Hello to All That

"But the insurgency led by Mr. Beck and others has little to do with the 60s, which were, for one thing, years of great prosperity—with high employment and federal budget surpluses.
"It is rooted instead in the 1970s, a decade of economic distress parallel to today’s. Conflicts then had less to do with extremist threats to the social order—from, say, the Weather Underground on the left and the John Birch Society on the right—than with battles waged over social changes the government itself enacted, including court-mandated busing, affirmative action and legalized abortion. Many who believed they stood within the mainstream of politics and culture became convinced that their best interests and values were disrespected by the governing class."

Sam Tanenhaus in The New York Times explains why President Obama has failed to transcend the culture war.