If you haven't seen this post before (it was posted on this day last year and this day the year before that), it's a reminder that protesting a wrong your government is doing is legal - it is part of our democracy. And when 100,000 people do it, as they did on this day in 1970, it sends a message.

As an outgrowth to the violence that met the anti-War protests at Kent and Jackson State Universities only a few days earlier, a mass demonstration and protest to the Vietnam War and our incursion into Cambodia on April 30th was organized and a march on Washington was held on May 9th.

It was the biggest demonstration of its kind, and the most peaceful. This was the demonstration made somewhat famous by the presence of President Nixon, walking through the crowd unannounced and without Secret Service in the middle of the night, talking with protesters.

News reports remarked Nixon thought the exchange with the demonstrators was "interesting". At a time when the word "interesting" could either mean enthusiasm, revulsion or the Chinese Curse - it was hard to pin down exactly what Nixon meant. But suffice to say, this demonstration brought mass opposition to the Vietnam War very much to the forefront.

Here is a special broadcast as presented by NBC News on May 9,1970.

Continuing the look back at previous election years here is a panel discussion, part of the American Forum Of The Air series first broadcast on July 13, 1952, right after the close of the Republican Convention in Chicago and just before the opening of Democratic Convention, also in Chicago.

This panel consists of high ranking officials in both the RNC and DNC along with some of the earliest pollsters to engage in political races. Archibald Crossley, who pre-dated Gallup in his Crossley Poll and who also coined the phrase "ratings", along with Elmo Roper, political analyst and early commentator for CBS Radio join RNC's Albert "Ab" Herman and the DNC's India Edwards in a discussion that illustrates how little the political landscape has changed, but in some areas just how much it has changed.

The issues - then as now; taxes, defense, employment and corruption in Government. The races: the age old plea for a "clean campaign". The Politics: a much more pronounced and powerful Liberal wing of the Republican Party, which I had completely forgotten was instrumental in securing the nomination for Gen. Eisenhower. The Democrats; the Southern bloc.

Then as now there was talk of bitter factional splits within the GOP - the Internationalist/Liberal wing of the GOP in favor of Ike and the Conservative "base" in favor of Robert A. Taft. One gets the feeling Nixon was brought on board as a peace offering to soothe the arch conservatives in the ranks and bring about party unity.

Since, at the time of this broadcast there hadn't yet been the Democratic Convention (a week later), there was still speculation as to who the nominee would be and who the nominee's running mate would eventually become. It's interesting that, within the ranks there was talk about India Edwards, the vice-Chairman (chairperson) of the DNC as a possible vice-Presidential candidate, thus making her the first woman as running mate.

Then as now the whole question of the Independent Voter and just who they were was on the panelists minds. The Independents, it was determined, could swing a vote in either direction and they were hard to pin down.

Some things never change - certainly the ritual doesn't. The talk about long and bloody primary campaigns and the desire for less mud slinging seem completely relevant. It has always been and probably always will be about taxes, about employment and about corruption.

And that's what they were talking about in Picking a Winner on The American Forum Of The Air for July 13, 1952.

Ending up the look back at various years in review with 1974. Seems only fitting. Ending up one crazy year by looking at another crazy year in history.

That one that started off embroiled in major scandal and ending up with the resignation of a President, the first time it happened.

The Nixon era was over and the Ford era, short as it was, began.

The year started off with an Oil embargo and the Middle East took center stage, again. Newspaper heiress Patty Hearst was abducted and slowly morphed into Tanya. The Turks invaded Cyprus. Ford pardoned Nixon. Haile Selassie was deposed as ruler of Ethiopia. Aerosol became persona non grata and PLO chief Yassar Arafat addressed the UN for the first time.

A year jammed with a lot of changes and drama.

The Year in Review with CBS-News from December 29, 1974.

They don't make years quite like that anymore. Not yet, anyway.

And then there was 1968. The year just about everything came unhinged. The Vietnam War escalated and got very personal. The protests escalated accordingly - people who weren't against the war were violently opposed to it now. President Johnson declined re-election, leaving the field open for former Attorney General and Senator Robert F. Kennedy to run. The Civil Rights Movement was becoming increasingly violent, culminating in the assassination of Martin Luther King. France went on strike and took it to the streets, shutting the entire country down. Robert F. Kennedy would be assassinated. Chaos would erupt at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Nixon would emerge as President and that era would soon start.

And beyond all that Apollo 8 made the very first orbit of the moon. A rehearsal for the landing to take place in 1969. Even from outer space, the view of earth from the landscape of the moon gave one the impression Earth was just not a happy place to be.

But we were stuck there.

Those highlights and a ton of other news from that year, all via the BBC and their Radio 1 Year-end retrospect for December 31, 1968 which looked at the year from a world wide standpoint.

And some people say 2012 will make 1968 look like a picnic.

One wonders - at least you have some frame of reference to consider.

For those of you who remember, Sen. George McGovern was one of the most outspoken critics of the Vietnam War and what had become our failed Foreign Policy in Southeast Asia.

With the Nixon Administration in place, and dissent and opposition to the war increasing on a daily basis, along with the disclosure of the My Lai Massacre which had taken place almost two years earlier, pressure on the White House to put an end to the long national nightmare was at its highest ever.

Here is a panel interview from CBS News' Face The Nation on November 30, 1969 where, among other questions, McGovern is asked about the "silent majority" as characterized by Richard Nixon.

Sen. George McGovern: “Frankly, in our kind of a free society, I worry about this new emphasis on the part of the Administration on the virtues of silence. There has never been a time that I know of in the history of this country when the highest officials in our government have made such a virtue of those people who remain silent. Now perhaps we ought to be doing more talking, more soul searching, more questioning about American policy. I think if the recent atrocities indicate anything it’s that we’ve had too much silence. Here is a terrible crime, if it’s true, that was committed almost two years ago that we’re only now learning about. Where were those who knew about this incident a year and a half ago? Where was the so-called Silent Majority in the face of the awful reports we’ve had of the loss of civilian life in Vietnam that have been coming in to us for many-many years? So it does seem to me that great emphasis on silence, the effort on the part of high administration officials to intimidate outspoken members of the Press, candid television commentators, the effort to isolate those who are involved in the protest against Vietnam, all of those things have had perhaps something to do with the slowing down of real debate over this policy.”

The MyLai incident would soon take center stage. And by the Spring of 1970 a whole new and deadly wave of protest would erupt over the country. And McGovern would make his bid for the Presidency in 1972.

Fascinating batch of years, to be sure.

Thirty-eight years later there is still massive resentment on the parts of most Chilean's towards the U.S. and overthrow of the government of Salvatore Allende by a Military junta headed up by General Augusto Pinochet.

The irony is that our September 11th and their September 11th suffered an equal number of casualties, initially. The difference is that their nightmare continued into the 1980's with countless thousands of innocent people jailed, tortured and killed or otherwise "disappeared".

Initially denied by the Nixon Administration as having CIA involvement in the overthrow, time has revealed otherwise.

From these initial reports via the CBS Radio program The World This Week, there was shock and dismay worldwide. And even at that early date, there was some speculation U.S. involvement was apparent, and the flood of excuses as to why a coup took place seem very flimsy in retrospect.

But the damage had been done and once again, it pointed up to a very questionable Foreign Policy with respect to Central and South America.

There are times people wonder why the U.S. is despised in some countries - it's really a question of consulting a history book in order to understand. Ask the average person strolling around Santiago today.

Here is an interesting and insightful article over what 9/11 means south of our border.

With all the hatred, rancor and vitriol flowing out of the halls of Congress of late, you wonder if it's always been this way. Has there always been this much division and sheer disgust for opposing schools of political and philosophical thought in Washington politics since the time of Washington?

The answer is no. If anything, it's been a recent phenomenon, no doubt fueled by the Media and its "Age Of Springer" mentality. By interest groups, and by malcontents.

I ran across this interview with then-House Majority Leader Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neil, given on the Washington Straight Talk Program of April 28, 1975. Among the subjects discussed, was the relationship O'Neill had with members of the opposing party. In talking about President Ford, he said this:

Thomas P “Tip” O’Neill: “Well of course the economy has gone bad and I don’t agree with his (Pres. Ford's) theory as far as the Vietnamese War is concerned. There’s one thing about Gerry Ford, interestingly enough, we’re social friends and we play Golf together I was in the House with him for 23 years. One of the great factors for America is, it’s different from other nations of the world that I can differ in my philosophy in government and yet I can still be friendly with the man. Other countries of the world don’t do that. I remember when Gerry Ford was elected . . .was sworn in as President of the United States, he made a telephone call to me one day concerning Mister Nixon. And he told me what he was going to and I told him I thought he was wrong at that particular time, and we talked about our Golf game and we talked about how his wife was feeling and how my Millie was and I said ‘Gerry, isn’t . .Mister President, isn’t it great that you and I can talk like this and yet, I said come sometime after the Summer and you’ll be a candidate for re-election possibly and I’ll be goin’ around the country I said, tearin’ you to ribbons, you and your philosophy and your policies and that you think of the days of the high-button shoe and that your satisfied with the status quo. But that’s America. He’s got a tough job. His philosophy is not my philosophy and I . . . .

Paul Duke (Interviewer): “Does he come to you for advice?”

O’Neill: “I wouldn’t say that he . . .well, to this degree – when we have leadership meetings there is indeed a dialog. Something that never happened under Mister Nixon.

Those days are long gone, but sheer attrition may make them return.

This day in 1982 was about shooting wars. British troops landed on The Falkland Islands and the shooting war started. Amid reports of casualties and both sides claiming the upper hand, the propaganda wheels were in motion. The diplomatic wheels however were not, and even though Pope John Paul II appealed to Britain to show restraint and seek a peaceful solution, Margaret Thatcher said "thanks, but no thanks". And the war was on.

Likewise in the Middle East, only this time it was Iran who boasted major gains in territory over the Iraqi's, but it didn't look as though this thing would be over anytime soon. Terrorist bombs went off in Beirut, this time at the French Embassy and with scores of casualties.

Meanwhile, in other parts of the world. Successor to the ailing Leonid Brezhnev was looking more and more like Yuri Andropov, head of the Secret Police.

On Capitol Hill - Pres. Reagan's Fiscal spending plan for 1983 goes to battle at the House. Reagan also pushed for The Department of Energy to be merged with the Department of Commerce. The Supreme Court ruled people on Nixon's Enemies list did not need to be revealed. The Abortion question was also back on the docket, this time via State's rulings on abortions.

The DeLorean Auto plant in Ireland was ordered closed by the Irish government, citing no buyers in the foreseeable future.

All that, and a lot more on this May 24th in 1982 from the CBS World News Roundup and the 9:00 am (PDT) network news.

May 3rd in 1972 was a busy news day. Starting with reports of a Silver Mine disaster in Kellogg, Idaho. First reports said 58 were dead, but many more were unaccounted for. News was not hopeful.

It was also Primary time. The votes were being tallied and Hubert Humphrey won Indiana. Ohio was in trouble, with some polls still not opened at the time of the broadcast. Voting machines were the culprit, and all some officials could offer was a tepid reply "we goofed". Funny, Ohio just seems to be problematic that way throughout history. It was also reported that Sen. Henry Jackson gave up the ghost and quit his campaign, leaving McGovern and Humphrey to battle it out, with George Wallace tagging along somewhere behind.

In other news - despite reports that this day was rather uneventful in the Vietnam War, news was coming in of mass evacuations and bands of drunken South Vietnamese troops abandoning the city of Huè in droves. It didn't bode well for the South Vietnamese Army being able to stand on its own, and it was cause for concern on Capitol HIll, with some calling for an increase in Military supplies to the Saigon government. No, it was a situation that you didn't need to throw ordinance at in order to make better. The writing had been on the wall for Vietnam for some time, and Capitol Hill just wasn't noticing. Just sayin'.

Elsewhere on Capitol Hill - Nixon's naming of L. Patrick Grey to temporarily follow in the footsteps left vacant over the recent death of J. Edgar Hoover at the FBI until after the election had more than a few perplexed. Grey, an ardent supporter and close personal friend of Nixon, raised a few eyebrows over just how much in good hands the FBI was going to be with him in charge.

Silas Huddleston plead guilty to the murder of UAW President Jake Yablonski.

And a memorial was being held for the late FBI Director J.Edgar Hoover and services were to be held the following day.

All this, on a seemingly quiet May 3rd, 1972 as reported by John Chancellor and The NBC Nightly News.

And don't forget - if you haven't already:

Struggles all over, this 12th day of April in 1973. The U.S. lodged a formal protest over PLO radio broadcasts "Hate America" propaganda, whipping up anti-American demonstrations and violence. More fighting in Beirut as the PLO held a funeral for four guerrillas, gunned down by Israeli Commandos.

President Nixon consults with Gen. Alexander Haig over the worsening situation in Cambodia.

On Capitol Hill - the house struggles with rising consumer prices. Chairman of the House Ways & Means Committee Wilbur Mills calls for a roll back to the Phase One spending freeze.

A Federal judge ruled the dismantling of OEO was illegal and further layoffs and firings were put on hold.

Watergate was busily bubbling along. Dr. Armand Hammer's Occidental Petroleum signed an $8 Billion contract with the Soviet Union for Chemical supplies. The Senate votes unanimously for the Vietnam War Memorial. Nixon asks Congress to establish a minimum Unemployment compensation.

And two planes, one a military trainer and the other carrying NASA scientists collided and crashed just outside San Francisco, with 16 confirmed dead as of air-time.

And so it went, this April 12, 1973 as told by NBC Nightly News.