started. It put me Back out on the streets, something I hadn't done since the Vietnam War. BushCo and the "Patriot" Act is what got me to join the ACLU. My anger led me back to participatory politics, to the DraftClark movement, to DU, and to seek public office myself. (I lost, but hey, at least I tried.)

The younger generation isn't subject to the draft, and with exceptions, of course, they're too busy trying to survive economically in the new globalist economy to care about much else. Unless you have skin in the game, or are a truly politically-oriented animal, it's easier to let others get worked up over things, and to do the work.

The bread-and-circuses of faux-reality-TV, Paris Hilton, and American Idol has a lot to do with it, too.

I'm heartened, though, by the many younger people here at DU, and the real youngsters like Ava. There's always hope in the young.