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It was 40 Years Ago Today and Friday Night Open Thread

By Jeralyn, Section Crime Policy
Posted on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 06:42:37 PM EST
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Today is the 40th anniversary of America's War on Drugs. On June 17, 1971, then-President Richard Milhouse Nixon officially declared drug abuse as the nation's Public Enemy Number One. Here's his address to the country on June 17, 1971.

America's public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive.

I have asked the Congress to provide the legislative authority and the funds to fuel this kind of an offensive. This will be a worldwide offensive dealing with the problems of sources of supply, as well as Americans who may be stationed abroad, wherever they are in the world. It will be government wide, pulling together the nine different fragmented areas within the government in which this problem is now being handled, and it will be nationwide in terms of a new educational program that we trust will result from the discussions that we have had.

What an utter failure, just like Nixon.

Anyone here remember what they were doing in June, 1971? This is an open thread, all topics welcome

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    Yes, do hazily remember June 1971. (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by oculus on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 06:54:41 PM EST
    Two-month and almost three-year old.  Sleepless in Ann Arbor.

    Then you're from double A? n/t (none / 0) (#35)
    by cal1942 on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 11:42:51 PM EST


    Parent
    About 11 yrs. (none / 0) (#39)
    by oculus on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 12:33:27 AM EST


    Parent
    Darren Hutchinson speaks for me (5.00 / 1) (#14)
    by andgarden on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 08:00:15 PM EST
    on the Weiner resignation.

    I admit to a bit of pride (none / 0) (#20)
    by andgarden on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 09:01:06 PM EST
    for saying from the very start that I didn't care whether the picture was of Weiner.

    And frankly, I think that to merely accept the consequent media reaction, and to plan around it, is to enable to problem.

    Parent

    Seems to me that this is exactly the reaction (5.00 / 1) (#54)
    by andgarden on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 08:56:25 AM EST
    that Hutchinson is objecting to.

    [M]any self-proclaimed liberal critics refuse to defend Weiner. Instead, they continually make the observation that his behavior was stupid, that he was asking to get caught. Not too long ago, people routinely made this same argument when gays and lesbians who came out of the closet experienced employment discrimination. Although Weiner's situation is not completely analogous to the struggle for LGBT rights, the reaction to his conduct sounds eerily familiar. Rather than focusing on his right to engage in consensual sexual conduct, many people are simply arguing that he should not have done so.

    I agree with him.

    Parent

    Okay, so I can agree with that as to (none / 0) (#56)
    by Anne on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 09:18:27 AM EST
    whatever consensual interactions he was having, but in my mind, the consensual interactions aren't - and never have been - the problem.  The problem is that he sent sexualized messages - and at least one photo - to women who didn't ask for them, didn't reciprocate them and tried to ignore them.

    I don't think the majority of people object to private, consensual activity - whether that's in person or virtual - but do object, as we all should object, to anyone imposing himself in the way AW did on women who didn't consent to it, didn't solicit it and didn't reciprocate.

    I truly do not understand why the non-consent aspect of this keeps getting lost.  And no, ignoring the communications doesn't help, anymore than, if I were standing on an elevator with a man who decided, after I made a comment about the weather or the local sports team, to unzip his pants and show me his "package," my ignoring that would make what he did okay.

    Non-consent didn't make it okay before Anthony Weiner arrived on the scene, and the fact that he was the main actor here doesn't change that.

    Parent

    I am highly skeptical of the non-consensual (5.00 / 2) (#57)
    by andgarden on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 09:25:08 AM EST
    angle to this story. It seems to me that there have been a lot of vague accusations, and nothing more.

    Parent
    For me there is a huge difference (5.00 / 1) (#66)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 10:09:39 AM EST
    between standing next to a guy dropping his pants and getting a picture sent from 2000 miles away. There is a wide gap in threat level there.

    Not saying what he did was right, but it was not a firing offense in my view.

    Parent

    Consent - it's about consent. (5.00 / 0) (#78)
    by Anne on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 02:52:32 PM EST
    Of course the threat level is lower when the person in question isn't standing 5 feel away, I didn't mean to suggest that it was.

    But, it also starts to make me very uncomfortable when I read and hear people (not you) starting to say the equivalent of "maybe she asked for it."  How many years do we have to keep putting up with the assumption that because of the way a woman looks or what she wears - or in Ginger's case, what she does for a living - that she must be sending out an invitation to sexual behavior, so even if she says she didn't want it, well, how can we believe that?

    No woman  - no person - who contacts an elected representative with an issues question should have been responded to the way Weiner did.

    Consensual whatever?  Not a problem.  But honestly, women have been fighting for too long to be treated with respect for us to pretend that what Weiner did was okay.

    Parent

    I agree re what Hutchinson said (none / 0) (#37)
    by cal1942 on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 12:13:12 AM EST
    But I have trouble with the fact that these guys don't seem to understand what will happen if they're exposed.

    Are they not aware of recent history - Clinton, Ensign, Vitter, Foley, Craig, Lee, Gingrich, Livingston, Edwards, Switzer.

    Are they type A personalities who compartmentalize their lives and give no thought to consequences?

    The fact that no laws were broken (except for Ensign and Vitter) doesn't really matter in the court of public opinion.  Don't they get that?

    It's unfortunate the nation is so puritanical but it's where we live.  This is playing field.

    Losing Switzer was a huge, serious blow but losing Weiner certainly didn't help.

    Parent

    He was very convincing (none / 0) (#42)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 01:29:06 AM EST
    in that round of interviews, I thought anyway.  My BS detector picked up that there was something he was concealing, but certainly not that he was falsifying the whole thing.

    And he still was and still is a terrifically articulate voice for liberal values, perhaps the best there's been out there for quite some time.

    Parent

    andgarden, (none / 0) (#76)
    by ZtoA on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 02:13:15 PM EST
    You are equating Weiner to people fighting for respect and rights for GLBT. If so, that is noble. What is his cause?

    GLBT is not the only demographic that does not and has traditionally not had equal rights to white men in this country. Other races, ethnicities and non-christians have either not had equal rights or their opportunities were so limited as to create uneven rights. But in all large powerful countries in all races and ethnicities women have not had equal rights and do not today. Women have been subjected to and been made the subjects of powerful men in a massive global way. It is so pervasive globally that it is often just ignored by all genders... like we ignore pollution too - just accept it, don't mind adding to it. Even your link mentions it but ignores/dismisses it at the same moment.

    He chose to begin virtual sex relationships with women of much lower power status, and now those women are blamed for selling text and images of his advances - they must be thinking "what, he sends me his pic and I'm not supposed to do anything with it but just swallow it?". Extremely unequal power and status is considered sexy - this is 'same old same old'. He's not breaking any "boundaries" here, rather reinforcing old and bigoted gender rules.

    Parent

    Made subjects of powerful men? (none / 0) (#77)
    by andgarden on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 02:40:40 PM EST
    Seems to me you're operating under an idée fixe.

    The "cause"--or whether there even is one--is beside the point.

    Parent

    not beside the point you are trying to make (none / 0) (#80)
    by ZtoA on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 03:35:28 PM EST
    comparing the response to Weiner and to GLBT is a wrong comparison. GLBT went against public outcry in order to be true to themselves. That is a cause. What is Weiner's? Is it just to have the same old 'powerful man getting his way with less powerful women' in a new medium?

    Fixed idea? Maybe you should look at the status of women globally.

    Parent

    Graduating from high school... (5.00 / 2) (#16)
    by Anne on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 08:07:40 PM EST
    still cannot believe it has been that long; in my head, I sure don't feel like an almost-58 year old, but no matter what kind of math I use, 2011 minus 1953 still equals 58.  Sigh.

    Still look back fondly on those years; my kids would probably die if they knew I was cutting school on a regular basis and smoking pot in the girls' bathroom...I'd been accepted at college, I'd taken all the required courses and I was just cruising to the finish line.

    I didn't know anything about any war on drugs, that's for sure.  My husband, whom I didn't know then, was just back from 13 months in Vietnam, saved from combat by a strep or staph infection that landed him in the hospital for three months, and then in an office job at the Army base in Chu Lai; it was bad enough that his first day in country, he was dropped right into a jungle fire and all he could do was join his fellow grunts in fleeing from it.  Welcome to Vietnam!

    If I'd known then what I know now, I'd have been having a lot less fun, so there is something to that old saying that ignorance is bliss.

    I don't know what happened to me that I decided it was better to be paying attention to what was going on outside my immediate circle, but once I started, there was no going back.  

    Oh, well.

    June, 1971...for me, a summer of fun, and then on to college, which seemed like one never-ending party.  Still can't believe my parents paid for that.  As I recall, tuition, room and board was $2,800 a year in 1971 - one of my daughter's best friends just graduated from the same college, and I think the freight now runs about $30,000/year.

    I'm rambling now - I guess that's where my 58-year old brain begins to show itself!

    1971 (5.00 / 2) (#31)
    by ZtoA on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 10:31:16 PM EST
    I graduated high school that year too. And regarding drugs, by then I'd tried most of them. Of all of them I rather liked opium laced hash because the waking dreams were truly epic. But, "water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink" those waking dreams slipped away almost immediately. So, for me, it was ultimately boring. I made an exception for alcohol and caffeine and nicotine (but I was addicted to that and am not now). But I always liked hanging around people who were high on pot, but hated hanging around people high on cocaine.

    Fast forward several decades and I developed a horribly painful nerve condition (I had a brain surgery several years ago which resolved it, as they removed my brain). Doctors prescribed lots of drugs for me including lots of opiates. But they were not fun and they did not work for nerve pain. A grower friend of mine sent me some of their very exceptional best quality pot and a vaporizer, plus a water pipe and a huge chunk of hash. I still did not like the high, but I can say that pot is an amazing medicine - way more effective than opiates for nerve pain - and why it is illegal is a terrible prohibition.

    Everyone I know, young and old and every demographic does or has smoked pot. It is ridiculous that it is illegal. Where it is legal in states, the legal registered growers are considered to be producing an illegal product by the federal gov. They don't pay taxes on it for sure. An old roomie of mine married the chef/owner of a great and upscale restaurant in a growing part of California. They joke about harvest season when everyone from "The Ridge" comes in for several extremely expensive meals and always pay cash.

    After I had nerve surgery (they actually did not remove my brain, but some days I really wish they had) I had all this pot and hash and nice pipes so I let a couple of friends know I wanted to give it away. Naturally I did not give any to my daughter or her friends, they seemed to have their own and I did not want to know about it. But my friends were all eager!

    Parent

    1971 (5.00 / 1) (#33)
    by athyrio on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 11:16:10 PM EST
    In April of that year, I became a new mom (single) so had my hands full with a full time job as well as sitters....Seems like an eternity ago....

    Parent
    I also graduated from high school (none / 0) (#55)
    by loveed on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 09:03:41 AM EST
     It was a different time. I have always loved history and politic. kent State is very close to where I live. It was a lot tension between the youth and the establishment. Like me they had read the constitution. The war in vietnam. Freedom of speech, lingering racial tension from the sixties.
      But living was easy. No homeless living on the streets. Drugs without crime to ordinary citizens. You could hitchhike without fears, you could walk the streets of the inner city without fear. College was very affordable. No one worried about health care.
      I made great friends in high school(approx. 20 still visit). I was 25yrs old before I every smoked pot. Still enjoy it occasionally now.

    Parent
    A caveat, loveed (none / 0) (#74)
    by Zorba on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 12:47:54 PM EST
    And of course, it depends upon where you lived at the time, but we were living in Boston in 1971, and there were indeed homeless people living on the streets.  There were also areas where you would think twice about hitchhiking, or walking along the streets, especially after dark.  (College, however, was indeed much more affordable.  I graduated in 1970 from a private college, had a good scholarship, and paid the remainder- about $400 over four years.  And books amounted to about $50/semester.)

    Parent
    Bill Haast (5.00 / 2) (#21)
    by CoralGables on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 09:11:45 PM EST
    died today at 100 years old. He was an iconic figure in Miami and anyone that lived in South Florida or visited South Florida in the 50's 60's or 70's likely stopped by The Serpentarium to watch him extract venom from his King Cobra. It was reported that he was bitten a total of 172 times over the years by venomous snakes before he closed the tourist destination.

    If he ran that business today they would probably be bottling the venom and selling it from an 800 number on late night TV as Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth.

    Anyone here remember what they were doing... (5.00 / 2) (#23)
    by desertswine on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 09:26:24 PM EST
    Yes, I was stoned and in Florida, I think, I can't remember really, but I'm fairly sure.

    From Hawaii, Donald said (5.00 / 1) (#25)
    by the capstan on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 09:38:22 PM EST
    "today is also the 39th anniversary of the Watergate break-in."  At which time I was in DC for my nephew's wedding and noticed a tiny blurb in the newspaper about a break-in at a building whose name had been to me unknown.

    Aloha and 'thanks for the memories....'

    Watergate (none / 0) (#61)
    by loveed on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 09:51:54 AM EST
     I voted for Nixon, I knew he would be impeached.
      Because of China. No one had ever been to China it was a closed society. It was a amazing time.Can you imagine our economy without trade with China? Nixon was a man of vision. He was also crook & a liar. I've often wondered,why he allowed the taping of his conversation?

    Parent
    I just had started my first fulltime job (5.00 / 1) (#26)
    by Towanda on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 09:41:46 PM EST
    in the black press, having just graduated college.

    So my education had only just begun.  

    To my great profs, thank you.  And to my next great teachers on the job in the black press, who took my education beyond the classroom, thank you.  You are gone now but not forgetten.  And the fight goes on. . . .

    If I told you what I was doing in June 1971 (5.00 / 4) (#27)
    by Edger on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 09:46:01 PM EST
    I might have to hire you, Jeralyn... :-)

    I suspect (5.00 / 2) (#29)
    by Jeralyn on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 10:12:00 PM EST
    from the relatively few answers to the question, you aren't the only one with those issues. I wonder how many readers started to type a reply, then thought better of it and hit the delete button. Totally understood.

    Parent
    heh (5.00 / 1) (#30)
    by andgarden on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 10:14:55 PM EST
    Could there be a SOL that hasn't run at this point?

    I wasn't even born, so I'm not speaking for myself!

    Parent

    I will say this much though... (5.00 / 1) (#59)
    by Edger on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 09:47:20 AM EST
    It was all the right stuff for a 19 year old to be doing. ;-)

    Parent
    I was 13 . Babysitting for younger siblings (5.00 / 1) (#47)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 06:51:26 AM EST
    listening  to AM radio: Brown Sugar, It's Too Late, Indian Reservation, You've got a Friend.

    I looked those up. My memory is not that good!

    listening to Cubs games too on WGN. Such a sad childhood.

    June 1971 (5.00 / 2) (#48)
    by kempis on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 07:40:31 AM EST
    I was 16, often high (since school was out), and hatin' Richard Nixon.

    In fact, one of the highlights of my youth was finding a thin spot in the crowd lining Nixon's motorcade when he came to town in 72-- and a group of us timed it perfectly: Just as the limo approached, we raised our middle fingers in salute. I still recall Nixon's face through the smoky glass--a bit surprised that even kids in Birmingham, Alabama despised him. George Wallace was in the car, too, so it was a too-fer. Very gratifying.

    Can we declare victory (5.00 / 2) (#51)
    by jeffinalabama on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 08:27:24 AM EST
    and bring the money home, put taxes on drugs, and solve the funding issue? please?

    Living the life of Huck Finn (5.00 / 1) (#53)
    by Rojas on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 08:46:12 AM EST
    We didn't have a big river but there was a live creek complete with swimming hole where we wasted away summer days with our fishing poles. The adults never ventured there, claiming it was thick with copperheads, but our real nemesis were indian needles, grass burrs, bull needle, poison ivy and beggars lice.

    There were mini bikes, BB-gun wars, stealing watermelons and rinding the horses up to the little store for a Coke. The bicycle excursions to far off farm ponds and returning with a stringer of bluegill in tow. Locust hunts spent scanning the tree limbs and learning to hold steady, draw a small bead and squeeze slowly with a Daisy.

    Sleeping out in the back yard. There were stars back then, a night sky that you have to drive 150 miles to see these days. 71 was too early but a couple years later we would have company on those pallets under the night sky.

    It was a good life.

    I was all of 16 getting ready for college (5.00 / 3) (#58)
    by samsguy18 on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 09:26:56 AM EST
     Living in a small coal mining town in Canada. I couldn't afford drugs. LOL... I do believe had I been born here at that time college would never have been in my future. Canadians were certainly aware of Nixon, watergate and the Vietnam War. Over the next 40 yrs (OMG I can't believe the amt of time) I found myself studying and working in the USA and Canada. I really didn't pay much attention to world events. In 1981 I was living in Toronto and I was offered a job in San Francisco which I accepted....It was a life changing experience....I was 26...never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine how cruel we can be to one another. In the late 80's I moved  to Western Canada where my children were born. We returned to the USA  in '91 settling in Chicago. Our first four years in Chicago I did not speak of the fact I had cared for patients with "AIDS". I feared my children would be isolated. Behind the scene I became an activist for children with "AIDS". I realized early the media manipulates the facts to get attention and ratings. Their perception of the truth can be destructive and they really don't care about the human spirit! As an individual I want to know what is real truth. Sadly especially now the majority are relying on the media snippets.I've experienced a little in my life time...however In the last 40 yrs I have never encountered the fear, anxiety and desperation I'm witnessing today. Sorry for the rambling !      

    Actually (5.00 / 1) (#64)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 09:59:51 AM EST
    I enjoy your posts because you have day to day experience dealing with the public and I don't know how many of us here deal daily with that kind of situation but I know I sure don't. I do know a lot of suffering though from family and friends but I'm sure not to the extent that someone like you would see probably on a daily basis.

    Someone who cares that much must be a great doctor!

    Parent

    I appreciate your kind words (5.00 / 1) (#71)
    by samsguy18 on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 11:36:15 AM EST
    There are many good people in the system.

    Parent
    Not rambling at all (5.00 / 1) (#67)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 10:16:07 AM EST
    How do you deal with the discouragement of the various cycles of public affairs. I've never felt like I do now - like there is no way to prevent things from getting worse.

    Parent
    Having worked in healthcare in Canada (none / 0) (#70)
    by samsguy18 on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 11:34:28 AM EST
     In the 70's and 80's the Canadian politicians and their parties used the healthcare and the welfare systems debate to advance their own political ambition and agenda.At the same time they were hit with the energy crisis...putting the country into huge defecits and a 20 year recession.  Huge income tax increases were legislated as well as 15% HST (Healthtax) and GST
    (Goods and services tax ) and the government  kept spending. Fortunately a President can sit for only eight years ....In Canada the leader of the party can remain forever if he is in good standing. I do believe if the present attitude and policies of the present administration don't change we could be in for a lot more misery.
    Healthcare in this country could be based on the medicare model...more medicaid means less quality of care. We need a President who will have the stones to actually make the system change. As long as The insurance companies, private practice group lobbies, pharma lobbies pay to play it will never change. IMO I feel Obama should have tabled healthcare until he had the economy on track. This HCR was done far too quickly. Ruffian you're making a difference blogging here.


    Parent
    You are nice to say so. I hope so, (5.00 / 1) (#73)
    by ruffian on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 12:03:05 PM EST
    I think a single payer system is inevitable in time. The status quo simply cannot hold, and the bill passed last year is not going to help enough. I just wish the pols had the stones to get us there smoothly instead of stumbling along the current path another 10 years, causing incalculable suffering and harm to the economy.

    Parent
    Protesting at the ROTC (5.00 / 1) (#63)
    by itscookin on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 09:58:02 AM EST
    commissioning ceremonies at my college.

    1971 (5.00 / 1) (#79)
    by CST on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 03:02:32 PM EST
    Is the year my parents met.  They were both teaching overseas.

    I was 10 years old.... (5.00 / 2) (#81)
    by sneezy on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 03:41:25 PM EST
    and had a new baby sister.  She was born two months premature and was in the hospital.  Our whole family was worried about her and we didn't know if she would ever even get to come home. My parents spent every evening at the hospital with her, and the rest of us kids would sneak in with them once in awhile to get a glimpse of her in her isolette.  Things were touch and go for a long time, but she perservered.  Earlier this month, she turned 40. She's smart and impassioned and I am very proud of her.

    I missed the Talkleft birthday open thread, but I want to wish a very happy birthday to TL and to Jeralyn.  I lurk on a daily basis and feel like I know so many people here.  I've learned a lot about many topics, and Jeralyn always has an excellent take on criminal defense, which is my life's work.  Thanks for producing such an excellent blog.  It's a daily "must read".

    Looks like AARP has tossed SocSec on the table? (none / 0) (#1)
    by jawbone on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 06:49:57 PM EST
    I have to run, so will link to a post by Susie at Suburban Guerrilla on the disturbing news.

    Thanks a lot, Obama. NOT.

    See Digby also. (none / 0) (#2)
    by oculus on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 06:53:33 PM EST


    Parent
    I smell me some cash money (none / 0) (#8)
    by Dadler on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 07:20:14 PM EST
    I wonder what kind of payoff the AARP board is getting for their flip.  And is a lifetime supply of kasha part of the deal?


    Parent
    Cool, good to know (none / 0) (#72)
    by Dadler on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 11:37:51 AM EST
    I count the days until I turn the big five oh and can be inundated with solicitations, too!  You lucky guy.

    Parent
    Looks (none / 0) (#5)
    by CoralGables on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 07:10:34 PM EST
    like the pressure may be getting to Gov. Chris Christie. Either that or he didn't hear the question properly. Telling a constituent "It's none of your business" when questioned about public school cuts isn't the way to win friends and influence people.

    Oh, he heard the question quite clearly. (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by Joan in VA on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 07:53:00 PM EST
    She was asking about his kids being in private school and him cutting the budget for the schools other people's kids attend.

    Parent
    SOP for Christie (5.00 / 1) (#40)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 01:24:43 AM EST
    He's notorious for this kind of thing.  There are dozens of YouTube clips of similar behavior.  Interestingly, he prefers to do this when there are cameras present.  His fans think it's wonderful.

    I think he's a pig.


    Parent

    I agree with your opinion (5.00 / 2) (#44)
    by nycstray on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 02:22:03 AM EST
    of Christie. Can I add the word 'distasteful' in front of pig?

    He's the last thing we need in presidential politics.

    Parent

    He did (none / 0) (#9)
    by CoralGables on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 07:20:18 PM EST
    make sure he had the questioner's name right before answering though. I thought maybe he was thinking through his answer before saying... "Gail, it's none of your business"

    Parent
    Thanks (none / 0) (#17)
    by Slado on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 08:15:55 PM EST
    I have been a reader and commenter since 2004 and I always enjoy mixing it up with my fellow bloggers.

    You, BTD and all the other regulars give me great perspective and make me think almost daily.

    Thanks

    Slado

    Ooops (none / 0) (#18)
    by Slado on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 08:17:21 PM EST
    This was meant for the TL birthday thread

    That's what I get for trying that post on my new ipad

    Parent

    that's ok (5.00 / 1) (#28)
    by Jeralyn on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 10:07:18 PM EST
    this is an open thread and I appreciate all compliments! Glad you've stuck around.

    Parent
    '71 - NPR was playing Dead Chicago '71 (none / 0) (#22)
    by dead dancer on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 09:25:23 PM EST
    on the way home just now. How ironic.

    This also goes for the war on drugs!

    Best Program Guide title EVAR: (none / 0) (#24)
    by andgarden on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 09:37:05 PM EST
    Nazi UFO Conspiracy.

    No, I won't watch.

    Very busy (none / 0) (#32)
    by cal1942 on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 11:03:13 PM EST
    Wife, child, mortgage, working over 50 hours a week and attending classes.

    Would sit up to the wee hours studying.

    The classes paid off.

    I can't believe I had that much energy, today it's just not conceivable.

    I vaguely remember the speech.

    A different world but the 70s would set the stage for the nightmare to come.  It's been all downhill since and it doesn't look very promising that we'll stop the slide anytime soon or ever.

    I wasn't (none / 0) (#34)
    by cal1942 on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 11:38:48 PM EST
    paying nearly as much attention to public affairs at the time but I do remember thinking ... watergate, sounds like a canal lock gate or something

    Weird what we remember.

    June of '71? (none / 0) (#36)
    by jimakaPPJ on Fri Jun 17, 2011 at 11:53:47 PM EST
    Celebrating a corp transfer back to the land of watermelon and BBQ.

    Jim (none / 0) (#38)
    by cal1942 on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 12:19:56 AM EST
    Can I guess.  Mississippi?

    If you don't like watermelon you can't be human and if you don't like BBQ you can never live a happy life.  No different in the north.  Our watermelon is much better but we can't touch your BBQ.

    Parent

    I bleed orange (none / 0) (#49)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 08:22:35 AM EST
    and sing Rocky Top.

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    Argh! (none / 0) (#50)
    by jeffinalabama on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 08:26:25 AM EST
    At least y'all don't have Fat Phil as coach any more. I think the Dooley kid will do all right.

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    Let me see... (none / 0) (#52)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 08:36:22 AM EST
    152 wins and 52 loses.

    Dooley will be in rare company if he can match that.

    Fulmer for AD!

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    I ought to downrate you, (none / 0) (#60)
    by jeffinalabama on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 09:50:48 AM EST
    but that wouldn't be right... ;-)

    I did love his tangles with Bama... so I can't say I hate him, lol.

    Dooley is better than the last jerk you had, but fulmer flat out backstabbed Bill Battle.

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    Of course, we had (none / 0) (#62)
    by jeffinalabama on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 09:53:24 AM EST
    "Pine Box" Tuberville for a number of years. At least he ran a clean program at auburn. Plenty of 'legend' coaches here didn't.

    Besides, everybody who likes southern football does owe General Neyland a thank you.

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    Whenever (none / 0) (#68)
    by cal1942 on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 11:03:41 AM EST
    I'm driving in the south and am anywhere near Tennessee I make it a point to stop somewhere.  Great people.  It's always a pleasure.

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    Thanks (none / 0) (#82)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Jun 19, 2011 at 12:15:24 PM EST
    We have our moments.

    ;-)

    As a lover of BBQ you do understand, don't you, that BBQ must be pulled, not chopped as they do in NC and other unknowing places in the east.

    And if you ever get to Memphis, you gotta eat ribs at the Rendezvous.

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    Pulled??? (5.00 / 0) (#83)
    by Rojas on Sun Jun 19, 2011 at 01:14:20 PM EST
    Sliced, across the grain.
    Keep your hands off my brisket!

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    In NC they call it BBQ, (none / 0) (#84)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Jun 19, 2011 at 01:34:57 PM EST
    throw on some vinegar and red pepper and actually... are you ready?....eat the stuff.

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    Pork is for pulling, (none / 0) (#85)
    by Zorba on Sun Jun 19, 2011 at 03:48:10 PM EST
    (not pork ribs, of course), but brisket is definitely for slicing.   ;-)

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    Man, does that (none / 0) (#41)
    by gyrfalcon on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 01:26:01 AM EST
    make me feel old!

    In 1971 I was (none / 0) (#45)
    by Ga6thDem on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 06:12:08 AM EST
    11 years old. I don't think I was even aware there was a war on drugs until Bush Sr. was president.

    No (none / 0) (#46)
    by Nemi on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 06:27:45 AM EST
    Anyone here remember what they were doing in June, 1971?
    but then that would be my standard answer to most questions beginning with "Do you remember ...?", lolsob.

    Not long ago I rewatched "Memento", and it's a comfort that at least I'm not as far gone as the character Guy Pearce - brilliantly - plays. ;)

    Still watching Casey (none / 0) (#65)
    by loveed on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 10:01:08 AM EST
    I love all this techno stuff. Defense is doing a good job so far. There experts are better qualified,also worked mostly for the prosecution.
     There putting big holes in the prosecution case.
     Also watching the media. I think were watching different trials.

    the media watches trials (5.00 / 3) (#69)
    by Jeralyn on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 11:24:13 AM EST
    through guilt-colored lenses.

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    guilt-colored lenses (none / 0) (#75)
    by CoralGables on Sat Jun 18, 2011 at 01:09:53 PM EST
    That's a term worth tucking away for future use.

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    It was 40 Years Ago Today and Friday Night Open Thread | 76 comments (76 topical)

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