The Editor’s Desk
Many months ago, my boss, Jon Meacham, came into the morning meeting with a project in mind. He asked us to launch a cover story on the legacy of divorce in America. Divorce has been one of the more potent social forces in our postwar history, one that's rippled through our culture in ways that are both important and not always fully appreciated. Jon didn't know precisely how the story would turn out, but, as he likes to say, he knew there was a pony in there somewhere. So he asked us to find a compelling storytelling device that would help illuminate the larger story. We gave the assignment to David J. Jefferson, who found the perfect vehicle. David decided to return to his alma mater, Ulysses S. Grant High School in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, to find out how his class ('82) had been affected by divorce. The individual stories are mostly wrenching and occasionally heartwarming. But they all shed light on a generation that was reared on divorce and learned to cope with it. Here's how David describes returning to Grant High: "When I decided to interview my high-school classmates about their experiences of divorce, the first thing I thought of was how different our family lives had been from the ones we saw on TV in the '70s—happy broods like 'The Brady Bunch,' whose real-life house is in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, where we grew up. The Valley was dotted with the dream factories that created such make-believe visions of suburbia. But outside the studio walls, life wasn't so sitcom-perfect.
"I had mixed feelings about reconnecting with my high-school classmates. My image of my high-school self had been that of the nerd, and I had no interest in stirring up those feelings of not being one of the 'cool kids.' Would the class president and Miss Congeniality think I was a dork if I called them and asked for an interview? But once I dove into the reporting, the fears dissipated. As my classmates told me about the shame and isolation many of them had felt growing up as children of divorce, I realized just how little each of us had known about one another back when we were in high school. As kids, most of us had kept our family secrets from one another. Now, speaking to my classmates as adults, I realized just how similar we all were. We were just people traveling though life with our respective baggage."
What David also found reporting our cover story, edited by Julia Baird, was that despite the complications and collateral damage, divorce did not have to be a life sentence of misery. And, for the most part, his classmates did not blame their parents for whatever turmoil they were experiencing in their lives now. They had simply done the best they could at the time. The Divorce Generation had grown up.
At every magazine or newspaper where I've ever worked, spirited debate, occasionally a little too spirited, spills into the corridors. One of the things we like to do is reflect that kind of intellectual combat in our pages and on Newsweek.com. This week we're fortunate to have two such clashes of ideas. Jonathan Alter and Fareed Zakaria square off on whether there should be an Olympic boycott. And on the occasion of Pope Benedict's arrival in the United States this week, NEWSWEEK contributor and theologian George Weigel and Senior Editor Lisa Miller debate the relevance of his visit for a Catholic community here that can be assertive about its independence from Rome. Maybe these pieces will provide ammo for your own water-cooler arguments. Or, who knows, maybe they'll change your mind about these important topics.
Jon Meacham is away this week.
© 2008
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Member Comments
Posted By: Gabigal @ 05/10/2008 11:48:13 AM
Comment: Barak doesn't have enough experience or credibility to be the next President of the United States!!!!!!! There are so many red-flags he has set out already and with his name alone is one of them, and then his family history is another! Anybody in their right mind would NOT vote for this man!!!!! And the ones who DO vote for him, ARE the PROBLEM!!!!! They are the stupid ones of our nation!!!!! (Half of the people who do vote, SHOULDN'T!!!!)
Ya know, people complain about the war and President Bush, but as far as i'm concerned, he has kept us all safe and no-one should complain one bit about that!!! Not a one of these men and women were drafted, they all went on their own to protect our Nation, and God Bless each and everyone one of themfor that, THEY are our True Hero's....not the ones who sit on the crack of their butt, moaning, groaning and complaining about this war! Maybe all the tree-huggers of this nation should learn about those countries there and how they abuse women and children and how they hate us Americans b/c we are so smart and advanced, and they are so backwards and primative that they envy us to the point of hatred that they feel they have to kill all of us! It's not Allah telling them to kill us, it's their warped brains b/c of their extreme jealousy of our Nation.
Then, so many complain about the cost of this war...well, i would much rather shell out my hard working money for this war, then for the jailbird -joey's or welfare or other crap i could care less about! I say put all these jailbird-joeys and useless people on a plane, ship them off to iraq, throw them a uniform and a gun and let them do something GOOD for our Country, and themselves for a change! There, do any of the President-want-to-bes have such a good idea as that?!?!?!?!?!
Barak, you have no business running for the Presidency what-so-ever and Hillary, i have one question for you.....'You can't keep you own man in line, how do you expect to keep a whole country in line?!?!?!?!?!'
Posted By: cult followers @ 04/15/2008 11:28:04 AM
Comment: 9-17-07 National Anthem - Obama, as a presidential candidate, did not honor the flag by placing his hand over his heart at Steak Fry in Iowa.
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1662530_1446035,00.html
VIDEO ORIGINALLY FROM ABC NEWS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwog6E08CFU&eurl=http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/anthem.asp
10-4-07 Obama's comments about not wearing flag pin
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Story?id=3690000
"You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin. Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we're talking about the Iraq War, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I WON'T wear that pin on my chest.
"Instead, I'm going to try to tell the American people what I believe will make this country great, and hopefully that will be a testimony to my patriotism."
"I'm less concerned with what you're wearing on your lapel than what's in your heart.", Obama said Thursday while campaigning in Independence, Iowa.
"You show your patriotism by how you treat your fellow Americans, especially those who serve. And you show your patriotism by being true to your values and ideals. And that"s what we have to lead with, our values and ideals."
His own words speak for themselves.
4-7-08 NEWSWEEK ARTICLE Obama seeks to affirm his patriotism. http://www.newsweek.com/id/126530
Had no mention of his words below. Why?
Arizona Conservative, 10-27-08, by John Semmens.
http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens118.htm
"As I've said about the flag pin, I don't want to be perceived as taking sides," Obama said. "There are a lot of people in the world to whom the American flag is a symbol of oppression. And the anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should be swapped for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song 'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing.' If that were our anthem, then I might salute it."
These words and actions by a man running for President of the United States. Where have you printed these words? You have to have known. This is journalistic fraud - way beyond your obvious pro-Obama, anti-Hillary Clinton coverage.
Posted By: cult followers @ 04/15/2008 10:49:48 AM
Comment: EDITOR, I ASK YOU PLEASE READ THIS. THANK YOU.
On April 12th, 259 proud soldiers fighting in Iraq were made US citizens (including one born in Iraq). These proud and brave soldiers, hailing from 71 countries, have been fighting as non-US citizens to keep Obama's wife and children free.
*"PFC. ZULLY L. SCHAEFFERZ, with the 20th Engineer Brigade at Fort Bragg, said the naturalization ceremony was an awesome experience. The Peru native's family lives in ALLENTOWN, PA."
Some of the 4000 dead soldiers died defending our flag as non-American citizens. They entered the service voluntarily - voluntarily choosing to risk life and limb and swore to honor the American flag. Same as Obama did when he became a lawyer and US Senator. These proud soldiers signed up, voluntarily, even though they were not born in the US, and when they died defending our flag, they were buried as non-US citizens. Only last year did Bush sign an executive order granting posthumous citizenship. But the families have to apply for it and the soldiers who died defending our flag - the flag Obama refuses to honor - were buried as non-US citizens. And there are no financial benefits attached the posthumous citizenship.
These non-US citizens were voluntarily facing combat with the American flag on their uniform, even as Obama spoke deceitful, empty words about civil rights and the oppressed in America in Philadelphia in front of seven American flags.
OBAMA 10-27-07: "As I've said about the flag pin, I don't want to be PERCEIVED AS TAKING SIDES. There are a lot of people in the world to whom THE AMERICAN FLAG IS A SYMBOL OF OPPRESSION. And the anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all. It should be SWAPPED for something less parochial and less bellicose. I like the song 'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing.' IF THAT WERE OUR ANTHEM, THEN I MIGHT SALUTE IT."
Reflect on these and Michelle Obama's words, watch wright scream, GODDAM AMERICA and THE US of KKK A and disrespect Former First Lady and President of the United States, know that the church Obama has been going to for 20 years refuses to recognize the American flag and instead flies the Pan-African flag, know that Obama has never renounced his Kenyan citizenship, and then convince me that Obama should be President of the USA.
Convince me that he should be Commander in Chief of brave soldiers like these, who are fighting for all of us because they believe in the American flag.
Convince me that Obama should be the man - the only man - responsible for every single soldier's life.
Convince me that he sincerely cares about them after reading, "I don't want to be perceived as taking sides."
Convince me that you knew all this when you voted for him and did so anyway.
http://abcnews.go.com/search?searchtext=US%20CITIZEN%20IRAQ%20SOLDIERS&type=
*http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2725931/