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Thursday, June 07, 2007

Baby boomers heap insincere praise on the "greatest generation."

David Gelernter in the Opinion Journal:

Too Much, Too Late
Baby boomers heap insincere praise on the "greatest generation."

BY DAVID GELERNTER
Friday, June 4, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT

My political credo is simple and many people share it: I am against phonies. A cultural establishment that (on the whole) doesn't give a damn about World War II or its veterans thinks it can undo a half-century of indifference verging on contempt by repeating a silly phrase ("the greatest generation") like a magic spell while deploying fulsome praise like carpet bombing.

The campaign is especially intense among members of the 1960s generation who once chose to treat all present and former soldiers like dirt and are willing at long last to risk some friendly words about World War II veterans, now that most are safely underground and guaranteed not to talk back, enjoy their celebrity or start acting like they own the joint. A quick glance at the famous Hemingway B.S. detector shows the needle pegged at Maximum, where it's been all week, from Memorial Day through the D-Day anniversary run-up.


Read the whole thing.

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