During the Bush years, it was common to hear dramatic comparisons to the 1960s: Bush's Battle of Algiers -style fiasco in Iraq and his AT&T surveillance apparatus at home and his DOJ purges were all redolent of the LBJ/Nixon era.

The comparison, which was usually made by lefties, was intended, I think, to inspire some 60s energy on the antiwar activist side.

I'd say the Vietnam comparison to Obama in Afghanistan/Pakistan (Afpak) is more apt. It looks like 1961 all over again? Bright young star power Democratic President (inspiring hope and exciting young Democrats) takes office with his glamorous wife.

Fist order of business on the international scene: A righteous (and popular) mission to topple the bad guys. O's crew has the same sort of brain trust cockiness as the famous "Best and Brightest" of the Kennedy years, typified by Kennedy's whiz kid Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.

And the bad guys in this case, the Taliban, have an aggressive momentum that's not dissimilar to the tireless Viet Cong.

Could be a long eight years.