It all started a week or so ago when I read in the newspaper that Bush's approval ratings were the lowest since Nixon's
shortly before his resignation in the summer of '74.
I got to thinking how many historical parallels there were between Nixon's second term and Bush's current second
term: an unpopular war, soaring energy costs, and a presidential administration that seemed to rule by divine right
(or Right, as the case may be).
I wasn't really thinking about that when I walked into the library last Saturday, but it came back in a rush
when I saw a book displayed on the New Non-fiction shelf. I hastily picked up Andreas Killen's 1973 Nervous
Breakdown, and damn if I didn't read it straight through that afternoon and evening.
Without getting too carried away (I just want to recommend the book here) Killen feels that 1973 was, historically-speaking,
the beginning of the seventies, and that the seventies haven't even begun to be mined for their historical significance.
His hugely enjoyable overview of the state of the USA, circa the early seventies, doesn't draw lines from 1973 to 2006, but
anyone who hasn't been comatose for the past four months can see the similarities.
I turned twelve in 1973, and although I wasn't paying any more attention to national concerns than the average twelve-year-old
(I was too busy learning all the words to "Crocodile Rock" and "You're So Vain"), I remember the villification of President
Nixon, and the general mood of disgust in the air.
What surprises me, I guess, is even though I'm beginning to hear a stronger chorus of dissent in the land these days,
it doesn't seem to come close to the volume I remember from 1973-1974. The Bush administration, the Right, the Republicans,
et al have had the country so cowed into silence these past few years that people are only now beginning to speak out, and
the voices are tentative, perhaps even rusty from non-use.
I can only hope that more and more people will begin to see that the Bush adminstration's definition of patriotism is
NOT the same as our forefathers', and that speaking critically of our government isn't just a privilege, but a necessity.
As for those who continue to swear complete allegiance to the Bush administration and constantly tell the rest of us to shut
our un-patriotic, commie mouths, I can only suggest that their blind faith might be better focused on the god of
their choice, as opposed to a bunch of greedy, self-interested politicians.
Hmmm. I got a bit off track there. Sorry. I've been wanting to say that for some time, and a blog is
a good a place as any. The point I wanted to make is that history is indeed, as many have postulated, cyclical.
We survived the fallout of the Nixon years, and we'll probably survive the scorched earth legacy of the Bush years.
I can only hope his downfall is as spectacular as Nixon's though. I'm totally paying attention this time, and I plan
to be properly gleeful.
In the meantime, get ahold of 1973 Nervous Breakdown by Andreas Killen. It gives you a lot to think about
historically and sociologically, and may give you a few points of reference the next time you're stuck in conversation with
a Bush groupie.
For someone who has fought technology every step of the way, I'm amazed at how much I've come to depend upon it.
In the past year more than one person has heard me remark, "I wouldn't have a career without computers and the internet."
It's true. I wouldn't. I've been able to see my first novel published, and I've been able to promote it in ways
I would have never dreamed of even a few years ago.
So now I'm doing something else I never gave much thought to until the past year -- creating a web space for myself.
It still seems weird.
I'm a true-blue Hoosier in the respect that I approach change warily and with a certain amount of stubbornness. For example,
this is the first spring in 35 years Indiana has gone on Daylight Savings Time. People across the state are still complaining
bitterly about having to adjust their clocks, and supposedly altering their lifestyles. It doesn't bother me, but I
know how they feel. Change can be scary and a big pain in the ass.
The thing is, if I hadn't of opened my mind to new ideas and new technology, The Handyman's Dream probably would
have been written on a beat-up Royal electric typewriter, and would probably be nothing more than a stack of paper in one
of my desk drawers. I have to remember that as the changes keep comin' -- fast and furious.
For the son of a woman who never could learn how to program a VCR, I've come a long way.
