Blood of the Beast, Rallying Round the Flag Summary and Analysis

Cleaver talks of the American tendency to run to the aid of anyone. He says that Americans "think of themselves collectively as a huge rescue squad on twenty-four-hour call to any spot on the globe where dispute and conflict may erupt." As he talks about the United State's presence in Vietnam, Cleaver indicates his belief that the government is misleading people in order to gain support for the war. He says that the government talks of the communists in North Vietnam invading the peace-loving democratic South. Cleary says the conflict is actually a civil war, but that the government can't characterize it as such, because the American people wouldn't support interference in that situation. Cleary says the reason President Lyndon Johnson opposes the sit-ins and teach-ins of...