Just in time for Christmas of 1998, Tom Brokaw unleashed one of the most seductive books ever written.  In his book, The Greatest Generation, he declared that the men and women who fought for the Allies against the Axis nations were "the greatest generation any society has ever produced." I do not wish to disparage the generation that defeated the Nazis, the Italians, and the Japanese in World War II.  They can stand tall in the assembly of generations, but was it the "greatest generation any society has ever produced""

Born in 1940, Brokaw was in diapers for much of World War II.  He grew up in postwar America, when America emerged as the strongest military and economic force on Earth.  These were heady days for this country, and his hyperbole is almost understandable, but as the current occupant of the White House is fond of saying, "C'mon, man!"

Was Brokaw's "greatest generation" better than the generation that gave us Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, and Adams?  What was the fruit of their efforts?  These guys faced charges of treason and a noose if they failed to free America from English tyranny.

Was Brokaw's "greatest generation" better than the generation that gave us Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and U.S. Grant?  That generation fought a bloody civil war to abolish slavery and restore the Union.  The casualties in the Civil War numerically far outweighed the losses of Americans in World War II.

After defeating the Axis nations, Brokaw's "greatest generation" returned home and gave birth to one of the sorriest generations ever produced, the so-called Baby Boomers.  I am a Baby Boomer, and I take no pleasure in admitting that we are one decadent, whining, and spoiled group of malcontents.

Jesus said, "You will know a tree by its fruit."  Sixty-seven percent of our nation believes we are heading in the wrong direction.  We are going in the wrong direction because we have abandoned God and embraced the so-called wisdom of focus groups and the liberal educators infesting our educational system.

The Baby Boomers are the fruit of the generation Brokaw worships.  We have a saying that goes, "The apple does not fall far from the tree."  If that saying and Jesus' maxim are correct, Brokaw is dead wrong when he lauds the parents of the Baby Boomers.

The honor of choosing the greatest generation belongs to God, not Tom Brokaw.  Brokaw is a distinguished-looking lefty with a nice voice who has made a lot of money off his hollow claims, which are ringing hollower every day.

Image: Family watching television by Evert F. Baumgardner.  Public domain.

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