Blame it all on Jim Morrison

Nathan poses an interesting dilemma:

Since I wasn't alive when Nixon was president, it was interesting to read something from a perspective that isn't the standard liberal one. I'd like to know more about what conservatism was before 1980, or just that it existed.

That's one of those weird things about the Internet. Intellectually, I know that all manner of people occasionally read this blog, but emotionally, I keep making the assumption that everyone out there is about my age, has about my educational background, and shares a roughly similar experience base.

This really hit home yesterday afternoon as I was cleaning up the family room, with an old Doors CD cranked on the stereo, when the lyrics of a particular song suddenly stuck in my craw. It really doesn't register now, does it, how serious certain elements of American society were about fomenting violent leftist revolution, in America, in the 1960s?

I got tired of self-absorbed Baby Boomer nattering about the '60s ages ago, and I know I've taken a vow never to discuss politics on this blog. But is it now time to if not break that rule, at least bend it a little? To understand the perfect storm that was the Reagan Revolution, you have to understand the historic forces that briefly brought together the three major strains of American conservatism — economic, political, and social — and this is a discussion that doesn't seem to be taking place anywhere else. It's been almost 50 years since "The Sixties," and more than 25 years since Reagan was elected. Is it time for a little history lesson?

Your thoughts, s'il vous plait?