“If I’ve lost Walter Cronkite, I’ve lost middle America.” President Lyndon Johnson (maybe), 1968.

A short and sweet post.

In 1968, CBS TV News Anchor Walter Cronkite and his Executive Producer Ernest Leiser went to Vietnam to see for themselves the aftermath of a surprise attack against South Vietnamese and American forces. It was a significant escalation of the Vietnam War. While there, Cronkite had dinner with General Creighton Abrams, then commander of all forces in South Vietnam, at Abrams’ invitation. According to Leiser, Abrams told Cronkite, “We cannot win this goddamned war, and we ought to find a dignified way out.”

Upon their return to the U.S., Cronkite and Leiser wrote editorial reports arguing Abrams’ point, without quoting Abrams, and urging negotiations to end the war sooner than later.

This occasioned Johnson’s observation. Although the accuracy of it has been disputed, the basic point remains. There are times when a democratic government so loses the support of the people that the only wise course is to change course. Tragically, neither Democrat Johnson nor his successor, Republican President Richard Nixon, took that advice, resulting in the waste of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of Vietnamese and American lives and more than $100 billion over the next seven years.

Republicans: Take heed.

This event came to mind recently when a remarkable thing happened. Near our home lives a fervent Trump supporter and far-right Republican. For nine years, a huge “Make America Great Again” banner hung on his barn facing the road. He has two flag poles, one of which featured a Trump flag. The other featured a Confederate flag and a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag. The road frontage of his yard included Republican and NRA yard signs.

I write this in the past tense because on April 13, all of that disappeared. Barn banner – gone. Flags – gone. Yard signs – gone. The week before, all of the flags were at half mast, then suddenly all that remained on his flag poles were two American flags.

The message is clear to me. When Republicans have lost Our Neighbor, they’ve lost not just middle America but a chunk of their MAGA base. Meanwhile Republican leaders, both nationally and locally, are doubling down on their support for Trump.

We consider this small victory to be something worth celebrating, even if Republican leaders don’t heed the warning.

And here’s another victory.

How a racist remark inside a Clarion (PA) bar sparked a community reckoning. This article describes what happens when someone decides not to let one more racist insult pass blithely by. It’s long but worth it. We cannot fail to object to racism, not merely because objection is righteous but because objection can change a community for the better.