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Read other letters about this article
...that a relatively benign article like this one would resulted in the vitriolic comments exhibited in the letters posted here.
Frankly, I think it would have been better for Salon to have waited a couple of weeks to publish it. By then some of the resentment of those opposing the election of Barack Obama would have faded. On the other hand, I think the only way the anger and resentment generated from those of the Vietnam era -- those who served and those who didn't but supported that awful war (including a whole cadre of draft-dodgers like Cheney, Wolfowitz, Perle, Limbaugh, etc., etc., and chickenhawks who basically hid away like Bush) --will dissipate is when they pass from this life.
They will continue to be resentful because they weren't greeted by flower-tossing pin-up girls, or honored with ticker-tape parades, or even publicly thanked for their service in Southeast Asia by a public which had become increasingly resentful of the war and distrustful of those perpetrating it from on high. Unfortunately, neither the government nor the military hierarchy recognized -- and would have refused to provide treatment even if they did, thinking PTSD as being "unmanly" -- to those who were (and continue to be) haunted by the ugly images of an ugly war. Fast forward to today. Another ugly war. Still little effort exhibited to deal with mental health issues facing today's veterans. A public -- especially the young people, just like those during the Bill Ayers years -- who are angry at what their government has been doing both abroad (as in Iraq and elsewhere) and domestically.
I didn't participate in the demonstrations at that time. My sympathies went back and forth between the returning troops and the men who were being sent to Vietnam against their will. As a woman, I was out of harms way. At the same time, I didn't feel anger at the anti-war protestors. But I did feel outrage when I learned about My Lai and the murders committed by that psycho Lt. Calley. What could be worse than that? And I'm glad Ayers brought up the issue.
Finally, I really think Salon ought to consider making a rule limiting the number of back-and-forth statements made by individuals trying to get in the last word. They provide little in the way of dialog and merely take up space, generally going unread by most of us or, in the very least, merely skimmed and then disregarded.
