It's okay if you want to call me a Boomer. I've paid my dues.

[kpete]

Do your part and vote.

Link to tweet

?s=20&t=-DrwTNpEBgCXDA5ZJQ4wyg

[gab13by13]

1. I'm a Boomer, I voted.

[Traildogbob]

12. Let's us not forget

As a boomer, I had no right to vote at 18, but had the obligation to die, in a political war of slaughter, for the country that denied that right. We fought to get that right and won. We vote like it could be taken Away. And it’s is about to be, by one party. By obligated, I mean government mandated. I government we were not allowed to vote for.

[LakeArenal]

14. Also young men were being conscripted into an illegal war.

Just as Russia is doing today.

[Traildogbob]

15. My point.

And I was one of those young men, as were all young men, except for trump type.

[LakeArenal]

17. Mr Lake got a high lottery number. Just luck.

[Traildogbob]

19. My number was 324

I joined the Navy. Needed help for school after service. But, lost friends and classmates with no choice, no right to vote.

[LakeArenal]

20. Did war change who you are? How could it not?

It might be who I’ve hung out with in my life but no Vietnam Vet ever told me that war was a good thing for the US or freedom.

[Traildogbob]

28. Any war

Changes a person’s soul. Especially when you are a political pawn, expendable. So people like Matt Gaetz that says out loud, abolish the VA, we again realize only a very small percent pay the price.
There are times I think about a draft again for those, but still the elite get out of it. Maybe these militias could go live out their dreams of shootin and tootin, and walk away never shot at.
Anyway, my whole point was vote, while you have that right. They are not only focused on eliminating the right for 18-21 year olds. They want to end it for all. Pay attention to the case from NC headed to the supremacy court in November.

[LakeArenal]

33. Thanks Traildogbob for sharing. Everyone is interesting.

[Evolve Dammit]

79. well said. Thanks

[Mr.Bill]

59. If you have never seen it and have a chance to,

watch the first episode of The Wonder Years. It shows how war can change your life forever without you even participating in it.

[llmart]

73. I loved that series.

I believe it was on Netflix years ago and I binge watched all of it. It captured that era perfectly.

[twodogsbarking]

22. I was sixteen when my brother age twenty-two was crying.

It is the only time I ever say him cry. A friend of his was killed in Viet Nam; 1968.
It was so fucked up.

[Traildogbob]

30. Many people

Cried. Even soldiers. Yea, it was fucked up. And our most recent political wars were not much different. Remember the Iraq war soldiers were not funded for equipment, and Rumsfeld, (fuck his soul) said we fight with the military we have.

[Handler]

65. Proud to be a boomer (1952) politically active since High School. Voted in every election, not sure

the one I voted in while deployed counted. Never pulled the lever for a Republican and never will.

[question everything]

2. Both Whiny Donny and GWB are boomers...

[bluesbassman]

5. Elon Musk and Kanye West are Gen X...

Every age group has jerks among them.

[LisaM]

18. So is Obama.

It's a wide net.

[plimsoll]

38. Obama and I are sort of dubious boomers.

When GenX first got made up the "rule" was "If you can't remember Kennedy being assassinated you're GenX," that was from the Boomers as exclusion because GenX where the whiny young people then. Then the millennials came along and redefined us as Boomers so they could blame more people. As a cohort Obama and I fit in with a group between '60 to '67, we got to watch the GOP dismantle the New Deal higher education, the Great society. To some extent that cohort also feels a bit if pique at the '45 to '59 age group. Pretty much the second they graduated their parents started cutting every social program they could find.

It's all fundamentally BS to pit one group against another. The younger people are right to complain about SS and Medicare, if they worry more about the wrongs the "boomers" have done instead of trying to fix the damage the Oligarchs have done they won't see a penny of that money. On the other hand they won't have payed in their entire lives either.

[LisaM]

39. I don't like generational pitting either.

I identify as a late Boomer or I guess "Tweener" and I find it almost impossible to explain to some people the incalculable harm Reagan's policies caused. I graduated from college when he was president and it was impossible to find a good job or get ahead. Agreed, it's the untrammeled forces of free market capitalism, hardly endemic to any one generation, that are causing our problems.

[beaglelover]

58. What was your degree in? I graduated in 1986 and had no problems finding a decent job and continued

to get ahead the rest of my career no matter who the POTUS was.

[LisaM]

60. English.

I had jobs - I worked in a bookstore and liked it. But finding a job as a technical writer, which I kind of wanted to do, didn't pan out (funny, my mom gave me some old papers; recently and I found a bunch of rejection letters), nor did working at a publishing company. I had the skill set to do either.

My friends who got good jobs right away were mostly engineers.

I still stand by my liberal arts degree. I am happy I have it. I wish I could have afforded grad school, but it wasn't in the cards.

I eventually got a job at a law firm, so it worked out okay, but it certainly wasn't the gravy train GenXers think existed. I have never owned a house or condo, for instance. I have a lot of friends who had the exact same experience (including student loans to pay).

[Meadowoak]

41. I kind of remember the Kennedy assassination, I was still in

Diapers, but I remember my mom crying when they announced it on tv.

[plimsoll]

52. Kind of questionable if you remember it as Kennedy being assassinated.

You remember that your family was upset, but if a parent had died you might have a similar recollection. But as I said, it was an arbitrary way to divide people in the first place. If you look at it as a cohort of people you probably don't have nearly as much in common with someone born in 1945 as you do with someone born in 1970. The person born in '45 was an adult when Kennedy was assassinated, they could have been sent to Vietnam, they could have participated in all those things that get lumped in as the 60's. I doubt your parents let you go to Woodstock.

[question everything]

81. And Clinton. What's more, Whiny, GWB and Clinton were born only three months apart

Trump - June 14 1946

Bush - July 6, 1946

Clinton - August 19, 1946

[Pinback]

40. Most of the uptight, ultra-normal people I worked with

were born in the 1970s and ’80s. So I guess everybody younger than me is a square. Pretty sure that’s statistically valid.

[Hekate]

61. Are you going somewhere with this?

What generational bracket is Kanye West in? You want to claim him?

[question everything]

82. Just to show that one cannot generalize about... anything, really

[niyad]

3. Proud Boomer here. I voted.

[FakeNoose]

4. Boomer here - I can say for a fact that we started out liberal and progressive

... back in the 60's and early 70's. After that some Boomers lost their way and started drifting conservative.
True Boomers have always remained liberal and we vote in every election.
True Boomers will always bleed BLUE.

[kpete]

7. a boomer & a flower child

always blue

[lambchopp59]

25. Tail-end boomer here

My own coming of age experience far more comparable to Gen X than mid-boomers. We saw our older brothers die or lose their humanity to the Vietnam War.My first election turned a failed attempt to keep Jimmy Carter in office, and subsequently to struggle against egregious greed crowed as absolute rule.
I'd never seen Ronnie's movies, couldn't be less interested. But I watched some previously reasonable, liberal boomers in my family refer to him lovingly as "the gipper" and blow all their values out the window to join that disastrous landslide.
I simply couldn't understand it, and disgusted at how, they got their university educations, then shut the doors to future generations to achieve the same.
I paid 400 a month for my 4th floor walkup studio with a working fireplace that would be at least 4000 now.
There's so much spun out of control ever since, how anyone not born to major means can afford to live and get an education nowadays is beyind me.

[FakeNoose]

27. Yes Reagan killed it for all of us

[crickets]

68. That was my first election as well. I'm proud of that vote for Jimmy. nt

[LittleGirl]

72. I'm a '59er too

My birthday was Sunday and it’s weird how awful it’s turned out. I had high hopes in ‘82 and Reagan raised my taxes. I was a waitress and going to school. I voted for Jimmy. Proud hippy liberal. Everything has gone pear shaped.

[lambchopp59]

86. I really thought the 80's would bring on widespread enlightenment

But, not only RayGun's election became so obvious he was the figurehead puppet of the oilygarchs, but truly the death knell was this new "Fox" TV news channel quickly turned RayGun feet kissing anti-enlightenment propaganda. I remember watching some of it asking myself how anyone could believe that swill.
But my grandmother was in her declining years and soon figured out what their demographic appeal was.
I couldn't get anywhere convincing her of what a crock of crap they were serving up past the flag-waving air of legitimacy that channel feigned so slickly.
I still get astounded at what RW'ers will believe, disgusted at how many younger generations cling to those confabulations. I hoped GWB's promise to be "the education president" was sincere. He screwed everyone's pooch instead. I knew when Dukakis was defeated we were deep in Raeyganomics shit again and sure enough...
There's been a common, unexceptional theme to my life: I've never come to the end of a Republican presidential term with a job!

[Magoo48]

26. Me too, forever blue, getting bluer all the time.

[Martin Eden]

46. 1957 Boomer here. Civil Rights and Vietnam motivated me before I was old enough to vote

My older sister and I were all in for Gene McCarthy in 1968 because he was a leading voice against the war in Vietnam.

[llmart]

75. Same here.

I am proud to say I've never voted for a Republican in my life! I'm 73 and I will claim that as my truth until the day I die. Bleeding heart liberal all the way.

[Sympthsical]

6. Whenever I see stuff like this

I always think of Glynnis Johns in the Ref and one of the most fantastic ripostes ever.

[Celerity]

9. +1

[Hekate]

62. Well, isn't that special

[nevergiveup]

8. I am a Boomer and I live in Chicago

and I am a Democrat and I vote often.

[SoBlueInFL]

10. Husband is a boomer and I'm a GenXer and we voted r/o

yesterday on FL's first day of early voting. You can be guaranteed we voted for Val & Charlie. That idiot Rubio and the Fascist DeSantis need to go--like yesterday. Unfortunately, there is little to no chance of beating Gaetz. The locals adore him. (hork)

[Wounded Bear]

11. Boomer here and I vote blue, no matter who...

[Captain Zero]

29. Me too. I've voted EVERY ELECTION of my life

I marched against the Vietnamese war and the Iraq War.

I petitioned for political prisoners including Nelson Mandela when he was in jail.

I went to a mass lobby meeting of the Indiana Senate for the ERA and then they Ratified the ERA.

I've worked for Dems up and down the ticket making phone calls, walking neighborhoods. I used the only sabbatical I ever got from an employer to work for Julia Carson when she was running against the nastiest man the GOP ever put up against her.

There was more, but the least I ever did was vote in every election, and now you can even mail it in. Piece of cake.

[lunatica]

45. Yesterday I mailed in my ballot!

I voted 100% blue!

[EYESORE 9001]

13. Of course I'm voting

I’ll also remind everyone that the baby boom generation had 78 million people, impossible to pigeonhole into a one-size-fits-all demographic. Also, consider that many folks become more conservative with age, which thankfully hasn’t been the case personally.

[Hortensis]

37. Yes. And many become more conservative with parenthood.

Proven phenomenon. It doesn't turn liberals into conservatives, but does move a lot of people within their "range."

I also thank all the forces that my range doesn't include whatever's eaten the brains of too many we know. Knew. We need rational and decent people of all generations voting.

[Meadowoak]

42. I've gotten more liberal with age.

[lunatica]

49. Me too!

I feel I’m a Progressive now. Even though it’s mostly a frustrated Progressive. I love Biden for his work on Climate change. It makes me like him even more!

[EYESORE 9001]

53. Same here

I’ve always been liberal, and now I’m even more so.

[LittleGirl]

84. same nt

[Scottie Mom]

16. I'm a Boomer and proud of it!

Filling out my California mail-in ballot today. Have my sample ballot marked and ready to use. Voted straight Dem ticket -- as always -- and voted on the props as rec'd by the Cal Dems on my sample ballot.

Also voted against any damn DA running for a judgeship. Screw 'em!

[lunatica]

47. I mailed my absentee ballot last Monday!

Blue through and through! I’m in New Mexico.

[Scottie Mom]

70. Mine got mailed this afternoon.

Like you...Blue through and through!

I'm in L.A. County...in an area that is heavily Dem. Wish I was in the City of L.A. to vote for one candidate -- Bass for mayor. I am hoping she wins.

[LakeArenal]

21. Proud to have been tear gassed for no reason.

Badge of honor. While kids died in the war.

[IronLionZion]

23. GOP is committing boomer on boomer crime

by going after social security and Medicare, things boomers like.

[lunatica]

50. Need!

I live on my small pension from UC Berkeley and my social security. It’s not easy now! I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have it! Probably rent my spare bedroom.

[heckles65]

24. I hate all those generational labels like poison.

To me, there the product of journalists who can't cover real issues.

And if I'm a Boomer, I guess I really forgot to boom out those babies, didn't I? (eyeroll)

[LakeArenal]

36. The only time I mind a label is when it's used as a pejorative.

Which most labels wind up being.

[BadgerMom]

31. Boomer. Voted.

Straight Dem ticket. Again.

[Meadowoak]

43. +1

[Red Pest]

32. I, too, am a boomer! When I was 21 (in 1972) I voted for the first time for McGovern.

I have voted in every election since turning 21. Before I could vote I - began paying into social security & Medicare; I worked to get out the vote for Democratic candidates; I worked in the anti-war/anti-draft movement. My wife (same age as I) has also voted in every election since she turned 21. Our daughters have voted in every election since they turned 18 and they too have worked to support liberal candidates & causes. The values that my parents and my wife's parents taught us have been passed down the generations.

My father in law saw first hand what happens when the values of a liberal democracy are lost. He participated in the liberation of Dachau. His testimony and photos are on record at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC. We must never let the forces of a fascist tyranny win!

[calimary]

34. Yep. Everything I fought for, too.

I will NOT relinquish those rights just because some mob wants to turn time back to when they THINK it was so much better and simpler.

[greatauntoftriplets]

35. This boomer is a serial blue voter.

[Joinfortmill]

44. 👍

[Arkansas Granny]

48. I'm an original boomer (1946). I voted for the Democratic candidate in every race on the ballot.

What's more, I raised 4 Democrats who will do the same.

[UTUSN]

51. K&R

[Walleye]

54. Boomer here. '49 classic.My first vote was for Shirley Chisholm. 1972 California primary

[Mariana]

55. Why would anyone get upset over being called a Boomer?

[Hekate]

64. See post 6 and 9.

Not all “progressives” here are friendly. Are they waiting for our generation to kick the bucket so there’s no one left to defend the work so many of us did? To say that not all of us were gung-ho Nixon and Reagan ass-kissers? That when we remember what we lived thru we’re not whining?

It gets old.

ETA: and #2

[Mr.Bill]

56. Proud to be a Baby Boomer,

the generation that stopped a war.

[Lochloosa]

57. We lived through Nixon. Damn right we vote every time.

[Demnation]

63. Proud Boomer here. Dropped my ballot in a USPS mailbox on Sat. Beto and Dems all the way.

[titanicdave]

66. .........I Am From The Generation....

.....prior to the Boomers, and to my knowledge, we are the no-name generation....but I am behind that sign 10,000 percent.....I can't wait for my ballot to arrive so I can fill it out for .......ALL...DEMOCRATS....and hopefully drive out the stupid MAGA rethugs.......

[Hekate]

71. Just wanted to say thanks for in essence being our elder siblings

[Hekate]

67. Worked for anti-war Sen. Gene McCarthy in 1968, the year I turned 21, and never looked back...

Straight-Democratic ticket. A vote for a 3rd party candidate is a vote for a Republican. Period. Always has been.

[reACTIONary]

69. OK Boomer....

... Just kidding, I'm a boomer myself.

[area51]

74. Boomer here,

technically Generation Jones. Looking forward to voting against republinazis.

[GenThePerservering]

76. Born in 1953

and paid into SS for over 50 years (I started working in a truck stop when I was 15). Sadly, when I'm around most other Boomers I feel like they're my parents and I can't really relate to them very well - it's like they've aged out and I haven't, even some of my friends. Fortunately, the DH and my closest friends haven't, and they tell me they have the same experience of feeling like delinquent kids around disapproving parents. One of the youngest people I knew was my grandma who helped raise me, and lived to 103 years old - her motto was "Stay interested" (and walk every day) - my mentor.

Needless to say, we *all* vote blue.

The individual upthread with the English degree - I have one, too, and worked for years in technical documentation and quality assurance. During the dot-com bust when programmers and developers were getting laid off like crazy around here and going broke, I was still working, and for a good income. I wonder how they felt at the "want fries with that?" that jokes I had had to put up with.

[Upthevibe]

77. kpete............

Thank you for this post!

I've been putting into social security since I was 16 years old and had my first job.

I'm 65 now and will be retiring on March 1, 2024. That is when I'll be 66 1/2 and eligible for 100% of the amount of my social security. I had to use my 401K to live on from 2011-2013. Since then I haven't been in a job secure enough to start another 401k so social security is what I'll be living on.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

78. Early Boomer here. I was 20 years old in 1968 and

crazed that I couldn't vote.

Four years later, I was somewhat apathetic and did not vote. Didn't even register. However, by 1976 I was awake and on fire. It was so nice that the very first time I voted for President, my guy won.

It took me too long to understand that voting in the primaries, and the other various smaller elections are also important.

I'm in Santa Fe, NM, a state that makes it incredibly easy to vote. Any polling place in your county (and we have large counties here) works. Lots of early in-person voting. Hooray! I have more than once voted at a local middle school, and they have some of the kids in the voting room, helping out. I think that is the best thing ever. Those kids get to see voting in action, and I hope they will be motivated to vote as soon as they are eligible.

[love_katz]

80. Boomer proud. I began voting 50 years ago.

I have NEVER voted for a Repuke, and never will. Got my ballot and will be voting straight Democrats, with input from the Democratic voting pamphlet for the measures, and careful research on any positions where the candidate presents themselves as non-partisan. I have contributed to Social Security and Medicare since I was 16 years old. I did the best I could, but all of my jobs were low pay, with little or no benefits. I need Social Security and Medicare in order to live. My pension and 401k are not enough by themselves. Most of my generation fought for this, and social progress and environmental causes, an end to the wars, etc. We need to VOTE the Republicans OUT!!! Every last one, across the entire country! We need to hang on like a badger to its prey, to all the gains we spent our whole lives fighting for. Everything that we care about and need is at stake.

[argyl]

83. OK, Boomer. Just kidding. I'm one as well.

Yeah, a lot of these kids seem more than willing to lay the blame on us. Like all the world's ills began when we came of age. We heaped a lot of BS on our parents and their, the Millennials, time for that is coming. Some of their kids are old enough to vote now.

And I've voted. Early overseas from Bangkok to Collin County, Texas.

[Skittles]

85. it's not just MAGAts

the entire disgusting repuke party is CORRUPT