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You do not need personal virtue in order to have public virtue; Look at the personal life of Ted Kennedy, a certified disaster zone if there ever was one. His public life, no matter what you thought of his positions, was exemplery. Another man seems to have a virtuous personal life. He has protected his daughter even though her way of life is reviled by his associates. His public life is veinal almost beyond comprehention. That man is Dick Cheney. Yes. to understand and be able to predict how a person will act in different areas of their life is difficult. Though, as others have said: We hire a president for his public life.

You do not need personal virtue in order to have public virtue; Look at the personal life of Ted Kennedy, a certified disaster zone if there ever was one. His public life, no matter what you thought of his positions, was exemplery. Another man seems to have a virtuous personal life. He has protected his daughter even though her way of life is reviled by his associates. His public life is veinal almost beyond comprehention. That man is Dick Cheney. Yes. to understand and be able to predict how a person will act in different areas of their life is difficult. As others have said: We hire a president for his public life.

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Epic priness mhabharata of shared wives syndrome hinedndu way return globally. sita,one_mate deity exiled ?
6.7. 2008 new york
Author: the rev dr kamal karna roy, m b a (usa), ph. d (management), d. d (doctorate in divinity) ,ll. b. , adv cert in public admn (u s d a) Graduate school, washington d c): currently a registered g o p and federal election commission, washington d c registered in usa on sept 27, 2008: guam usa born 'ordained clergy in manhattan , new york city,usa; author of many books and publications; a clergy on vow of poverty, i r s law, u s a ,since 1992; u s american poor; a mobile clergy and electronic preachr world wide, former professor in mangement sciences: Dr roy offered new insights into man_woman. or any conjugal relationship of internet era, open and undercover but numbering in hundreds of millions world wide, Both "draupadian syndrome ", sita syndrome, othr same sex partnerships or any oth currently looked biased conjugal relationship religiously approved by the world religions group of usa and world wide into lawful religious law and the rites: po box 1173 new york 12983.
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Epic priness mhabharata of shared wives syndrome hinedndu way return globally. sita,one_mate deity exiled ?
6.7. 2008 new york
Author: the rev dr kamal karna roy, m b a (usa), ph. d (management), d. d (doctorate in divinity) ,ll. b. , adv cert in public admn (u s d a) Graduate school, washington d c): currently a registered g o p and federal election commission, washington d c registered in usa on sept 27, 2008: guam usa bon ordained clergy in manhattan , new york city,usa; author of books and publications; a clergy on vow of poverty, i r s law, u s a since 1992; u s american poor; a mobile clergy and electronic preacher world wide, former professor in mangement sciences: dr roy offered new insights into man_woman. or any conjugal relationship of internet era, open and undercover but numbering in hundreds of millions world wiode, Bothj draupadian syndrome, sita syndrome, other same sex partnerships or any other currently looked biased ,conjugal relationship ,religiously approved by the world religions group of usa and world wide into lawful , as religious law and rites: World Religions Group, p o box 1173 new york 12983.
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Unfortunately, our political leaders forget the platforms they campaigned on once getting into elected positions. Values tend to be pushed aside for self gain. Honesty gets merged into a supposed acceptable gray line that ultimately becomes outright dishonesty. But more importantly, we the poeple too eagerly prefer to vote along party lines and for other reasons that do not reflect our needs. These voting practices by us gives the elected officials a real sense of impunity. So, the elected officials have no threat from us that forces them to hold true to the "George Washington" values or any other value that is in the interest of their constituency, us. Once we start voting these people out, regardless of their and our political and personal distinctions, the next round of elected officials should start to see that "WE THE PEOPLE" are the reasons why they are where they are.

George Washington never telling a lie teaches the small children - Tell the truth.
Honest Abe encourages the children to be honest
These are not misgivings - these are treasures to give the children a foundation of morals. JFK the hero of PT-109 (or something)is a heroic story, and kids need this. Our schools need to teach these fables to strengthen the moral character of school children.

Just as Tom grew and discovered the real truths, so do all children. The fact, that you, believe out of this entire article, he was supporting Obama, well, you need to grow up. You misread his article. Did you ever hear the story about FENCING IN THE WILD PIGS?

There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab, the professor noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt.

The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country's government and install a new communist government.

In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, 'Do you know how to catch wild pigs?'

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke. 'You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come every day to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, so you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.

Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America . The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, fr ee medical, etc., while we continually lose our freedoms - just a little at a tim e.

One should always remember: There is no such thing as a free lunch! Also, a politician will never provide a service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.

'A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.' ........ Thomas Jefferson

The disillusioned generation topic and discussion should be on how the MSM has dropped the ball on reporting the news. cleve

It would be nice if Tom Brokaw took some responsibility for his and NBC's shamefully inadequate reporting (essentially a long administration press release) during the build-up to OIF.

I suppose Tom is talking about us, the baby booomers, in this article. And why shouldn't we be disillioned ? We watched the Vietnam war started by LBJ, another redneck from Texas, on false pretenses We watched many of our friends and relatives die and come home crazy and drug addicted and to what end.
Our government is now out of control and we have done so much damage to our image around the world I fear it is the end of our leading the rest of the world to democracy and freedom.
Our economy is tanking and fast, many can not afford to buy the necessities and the middle class is now what we used to consider the lower class, economically.
I still have hope but I am also thinking of moving to a more peaceful place for my retirement. A place where there is no military and medical care is affordable. A place where fresh food is available daily and the crime rate is negligible.

This typically terse Brokaw statement comes right to the point, loud and clear. Its time to hold candidtes to a standard of morality an honsesty. McCain fails; Clinton falls short. Guess who wins this comparison? Obama gets my vote too.

This typically terse Brokaw statement comes right to the point, loud and clear. Its time to hold candidtes to a standard of morality an honsesty. McCain fails; Clinton falls short. Guess who wins this comparison? Obama gets my vote too.

I'm not surprised that such comments come from the author of The Greatest Generation. Those who grew up believing the George Washington myth returned from World War II and promptly put women back into their place and continued Jim Crow for another couple decades. No thank, Tom. I'll stand with my Disillusioned Generation any day. We certainly have our faults and inconsistencies, but perhaps some of us will vote the break the color barrier to the American presidency.

The young people's illusions are being smashed. They bought into the American dream that everything is possible with hard work and good intentions , now they are being stunned with the reality. The lessons of Iraq and the economy reveal a different deal is awaiting all of us .

Brokaw's comments show how far we have strayed from the idea of the Founding Fathers of a citizen government along the lines of the early Roman Republic whose leaders had strict limitations on their powers and term limits. Granted, it is not possible for such a limited government to function when people have to lay out 10 year transportation plans, etc., but we have gone much too far in the other direction of mythologizing our leaders and placing them on pedastals, which began with the era of the modern news media of which Brokaw has been part.

Sadly, I am convinced that it is not possible to get elected to any important public office in the U. S. without taking some suspicious campaign money and telling different interest groups different things. I guess the candidate who tells the "whitest" lies should be allowed to trump the others.

Among the three presidential contestants, in the matter of their public profession of "faith", I think McCain (stupidly) may actually believe in a god and his illegitimate saviour/son, but I really find it unlikely that either Billary or Obama, as clearly intelligent beings, have the "holy spirit" in their hearts of hearts. Obama evinces a closer alignment to the few egalitarian principles to be gleaned from christianity and may have actually believed in his earlier life. Hillary believes only in the god of power.

Knowing that an acknowledged secular humanist, agnostic or atheist could not be elected I guess we have to consider Obama's lie the "whitest" and hope that any vestigial religious delusion will not affect his behaviour in office. This nation has got to get real, real soon!

why is Brokow writing in the "Faith" section of the Wapo?

Because he's passe: no one in the media really cares about his opinions. That's why he's preaching now.

Exactly. This is why so many young people historically tune out the election process.

The hypocrisy and pandering are universal, and universally disgusting.

Its why the American electorate has selected Barack Obama to be the nominee of the Democratic Party.

We want a total rejection of the status quo you so well describe: Hubris. Intellectual dishonesty. Pandering. Hypocrisy.

rm-rf:

Why does Tom Brokaw want our leaders to be an example of personal virtue - we elect leaders to do a job, we should not elect them for personal virtue - I find Tom's disallusionment amusing - our founding fathers understood politicans will be petty, self-interested and flawed individuals that is why they set up checks and balances in our goverment - Finally, there is a HUGE difference between personal virtue or lack theoreof in Clinton and Kennedy and public virtue, like lying about a war just to save face as in LBJ and Bush - it is our failure to distingush the two which has lead our country into peril - nobody should care who the president has sex with, but we all should care about how our tax dollars are spent and who is killed in our name.
****
even though this comment makes sense, the problem is if the personal live is not virtous how can one make the seperation consistantley? if you lie in you personal live you will lie in you public life, if you bend the rules to your favor in private, you will do it in private

Thanks Tom! I agree completely. That was as fine an endorsement of Barack Obama as I have read.

"The American people have so much invested in the presidency and they see the complexity of the office with great clarity, but they also have basic standards and the presidents who fail to meet them or acknowledge them do so at their peril."

Tom, how, then, do you explain George Bush? What peril has or does he face for stealing at least one election and lying us into a war? Seems to me he gets off scott-free, along with his cabal of NeoConMen thugs.

Why does Tom Brokaw want our leaders to be an example of personal virtue - we elect leaders to do a job, we should not elect them for personal virtue - I find Tom's disallusionment amusing - our founding fathers understood politicans will be petty, self-interested and flawed individuals that is why they set up checks and balances in our goverment - Finally, there is a HUGE difference between personal virtue or lack theoreof in Clinton and Kennedy and public virtue, like lying about a war just to save face as in LBJ and Bush - it is our failure to distingush the two which has lead our country into peril - nobody should care who the president has sex with, but we all should care about how our tax dollars are spent and who is killed in our name.

Mr. Brokaw's pithiness masks issues of who has the power and the issue of having the holders of power properly vetted.

He was old enough to remember that in 1960, the then Democratic Party had a potential candidate of proven moral worth who served in the Senate for almost two decades and who was edged out in the primaries by an inexperienced but fast talking fellow who was attractive to the media, but even then barely managed to get over the top with the claimed help of the Chicago mob. This fellow then lost Cuba, almost got involved in a 3rd World War, cavorted with lovelies supplied by the same mob under questionable if not illegal circumstances, began the involvement in Viet Nam, and never admitted his mistakes before the tragic murder did away with any need to face the consequences. The Vice President, who without any media scrutiny of his qualifications had been chosen as a part of a deal in the Democratic convention process and to help get the fast talking fellow elected, then ineptly conducted the Viet Nam involvement by relying on hundreds of thousands of draftees from ordinary America. The college boys had exemptions.

By that time, the disillusionment at Mr. Brokaw's Cherry Tree myth must have been replaced by reality because LBJ did admit those mistakes by dropping out of politics.

At the very latest Mr. Brokaw's feelings of disillusionment must surely have dissipated when the loud-mouthed college students of 1968, joined by the media-attractive Sen. McGovern to edge out Mr. Humphrey in the Convention, as so well covered by the media, were rejected by ordinary America, and we all became saddled with the man who ultimately had to resign - a man whose credibility and character was also not carefully scrutinized by most of the media. Remember, that man had promised to get America out of that war, but the promise was seldom brought up in the media. A similar media shortcoming occurred during the 2000 election. How much actual coverage was devoted to the causes and thinking-process ramifications of the successful candidate's early age-speech deficiency and his willingness to be truthful?

A current example of apparent lying down on the job by the media is that changes in Democratic Party primary rules that are coming into issue were intended to make the Democratic Party's choosing process more in line with its traditional role as the representative of ordinary working citizens, of whom many are being denied the right to health care that is recognized in much of the developed world. Flaws in these changed rules are being exacerbated by a media obsession with "celebrities" and sound bites that effectively screen out all possible focus on the needs of ordinary America and proposals to ameliorate them. The media simply does not want to be bothered. Historically shallow, profit-motivated and downright boring media personalities in all networks are no more than pretending to be covering the issues.

That the big companies who sponsor these talking heads and their sound bites must have dredged them up for this purpose is shown by their failure to bring about any in-depth examination into the relevant qualifications and specific intentions of the candidates and by making some of them drop out for lack of funds to pay the media. Instead, the media apparatus requires candidates to sqander unbelievable millions on advertising of no practical use. However, such media policies do ensure the continued disproportionate power and influence exercised by those companies and their faceless managers who, in fact, control what goes on in the media and who profit by continuing to bring about denial of the right to health care to large parts of ordinary America.

Mr. Brokaw's piece is, of course, about people in power admitting responsibility. Perhaps he did not intentionally mean to exclude from the discussion the unquestioned power and hubris of those companies and their managements that do in fact control much of life in ordinary America. After all, because of his involvement it may not even have occurred to him.

Sincerely,
R. Murphy

Very pithy!!! Never have read so much in so little length of reportage. The very essence of good journalism. I am of that generation, too, being a long time expat. Things gotta change! Let's make it so.

Read Ferling's Jefferson and Adams about the 1800 election. Our founders were just as sordid as our current politicoes. We have lived off myth not reality for a long time.

The political parties are like 2 clans. Think of clans of old. Barbaric. Strong, tenacious fighters for their territories. They are kin. They will support each other. They are the elite. They are the ruling class. We are the people, the peasants, the voters.

The clan is going to come together and be alright no matter what. Some of the clan is tired. Some want peace. Some feel for the peasants,the voters. They feel our angst, but still at the end of the day they will come together and they will be alright.

The democratic clan knows its members intimately. They know what each is capable of. They know who or what ideas the other represents. They know the good and the bad of one another. They know the aggressiveness and passiveness of each other. They support each other, no matter what.

This democratic election is being held at a time of turmoil in our country. Some party members realize that the natives are restless. Some party members realize that this can be detrimental for their futures. They realize we may need a period of perceived peace in the nation. We've been through quite a bit in the past 7 years. We've been thoroughly transitioned from a monetary society into a debtor nation. The cost of everything has tripled and doubled. We are in the middle east fighting a war to increase our empire's wealth. But just wealth for a few. We now pledge our futures just to get through each day. It's been rough. Many in the democratic party know the rubber band can only be stretched so far before it pops. Many want to pull back it seems.

So every day, many show their call for a period of peace, the reflective ones. While they can't come out and turn on a member of the clan, as they are sworn to support each other and come together in the end to support the democratic representative chosen by us, the voters. The operative of that statement being 'chosen by the voters.' They can push, they can guide gently, but they can't really say in real terms, one way or the other.

What we've been seeing is a trickling in one direction. The clan is trying to tell the peasant, voters something. They're trying to tell us, it will be our fault, if we choose wrong. (So study and research your candidate)

At the end of the day, the clan will be okay

Thank you, Tom, for saying what needed to be said. I, too, grew up with those fables and slowly became dissolutioned with our country's leadership, such as it was and is. Did I say "slowly". It happened with a bang during the Viet Nam build-up and hasn't stopped.

However, there's the thought that the American people get what they want. If so, what does this tell us about our culture, as it were? I'm not sure! And what short memories voters have. I'm left with not knowing what to do as I certainly will be outvoted by people who want to believe in fairy tales.

waitjustaminute comment is perfectly right.

And so is the one about Brokow benefiting and participating of the dissemination of lies by the "news" industry.

He can't come out straight to denonce this administration because he's afraid of suffering the backlash Dan Rather suffered. I don't care what people think of Mr. Rather. At least he had the guts to try to show us that the emperor was naked. He paid dearly for telling the truth. As Mr. Brokow implies at the end of his babbling, telling the truth can kill you or your career.

Tom Brokow joined at that time the chorus of "am better than thou" tv pundits that crucified Mr. Rather. So much for talking about telling the truth, Mr. Brokow. You never had the guts to tell it as you saw it, you never wanted to risk your job and privileges.

Mr. Moyer also suffered the ire of the Bush administration. He was replaced by the "Now" program for a while. And finally is allowed to show and discuss the truth, at his own peril.

Mr. Brokow has nothing to teach me about truth and honesty. As someone else said here, Mr. Brokow glorifies wars.

Please, stay at home in retirement. We are to busy destroying each other in this elections. We are about to elect from three aspires to the highest job of lying. Three truth-deniers are vying for our votes, don't try to come now to preach. You could have defend the truth from the awesome position of power you held for so many years. You are no Edward Murdoch.

waitjustaminute comment is perfectly right.

And so is the one about Brokow benefiting and participating of the dissemination of lies by the "news" industry.

He can't come out straight to denonce this administration because he's afraid of suffering the backlash Dan Rather suffered. I don't care what people think of Mr. Rather. At least he had the guts to try to show us that the emperor was naked. He paid dearly for telling the truth. As Mr. Brokow implies at the end of his babbling, telling the truth can kill you or your career.

Tom Brokow joined at that time the chorus of "am better than thou" tv pundits that crucified Mr. Rather. So much for talking about telling the truth, Mr. Brokow. You never had the guts to tell it as you saw it, you never wanted to risk your job and privileges.

Mr. Moyer also suffered the ire of the Bush administration. He was replaced by the "Now" program for a while. And finally is allowed to show and discuss the truth, at his own peril.

Mr. Brokow has nothing to teach me about truth and honesty. As someone else said here, Mr. Brokow glorifies wars.

Please, stay at home in retirement. We are to busy destroying each other in this elections. We are about to elect from three aspires to the highest job of lying. Three truth-deniers are vying for our votes, don't try to come now to preach. You could have defend the truth from the awesome position of power you held for so many years. You are no Edward Murdoch.

Mr. Brokaw, I met you in the Belize City airport. You were a nice guy in my estimation. You either made a mistake or simply flattered the WW11 generation. I disagree with these socialist sucking "seniors" being billed by you as The Greatest Generation. These are the same fools that sold this country out to the socialism of Eastern Europe and the FDR buy vote campaign.

The Baby Boomers were the first generation in the US afforded a formal education with college loans and grants paid for by the US spoils of WW11. The old Irish saying comes to my mind. "Put a begger on horseback and he'll ride to hell". These collectively naive youth, spurred on by full grown adult leftist professors actually presumed they could design utophia through the use of socialism. No social programs in this country has worked to a benefit. In fact all our negative social statistics have worsened since post war WW11.

Time to turn out all the bums. Let's start over and make all the elected resign and bring in new people. Give them a ceo wage and make them have there own staff and security. Make them contribute to the retirement and make them have 10 year vesting.They have made them self the prince and princess of the country.with the Present as the king.

I am in awe of Mr. Porter's post.

I was born the month FDR became president. I've been a voter for 55 years. As I get older, I find myself fighting to keep from being disillusioned, cynical about our government, and from despairing about what our country is heading towards.

Perhaps that is what many other people do, and, like me, continue to vote, to take part in what I've come to think of as The Greatest Show on Earth --- voting for a human being with flaws, strengths and weaknesses like ourselves, hoping that s/he will be wiser, more thoughtful, intelligent and caring about the nation as a whole.

People who want positions of power to enrich themselves, which is the norm, are not leaders. They are tyrants. The Founders, most of them, knew this and warned of it.

A well-deserved salute to Tom Brokaw for speaking out that honesty and leadership are intertwined American values. When flounderd by cowboy tilts and cheap White House thrills, America's hard-earned greatness is compromised.

Tom:

In your latter years you have worked hard and benefited financially mythologizing and glorifying war as a tool of the righteous and powerful. You have lent aid and justification for US war crimes in the 80s, 90s and lately, without owning up to the unecessary suffering caused by US policies and interventions. You are guilty of the very same shortcoming you warn politicians today about. Hubris, hubris, hubris. Money, money, money. Idolatry.

Spare us the SANCTIMONY.

Tom:

In your latter years you have worked hard and benefited financially mythologizing and glorifying war as a tool of the righteous and powerful. You have lent aid and justification for US war crimes in the 80s, 90s and lately, without owning up to the unecessary suffering caused by US policies and interventions. You are guilty of the very same shortcoming you warn politicians today about. Hubris, hubris, hubris. Money, money, money. Idolatry.

Spare us the SANCTIMONY.

Tom:

In your latter years you have worked hard and benefited financially mythologizing and glorifying war as a tool of the righteous and powerful. You have lent aid and justification for US war crimes in the 80s, 90s and lately, without owning up to the unecessary suffering caused by US policies and interventions. You are guilty of the very same shortcoming you warn politicians today about. Hubris, hubris, hubris. Money, money, money. Idolatry.

Spare us the SANCTIMONY.

I agree whole heartedly.I began to lose my innocense while in service wearing my uniform I had to go to the back door for food while on our way to a port of embarkation to fight a war to return democracy to europe.This president never had my respect because I was aware of his background.Infact it amazed me that people could vote for him after listening to the debates at the time .I refer this to the dumbing down of America by allowing the public schools to deteriorate so badly.Sadly we reapthe price with so many deceased and maimed of our young men and women who were gullible enougt to believe their president as we have been trained to do.This i believe will be his undying legasy which will follow the name George W.for ever in American history asthe man who took the country to awr based on lies as the "decider".

Tom:

In your latter years you have worked hard and benefited financially mythologizing and glorifying war as a tool of the righteous and powerful. You have lent aid and justification for US war crimes in the 80s, 90s and lately, without owning up to the unecessary suffering caused by US policies and interventions. You are guilty of the very same shortcoming you warn politicians today about. Hubris, hubris, hubris. Money, money, money. Idolatry.

Spare us the SANCTIMONY.

Tom:

In your latter years you have worked hard and benefited financially mythologizing and glorifying war as a tool of the righteous and powerful. You have lent aid and justification for US war crimes in the 80s, 90s and lately, without owning up to the unecessary suffering caused by US policies and interventions. You are guilty of the very same shortcoming you warn politicians today about. Hubris, hubris, hubris. Money, money, money. Idolatry.

Spare us the SANCTIMONY.

Tom:

In your latter years you have worked hard and benefited financially mythologizing and glorifying war as a tool of the righteous and powerful. You have lent aid and justification for US war crimes in the 80s, 90s and lately, without owning up to the unecessary suffering caused by US policies and interventions. You are guilty of the very same shortcoming you warn politicians today about. Hubris, hubris, hubris. Money, money, money. Idolatry.

Spare us the SANCTIMONY.

Tom: In your latter years you have done more than your share to mythologize and glorify war as a tool of the righteous. You have lent aid and justification for US war our crimes without owning up to the unecessary suffering caused by US policies and interventions. You are guilty of the very same shortcoming you warn politicians today about. Hubris, hubris, hubris. Money, money, money. Idolatry. You are part of the problem. Spare us the SANCTIMONY.

Tom: In your latter years you have done more than your share to mythologize and glorify war as a tool of the righteous. You have lent aid and justification for war our crimes without owning up to the unecessary suffering caused by US policies and interventions. You are guilty of the very same shortcoming you warn politicians today about. Hubris, hubris, hubris. Money, money, money. Idolatry.

i find it a little ironic that a little propaganda story most likey dreamed up by the greatest generation because it talks about an emporor... and japan is the only country that comes to mind when i hear that word....but its ironic the story of the emporor is wearing no clothes may be the closest truthful discription or metaphor for the current administration maybe... the old saying is if you spot it you got it so maybe it is to our credit the greatestest generation gave us the truth on thier way out.. unintended of coarse but true none the less

Thanks. Nice that I have to sit and think for a moment and just not react.

Maybe it's just politics and the way it has to be done. Is that what it is? Impossible to have the job and be authentic.

What I do know I think, is that you have to have lived a life in order to be aware of and capable of self examination.

While Mr. Brokaw is wise and experienced in the lessons of his life time; these lessons are obsolete as clear cut pathways for success for the leaders of tomorrow. Experience is invaluable but also restricts and distorts the ability of understanding innovation. Experience shows us how the world really is, thus anything contradicting the view of the experienced is irrelavant and inconsistent with the way things are. The next generation of American politics is currently forming as a result of the world you present us. We question the hype of Y2K, the world is coming to an end. We wonder why our friends are sent to die in a war that cant be won. We ask the reverse of the question presented to the generation's of old, we need to know what our government can do for us. We will happily die for our country but we will not die without a cause. Evil terrorist's are not the problem, extremists are eternal, I belive old JC might be considered one. Listen and discuss, so we can work together. The wisdom gained through experience is respected but it is not equipped to handle the challenges of tomorrow.

Tom,

I read your piece and many of the comments published herein. As a draftee with an Infantry Division in Europe during WWII, all of we guys knew that all we had to do was beat the Krauts, come back home, get married, buy a house and get a college education on the GI Bill, and there would be no more wars! We had good leaders then, folks who shot straight, did not lie much and seemed to have the country's welfare at heart. Well, what a rude awakening: Tricked into Korea "police action", losing 58,000 kids to try to help the French re-establish their Indo-China colony, and now the sellout of all time, a seven-year undeclared action to remove an old buddy in Iraq, knowing full well that the waring factions would be hard at each other the minute the thumb
was removed from the pressure-cooker! Our so-called "leaders" are all pro's and con-men who don't give a damn about the country, only their lobby-bosses who pay the bills and give the orders. I am afraid that our country has reached its peak and is on a downhill slide. Maybe someday it will be a third-rate bunch of folks, waiting for a new bunch of leaders of vision, honesty and purpose to lead us once again into the heights where we once were. Maybe such a country only gets one chance, who knows?

It was so much nicer when Americans accepted the lies of their elected leaders and the nationalistic myths about their country, rather than being so rude as to investigate incompetence and injustice? Wasn´t the Secret War with Russia in 1918? And wasn´t Strom Thurmond a blantant racist with a secret black daughter all the way back in WWII? It doesn´t seem like this sort of thing started with LBJ, though maybe that was when the Media started occasionally doing its job.

Don't you as a newsman acknowledge some role in the way things have developed? The punditocracy is loaded with 'gotcha' guys and gals that it's become impossible to say "I made a mistake." It has to be "mistakes were made." Those mistakes will then forever be "signs of weakness" that will "cripple his presidency for the rest of his term."
Carter was the last president to acknowledge that his presidency was a learning process. Everyone else has stressed how prepared they are, and the press has implicitly bought into that as a prerequisite, even though we all know that that is just crap. Nothing prepares you to be president like being president, so at least every eight years we have to deal with a newbie. So be it.

"Disillusioned" is where I was when we were in our twenties. Disgusted is where I am now, sick in the grass, at the lack of accountability or sense of public service, the arrogance of this God-awful Administration and the collusion of sycophants on both sides of the aisle.
Of course, there are other applicable adjectives: mortified, ashamed, constantly embarrassed by my own country, as an ex-pat, allbeit in a country not lacking in crooks and clowns.

Tom: I have followed you as a newsman for many years and I must say that I totally agree with your thoughts and expectations with regard to honesty and morality of our leaders. This is why I have watched the Democratic primaries so closely and so far I have come to the conclusion that us older folks are more in tune with this or we wouldn't have someone so close to be running for the Democratic party who has taken the gamble of not telling the truth up front or not running at all. Now this is what we are faced with. My only hope is that we will have a change of heart by those who decide in the future to weigh these things because it is a part of sound wisdom and judgement to know the difference. We as citizens deserve no less. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Tom is the sort that spits up these bloated, pathetic and ultimately reductive narratives that makes us afraid to accept the pragmatic gray that is where we all live. People are from the "Greatest Generation" or "The Disillusioned Generation", The "X Generation" or hell knows what else. Its a snooze. He is like the newseum on feet; interested only in ultimately framing the world in a glorious, self serving and fictitious Journalistic narrative. Give us a break. This isn't high drama. This is the world we live in. The sooner we stop listening to the "scribes", the sooner we will all be better off. This was the poopiest few paragraphs I have read in a while.

I must add this to my post: Riad Hamad was a middle school teacher in Austin Texas who was a legal resident of the US since 1970 when he moved here from Lebanon.

He established a welfare fund to send books to Palestinian children and to raise awareness of their plight.

He has NEVER been arrested. But that did not stop the FBI from intimidating him, his coworkers, and his neighbors.

Recently, he was found with his face wrapped in duct tape and his arms and legs bound with duct tape and drowned in a lake in Austin. The police first said, rightfully, that it was a suspicious event and were going to do a murder investigation. Within days, they suddenly pronounced his death a suicide. This has not even begun to be discussed in the major media. There is so much to this story. I wish that Mr. Brokaw reads these comments and just takes a look at Riad Hamad's strange 'suicide.' He was a beloved father and teacher and tireless worker for the downtrodden.

The title of this piece is The Disillusioned Generation. Count me in with that group... and yet I see nothing in Tom's article that really broaches the reasons why we ARE so disillusioned.

I am disillusioned because I bought the whole "America is better than its best friends and worst enemies" because we did not condone genocide and torture. And worked to bring perpetrators of torture to justice.

Now we are a nation that tortures 'detainees' and people of interest. We have strange "suicides" like Riad Hamad in Austin Texas. I could go on and on... suffice to say, that I placed a whole heck of a lot of faith in that we did not stoop to levels of barbarism. We are now as barbaric when it comes to torture and the sad part is that a majority of the generations that have followed don't "get" how that one virtue guided so many other virtues. Our nation has lost that virtue and that is what disillusions me the most. After that came to pass, all bets were off on what we stood for for so long.

"The American people have so much invested in the presidency and they see the complexity of the office with great clarity, but they also have basic standards and the presidents who fail to meet them or acknowledge them do so at their peril."

Tell me Tom, what great peril has affected the current president regarding his failure to meet even base standards? Not the peril of Impeachment or the peril of a one term presidency.

I realize you have complex ideas and maybe I've missed your point, I doubt you've missed mine.

Dear Mr. Brokaw,

I am a great admirer of yours... and miss the great reporting of a less cynical media. We now have reporting that is reduced to soundbites that are spun over and over again...

You comments are very true and it is the belief of many that Barack Obama is the only candidate that will bring back the honesty in government.

Dear Mr. Brokaw,

I am a great admirer of yours... and miss the great reporting of a less cynical media. We now have reporting that is reduced to soundbites that are spun over and over again...

You comments are very true and it is the belief of many that Barack Obama is the only candidate that will bring back the honesty in government.

" Anne Armitage:

If Mr. Brokaw's short commentary can produce a response as intelligent and thoughtful as Sam Porter's, then he's done his job well. Thank you both."

Once that was the *job* of what someone dismissively called a 'newsreader.' I'm sad for what the media has become.

They should take away the computer graphics and scrolling marquees and general distractions that 'newsreaders' today have to all-but shout over to hide the near-total lack of content, so people can remember when there was a modicum of journalism to the nightly news.

Hi, Mr. Brokaw. :)

Nice to see a familiar face. :)

The person who in my mind most demonstrates honesty and morality is Barrick Obama. Compared to the others, he is light years ahead in this area.

A rusty two-party pendulum, bloated, corporate-funded PACs and an electronic media so out of touch with the real world, it's a wonder the masses bother participating in this sham process at all these days. No one of any real sincerity, honesty, morality could possibly survive the minefield that is modern politics. No one. So is it really any wonder the masses have lost all faith in these overwrought beauty contests? Not at all. That people still play house like this and call it 'democracy' is what is really disturbing. The rest of us work and save and work and save and die, while people like Mr. Brokaw and the U.S. eliterati get to play games and call it a living.
Hope died in this place a long, long, long time ago.

My favorite lesson of history or science is that indeed, more will be revealed. One misnomer of modern age is that knowledge is power. Knowledge of itself is worthless. Knowledge applied is power. Therefore false knowledge applied is weakness. Alas, so many books to be read and yet so little time...

Gee, Tom, it would also be helpful if you and your fellow news readers would try telling the truth once in a while instead of shilling for your corporate masters and promoting the industrial war machine. But it's anything for a buck, eh Tom? You are part of the problem and have nothing of value to offer.

Interesing position, Mister Brokaw.

It's almost as if you're playing super-delegate in the grand scheme of things, simultaneously pointing a well-know finger(yours) at the current President, all while pointing to the November election and forcing us to ask the same questions about the future President.

While an interesting tactic, it is not clear enough, and you sanitize your speech to the point of being benign. That is one of the follies of today's public speakers, and maybe it's because of the repercussions you may experience if you just lay the red meat out on the rug, and tell it how you see it. Dan Rather got the shaft when he dug in for a fight, from powers that are too powerful for me to comprehend, and I'll just say it: it seemed offensive (to me) seeing how quickly the country turned their backs on Dan Rather after his erroneous story, way back when.... Up until then, he was a Positive American Icon. Afterwards, he had been cast as a zealous liar, for not checking his facts, like a good reporter.

Is THAT why you speak in "shades", rather than in primary colors?

Please say something straight - are you saying that you question this current administration's veracity and ability to own-up to their mistakes, as well as their accomplishments?

Then say that.

Poetry and prose do not play well in America, unfortunately.

-pg

If Mr. Brokaw's short commentary can produce a response as intelligent and thoughtful as Sam Porter's, then he's done his job well. Thank you both.

Tom:
Is Sam Porter Father-In-Law or your Grand Father?
Sam Porter's comments has more words in the your orignal essay. Wow!!

Tom,
Don't you think the corporate media has done an atrocious job of 'holding their feet to the fire'?
How can the American people correctly judge the character of their leaders if the media is not pursuiing the truth and presenting facts, and ASKING THE TOUGH QUESTIONS and DEMANDING ANSWERS?
Our leaders are failing us, or lying to us, and the corporate media is worried about Britney Spears latest run in the paparazzi.

Wait a minute? Richard Nixon was once considered the picture of public piety? On what planet does Tom Brokaw live?

In addition to his concern for the American presidency and the standards to which Americans hold their presidents, I think what Mr. Brokaw is saying in part is that we are all, as citizens, participants in an unfinished story - which may be why to some readers his piece seems too short.

This piece seems rare as well as short for Mr. Brokaw because we see him explicitly referring to the dark side of American history and acknowledging his disillusionment. His books, after all, seem to emphasize the positive of American history. Perhaps that’s in part because he spent decades reporting mostly bad news, and not expressing his disillusionment because of his role constraints as a reporter.

In any case, we need more of what Mr. Brokaw is doing here, that is, we need to avoid a pious history of the United States where the lead characters have never been anything but noble and generous and no one ever did anything wrong; or, its opposite extreme, a debunking, cynical history where actors are unmasked as always negligent, selfish, manipulative, self-indulgent, self-absorbed, exploitative, racist, and sexist – a history that is nothing but a long catalogue of corruption, scandal, disaster where nobody ever did anything good.

And it seems like Mr. Brokaw’s overall work does just that.

In the pious version of the United States - the one many of us got when growing up including, apparently, Mr. Brokaw - everything and everyone was so wonderful that there’s no reason to tell the story. In the debunking one, everything and everyone is so bad and evil has so consistently triumphed there is no point in participating in public life or telling the story for citizen action will surely fail and telling the story will fall on deaf ears.

I think Mr. Brokaw recognizes that both the pious and debunking versions promote both cynicism and withdrawal from public life, which only encourages, as Tocqueville said long ago, despotism.

But honest history, honest storytelling, is the best history and the best storytelling.

In the period to which Mr. Brokaw refers, we did not always act well. We all had real flaws and made serious mistakes. But neither did we always act badly. Even Nixon opened up relations with China and Arhcibald Cox and Elliot Richardson behaved as they should have.

There were real heroes of everyday life, who believed and fought for noble purposes and with whom we can rightly identify. Mr. Brokaw’s The Greatest Generation is a clear example of this kind of storytelling.

Nor is there a necessary split between black and white, between males and females. Viewed in terms of the struggle for democratic political participation and equality the issues are the same. It is possible to get people of whatever race or sex to identify with others, though we have not done enough.

But the candidacies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are clear examples of us at our best, it seems to me, in spite of their flaws. And that’s a positive part of our larger story.

Of course, one of the things that divides as well as unites us is religion. To leave religion out of the story is to empty it of the heart of its deepest meaning. Religion is an indelible, indeed a foundational, part of the history of this republic. Must we not tell the story of black religion – the Rev. Jeremiah Wright notwithstanding – and of the great Biblical archetypes of exodus and liberation that inspired black leaders such as Martin Luther King? This is part of the story. To leave it out is to empty the story of an utterly central dimension of its truth, of its being, of that which makes us citizens. It is not to say that we are all the same. Indeed, there are those who are not Christians, who are not Jews, who are not religious and we might remember them too.

But it is all part of the story if we tell it right.

It is the story – more than any preaching about the story; what happened and who the people were who made it happen – that has the deepest impact on character, on citizenship, by giving examples which show what it might mean to be a good person and a good citizen.

Finally, we need not to be ashamed of the story we have to tell. It is a great story. It is a story full of conflict. It is not always a beautiful story. It is a story of success. It is also a story of stunning failure and moral squalor, as Mr. Brokaw points out here. It is a story of suffering endured and suffering inflicted. But if we tell it as it is – neither piously nor cynically – we will help pull ourselves as citizens away from exclusive concern for private advancement and we just may succeed in our democratic experiment the founders began more than 200 years ago.

Thank you Mr. Brokaw for your good work over the years and for your honesty in this piece. I hope you continue to tell the story as it is even if that sometimes means, as seems inevitable, disillusionment.

I don't get the point of the post. You have been in the media for all this time you write about but have never been a true critic of what you are warning against. George W. Bush has a 28% approval rating that was aquired while executing
policies that you and your network were for the most part muted in your objections to. You seem to want to stay relevent but posts like this show how irrelevant you were while covering the last 2 presidents. The hedge row envy which you indulged in during the "Greatest Generation" was covered by people with more talent and incite than yourself. You, who were a newsman, were shying away from the greatest story of the 21st century, the prosecution of the war on terror. So again whats the point of this little missive? Why not go write about the WWII monument at least you can bury yourself in some history thats settled and you won't have to go out on a limb to cover today's stories.

Mr. Brokaw makes an excellent point. I remember studying about the story of David in a Sunday school class when the Clinton scandal was unfolding.

I came to a similar conclusion that people who come to powerful positions have to have a voracious all-consuming desire or appetite in order to achieve their goals. It may be unrealistic to expect them to compartmentalize their desire only in the pursuit of power and not to use/abuse it in other areas of their lives.

As one who doesn't possess such a desire, I'm not going to sound surprised at what is human behavior at its fullest.

"I have also come to the conclusion that honesty and morality are not inconsistent with great leadership." In response, I have come to the conclusion that people should treat each other with respect and empathy. What does that get us in a country obsessed with ripping down its heroes as fast as it builds them up? Americans also love our soldiers, but hate our war. We want our presidents to succeed but we place party allegiance over the good of the country. Just because FDR was elected 4 times, it doesn't mean he was revered by everyone. That was the reality of your youth, Mr. Brokaw, just as Nixon and Carter were vilified by the other party during mine. My 11 year old son grows up fearing he'll be drafted because he knows we are in Iraq (try hiding that from him), and our commander in chief talks about leaving only after getting the job done. Where's the honesty and morality in that? Fools rush in where the brave dare not go.

What is "devoted to Jackie JFK" supposed to mean? He was devoted because he had numerous affairs but never kicked her to the curb? I'm not sure that is a good example of morality. I guess Clinton has the same type of morals.

Chip Gower:

Your comment does beat the essay. Just where are the examples etc in Brokaw's, whatever that is besides a solid D. Small wonder though. Brokaw is one of them. Did you see that pile of garbage he put on the air about religion. I kept saying, easy stomach until I couldn't take it any more and clicked over to "Loony Tunes." Looking at the pack of con men squeezing nickels out of the mentally deficient kept reminding me of Yosemite Sam and some of his schemes.

Yonkers, New York
07 May 2008

There must be millions of other Americans who, like Tom Brokaw, are disillusioned with many of those who have been chosen through the ballot to lead this nation.

Many of those leaders, first known to be persons of sterling character and unblemished reputation, later turned out to be no more than made of clay.

They have turned out to be cheaters, liars, manipulators, fornicators, adulterers, predisposed to sleaze and debauchery, callous to criticism, and impervious to change.

In short, they were simply "human beings," subject to the thousand and one natural flaws and weaknesses that afflict most if not all of us Homo sapiens.

Mariano Patalinjug

MarPatalinjug@aol.com

"Did someone forget to print the rest of this article? It seems a little pointless as printed."

O for godssakes, people..

When the elderly wander- you're supposed to gently lead them back to the subject.

Tom.. you are posting on wapo's ON FAITH board.

Tom..

Tom??

Do they indeed?

There were a number of basic standards Bill Clinton failed to meet. He was still able to get two full terms in the White House; within days of his leaving the place for the last time both he and his wife began working to cash in on his public service, to the tune of more money than most Americans ever see in their lives. Not being able to install his wife in the Presidency is the toughest penalty Clinton ever had to pay for having failed to meet the public's standards.

George Bush fell even farther short. In his conduct of the Presidency he displayed ignorance, laziness, carelessness with the lives of the servicemen and women entrusted to him as Commander in Chief, recklessness with the honor and good name of the United States. Yet he also was rewarded with two terms in the White House, and like Clinton will be able to garner substantial private gain as a result of his having held public office.

Frankly, both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon had great accomplishments to go with their moral failings. What are Clinton's or Bush's achievements next to theirs? Johnson's private agony over Vietnam and Nixon's unique public disgrace over Watergate are matters of public record. By contrast, Clinton had to endure being the butt of late-night television comedians and Bush suffered from months of low public approval ratings. What kind of "peril" was this?

Perhaps we should pause a moment from contemplating whether our leaders meet public standards to consider whether the standards themselves are the same as they used to be. Americans used to expect greater things of themselves than ever-greater material prosperity and continuous access to entertainment of all kinds. They felt let down by leaders who did wrong, taking for granted that they would strive also to achieve great things while in public office. Do Americans today expect as much of themselves? If not, should they be surprised when their leaders deliver less than they ought to?

I'm not one of those who believes there is anything romantic about disillusion. Disillusion is simply what comes of not knowing or understanding as much as you should have; it happens to everyone at one time or another. Americans today had best forget about trying to cope with disillusion, and contemplate instead the possibility of decadence. If it shows up in our leaders, it probably reflects something about us.

Tom,I always thought you were better than most but I see you are not any different than Russert,Matthews,Obermann and the rest of the money grubbing blowhards that lie to us everyday.You guys are the ones that picked Bush Jr.so don't tell us about honesty!!!!!

Tom,I always thought you were better than most but I see you are not any different than Russert,Matthews,Obermann and the rest of the money grubbing blowhards that lie to us everyday.You guys are the ones that picked Bush Jr.so don't tell us about honesty!!!!!

nthony

nthony

Mr. Brokaw:

You may have thought that your brief, coming of age review of US political history summed things up nicely but I beg to differ.

For a seventy-ish former news anchor, one would expect a lot more than lets all brave-it-through boilerplate.

The facts are these. The US was born in violence, it grew up in violence and violence continues to haunt us in every step we take. How many phony wars have we fought to preserve democracy? Or was it to preserve our dominance in the world?

Our alleged prosperity, or obesity, cannot cover it up, and your sweet, wise sounding words cant camouflage it. We are a nation adrift. We know not where we are headed.

Our accidental multi-culturalism along with changing world events have made us yearn for leadership that actually faces these facts, deals with the world, and acts on the reality of each day with truth, forthrightness and integrity.

Mr. Obama is clearly more equipped to do that in a straightforward, matter of fact sort of way.

Live with it, Mr. Brokaw, your time and mine have come and gone. We are history, the lack luster history of a greedy, self-indulgent nation that the world is repidly surpassing.

Mr. Obama may be our only hope to deal with this exciting new world that we pretended to want but only held out to others as a convenient image.

Well, its here, today, Mr. Brokaw. And Americans may actually feel in their bones that its time for a real change.

Tony Gillotte

I think the question that everyone is or will ask here is where are you going with this?

Your post feels unfinished, somehow, as if you didn't want to mention Bush per se, just imply his role in it.

and what exactly have you done to atone for your complicity in propelling the lies that took this country to war, tom?

do those same standards apply to your corporate masters? it doesn't appear to; as they've successfully ignored the new york times' piece about the iraq propaganda spewed over the g.e. airwaves. when are you going to insist they be forthright and honest with the american public.

The bad news: US citizens are in an uproar about politics. The good news: the US seems to be one of only a few countries in the world where such educational experiences are occuring. Selecting an administration with the right world view can change the world and the place of the US within that world. It can all be up to us. Isn't that exciting?

Did someone forget to print the rest of this article? It seems a little pointless as printed.

What's your point, Tom? That politicians who say what they really believe can't get elected? That journalists are obligated to investigate the facts instead of just reporting what someone says?

What do you mean by "errant" ways? Are you talking about personal morality, i.e., cheating on your spouse? Or are you talking about presenting the Ameican public with phony rationales for your policies, because if you told the truth they wouldn't go along with you? Or are you talking about keeping secret that which should be debated publicly? What?

What's your point, Tom?