Well for the best.

Expect the worst.

Some drink and pain.

Some die of first.

The way of knowing which way it's going.

Hope for the best, expect the worst.

Oh, for the best.

Welcome to the Commentary Magazine Daily podcast today is Wednesday, April 30th, 20205.

I'm John Pudhor.

It's the editor of Commentary Magazine.

With me, as always, Executive Editor A. Greenwald.

Hi, Abe.

Hi, John.

Washington Commentary columnist and Director of Domestic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute. Matthew

Contenetti. Hi, Matt. Hi, John. And senior editor Seth Mandel. Hi, Seth. Hi, John. One of the most

important events of our lifetime took place today, 50 years ago today. That was the

conclusion of the war in Vietnam that ended with American helicopters scrambling off the roof of the

embassy in Saigon as Saigon fell an image, indelible image of the most powerful country in the world laid very low.

And I think it's fair to say that the politics of the subsequent 50 years in almost every direction in the

United States, in every direction domestically about how Americans view America and American power,

how politicians responded to the event, this

cataclysmic and soul-crushing event, dominated our politics for a half century.

...