That generation of Americans raised on “Leave It to Beaver,” who came of age during the battles over racial segregation, fought in (or over) the Vietnam War, joined the Peace Corps, marched for women’s rights, and populated suburbia with their offspring are now senior citizens.

We’re talking about baby boomers here – people born between 1946 and 1964, the first of whom turned 65 on New Years Day.

OK, so it’s mainly a big deal for demographers, wonkishly charting and graphing society....

Beyond image is the reality of a generational cohort that sent astronauts (of both genders and all races) into space, built a post-war economy on everything from Chevrolets to computer chips, invented “exurbs” and the shopping mall … and failed to heed Dwight Eisenhower’s warning about a “military-industrial complex” as the United States became the most powerful nation in human history – and consequently was at war or involved in military intervention someplace on the planet virtually the whole time since 1946....