The Whole World Is Watching

For All Of The Wrong Reasons

I’m older than most of you. In a way that’s a good thing as experience is valuable in this world. When I was 13-years old I was arrested protesting the Vietnam war. The police asked me for my license to drive. I told them I was only thirteen but they didn’t believe me. After spending a couple hours in a “holding cell” they asked for my Dad’s phone number and I gave it to them so he could pick me up. I did not know what his reaction would be but was surprised, he was proud of me. At heart, musicians never change, do they?

A couple of years later, on May 4, 1970, the effects of the Vietnam war entered my life once again. My neighbor, who lived behind my house, one Allison Krause was killed at Kent State University. Her younger sister Laurie was my “classmate” at then Churchill High School so her sister’s interaction with the “National Guard” was huge. Don’t get me wrong, no one should ever die protesting what they believe but Allison, without a doubt, was a radical. Times have changed but there are two sides to what’s transping in today’s world. Regardless, like in 1968 the “whole world is watching” and given who is protesting what, it just feels different.

The 1968 Democratic Convention

Worlds “collided” at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, young and old, war and peace, law and order. "You can't take that week in isolation, '68, one of the most dramatic and traumatic years in the nation's history, kind of all rolled to Chicago, and you could feel it coming," said Bill Daley.

Daley, who would become President Obama's chief of staff, was a college student in 1968 and spent the convention at the side of his father Mayor Richard J. Daley. "We knew that there was going to be an enormous challenge on the streets; it was sort of the challenge to the system," Daley said. "My father believed that he was the defender of the city." With tens of thousands of protesters expected, 12,000 police officers were deployed, along with the National Guard. We all just watched it on the “boob” tube.

On August 25, Walter Cronkite noted on air, "The Democratic Convention is about to begin in a police state. There just doesn't seem to be any other way to say it." Not long before joining CBS News, Bob Schieffer, a younger reporter in 1968 attending his first national convention said, "The country’s being torn apart by the Vietnam War. There were demonstrations every day, all over the country. The here comes the ‘Democratic’ Convention in Chicago.  It was to be a place where the ‘Democrats’ were going to get their business all together. But everybody knew it was going to be difficult."

The primaries had been explosive, President Johnson was forced out by the success of Senator Eugene McCarthy in New Hampshire. Robert Kennedy was ‘assassinated’ the night he won the California primary. Vice President Humphrey did not enter into any primaries, but was favored to win it all. "Humphrey’s the ‘establishment’ representing the big bosses, the traditional Democratic Party, the politicians, and above all the big city mayors. They were not satisfied with Gene McCarthy; his sole campaign was, 'I'll end the war in Vietnam," said Schieffer.

The city, in a year of assassinations and riots, couldn't grant permits to protesters to march on the convention or sleep in city parks. Bill Jaconetti was a rookie policeman in 1968, posted to the protests in Grant Park. "We knew the convention was coming to town. We knew that there was probably going to be some problems. I had come home from being in Korea stationed on the DMZ. All my buddies went to Vietnam" he said.

Wednesday night, August 28, the confrontation that had been building all that week, probably all year, burst open between Grant Park and the “convention” headquarters hotel. "The first deputy said, 'Clear the streets.' After about five or six warnings, and then the final warning, he said, 'If you don't move out of the street, my ‘officers’ are gonna clear the street.' And that's what we had to do on that night," Jaconetti said.

One bandaged witness described what happened next, "They were just swinging their clubs like just a bunch of idiots." Jaconetti recalled, "The problem wasn't the regular people; the problem was the agitators, and there were a lot of them. My partner next to me, he caught a house brick in the chest. They had to take him to the hospital."

The violence in Grant Park was seen all over the world, and at the convention, where anti-war protestors erupted. Abe Ribicoff, speaking at the podium, said, "With George McGovern as President of the United States, we wouldn't have to have Gestapo tactics in the streets of Chicago." Despite the uproar, Humphrey won the overall nomination by more than a thousand votes. Schieffer said, "Once all of these riots had broken out, and all this trouble had happened in Chicago, the nomination wasn't worth the paper it was written on." Richard Nixon ran on a "law and order" platform, and Nixon won the presidency in a close election later that year. Sounds a lit like today, eh?

What To Expect This Coming August

Protests over Israel-Gaza war are expected as Democrats nominate President Joe Biden during the 2024 Democratic National Convention taking place in “Chicago”. Democrats from across the country are now heading to Chicago for their upcoming convention. Perhaps they’ll avoid the kind of unrest that made this city notorious in the annals of political history.

Democrats have a juggling act as they plan a convention while protesters are working to get front-and-center access to the United Center, though the ‘demonstrations’ over the Israel-Gaza war are unlikely to match those over Vietnam in 1968. What if they do?Members of the Association of State Democratic Committees will update convention planning, tour venues, including the United Center and McCormick Place, where the daytime meetings will be held. They’ll also discuss arrangemets for the “eight” hotels where their delegations will be staying ahead of their visit.

The word for the convention is unity. Nothing could be further from the truth. While logistics seem to be under control they hope the “Chicago Police” and federal officials will be able to manage the protesters who are expected to converge on Chicago in late August. Protest organizers expect 30,000 demonstrators, more than twice the number actually witnessed in 1968. I wonder if they’ll all have the same color tents.

Law enforcement officials are working to come up with parameters where protesters can demonstrate and how to handle activists who break rules including making mass arrests of protesters, a move that is already drawing criticism. Plans are being made, without input from the protesters themselves. The Coalition to March has tried three times to secure a permit to march from the city’s West Side to the United Center but have been rejected every time. The group filed suit claiming that their rights are being violated. This is happening now. What will it all look like in a couple months?

Bill Ayers, the former anti-war activist who was arrested during the “convention” that year, says the stalling by city officials echoes the infamous 1968 convention when then Mayor Richard J. Daley’s overall “strategy was to keep the protest groups talking and negotiating, and then to deny, deny, deny. It was a ‘rope-a-dope’ plus delay, then deny.” The goal was to divert attention and energy from planning a protest, Ayers, who lives in Chicago, recalled. It didn’t work then and it’s not going to work today. All protests occurred anyway and became violent when police used nightsticks on the crowd.

Democrats hope to focus on highlighted battleground states during their gatherings by calling attention to the differences between the policy agendas between the Biden camp and former President Donald Trump. The same objective existed in 1968. What other similarities will materialize. From what we’re watching now, 1968 will be just a relaxed ‘outdoor picnic’ compared to what’s coming in August.

The markets are reacting to today’s announcement of a significant first quarter miss in GDP. I’ll cover that issue tomorrow and the “best” way for investors and traders to handle the inevitable reversion towards a more normal interest rate curve. Today let’s just turn our attention to the message we’re sending the world. Protests are necessary in the United States and rights that should never be trampled upon. It is the message we should always be concerned about and this time we’re sending the wrong one.

About a year after the 1968 Democratic Convention, the Chicago Transit Authority, now known as Chicago, released “Prologue / Someday”. The lyrics of “the whole world is watching” rings true. The same rings true today, more than 55+ years later. Protest against the United States and its participation in the Vietnam war was prevalent. So was violence, both before and after. People died, governmental buildings, institutions and more were targeted. My fear is that today’s current message, exhibited by students who are misdirected, will carry weight. My hope is that protesters will learn from the other side the reality of their mistaken approach. Being able to protest is a real “gift” when used correctly. Let’s hope that is what emerges from these ongoing activities.