# Tom Brokaw, I am so tired of your Greatest Generation shtik **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027 "2012-09-07T19:11:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/41 "2012-09-08T21:25:53Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Guess what…we Baby Boomers _did_ change American politics. Black children went to white schools (that actually had books!) Women’s salaries rose to (gasp) 50 cents on the dollar that men made. (Still only $0.75. We have a way to go.) Gays were, at least, validated as human beings. (Waaaay long way to go.) We protested the Vietnam war and Tricky Dick resigned. You also killed the ERA, elected Reagan and both Bushes, made Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell into the face of American religion, passed the Defense of Marriage Act and the Patriot Act, made torture into an accepted tool of foreign policy, dismissed AIDS as divine punishment against gays, stood idly by during the Rwandan genocide, deregulated the banks, and made such a mess out of the economy and our nation’s international standing that it’s taken the current president, a Gen-Xer, almost all of his first term just trying to stop the bleeding while baby boomers oppose him every step of the way and crow about him secretly being a Muslim, a Commie, a homosexual, or some combination of the three. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/42 "2012-09-08T21:42:53Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Interesting. I pictured you as boomer. Was. Am. Will be. Born 1947. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/43 "2012-09-08T21:44:05Z")
> [@Non\_Lawyer\_Paid\_Spokesentity](#): > > Here’s an idea. Quit putting words in my mouth. Here’s an idea. Quit putting words in her mouth: > [@](#): > > You seem to have this very mistaken idea that every single Baby Boomer was and is a far left wing liberal who embraced the gays and the NEGRO and integrated schools just as fast you can snap your fingers. You’re just another idiot “Sept Join Date” agro idiot who is going to flame out here by the end of next week, if not sooner. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/44 "2012-09-08T21:44:54Z")
Ugh. Newbies. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/45 "2012-09-08T21:47:26Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Was. Am. Will be. Born 1947. Well then you don’t have a golden parachute. You’re just one of the locusts stripping the field clean before I get there. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/46 "2012-09-08T21:53:42Z")
The thing is, the boomers helped make some incremental steps in the Civil Rights process, but all the giant steps were led by the Boomer’s parents and grandparents. The integration of the military, the major league sports, the schools, the elimination of Jim Crow laws and anti-miscegenation laws. The Boomers just weren’t old enough to be involved in any of that. And, yes, the Greatest Generation, and their parents and grandparents, were also the ones responsible for all the civil wrongs perpetuated in this country in the 20th century. Still, it was that pre-Boomer generation that turned the ship around. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/47 "2012-09-08T21:53:47Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Me, I’m a Tweener. We won’t be remembered for anything besides '80s teen sex comedies. But should a challenge like the Depression or WWII arise, we could still meet it. Of course, you’d have to cue us with a drum synthesizer riff, then we’d pull it off during a montage during a hair band power ballad. With Atari 2600 joysticks as our primary weapon. And _Weird Science_, _Revenge Of The Nerds_ and _Risky Business_ are amongst the finest works the film industry has ever produced. Also, Motley Crue. Suck it, Greatest Generation! ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/48 "2012-09-08T22:06:11Z")
Cut the Greatest Generation, they’d bleed red, white and blue. Us: teal. Yep, after us, GenX had some big shoulder pads to fill. (Hey, I wasn’t kidding about that power ballad montage. That’s why Gulf War One only lasted four minutes: we had to complete the whole war by the time “The Warrior” by Scandal finished.) ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/49 "2012-09-08T22:22:02Z")
\*Shooting at the walls of Baghdad Bang Bang I am the Warrior \* ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/50 "2012-09-09T00:24:39Z")
> [@](#): > > And, no, you don’t have to say something. You could actually shut the fuck up, although you seem to think you have a special input due to your lofty position. What the hell are you talking about? Are you drunk? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/51 "2012-09-09T00:40:08Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Well then you don’t have a golden parachute. You’re just one of the locusts stripping the field clean before I get there. Must have misread your post. Happens more and more of late. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/52 "2012-09-09T00:45:47Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > And BTW, what have YOU done lately? The Internet, in all its porny captioned cat-y goodness. You’re welcome. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/53 "2012-09-09T11:06:52Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You also killed the ERA, elected Reagan and both Bushes, made Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell into the face of American religion, passed the Defense of Marriage Act and the Patriot Act, made torture into an accepted tool of foreign policy, dismissed AIDS as divine punishment against gays, stood idly by during the Rwandan genocide, deregulated the banks, and made such a mess out of the economy and our nation’s international standing that it’s taken the current president, a Gen-Xer, almost all of his first term just trying to stop the bleeding while baby boomers oppose him every step of the way and crow about him secretly being a Muslim, a Commie, a homosexual, or some combination of the three. **“I”** and my compatriots didn’t; the right-wing Republican gonetoteabaggers among us did. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/54 "2012-09-09T11:17:15Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > The Internet, in all its porny captioned cat-y goodness. > > You’re welcome. I thought that was invented by Al Gore. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/55 "2012-09-09T14:33:11Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Must have misread your post. Happens more and more of late. No problem. I’ve developed a dislike for kids on my lawn recently. Mostly my kids, but I’d feel the same about others. ---
**Author:** ![Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@Phedre\_no\_Delaunay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phedre_no_Delaunay)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/56 "2012-09-09T23:11:47Z")
> [@otternell](#): > > Alright, guy, for real, your job is communications, when you can no longer speak clearly, it might be time to step away from the mic. Well if that’s the case, Barbara Walters should have never had a broadcast career at all. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/57 "2012-09-10T02:35:00Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > **“I”** and my compatriots didn’t; the right-wing Republican gonetoteabaggers among us did. that’s the problem with assigning credit or blame to “generations” - it becomes a No True Scotsman argument when someone points out the ugly truth that poeple born in an arbitrary set of years don’t have all the same politican positions as you. “Well, those aren’t really US, ya know? Not really boomers. They’re uh, teabaggers, that’s different.” ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/58 "2012-09-10T04:07:06Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > Hell, this is way out of date. Most people in my generation are just waiting for the Boomers to die off. Now THERE’S a generation that completely full of shit. At least the Greatest Generation actually accomplished things… Well…without the great generation, you might have ended up speaking German, but without the boomers you might have ended not getting any. Difficult choice 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/59 "2012-09-10T04:57:03Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > **“I”** and my compatriots didn’t; the right-wing Republican gonetoteabaggers among us did. In a hundred years, guess which one is going to be viewed as emblematic of your generation? ---
**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027/60 "2012-09-10T04:58:43Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > You also killed the ERA, elected Reagan and both Bushes, made Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell into the face of American religion, passed the Defense of Marriage Act and the Patriot Act, made torture into an accepted tool of foreign policy, dismissed AIDS as divine punishment against gays, stood idly by during the Rwandan genocide, deregulated the banks, and made such a mess out of the economy and our nation’s international standing that it’s taken the current president, a Gen-Xer, almost all of his first term just trying to stop the bleeding while baby boomers oppose him every step of the way and crow about him secretly being a Muslim, a Commie, a homosexual, or some combination of the three. ? Obama was born in 1961, which is considered the tail end of the Boomers. Gen X is generally considered as beginning with the 1965 babies. There is obviously no cut and dried date line, but I think you’d be hard pressed to jam Obama in with the Xers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tom-brokaw-i-am-so-tired-of-your-greatest-generation-shtik/634027.md?page=4)