Throughout my life the music of Paul Simon, with and without Art Garfunkel, has spoken deeply to me. In 1966 Simon and Garfunkel released an album called “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme” on which the final cut was the duo singing “Silent Night” as a newscast slowly rose in volume in the background.

It was powerful.

The last, loudest, section of the newscast dealt with the Vietnam War. The parallels to today are staggering, and the last sentence especially could be taken directly from a Dick Cheney speech:

In Washington, the atmosphere was tense today as a special sub-committee of the House Committee on Un-American activities continued its probe into anti Viet Nam war protests. Demonstrators were forcibly evicted from the hearings when they began chanting anti-war slogans. Former Vice-President Richard Nixon says that unless there is a substantial increase in the present war effort in Viet Nam the U.S. should look forward to five more years of war. In a speech before the Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in New York, Nixon also said opposition to the war in this country is the greatest single weapon working against the U.S. That’s the 7 o’clock edition of the news, Goodnight

It is saddening how little we as a country have learned over the last 40 years.