I am a devotee of the theories of these great generational scholars and their work inspired me to produce my website:

Generation X Unite! Obama is the Only Logical Choice!

Even eerier than Strauss & Howe's prediction of the current crisis era is their analysis of generational leadership styles.

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On The Post WW II Boom Generation (George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton)

Prophet (or Idealist) generations such as The Boomers show streaks of severity, the desire for not just an enemy's defeat, but his utter destruction, and are starting to show a fascination for apocalyptic solutions. Unlike their G.I. Fathers, who excelled at "overcoming" crisis, Boomers are attracted to the possibility of "fomenting" crisis and can easily be attracted to lawlessness in pursuit of a higher purpose.

[When posed with a terrorist strike] Boomer leaders would exaggerate the threat and tie it to a larger sense of global crisis. These leaders would define the enemy broadly and demand its total defeat – regardless of the human and economic sacrifices required. They would be willing to risk catastrophe to achieve their definition of a "just" outcome. Boomer principle – righteous fury – may cast a long shadow over the 21st century.

On The 13th Generation, aka Generation X (Barack Obama)

Nomad (or Reactive) generations such as The 13th are assigned the thankless task of yanking American history back on a stable course, lashing back at the lies of old men and the finger-wagging of grim dowagers. They are nobody's fools: plainspoken, sensible, quick on their feet. They possess a Twainlike twinkle in their eye and that Trumanesque capacity to distinguish between mistakes that matter and those that don't. Their ablest peers become society's most cunning, pragmatic and colorful figures – military and commercial managers of great realism, effective leaders for the crisis compounded by the Idealist elders.

Midlife 13ers will not have the ability to influence the nature and timing of whatever crisis the Boomers congeal, but will be there to clean up the mess, providing able on-site managers and behind-the-scenes facilitators whose quick and sound judgment could spell the difference between triumph and tragedy. Controlling the Boomers may emerge as the 13ers most fateful lifecycle mission, as they will be the generation best equipped to deflect the Boomer drift towards apocalyptic visions.

On The Lost Generation (Harry Truman)

Harry "Give 'em Hell" Truman has been described as "a man of blunt and staccato expression, a hard to fool realist, immune to criticism, who would tell the truth with startling frankness". The Lost Generation in total has been characterized as tough, gritty, gruff, dispassionate, pragmatic, streetwise, self-confident, clear-headed, savvy, perceptive and practical.

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Does this sound like anyone we know? It is for good reason that Generation X is also known as
"The New Lost". I had to laugh when Senator Clinton recently compared herself to President Harry Truman - the real comparison is between Truman and Obama.

Harry Truman: The Last GenX President

HI Tom,

Last night i was watching the Cspan recap of the white house briefing yesterday. Dana Perino was discussing our aid to Burma. She made the comment that "we (the USA) are very good at these things." I just about fell out of my chair. Noone in the press pool had the guts to bring up the disasterous response to our disaster. Are they going to try to rewrite history by bragging about their responses to disasters around the world.

Puzzling

Aaron Nygaard

The Bush/Cheney Ministry of Truth office simply needs to correct the obvious errors in the tools we are using to measure climate change. It's so obvious that errors have been made in the industries that create our thermometers and other devices that we should support a regulatory commission to correct this oversight.

When people realize that isn't really that hot, air conditioner use will be reduced and that will save energy throughout the summer. Similarly, when people note that the winters aren't really that cold, they will use less heating oil and natural gas in the winter! Once implemented, the next leap to helping people understand that they aren't really hungry, thirsty or sick would save untold billions and help put America back on it's feet again.

[/sarcasm]

Great show Thom.

The Bard