http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/opinion/the-moral-clarity-of-george-mcgovern.html?nl=opinion&emc=edit_ty_20121022&_r=0

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-mcgovern-the-man-who-never-gave-up/2012/10/21/fca24da8-1b9d-11e2-ba31-3083ca97c314_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/george-mcgovern-1922-2012/2012/10/21/7893817c-9916-11e0-b464-c252cf6cc715_gallery.html?tid=ts_carousel 

Please read and look at the photos in the articles above written about 1972 Democratic Presidential candidate George McGovern who lost to Nixon in a landslide with his peace platform in the midst of the Vietnam War.  What do you think McGovern's candidacy tells us about the US in the early 70s and what do the remembrances of him as we confront his death in 2012 tell us about the US now?   What are some take-away McGovern lessons?  What "American values" does he embody?  How so?  Give examples.  

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-lesson-in-restraint-what-china-tells-us-about-iran/2012/10/21/cb7a2b10-1a44-11e2-aa6f-3b636fecb829_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions

Please read the article above. This op-ed offers some lessons from history (from China during the Johnson era and Vietnam War) that shed some light on policy options for dealing with the threat of a nuclear Iran.  Do you think they are valid historical comparisons?  Why or why not? 

“State Department analysts asserted that China’s belligerent rhetoric belied its strategic caution. China’s leaders, they reasoned, might be tempted to step up support for regional insurgencies, such as the one engulfing South Vietnam, but they would stop short of any reckless action that threatened their own survival and would avoid at all costs a direct clash with the superior U.S. arsenal. Even revolutionaries were susceptible to the logic of deterrence, they argued.”   Do you think this line of argumentation applies to Iran in 2012? 

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