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(Class of '78 - Voted Most Likely To Succeed)

Another case of history repeating itself. We all like to think the troubles in Afghanistan began in December 1979, when Soviet troops massed on the Afghan border and invaded.

Nope, 'fraid not. It actually got started in 1973 with the initial overthrow of the monarchy, during a staged coup when the King was in Italy having eye surgery. But that's another report (as soon as I dig up the tapes). That particular coup was given support by the Russians (and the U.S. it should be noted) in the area of arms and ideology, the regime under Muhammad Daud having distinct Marxist leanings. It was in April of 1978 when another coup was staged, overthrowing the Daud regime which got the Russians attention that led to the 1979 invasion.

The breakdown goes a little like this:

With Muhammad Daud's death, the government of Afghanistan was run by a divided, dilettante Marxist clique that launched a train of events eventually leading to the disintegration of the state. They named their regime the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA).

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(Welcome to California!)

With the current state of eternal/ongoing financial crisis in California, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit the day where things went south. On June 8, 1978; the day after the election and the "voters revolt", California was poised to go from budget surplus to bankruptcy in a very short time.

Gov. Brown: “The message is, that the Property Tax must be sharply curtailed and that government spending, wherever it is, must be held in check. We must look forward to lean and frugal budgets.”

Lots of people forget just how this thing got started, since it was 31 years ago - time has a tendency to cloud things over, particularly events that seemed like a good idea at the time, but over the long haul just spelled disaster.

So in case you were wondering . . .

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(In honor of Hump Day, an increase in voltage)

I swear, next week the Roundtable will be attacked by mellow - but in the meantime, here's a little something to go along with your triple shot of espresso.

Classic 1978 curio. Totally catchy. Completely off-the-wall.

Just like life.

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(Gann and Jarvis - the boys you can thank your IOU for today)

With California circling the economic drain, it's interesting to consider where this chaos all started. A little populist movement called "Prop 13" that captured the anger of California in 1978 and plunged us into the stone age as the result. It all centered around property taxes, placing a cap of 1% of the property's value as taxable. The anger centered around tax revenues being redistributed to other communities, rather than the community where the tax was being levied, not to mention tax rates increasing for everyone, not just new home buyers. The fear card was played that older home owners would be forced to sell their homes because tax rates would increase to the point of bankruptcy for most, and certainly this became the rallying cry.

The effect was almost instant, with a $5 billion dollar surplus evaporating in a short time with services and education funds slashed to practically nonexistent. Since it has been written into it's constitution, California has slid into depression almost continuously since then.

And Prop 13 has become the infamous "third rail" by which no one dares question - challenges to the laws validity have been struck down by the State Supreme Court and politicians caught even breathing Prop 13 revision have been hounded out of office, or threatened with it. The lobby surrounding the Prop 13 movement has a vice grip on the state legislature. So any thought of revision or modification is ignored.

But on June 9, 1978 the news was pretty much like it is now. Only now we have 31 years of failure to look at.

And we're left scratching our heads.

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(In all likelihood, the ones in this photo are probably the parents of the ones demonstrating today)

The eerie similarities in news reports from 1978 and this past weekend. In 1978 it was overthrowing the Shah. In 2009 it was reaction to a rigged election. In 1978 the overthrow was hijacked by extremists bent on employing their own forms of repression. In 2009 it's the repressive regime bent on suppressing the majority's desire for reform.

Where this story will end is anyone's guess at this point. But I suspect the ride, as it was in 1978, will be very bumpy.

(the never-ending saga of the Middle East - going back as far as the memory can see)

Another warmup of the Wayback Machine - this time to March 14, 1978. A typical average day - nothing special - nothing earth shattering. The hostage drama in Holland just came to a close, an hour before this broadcast. The Middle-East was doing what it seems to endlessly do. Buenos Aires was the site of prison riots The Senate was debating the Panama Canal Neutrality Treaty. The latest International scandal, Koreagate was running through the halls of Congress (the players making a comeback in 2005 under the heading "Food For Oil"). The Dollar was nosediving against the Yen - and Pope Paul had the flu.

Just another day - we all got through it. The earth didn't go off its axis. People died, people went insane and people got born.

And so it goes . . . .

(Dallas Townsend and the CBS World News Roundup)