George McGovern Still Beating Antiwar Drum

George McGovern, who galloped to the 1972 Democratic presidential nomination on an antiwar horse only to lose in spectacular fashion, makes no apologies for his stance and is still beating the antiwar drum. One can only speculate where we would be today as a country had the voters had the sense to elect McGovern. But Americans have short memories and we find ourselves in another senseless conflict. Is there a viable candidate in the presidential race willing to face reality and end this illegal, immoral war? 'Fraid not.

From Laura Washington's interview published by In These Times:

“I’m very proud of the things that I stood for in ‘72 and I make no apologies for anything,” McGovern told me in a Nov. 28 phone interview. “I said what I thought was right. And I am proud of what we stood for in that campaign. We didn’t win, but lots of people in history have proposed ideas that were good for the society of their time but weren’t accepted until years later.”

McGovern, 85, was in Chicago in late November to accept an award from the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law for his efforts to fight hunger, a cherished cause since he led John F. Kennedy’s Food for Peace Program in the ’60s.

McGovern bemoaned America’s feeble memory. He recalled often comforting his young daughters. “And I said, ‘Look, maybe something good will come from this Vietnam tragedy. It’s such an obvious blunder, we’ll never go down that road again. So maybe it will save us from repeating this on an even more costly scale.’ And of course, now I don’t know what to tell my daughters.”

Why, I asked him, don’t Americans learn from their history?

“One disturbing thing is that they don’t study it. It’s not even pressed in the schools as a high priority, as it used to be. … People are more interested in learning how to do e-mail, do a computer or whatever, than studying the history of humanity,” McGovern said.

How does his hatred of needless war square with his recent endorsement of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), who voted to send us to Iraq?

“Obviously, I wish she hadn’t voted for that war resolution,” he replied, then added, “I have no doubt that if she is elected, she won’t lose any time ending that war.”

While he would be “perfectly happy” with any of the Democratic frontrunners, “2008 is Hillary’s year,” he said. “She’s highly intelligent, she’s got the grit to stand firm … she knows the heads of state, people all around the world … she was in on all the decisions.”

No doubt it helps that they go way back. Thirty-five years ago, two fresh-faced political activists named Bill and Hillary Clinton helped coordinate McGovern’s Texas operation.

“I don’t forget that. I’ve got a long memory,” he recalled. “To try to sell George McGovern in Texas in 1972—that was a tall order. And they went down there and did it cheerfully and did a good job.”