Yes I did live through the 1960's. We had a Prime Minister in Harold Wilson who grasped what a rudderless ship America had become (political parties in hock to industrialists who needed the quick fix of a war economy) and accordingly Wilson kept us out of the mess that Vietnam was turning into.

Of course Wilsons was widely derided at the time by all the left wingers. The trouble with the left wing - they're a bit like the Vatican - you can never be quite Catholic enough. No one is pure enough in their beliefs and sctions for the real left wingers.

They would rather have a Thatcher or a Reagan in power than take over the reins of government themselves with the compromises that that entails.