Draft dodging, race rioting, massive student protests, the treacherous assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., the beginning of the divisive American culture war, Black Power, the Women’s Liberation movement and a trip around the moon are just a few of the headlining topics of 1968.

“The events of 1968 transformed the world in ways we’re still trying to understand today,” Tom Brokaw comments in this editorial documentary on the political and social landscape-changing events of this tumultuous year.

What is most insightful about this documentary is Brokaw’s perspective as a journalist then and now. And considering that March 19 recently marked the five-year anniversary of the war in Iraq, it’s particularly relevant to focus on Brokaw’s explorations of the motivations of draft dodgers and the student rebellions in protest of the Vietnam War.

Asked if he felt like he was running out on his country, a draft dodger who moved to Canada replies, “America has gotten so far warped that she’s run out on herself.”

When Brokaw interviews “The Daily Show”’s host and pundit Jon Stewart about the difference between today’s reaction to the war in Iraq and the reaction in 1968 to Vietnam, Stewart astutely says, “If there was a draft, this would be a whole different game. And they know that. And that’s why there’s no draft.”

In 1968 with Tom Brokaw, we’re given a balanced report on the year as Brokaw interviews both sides of the fence, from Pat Buchanan to Arlo Guthrie, from an ex-riot police officer to a student protestor. It’s a documentary that should be seen by all who have that sickening feeling in their gut that history is stubbornly repeating itself.

Grade: B+

1968 with Tom Brokaw is currently available.