Our father was also a bit gnarly and did not like to have discussions that went outside of his "known facts". When the children strayed, he'd head off to his office leaving the rest of us to clean up.

But I was really too young to understand it all back then. My dad also had very strong opinions and tended dominate discussions. Anyone outside our family who disagreed with him was a “horse’s ass.” It was one of his favorite terms, and definitely not to be mistaken as a term of endearment. Thanks for the memories. I miss him so much, especially as we’re soon approaching our shared birthday as well as Fathers’ Day. He’s been gone almost 30 years now. He mellowed a lot later in life and went out of his way to make amends when he knew he was dying.

I’ve observed moments like this. Blusterer claims momentary ownership of the room, and as the end of that brief moment approaches, it’s NOT over. And somebody responds and makes the most important point in a most powerful way: quiet. Nonviolent. Non-accusatory. And hardly what you could call confrontational. Like one of those cross-the-court baskets made from the other side of the playing field, which for anybody else might as well have been the other side of the planet!

LOVE this story of yours, madamesilverspurs!

As I remember at the time, Nixon and Kissinger were planning to bomb dikes in Vietnam which would kill up to 250,000 people. That is the context of Fonda pictured at the anti-aircraft gun, ready to stop the death of one quarter million people by shooting down the bombers.