Congressional Quarterly has a helpful chart tracking the progress of President Obama’s cabinet nominees. All of the committee hearings have taken place, except for the yet to be nominated Commerce Secretary. Only one committee has voted the nominee out of committee to the floor of the Senate for a full confirmation vote: Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State.
Here is a link to openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson’s invocation at yesterday’s “We are One” concert on the Mall in Washington. The invocation was not shown on HBO’s broadcast, to the chagrin of many who viewed Robinson’s invocation as a counterbalance to anti-gay preacher Rick Warren’s inaugural invocation.
The Baby Boom Generation has ruled America for 16 years. And now they are saying goodbye to power, yielding the way to Generation Jones and Generation X. I personally believe a part of the bitterness that was seen in the Clinton v. Obama primary contest was the bitterness of some Boomers in losing that governing power, especially considering that Hillary is a boomer and many of her most ardent supporters were Boomer women the same age as Hillary, like my mother and aunt.
Actually, no. While time frames for each generations can vary, most sociologists now agree that Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1955, while those born between 1956 and 1965 are a separate distinct Generation called Generation Jones. Those born from 1966 until 1979 are Generation X, and those born in the 1980’s are referred to as the MTV Generation or Generation Y, and those born in the 1990’s until the present day are known as the Millennials or the iGeneration.
Ugh…please don’t use the word mandate. It’s so arrogant when anyone thinks any leader has a mandate. It was ridiculous when Bush claimed it four years ago and it would be ridiculous for anyone to think Obama has it now. I guess it’s just the connotation that bugs me.
Either that or that word’s been a punchline since McGreevey came out of the closet.
If you click through to the poll results, you will see that 71% of those polled think Obama has a mandate to enact major programs. This is not me saying it, or Obama or his team saying it, just the poll results.
Soon we’ll have the moronic Internet element claiming a generation is two years long. Generations are based upon the reproduction cycle, not the latest political fad. The Jones cohort is certainly different than the early wave Boomers in many ways, yet of the same generation. The hysterical desperation of Xers and late wave Boomers is showing clearly. Sorry, Obama is a Boomer, and most in his Administration are Boomers. Rant and believe in the falsehoods of your position, but you only get more confused. Desperation for identity is not a legitimate foundation for epistemology.
So Obama is 14 years younger than Hillary, yet they are in the same generation? Nonesense. Your ad hominems againsts me and an entire generation reveal your bitterness and arrogrance.
Technically I’m labeled a boomer – by one year – but I don’t really consider myself part of that generation. Not because I don’t like boomers (I do!), but because I can’t personally relate/remember the groundbreaking to fadish moments that have come to define boomers.
John, Martin and Bobby’s assassinations, Vietnam, Civil Rights Movement, Watergate, Kent State, Roe v Wade, Woodstock, Janis Joplin… lawn darts. 🙂 I was simply too young. Even the Carter years are a blur.
I really don’t care what generation I’m grouped into, but I bet I’d lose a boomer trivia contest to someone ten years my senior. Just like I’m certain my boomer street cred would be questioned (and has been) by people who actually lived through these events.
I think the generation you belong to is more a cultural definition than a chronological one. I was surprised to read in the Wikepedia article that my dad was in the Silent Generation (just barely too young for WWII), and I am a Jones Generation (1961) married to a Gen Xer (1967). This is rather amusing. I always figured I was one of the last Boomers.
If you were an early Boomer you were influenced by the Beats… if you were a late Boomer you were more influenced by the Woodstock culture.
A more useful measure is defined by the year you turned 18. Plus there is some skew introduced during the 1960s based on whether you were eligible for the draft or not. People who turned 18 while the draft was on likely had their minds wonderfully focused on politics at that age.
What you are referring to as defining events of the Boomer generation are, in fact, defining for only the early wave Boomers. There seems to be some confusion here. This probably grows out of what used to be called the Vietnam Generation, which was not a generation, only a cohort of the Boomers, the early wave Boomers. Today a part of the Boomer generation seems to be identified as the entire generation.
Now, there are always those near the generational border, the “Edgers,” whose birth and major experiences seem to straddle two generations, or no generation. And out of this group often come the leaders of the next generation. For Boomers, they came from the Edgers of the Silent Generation, who were not very silent. You seem to identify with being an Edger.
That is a really good point, and way of saying it. Yes, each generation is influenced by events that preceded its maturity. For the earlier part of a generation, these heavy influences come from the preceding generation — for early Boomers, it was the Beats. But for late Boomers, the crucial generational events came from its own generation, the early part of its generation — for late Boomers this was Woodstock and etc., the late 60s.
Could be, Stewart. But where does listening to the Sex Pistols place me? So not boomer material! 🙂
Maybe the confusion lies in the fact that the 60’s and early 70’s were such defining times. People who lived those years left their mark… and defined that generation.
Hey, one of my best friends, who was born around 1952, had a punk band, played at CBGB, and loved the Pistols! Still, this seems to be more early than late Boomer.
But we shouldn’t forget we’re all individuals and none of us fit completely into any one group, and that means generational group as well.
I agree with you the 60s and 70s, especially the former, have left a heavy imprint on our history, including creating lots of confusion in the area of generational history.
But note this. Probably the most defining characteristic of the Boomer Generation is its extreme polarization. Right down the middle, and extreme! You can see this in the two Boomer presidents, leaving out Obama, Clinton and then Bush. When you look at the national voting records of Boomers who see how evenly they are split, a majority swinging only slightly to both parties.
So, what really defines Boomers is not Woodstock, but how they have been split and polarized. Nearly as many who loved Woodstock also hated the whole idea of Woodstock. The WW II and Silent Generations were not like that, and neither are the Xer’s or the Millennials.
Boomers are those born between 1946 – 1964. Obama is a boomer.
Actually, no. While time frames for each generations can vary, most sociologists now agree that Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1955, while those born between 1956 and 1965 are a separate distinct Generation called Generation Jones. Those born from 1966 until 1979 are Generation X, and those born in the 1980’s are referred to as the MTV Generation or Generation Y, and those born in the 1990’s until the present day are known as the Millennials or the iGeneration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_generations
Ugh…please don’t use the word mandate. It’s so arrogant when anyone thinks any leader has a mandate. It was ridiculous when Bush claimed it four years ago and it would be ridiculous for anyone to think Obama has it now. I guess it’s just the connotation that bugs me.
Either that or that word’s been a punchline since McGreevey came out of the closet.
If you click through to the poll results, you will see that 71% of those polled think Obama has a mandate to enact major programs. This is not me saying it, or Obama or his team saying it, just the poll results.
Delaware Dem,
Soon we’ll have the moronic Internet element claiming a generation is two years long. Generations are based upon the reproduction cycle, not the latest political fad. The Jones cohort is certainly different than the early wave Boomers in many ways, yet of the same generation. The hysterical desperation of Xers and late wave Boomers is showing clearly. Sorry, Obama is a Boomer, and most in his Administration are Boomers. Rant and believe in the falsehoods of your position, but you only get more confused. Desperation for identity is not a legitimate foundation for epistemology.
So Obama is 14 years younger than Hillary, yet they are in the same generation? Nonesense. Your ad hominems againsts me and an entire generation reveal your bitterness and arrogrance.
A human generation is 30 – 35 years. So Hillary and Obama could be in the same generation depending on when you define the start of the generation.
Generations often run 18 years or so. Where have you been?
Of all generations in recent history, the one with the firmest boundaries has been the Boomers, being 1946 to 1964.
To carry on a reasonable conversation takes a minimum grasp of the basic facts.
As I said, where have you been?
Technically I’m labeled a boomer – by one year – but I don’t really consider myself part of that generation. Not because I don’t like boomers (I do!), but because I can’t personally relate/remember the groundbreaking to fadish moments that have come to define boomers.
John, Martin and Bobby’s assassinations, Vietnam, Civil Rights Movement, Watergate, Kent State, Roe v Wade, Woodstock, Janis Joplin… lawn darts. 🙂 I was simply too young. Even the Carter years are a blur.
I really don’t care what generation I’m grouped into, but I bet I’d lose a boomer trivia contest to someone ten years my senior. Just like I’m certain my boomer street cred would be questioned (and has been) by people who actually lived through these events.
I think the generation you belong to is more a cultural definition than a chronological one. I was surprised to read in the Wikepedia article that my dad was in the Silent Generation (just barely too young for WWII), and I am a Jones Generation (1961) married to a Gen Xer (1967). This is rather amusing. I always figured I was one of the last Boomers.
If you were an early Boomer you were influenced by the Beats… if you were a late Boomer you were more influenced by the Woodstock culture.
A more useful measure is defined by the year you turned 18. Plus there is some skew introduced during the 1960s based on whether you were eligible for the draft or not. People who turned 18 while the draft was on likely had their minds wonderfully focused on politics at that age.
Pandora,
What you are referring to as defining events of the Boomer generation are, in fact, defining for only the early wave Boomers. There seems to be some confusion here. This probably grows out of what used to be called the Vietnam Generation, which was not a generation, only a cohort of the Boomers, the early wave Boomers. Today a part of the Boomer generation seems to be identified as the entire generation.
Now, there are always those near the generational border, the “Edgers,” whose birth and major experiences seem to straddle two generations, or no generation. And out of this group often come the leaders of the next generation. For Boomers, they came from the Edgers of the Silent Generation, who were not very silent. You seem to identify with being an Edger.
Anon,
That is a really good point, and way of saying it. Yes, each generation is influenced by events that preceded its maturity. For the earlier part of a generation, these heavy influences come from the preceding generation — for early Boomers, it was the Beats. But for late Boomers, the crucial generational events came from its own generation, the early part of its generation — for late Boomers this was Woodstock and etc., the late 60s.
Could be, Stewart. But where does listening to the Sex Pistols place me? So not boomer material! 🙂
Maybe the confusion lies in the fact that the 60’s and early 70’s were such defining times. People who lived those years left their mark… and defined that generation.
Hey, one of my best friends, who was born around 1952, had a punk band, played at CBGB, and loved the Pistols! Still, this seems to be more early than late Boomer.
But we shouldn’t forget we’re all individuals and none of us fit completely into any one group, and that means generational group as well.
I agree with you the 60s and 70s, especially the former, have left a heavy imprint on our history, including creating lots of confusion in the area of generational history.
But note this. Probably the most defining characteristic of the Boomer Generation is its extreme polarization. Right down the middle, and extreme! You can see this in the two Boomer presidents, leaving out Obama, Clinton and then Bush. When you look at the national voting records of Boomers who see how evenly they are split, a majority swinging only slightly to both parties.
So, what really defines Boomers is not Woodstock, but how they have been split and polarized. Nearly as many who loved Woodstock also hated the whole idea of Woodstock. The WW II and Silent Generations were not like that, and neither are the Xer’s or the Millennials.