Chicago Redux

Possibly Bettmann Archive

The 2024 Democratic National Convention begins in Chicago. Just about 56 years ago, the DNC was also in Chicago. Both conventions are happening during a turbulent time in these here United States. Back then, the Vietnam War was raging and the anti-war movement had taken to the streets in many places. What happened in Chicago would become a watershed moment for my generation. I suspect everyone is going to be looking for comparisons to the 1968 version, and if you want to know more about it, Google The Battle Of Michigan Avenue. What I want to share is  what happened four months later, when USY International Convention was held at the same Chicago Hilton in December of 1968.

I was heading to Israel the following summer. I had never been on a plane before. My folks thought it might be a good idea to take a short flight before a 12-hour one, so we decided I would go to convention. Several hundred high school kids were descending on the same hotel that had been the backdrop for unbelievably vicious attacks on protestors by the Chicago PD. As we entered through the main doors, we were silent as we walked over bloodstains still visible on the sidewalk. Many of us, self included, had already been participating in anti-war demonstrations. We were still traumatized over the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. And we were all sentient at the time of JFK's assassination. It wasn't like we didn't know where we were going or were unaware of what had happened on that pavement. In that street. In that park. And I think it's safe to say we had a sense of responsibility to change the direction of our nation.

But I cannot speak for everyone else; I can only talk about the aftermath of that week in Chicago. 

I spent at least one night, possibly two at our  Vietnam War Peace Vigil. In a small room with low tables, we sat on the floor as if it was Tisha b'Av, lit candles around us, photos and posters on the wall, copies of appropriate psalms to recite together, prayers to murmur silently. We spoke in hushed tones about what we were feeling...sadness, desperation, impotence. 

Phil Pill, treasurer of our international board, had gone to Vietnam as the keyboard guy with Brandi Perry and The Bubble Machine to entertain troops. He was killed in a roadside ambush on July 5th, 1968. Phil was 17 years old.  I knew who he was, but I did not know him, but that didn't matter.  Death in Vietnam wasn't abstract; this was one of us. 

Looking back, I also think we were foundering a bit, overwhelmed by what was now our calling to change the world. Going to Chicago, the scene of what might have been the birth of a revolution, was far more intense that I expected. 

Was that because we were passionate teenagers, or because our inner moral compasses were slammed open? Again, I cannot speak for others who were there, but I was profoundly changed by those days. The camaraderie, the unity, and experience of finding we had a voice of our own was radical. I believed with my whole heart that my generation would change the world. That our passion for peace for all would happen in my lifetime. I was as certain as I could be that the Constitution of these here United States was a solid foundation for truth and justice for all. I wasn't so sure about The American Way, but I believed the Constitution was a workable framework and the branches of government would guarantee our freedoms.

Lots of lessons were taught that week in Chicago, lessons I would carry forward and, much to my amazement, remain an active part of my belief that the world can be changed. I learned the value of forethought and planning; that no change just happens, change requires coaxing. I learned the value of moderation; scaring the people who want to change is not an effective strategy. And most of all, I learned the value of the middle ground; if you can find a place in the middle, you can begin to have conversations about changing what that middle ground looks like..

A sort of teen-age butterfly effect. I saw my parents shift toward the anti-war side because of my older brother (who was draftable) and me. Conversations at the dinner table definitely changed. In college, I saw college administrations change policies because student bodies successfully demonstrated a need for change. I knew if we didn't win an election there would always be another one and we would have to just work harder to prevail.

I was 16 years old. This was a time of magical thinking. 

Never did I ever imagine a failed businessman who lied incessantly could be elected president. 

Never did I ever imagine a president would attempt to overturn an election.

Never did I ever imagine ours is a country where college campuses are hotbeds of anti-semitic Jew-hate rhetoric.

Never did I ever imagine American kids would choose to support, praise, and extol terrorists. 

Which brings me to Chicago DNC 2024. 

Kamala Harris will, of course, get the official nomination this week. Will she be a great president? I hope so.The last couple of weeks has brought such joy and enthusiasm into this race, banishing the oppressive cloudiness as President Biden was struggling with the decision to step down. It's entirely possible/probable that she will win. 

That's not the part that worries me. What scares me is what happens when she does. 

Secret and not-so-secret militias are taking shape around the country. Groups are forming on social media, and in at least one case, being assembled out in the open by Nassau County, NY executive Bruce Blakeman. According to the New York Times, Blakeman is... 

From the NYTimes

recruiting 75 armed citizens, many of them former police officers, for a force of “special deputies” to be activated whenever he chooses.

 

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican who has allied himself with former President Donald J. Trump and thrust himself into the culture wars, posted a call in March for residents with gun permits and an interest in becoming “provisional emergency special deputy sheriffs.”

 

The posting called the initiative a strategy to assist in the “protection of human life and property during an emergency” such as a hurricane or blackout — and perhaps, Mr. Blakeman later added, “a riot.”

As a Nassau County kinda girl myself, this is not even remotely surprising. Scary, but not a surprise. 

Nor is Rachel Maddow's opinion piece in the New York Times,  (and for the record, I am not a devotee) that examines how the rules for certification are being changed in a number of swing states to delay the outcome of the vote. Georgia is making major changes to those rules of certification. She wrote:

Because Georgia law holds that election boards “shall” certify results within a week of the election, this rule almost certainly will face legal challenges. But in a state where Republicans have delayed or refused certification at least seven times since 2020 — more than in any other state — the rule injects a new layer of murk into the legal waters less than 100 days before the election.

 

On Monday, the board is expected to consider yet another revision to the rules that would afford members of county election boards an additional option for delaying or refusing certification. The rule would allow local board members to demand “all election-related documentation” before certifying the results.

If you pair that with the first-day expectations from Project 2025 coupled with the official GOP platform, we should be worried about what steps will be taken to overturn a Harris/Walz victory. Every speech Feckless Felon delivers is more bullshit than substance. And speeches delivered by JB Bedbug subtly harp on how women should have no rights. A lot of GOP women are backing away from this duo because they realize they will be the ones curtailed along with the rest of us vagina-wielding baby machines. 

Feckless Felon keeps insinuating there will be a bloodbath if he loses. I don't think he's kidding. 

I'm watching the DNC. It started late because people had difficulty getting through the pro-Hamas demonstrations taking place outside the convention center. I thought a lot about the differences between the two protests. They are not the same. Both may protest a war, but one wanted our troops withdrawn from a conflict that was not our own, the other wants the US to withdraw support from Israel,  supporting, instead, terrorists who vow to destroy a sovereign state. 

And that also got me to thinking about the pro-Hamas demonstrators. If I could ask them each a question, I would ask if they celebrated the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11. After all, the people who brought down the two towers are the same people who murdered music festival goers and took children and old people hostage. These are the same people who have deemed homosexuality a crime punishable by death. How are these acts in line with their ultra-liberal views?  They are demanding a cease fire, and as of the national news this evening, Israel had accepted the US plan . Hamas has yet to respond about the ceasefire, but they did take credit for an attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Listen to the candidates.

Decide who is telling the truth and who is lying. 

Decide how important truth telling is...and act accordingly.