Finished it as well. I totally broke down throughout. Absolutely draining. Presidents and their various chain of command did not fare well.

So many brilliant moments.
David Brinkley, standing in Arlington Cemetery, commentating that maybe the next time a leader wants to announce a war, he should do so from there.
The stories of the Burning Girl and Executed VC pictures.
Fragging of superior officers.

The 'good intentions' hate is overblown if referring to the Domino theory. The cold war / Russia thing was so pervasive at the time. It's revisionist to not acknowledge it's power.
Otoh, I thought it went way too light on the post ww2 colonialism aspect that France established and USA perpetuated.

edit: Funding was through PBS. He got the money and they had no say in his product.

do you really think the people paying for it have no say in the content of the shows?

even if bank of america isn't saying "yo ken, dude, you know we make our living from usa wars of aggression and the whole mindset of heroic american soldiers and patriotism. so take it easy with 'war is bad' thing dude", then of course BofA is gonna be pissed if ken burns makes usa wars of empire look completely criminal, and they will pull their funding for future shows. pbs knows this. ken burns knows this.

FV, I totally understand the skepticism. I mentioned it in my post when I thought "ugh founded by Koch".

Have you watched the whole thing yet? If not, I'd love to hear a different perspective (seriously) about what your opinion influenced the doc was compared to what I saw when you're finished.

i'm def gonna watch it. i won't have time until next week.

i have a lot of respect for ken burns as an artist. and vietnam war is incredible material.

With all due respect, why don't you watch it first and then get back to us with whatever issues you have.

I was stunned when a Vietnam vet recounted being told to destroy a village in order to save it.

Am I remembering that correctly?

Its so absurd, I'm doubting my memory

That was a famous line from an America general...we had to destroy the village to save it

thats right, thx

geezuz!

The Good Place ep 2 was better than ep 1. I like the pace and am curious where they're going with it.

So let me get this straight, you think Ken Burns and PBS are stealth tools of the Evil Corp War Machine, and the entire left-liberal history of both has all been a sham?

That's flat-earther level delusional.

For those who have seen the Vietnam doc. Gen. McNamara died today at 93

McNamara died in 2009

i'm confused.

Robert McNamara (who was the Secretary of Defense and a businessman, not a General) died at age 93 back in 2009

Richard Pyle, an famous AP reporter who covered Vietnam and many other things died a few days ago at 83.

who is this Gen McNamara that died today at 93?

the PBS Vietnam doc...

it probably deserves a separate discussion thread as it was that impressive from what I saw of it.

but I'll just to stick to the relevant critique for this thread:

- thankfully there are no rah-rah US bias-ed battle-scene re-creations
- Ken Burns must have tracked down all available footage for this documentary. Much of it is incredible, but hard to watch at times.
- the modern day interviews with so many people involved with Vietnam made the doc for me. to hear objective and reflective thoughts so many years later from:
- vietcong,
- NVA and ARVN personnel,
- citizens of North and South Vietnam at the time,
- US Military personnel,
- family members who lost family in the fighting (both from the Vietnamese and US sides)

were fascinating.

Vietnam watchers should also see the doc The Fog of War about Secretary McNamara.

On a lighter note, Mike Judge has a new show called Mike Judge Presents: Tales From the Tour Bus and its cracking me up.

The first episode I saw was about Jerry Lee Lewis and all the wacky **** he did. The next one was about some lunatic country and western singer named Johnny Paycheck (his big hit was "take this Job and Shove It!"). These guys were characters and its hilarious/sad/astonishing/scary what they got away with.

Its good for several lols and as far as I know, the Koch brothers had nothing to do with the production so we all good,

so i finally got around to trying to watch vietnam.

i was outraged in the first 30 seconds when they announce sponsored by bank of america etc...

by 10 minutes in i was overcome with emotion, crying, and so angry. it was exhausting.

30 minutes in i was bored and turned it off.

i'll try again if i ever feel like watching war porn.

Vietnam is not supposed to be a warm and comfy blankey show you curl up with on your couch on a friday night.
it is a show that can help you fill in the blanks between WWII, Korea and our current situation to help you understand how the political mindthink got from point A to point B.
i thought it did a great job of highlighting the nuances involved in political decisions and the repercussions.

filthy is a pathetic clown who fouls everything he touches with his politarding and his disingenuous attention-whore trolling, he's hopeless and not worth a second of anyone's time or attention.

Shouldn't all this Vietnaming be done in it's own thread?

is tv going downhill? it seems to me shows are getting worse. in the last 5-10 years we had soooo many AMAZING shows. but no new shows are all that great. and the great shows that are still airing new episodes are largely gasping for breath.

are the games of thrones, deadwoods, wires, mostly behind us?

Yep, its all gone to hell since the Koch Brothers and the American War Machine took over the entertainment industry

Just thinking about it, I'm overcome with emotion, crying, and so angry.

Its exhausting.