World War II witnesses are going the way of the American Civil War witnesses.

My friend Gordon Weber, who died 2 years ago at 93, told me that no war is ever “over.”  Now I see the wisdom in his words.  We have seen the rancor in Congress over Obamacare.  Which, by the way, nobody really understands.  The left sees it as a way to get poor working people health insurance.  The right sees it as a threat, somehow, from the “big brother” government.  Everyone worries that it will cost them money.  This is what I view as the aftermath of the American Civil War.  Southerners vs Northerners.  Guess where I weigh in?  Hello!  My great grandfather lived in Bartlett  Illinois.

What is the aftermath of World War II?  The American Dream.  This is the America of the two car garage, the boat, the place on the lake, the green lawn.  I love these things.  I love Christmas presents, thanksgiving turkeys and school valentine mailboxes.  Maybe that’s why we call the generation who taught us about these things the “greatest generation.”  They defeated the Nazis.  They liberated the Nazi death camps.  They whipped the Japanese who worshipped their leader like he was god.

Well, they are nearly all gone, those who came of age during World War II.  I love them and yet I am sort of glad they are gone.  They constantly censured us, watched us, criticized us.  I couldn’t drive across the country without one of them “directing” me to purchase a cell phone.  Now that that person has passed on, I can bloody well do as I please!  Coincidentally, I got a cell phone.