1968 Democratic National Convention

covered by ABC News, August 28, 1968.

" We must substitute the Rule of Law

for the Jungle Law of Military Force."

Senator Wayne Morse was one of only two Senators who voted against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, that gave the Johnson Administration 'carte blanche' for escalating U.S. involvement in Vietnam from a few 'advisors' to major troop deployment and bombing the North. Here he makes an impassioned plea for our civilization to start acting civilized, instead of acting like the Soviet Union in Czechoslovakia.

RETURN to 1968

Editorial comment: Once again, the American people 'trusted' their government to do the right thing, but instead got a ten year stalemate that took 58,000 American lives, coined phrases like 'destroying a village to save it', and dropped more bombs on Vietnam than were dropped in World War II, permanently altering the landscape of this country. All this under the guise of saving Southeast Asia from the Communists, and fighting the Vietnamese who had successfully defended their country from the Chinese and the French for most of the 20th century, and who had no intention of ever surrendering their nation to rule by any foreign power. Meanwhile, 5000 helicopters and much more were bought and paid for by you and me (borrowed with money that we may still be paying off). Are we still so naive to think that the military-industrial complex really has the American people's best interest at heart? It is that level of skepticism and disillusionment that led to a permanent break in trust between the US Government and a significant number of Americans, and which is still in effect today with the latest revelations on yet another deception to justify yet another war. (Jan 2004)