hubert Humphrey, who desperately turned on McGovern and also tried to change the rules regarding delegates during the primary season when Humphrey realized he wasn't going to win. It was the last chance (gasp) for Humphrey and will paint him forever as a conniving opportunist.
One critical element that is covered in the documentary is the selection of Missouri Senator Tom Eagleton as McGovern's running mate. Apparently (I have no way of verifying this) the attention of the McGovern campaign was almost solely focused on fighting off Humphrey's challenges and when that was finally settled, very little time remained for the choosing of a vice presidential candidate. McGovern liked Eagleton and Eagleton had a good record with organized labor (so did McGovern but George Meany was a Vietnam War diehard supporter) and it was thought that Eagleton could help get labor to come around. Mankiewicz interviewed Eagleton and directly asked him if there was anything in his (Eagleton's) medical records that would be cause for concern. Eagleton said no, even though he had been hospitalized fmore than once due to mental illness.
Vetting is not like it is now. If it was, Nixon's campaign committee would not have been named the Committee to Re-Elect the President, or CREEP. There's a Ripley's believe it or not entry! But, then again, a majority of the American public chose someone in 1972 who campaigned that he had a secret plan to end the Vietnam War, when in fact he didn't. Yet another Ripley's moment. But this was DO-ABLE in 1972, or at the very least Nixon got away with it--think how such a flimsy pledge would result in instant damnification now. A side note: Nixon's perverter-in-chief Henry Kissinger also deserves any and all disparagement for all the blood on his hands, not just American and Vietnamese but throughout the world where he performed his vile thuggery.
Remember this old chestnut? Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it -- George Santayana. The depraved, the degenerate and the repulsive certainly do and unleash their sleaze, preying upon the fears and prejudices of many in the American public, usually while wrapped in flag and position. The Republicans have taken this to heart and practiced this form of political campaign degeneracy for decades now. Well, why not? Did it harm Richard Nixon? No, he won elections until his demons got the best of him but later evolved to an elder statesman. Did Ronald Reagan ever have to answer for it? No, he was just too doggone 'amiable' to ever have to face such a charge. Have any of the Bushes ever been forced to face truth? Yes, it's simply dig down deep for some prey, be it black/white racial relations, so-called hippies, welfare queens, gays, peaceniks, WMD, Islam, you name it, and frighten the U.S. populace by making such entities the scapegoats for this and that. Divide up the citizenry, cleave this country--because nobody remembers. Win at all costs and the media is yours, now and forever. Collective forgetfullness, devout ignorance, amnesia--call it whatever you wish.
George McGovern, never the president, has retained his integrity throughout life. Nixon was president for two terms but at the cost of all that really matters. Come to think of it, don't Al Gore and John Kerry bring to mind the same comparison in relation to George W. Bush?
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