DOOMED TO REPEAT

I went to the movies last night. Something to remember about movies; movie makers are story tellers and they want to leave you with something that transcends the plot. Fleshing in the space between facts makes the difference between an academy award winner and a flop. One would think by now I would see it coming, avoid that ego feeding insult.  I woke up today both disillusioned and if even only a tiny bit, at least a tiny bit hopeful. The movie was ‘Post’, with two megastars driving it. In 1971 the Viet Nam war was a bottomless disaster but the Government was committed to it.  The stream of  pro war propaganda coming out of Washington was relentless.  A federal employee leaked top secret documents to the press that rocked the nation with reverbs that went all the way to the Supreme Court and still makes us uneasy.  ‘Post’ was that story. 

The movie’s makers were true to the facts, they had no choice. But the under story was about people, their personalities, their motivations and the way they saw their place in both their own story and history.  The director clearly took sides. News paper people were cast as high minded, patriotic heroes while government leaders, bankers, corporate moguls and well paid lawyers couldn’t escape their own legacy of ugly, ruthless, self interest.  Near the end, Robert McNamara, former Secretary of Defense (Bruce Greenwood) confides in Kay Graham, owner of the Washington Post (Meryl Streep) that for the last 25 years America’s policy in South East Asia had been nothing more than to contain China. The war in Viet Nam was unwinnable, they knew it but kept sending troops (over 58,000 fatalities) rather than admit to their sins or suffer the consequence of losing a war. They lied to the nation and to congress. His admission convinced her to go ahead, against the advice of her lawyers, board members and consultants, and threats from the Justice Dept. with charges of treason; she chose to run with the story. The movie ends with a clip of then President Nixon on the phone, ranting about revenge against the Washington Post and flashlights rummaging through files at the Watergate break in. 

So this morning I’m still chewing on feelings I went to bed with. No longer a quote, a widely held axiom tells us, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. I have my own idea on that. The warning is nothing more than an affirmation of human nature. Leaders have always struggled with responsibility that accompanies power and using it to gain more power. I loved the movie because I knew exactly how it would end, the way I would have it if it had been fiction. But the similarity between power in Washington then and power there now is too great to blow off with a movie. Today’s history is still being written and the movie, when it comes out, could be a bust. I’ll find something else to chew on, soon. Mardi Gras came and went. I’m well fed, getting organized for a simple road trip.  That will require the full extent of all my powers and they come on a short leash, with road slick tires and a lot more responsibility than authority. If I can’t affect the outcome, I don’t want to lose sleep over it.