I originally posted this response to this diary.  I've now realized I need to post this where someone else will see it.

History lends its weight upon youth like a stone.
The young do not deserve that weight nor should they be forced to bear your history.

There is more than enough weight for them to bear in the future.

We had a black candidate and a female candidate running, both as serious contenders, but the voters for the most part didn't fall back on identity politics.  Obama, as part of the post-Baby Boom generation, understood that identity politics are a thing of the past, and that they're no way to reach voters.  Had he gotten up there on the podium and said, "It's about time we had a black president.  Vote for me!" I wouldn't have voted for him.  The goal is to look past skin color and gender, which Obama has implored us to do by way of not talking about his race as a reason for running.

Sea-change.  I think this change is a good thing.  That is what we are seeing amongst the Democrats these days, and it's about freakin' time.  But, the Republicans aren't the only ones not 'getting it.'

This topic came up today in a conversation I had with a co-worker who is a male, unmarried Boomer.  It pissed me off, as a single parent who busts her butt ever day to keep out of poverty and who works just as hard as he does, probably harder.   He isn't going to retire for five more years, he says, because if he stays he can make an extra $350,000.   Geebus!  I'll be lucky if my pension is intact in 15 years when it's my turn to retire.  I'll be lucky if someone just like this guy doesn't gut it while I am still here so he can float down to the Bahamas in his golden freakin' parachute.   It made me want to cry and alternately pull my hair out!

A lot of these Boomers were also Republicans, who managed to 'pull themselves up by their bootstraps' only to make it impossible for anyone else do to it in their lifetime.   A Boomer is president now, and while not representative of all Boomers, he's certainly not atypical.  

They just don't get it.  The increasingly hilarious arguments being made by the Clinton camp about Barack Obama's supposed lack of electability in November have been shown to be bunk time and time and time again.  Barack Obama can easily defeat John McCain in November (probably even more easily than she can), and everyone knows it.  Heck, Hillary even said so herself in front of millions of viewers.

But there's a big problem with the whole "electability" argument, anyway.  Let's give the mendacious Clinton camp the benefit of the doubt and say that Hillary is a sure thing, while Obama would likely lose.  Wrong, but let's grant that idea.

I.  Wouldn't.  Care.  Anyway.  And neither should you.

Back in the 90s when I was young (and dinosaurs roamed the earth), African Americans used to wear shirts that said, "It's a Black Thing (You Wouldn't Understand.)" Some white people were offended by the shirts, and some thought them silly (didn't they become popular in the wake of the first Tim Burton Batman flick, which didn't feature any black stars in spite of taking place in the NYC analog Gotham City?) I can't help but wonder how Barack Obama felt about that sentiment.
There was a time, not so long ago, when Barack Obama most likely did not understand the "Black Thing" celebrated by the t-shirts. Obama never really knew his black dad, was raised by a white mom, white grandparents and an Asian stepfather, and grew up partly in an Asian country and partly on Hawaii, the most racially diverse state in the nation.  Obama no doubt fit in on Hawaii (which may explain his choice to stay there for high school rather than travel back to Indonesia with his mother), but Hawaii is anything but a hotbed of African American culture. When Obama came to the mainland United States to go to college, it seems to me he also came to learn about what they used to call "blackness."  

As a 30-something who's gone back to finish college (hopefully the first woman in my family to graduate!), I'm surrounded by people who are four to ten years younger than me. Despite the fact that I attend what has historically been a very liberal, politically active university, I've noticed a general apathy in the new student body. As a member of "Generation X," the fact that the next generation seems apathetic to me could rightfully be seen as an indicator of some apocalypse approaching...........

For full disclosure I have read all the opinion papers and policy positions I can find on most of the candidates in the race, Republican and Democrat alike.  That is why I don't see Ron Paul or John Edwards as off to the wings crazies but people who have studied the problems and have some workable positions and solutions.  

Well it looks like were in for another Three Stooges-like pie fight in this election. McCain the warmonger against the protester and the draft dodger. Fucking great. Another election about shit I could care less about.

My rant below:

I wanted to post on this article but it had too many comments for my computer’s memory to handle. I detected a familiar arrogance to the tone of the diarist, a tone that Baby Boomers have reserved for those younger.

This isn’t a new idea. Remember the concept ‘slackers’, these were gen-x types born after the baby boom ended (1965ish or later) who were regarded as less ambitious, less activist, less whatever, than baby boomers.

of Hillary and Barack or Barak and Hillary would be unbeatable in Nov.  uniting genders, races, young and old.  The top and bottom end of the boomer generation along with their voting age children and grandchildren. A 21st Century ticket!

Boomers bringing along and uniting the X & Y generation moves us forward.

This election will be about family, the economy, and ending the war responsibly.

Once they win, the argument against women and blacks in the highest offices will disappear. Many want to see this in their lifetime.  They are already making history by making it this far.

I’ve been inspired to write by the victory of Barack Obama in Iowa (which I believe could be his first step towards the White House), and what it says about my generation.  I’ve been a fan of Obama’s for quite some time now, I find him an inspiring candidate who, though perhaps prone to speaking in glittering generalities, strikes me as someone who can truly rise above the partisanship to get things done for America.  It’s the kind of leadership America needs at this point in History, after the divisiveness of the Bush Administration.

I thought I was finished with this whole topic until I saw Tucker Carlson launch an ALL-WHITE Panel to answer the question as to whether or not Barack Obama is "Black Enough" for BLACK AMERICANS. Now, that in and of itself is beyond Racist, but I won't go into it. Those who know it is already know why it is and those who don't think the conducting of such a panel is Racist, then they will never get why they are so wrong. But, I'm going to address this crap yet again and I'm going to tell you that if Barack Obama isn't Black enough for Black America because of his life's experiences, then I'm not Black enough for Black America either! Looking at the questions and arguments as to whether or not Barack Obama is Black enough for Blacks, I have concluded that if he isn't, then neither am I. Based on the ridiculous Litmus Test given to Barack Obama to determine his Blackness, I too fail that test. I will tell you why.

We have had lots of demographic polling at dkos about who we are.  The more extensive polls go into great detail to clearly define or describe the choices that are being laid out.  From those polls, we know that the two largest age groups at dkos are Boomers and Gen Xers/Nexters.  

When we have a pie fight at dkos, I wonder sometimes how much is attributable to generational diversity and differences.  So I went looking for ways to help us define and hopefully better understand one another.  

More below the fold and a ton more in the article sourced.

Back in the day we told each other we wanted anarchy.  We wanted to live on a commune where every friend we ever loved lived across the street and we wanted everyone to have that.  

We wanted flowers, of course we did, and all the best movies on DVD to watch on a busted paisley couch in a vast living room with the lights turned down.  We wanted to go to the clubs.  We wanted to dance -- not so much me because I can't dance -- but I wanted to watch you dance.  All of you.

We grew up in the 70's in the aftermath of Viet Nam. Our parents were born during the Second World War, now our children will be born in the middle of the third world war. We have seen technology advance leaps from the 8 track to the mp3. From telegraph to fax to email to instant messenger, with all this technology, our life should be great! We are able to be closer even when we are so far away.  

One Pissed Off Liberal's recent diary, In Defense of Hippies, brought up an old meme: What happened to hippie spirit? And why has hippie become a bad word among some people who were too young to be there?

As a member of the next population bubble (labeled by the media and marketed to as "Generation X"), I can sum it up for the hippies:

You had Jimi Hendrix. We had Jimmy McNichol.

Okay. That's too facile. (To be honest, we didn't want Jimi Hendrix either.)

Sales of large and clumsy firearms up...

With all the dismal economic statistics such as record federal budget, trade, and currency deficits ever wonder why the "business media elite" don't seem troubled.  Why does the "business media elite" continue to trumpet stories about how the demise of pension is good.  The loss of manufacturing is not troublesome.  Large deficits at the federal level and large trade deficits are a sign of America growing faster than other nations.  This is not a conspiracy theory. Conspiracy theories require small cadre of shadowy individuals, rather this is a low key organized movement.  I will also introduce you to groups behind it the BME and the Boomer Cons.