![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Smothers-Bros-207x300.jpg\")
<\/a>I watched a YouTube<\/em><\/strong> documentary on the Smothers Brothers<\/strong> last week entitled Smothers Brothers \u2013 Smothered <\/em><\/strong>and found it most interesting, particularly juxtaposed to what is going on in our world today.\u00a0 For those too young to remember Tom & Dick Smothers<\/strong> and their one-hour TV comedy-variety show on Sunday nights, they were funny, entertaining and controversial.\u00a0 Their show ran in the late 60s until CBS yanked them off the air for their, and their guest’s, espousing opposition to the Viet Nam war<\/strong>, support for Civil & Women\u2019s Rights<\/strong> and their general pissing off of those in authority.<\/p>\nIt was an era of significant unrest, the ugliness of the Viet Nam war was being brought into our living rooms in living color with the nightly news.\u00a0 Men were heading to Canada to avoid the draft or burning their draft cards, while women were burning their bras in protest for women\u2019s rights.\u00a0 More and more gays and lesbians were \u2018coming out\u2019.\u00a0 Drugs were a major part of the counterculture – marijuana and LSD became \u2018recreational drugs\u2019.\u00a0 In a span of five years, five major civil rights leaders were assassinated; John F. Kennedy, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Malcomb X and Bobby Kennedy<\/strong>. \u00a0In 1968 there were riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago that killed 11 people and injured hundreds.\u00a0 Even so, the country wasn\u2019t as politically divided then as it is today – the \u2018counter culture\u2019 and mainstream media then, hated both Richard Nixon<\/strong>, a republican president, as much as they hated Lyndon Johnson<\/strong>, a democrat president.<\/p>\n Civil disobedience has always been a way of American life, in fact an inalienable right.\u00a0 This county was born out of civil disobedience of I\u2019m not happy with what\u2019s going on in our country today \u2013 the political divide, corrupt politicians, the inept handling of the Covid virus, just to name a few items at the top of my list, but after watching the Smothers Brothers documentary, I found that the stuff that the CBS censors wouldn\u2019t allow them to say or do on TV, is laughable today.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll ever be Yes, I realize this sounds a bit Pollyannaish, but I\u2019d encourage you to watch the documentary and see if it doesn\u2019t help put today\u2019s events in perspective.\u00a0 Here\u2019s the link:<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=xnnmcP6FkWk&t=253s<\/a><\/p>\n BTW, I\u2019m still going to read Dr. Seuss\u2019 How the Grinch Stole Christmas <\/em><\/strong>to my grandkids every Christmas.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow I watched a YouTube documentary on the Smothers Brothers last week entitled Smothers Brothers \u2013 Smothered and found it most interesting, particularly juxtaposed to what is going on in our world today.\u00a0 For those too young to … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Viet-Nam.jpg\")
<\/a> our British colonizers. Henry David Thoreau<\/strong> wrote his now-famous essay, Civil Disobedience<\/em><\/strong> in 1849, which in part was motivated by his disgust with slavery and the just-concluded Mexican-American War.\u00a0 We sometimes don\u2019t agree with those who are protesting, but usually the protestors are right, it’s mostly just a matter of degree, as in order to get their message across, they tend to go to the extremes.\u00a0 There was a national distain for long-hair \u2018hippies\u2019 <\/strong>and peace-loving\u00a0\u2018flower children\u2019<\/strong>, but most everyone can agree today that the Viet Nam War was a total waste \u2013 with over 1.3 million total deaths<\/strong>.\u00a0 Most everyone my age lost a friend in that war – either physically or mentally.\u00a0 For what?\u00a0 \u00a0Minorities and women have more rights today, due in part to the civil unrest of the 60s, but as a country, most would agree that we still have a ways to go.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Grinch-218x300.jpg\")
<\/a>able to laugh at the tearing down of statues, the burning and looting of buildings or the attempts to \u2018defund\u2019 the police, but whether we want it or not, change is coming and I have enough faith in our country to believe that we\u2019ll survive this as a nation and in fact, be better for it. \u00a0Organizations like QAnon<\/strong> and Antifa<\/strong> will rest in our archives with the Weather Underground Organization<\/strong> and the Students for a Democratic Society.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n