Self Determination.

#TwoWordsYouKnowYouLove...

Always(and)Forever.

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* For what it's worth, I think the next generation -- the Millennial generation -- will cut its teeth in responding to the next Middle East war. They've grown and matured since our last war go-around, and their attitudes are changing the world.

Pretty much,
like their parents, they've got the numbers to generate lasting change, lacking in previous American young idealists who were riding in the wake of the Baby Boom and the Greatest Generation.

Let's see what they think of another ongoing war, how long they're willing to put up with futility, and how quickly they demand a more humanistic (and realistic) foreign policy approach to defending America in the 21st Century.

Beyond Barack Obama, it's the same cast of familiar faces in the Democratic party, pushing women's issues (abortion and birth control) and minority rights (gays, African-Americans, immigrants... not so much).  As the country diversifies, the Democrats divide up and count numbers.

Best not even to speak of the Republicans at the current time...

I don't think, never have thought, that Change will come from the pioneers of the Millennial generation -- the ones already hitting big.  They are their parents, very often.  Set up for success early, they succeed, but this is not the cast of characters who understand the need, in reality, for Change.  They go-along to get-along, and are comfortably rewarded for following in footsteps, innovating perhaps, but essentially propping up the basic structure.

You'll see nothing new built where there's no radical need for something new.  I think the Obama Democrats are counting on getting the same reception George W. Bush received when he announced plans to take America into war:  guns and roses, chests beating with pride.

Now, we've seen a look at the numbers.  The deaths, the costs, the disillusionment.  Those wary of promises of winning such wars before -- trading independence for security -- will soon have reinforcements.  The comfortable, the elite, the elderly might be willing to make such trade offs, but the young?

We're going to be hearing from them -- the bulk of them, not just the early outliers -- in the coming years... Who's ready to listen and learn what the numbers will teach us?