Comments on: RIP Claudia Taylor Johnson, aka Lady Bird

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 23:10:27 +0000

Drives across the country are easier on the eyes now, thanks to her. The Highway Beautification Act was her idea. Her and Helen Hayes started the National Wildflower Research Center, which now bears her name. I will miss her. She was my first “first lady” in memory growing up.(Jackie was technically first, but my memories don’t go back to infancy)

By: camojack

camojack — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:47:25 +0000

As the owner of Bell Helicopters, she also made a lot of $$$ when LBJ escalated the Vietnam War.

I “cut my teeth” as an aircraft mechanic on “Hueys”, but still believe that profit had a lot to do with that. We lost a lot of good men for nothing in that conflict…

By: kreiz

kreiz — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 14:54:03 +0000

Such a classy lady, and married to such a jerk. Life isn’t fair- but at least she understood that.

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 18:18:52 +0000

————
camojack Says:
…
I “cut my teeth” as an aircraft mechanic on “Hueys”, but still believe that profit had a lot to do with that. We lost a lot of good men for nothing in [Viet Nam] …
————
Lee Kuan Yew, regarded as the founding father of the Republic of Singapore, disagrees with you. In his view, by tying the communists up in Vietnam for a decade, we gave time for Singapore, Malaysia, and several other countries to establish stable governments. He has thanked the USA, plainly and often, for saving his country.

So even though Congress threw your sacrifice away, be comforted that it did help someome.

You might also read Philip Bobbitt’s The Shield of Achilles. It’s his view that the Viet Nam war hurt Russia more in the long run than it hurt the USA. (The Shield of Achilles is IMO a Great Book, but it’s at least a week of evenings to read. The introduction and the first chapter or two are genuinely difficult because Bobbitt’s thesis is so sweeping.)