Part Two: Friends and Enemies
1) Waco: David Koresh vs. the Government
--The ATF, then the FBI tried to enter David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound. They had 305 guns and there were allegations of child abuse. When the ATF tried to raid the compound 4 ATF agents were killed and 6 Branch Davidians.
--The FBI then engaged in a 51 day standoff that ended on April 19th, 1993. The FBI went in, a fire was started (most likely by Koresh) and 50 adults and 25 children died, including Koresh. This initiated a lot of anti-government sentiment, which contributed in part to the OKC bombing 2 years later on the exact same day.
--Amazingly, Janet Reno, who oversaw this fiasco, was never held accountable.
2) X-Files: The nation's obssession over aliens and ufos.
3) Tonya Harding vs. Nancy Kerrigan
--On January 6th, 1994 someone attacked Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan by whacking her in the knee. It was discovered that Harding's husband and bodyguard were responsible. Harding has always denied that she knew anything about the attack beforehand, but many believe that she master minded the whole thing.
4) Jerry Springer and the rise of Trashy Tv Talk Shows
--Jerry Springer went from politics, to news to hosting one of the nation's trashiest talk shows. The sad part was the world was captivated and his ratings skyrocketed. He was called the "Mayor of Dysfunction Junction".
5) Black Hawk Down
--I have researched and talked a lot about this event. It is one of Bill Clinton's many failures which led to Osama Bin Laden's view of the U.S. as a "paper tiger", and ultimately led to 9/11.
6) Medicated America
--Actresses such as Roseanne admit to using prescription drugs for depression and anxiety. The world learns of a new set of drugs known as SSRI's.
7) The rise of Rap music and Rappers
8) Oklahoma City Bombing
--On April 19, 1995, exactly 2 years after the Waco siege, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols planted a car bomb by the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The bombing killed 168 people and injured 600. Before 9/11 this was the largest terrorist attack in the U.S.
9) The rise of Rush Limbaugh and conservative talk radio
--One of the best things about the 90's.
10) Bill Clinton and the Government Shutdown
--Congress led by Newt Gingrich and the President got into a battle and the government shut down for 27 days at the end of 1995 and the beginning of 1996. As usual, the media made the Republicans out to be the bad guys, and the Republicans caved.
11) Mobsters John Gotti vs. Sammy the Bull Gravano
--Gotti is the head of the Gambino crime family, and is a media whore who becomes popular until he is brought down by his second in command, Sammy the Bull Gravano.
12) New York City is rescued by Rudy Giuliani
--When Giuliani is elected as Mayor of New York City, crime was at an unbelievable high of 2,200 murders a year. He implemented a no tolerance policy. The # of murders per year was 2, 245 in 1990, and by 2010 it had dropped to 536.
--Two very popular Tv shows took place in New York City in the 90's. Seinfeld is regarded as pre-Giuliani New York City, and Friends is post-Rudy.
13) Howard Stern--Father of a VERY Dysfunctional Family
14) Homosexuality comes out of the closet
--Roseanne and Ellen have gay people coming out of the closet. The horrific murder of Matthew Shephard who was gay also takes place and gives rise to hate crimes laws.
15) Macarena song takes the country by storm
--Everyone is dancing the macarena. It helped bring out Latino singers such as Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin.
16) The Internet
--Who knew when this was invented in 1991 (not by Al Gore ;-)) how much it would change our daily lives. There was confusion on how to use it until Google comes on the scene and gives people an easy way to search the internet.
17) The OJ Simpson car chase, trial and verdict
--91% of Americans watched the verdict live. It was the country's own version of a soap opera. And one of the biggest miscarriages of justice. The message was, if you have enough $, you can get away with murder.
Previously:
Part One: Great Expectations
No comments:
Post a Comment