http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6143701Oh now, this is ridiculous.
Skins's island is full of burnt-out bonfires castigating the best Democrat president of the past sixty years; one wonders why the
volte-face.
The sparkling husband primitive:
Stinky The Clown (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-24-09 07:48 PM
Original message
LBJ
I have, of late, come to increasingly admire LBJ. Yes, my generation's war in Viet Nam was made far worse by LBJ's decisions. And for that he will always be vilified. But even while in office he realized his wrong and manned up. He chose not to run for reelection. There could well have been other reasons, but surely the war was a big factor.
He also chose to spend every tiny bit of his political capital on The Great Society. He fought some in his party and the opposition. He did what he had to do.
He twisted arms.
He charmed.
He horse traded and cajoled.
And then he twisted more arms. He was serious about what he wanted to accomplish and accomplish it he did. Yes, he was pushed, too, by people like MLK. But in the end, it was LBJ who put it ALL on the line for what he believed in.
He twisted arms. And he spent his last political nickle, but by gawd, he got it DONE.
Drunken Irishman (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-24-09 07:50 PM
Response to Original message
1. Poor LBJ...
I don't know if the movie Path to War is correct, but if it is, it's sad at what some in his administration did to him.
It's a movie, so it's not correct. Read some books.
Lifelong Protester (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-24-09 07:50 PM
Response to Original message
2. that man knew how to get it done there never was a man (or woman) who could work the halls of power like him. I hope Obama is reading some of Caro's books on LBJ, to see how he did it. The pressure had to be kept up, that is for sure.
Birthmark (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-24-09 07:52 PM
Response to Original message
3. He did the right thing.
He knew he was giving up the South, but he still did the right thing wrt CRA.
corkhead (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-24-09 07:55 PM
Response to Original message
4. My republicon dad hated him and his "great society" (always said with a tinge of sarcasm)
I remember Chronkite tearing up when he announced Johnson's death during his newscast.
therefore he must have been good
county worker (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-24-09 07:55 PM
Response to Original message
5. I can still remember when he came on TV and told all of us why the civil rights struggle was important. And he was a Southerner. I like this that he said about bipartisanship. "I'd rather have them inside the tent pissing out then outside the tent pissing in." He drafted me into the war. I don't really like him and never respected him. I guess in Vietnam I hated him. I hated seeing his picture everywhere on the walls.
I heard that he and Dr King were friends but after the civil rights laws were passed they parted ways for some reason that I don't remember.
Tangerine LaBamba (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-24-09 08:00 PM
Response to Reply #5
8. They split over Vietnam - King became an ardent opponent of the war, and that rankled Johnson...........
TexasObserver (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-24-09 07:57 PM
Response to Original message
6. Yes, if he hadn't fallen for the Vietnam trap, he'd be one of the great ones.
I met him when I was a soldier. 1968. He took my hand with both of his hands (and they were big) and thanked me. I didn't understand the war back then, but I was proud the commander in chief, the president, was shaking my hand.
Only later did I understand the significance of all the good he had done, and the horror of his going all-in for Vietnam.
Naturyl (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-24-09 07:59 PM
Response to Original message
7. The Great Society was the last major push to address poverty.
What little the poor have, they owe to FDR and this man.
.....and to Richard Nixon, who devised the negative income tax, now called the earned income credit, to Ronald Reagan who made it possible for every Tom, Dick, and Harry "too depressed" to work, to get on social security disability, to George Bush, who expanded social spending far beyond the wildest dreams of any of his Democrat predecessors.....
Tangerine LaBamba (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-24-09 08:07 PM
Response to Original message
9. If you ever want to dedicate a good chunk of your time to some spectacular writing on a spectacular subject, get your paws on Robert Caro's biography of LBJ - three volumes that are just masterful. A real joy to read.
Also, Caro wrote about Johnson in the Senate, which is another worthy tome.
I was lucky enough to work for a man who'd worked in the White House for both Truman and LBJ. Charlie's affection for both men was always evident, and I was an utter twit, a young lawyer working at the side of a Washington legend who used to send me to Averell Harriman's house to pick up documents for the Truman Scholarship group or over to Clark Clifford's office for the same reason, knowing that I wouldn't understand for years what adventures he was giving me.
But, one day, full of life, and full of my own pretty self, I asked Charlie, a lovely Southern gentleman, "Do you think President Truman would have liked me?"
Ever the patient man, Charlie said, "I think Mr. Truman would have liked you very much."
Encouraged, I then asked, "Do you think President Johnson would have liked me?"
And with that, Charlie grinned broadly, and almost roared, "Oh, Mr. Johnson would have LOVED you."
The things Johnson accomplished, we should note them regularly, and perhaps the mistakes he made with Vietnam, as poorly served as he was, will not be all that he's remembered for. I wonder how many people today know that Medicare and Medicaid came about because of LBJ?
Quite the name-dropper there, the Rita Hayworth primitive, who omitted to name two U.S. Secretaries of State with whom she hopped around in the sack when younger, Cordell Hull and Christian Herter.
MADem (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-24-09 08:08 PM
Response to Original message
10. He was larger than life. Full of himself, and a real dichotomy of a human being.
But he was the sort who took responsibility. That's rather a rare quality.
timeforpeace (1000+ posts) Fri Jul-24-09 08:12 PM
Response to Original message
11. But he couldn't get Robert Byrd to vote for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
I don't get it.
Up until 7:48 p.m. today, the primitives on Skins's island had an unblemished record of Hating Lyndon Johnson, a clean record going clear back to 4:00 p.m. January 20, 2001.
One wonders what's going on.
