Don Henley cites election of George W. Bush as baby boomers' biggest blunder

Don Henley says that for the most part, the baby boomer generation failed to put its idealism into constructive practice, and cites electing President George W. Bush among its greatest blunders. When asked by The New Brunswick Business Journal to list his generation's greatest achievements and greatest blunders, Henley answered, "Being a boomer myself, I can say with some insight that my generation, as a whole, didn't follow through on achieving or living some of the ideals it espoused in the 1960's. We ended up becoming the first 'Me Generation.' At some point, we abandoned 'Us' in favor of 'Me.' (It's) gotten even worse with subsequent generations. It's totally out of control now, which, in my opinion, indicates a continuing cycle of bad parenting -- bad and getting worse."

He went on to throw partial blame for the blunders of both his and his children's generation on the current administration: "We have allowed our so-called leaders to place politics above science, especially in terms of the environment... Speaking strictly as a citizen of the U.S., I think our biggest mistake was electing George W. Bush as President. I'm not sure that colossal blunder can be laid solely at the feet of the Baby Boom Generation, but we certainly played a large part in it."

Although Henley has been politically outspoken against the Bush administration, he says that the Eagles try to keep their comments non-partisan on the stage: [ Click to listen if you have a backstage pass] "We have found over the years that a concert is not necessarily the forum for one's political opinions. We do most of that work now separate and apart from our concert tours."

The Eagles kick off their next series of dates on September 6th in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the BOK Center. The band will be on the road through the end of the month.