Now we're seeing the true strength of the American political system,
I denigrated all of the big shots so far and rightly so. Those in power didn't listen to their privileged advisors and now they're going to have to listen to the people.
Getting them to listen is a tough row to hoe, with every trick in the book used to discredit the protesters and academics.
The wonderful system of democracy and the elasticity of the constitution was stretched to its limit by the movement to get the nation out of this murderous, hopeless war.
Eventually it withstood that particular test.
It should be easy to force a policy reversal when almost every single person in the country wanted that reversal.
Think again!
We see the attitude of the authorities in the early days of protest where the anti war side were beaten up, arrested or battered with water cannons.There was no way they were going to let the people decide how things were going to be run.
Only after the protests moved to the campuses and entertainers got involved did this thing gain heavy momentum, and even then it was still like running water uphill.
That the protesters broke the resolve of the Administration is a tribute to that Constitution and to the most important part, which is "Government by the consent of the People"
Of course it has its flaws in that any bunch of people with a birdbrained cause can now get up and demand special treatment.
That's not a bad price to pay when you know as a citizen that you can eventually stop your Government from carrying on unpopular actions.
It would be a mistake to make such a thing easy, because every single move a Government makes would be in jeopardy if it was. But it's nice to know it's always in your back pocket.
As I write this it's a bit of a jolt to realize that I'm sitting in an armchair saying , cudda, wudda shudda.
I wasn't there so I really have no right to pass judgement. The good thing about this documentary is that it will serve as a reminder that the entire society ran under a different set of rules back then. The rules can change and yet the Constitution can handle the changes. Bravo again Mr Burns and the crew!