Ah... The '68 Convention...

[WillyT]

Something to listen to, while you view the pictures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNiv48dSg0Y















Lyrics:

Would you look around you now
And tell me what you see
Faces full of hate and fear
Faces full of me
Do you feel the rumblings
As your head comes crumbling down
Do you know what I mean
Run, you better, run you know
The End is getting near
Feel the wind of something hard
Come whistling past your ear
As they try to get you
Where it will upset you
Down
Now you know what I mean
Someday you will see how long
We've waited for the time
To show you how we've died
To get together with you all

Twist and turn your head around
'Till everything's unclear
Twist and turn your arm around
Until it is not there
And they'd love to burn you
Or at least to turn you around
Now you know what I mean
Can you look around you now
And tell us what's to be
Can you look inside yourself
And tell us what you see
As you feel the rumblings
As your head comes crumbling down
And you know what I mean
Someday you will see how long
We've been waiting for the time
To show you how we've died
To get together with you all

CTA

:evilfrown:

[meow mix]

1. looks like DU

well pretty similar

[WillyT]

2. Check Out The Soundtack !!!

:hi:

[rpannier]

3. But without the dogs

[Fovea]

4. Just as I remember it

my formative experience in regards to authority.

[madrchsod]

5. the day the democratic party died

[Ken Burch]

6. I'd also add these lyrics from Phil Ochs, who attended the protests

And was scarred for life by what he saw in Chicago(a trauma which contributed significantly to his decision to commit suicide eight years later):

WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS VISITS LINCOLN PARK AND EMERGES UNSCATHED


As I went out one evening,
To take the evening air,
I was blessed by a blood-red moon
In Lincoln Park, the dark was turning.
I spied a fair young maiden,
And a flame was in her eyes
And on her face lay the steel blue skies
Of Lincoln Park, the dark was turning...turning

They spread their sheets upon the ground,
Just like a wandering tribe
And the wise men walked,
In their Robespierre robes
Through Lincoln Park the dark was turning
The towers trapped and trembling,
And the boats were tossed about,
When the fog rolled in and the gas rolled out,
From Lincoln Park the dark was turning...turning


Like wild horses freed at last,
We took the streets of wine,
But I searched in vain,
For she stayed behind
In Lincoln Park the dark was turning...turning.
I'll go back to the city,
Where I can be alone.
And tell my friends,
She lies in stone,
In Lincoln Park,
The dark was turning.

(From the album "Rehearsals for Retirement", which featured this cover image: )

[WillyT]

7. That Year Scarred The Entire Country...

RIP Phil...

[H2O Man]

16. Outstanding n/t

[Dr.Phool]

8. I was too young for Czechago in '68

But we had a gas (lots of it) in Miami in '72.

Yippee!

[begin_within]

9. Don't forget the 1968 Republican Convention:

[WillyT]

10. LOL !!! - You Bad !!!

:spank:

[Ken Burch]

21. If only somebody had posted Nixon's solo piano performance of "Home on the Range"

They'd have the '68 Republican Convention feeling nailed.

Anybody know it it's on YouTube?

[TexasObserver]

11. I was in the military, no TV, no radio, no newspapers. Saw it much later.

But what an event it was to watch on TV later and to see in major magazines. I think I got a hold of a TIME magazine a month later.

[question everything]

12. And then all of these people stayed home on elections day

because Humphrey was not "pure" enough for them and gave the presidency to Richard Nixon.

For all those who will not vote for the nominee.

[Ken Burch]

13. You're not really being fair about the people who couldn't bring themselves to back HHH

The '68 nominating process was far more autocratic and corrupt. Also, it wasn't just a question of Humphrey not being "pure" enough. It was also a question of LBJ forcing Humphrey to campaign throughout the nominating process and for almost a month after the Convention as an arrogant all-out hawk, which was deeply grating and offensive to the millions of Democratic voters who had backed the peace candidates.

Remember as well that people were actually being arrested in Chicago pretty much just for wearing McCarthy buttons(let alone being Yippies), that the debate on the war plank went on for only ONE hour on each side(this being the single-most important issue of the year). Remember finally that, on the last night of the convention, the Chicago police actually raided McCarthy HEADQUARTERS at the convention, brutally beating campaign staffers and guests at the campaign's farewell reception.

These things had a lot to do with the choices Peace Democrats made that fall.

It would have been better if everybody could have got past that and voted Humphrey/Muskie anyway, but LBJ and Daley had done everything they could to drive Peace Democrats away from support of the Democratic ticket.

In fact, given that Nixon didn't make many deep cuts to Great Society programs in his first term, I've sometimes wondered if Nixon and LBJ had some kind of backroom understanding that, if LBJ made it impossible for Humphrey to win, Nixon would leave the Great Society alone during his first four years in office. I think my theory on this is also supported by the fact that LBJ had proof, with a week and a half to go in the race, that Nixon's campaign had intervened in the Paris Peace Talks to make sure the South Vietnamese delegation didn't agree to a peace treaty before the election, and LBJ REFUSED to go public with the proof. Going public would have guaranteed a solid Humphrey victory(since Nixon would have been exposed as a traitor), and this would have meant the LBJ's party would have gotten away with dumping him. Johnson was bitter enough to stab his own party's candidate in the back, just to salve his own metastatic ego.

[Hart2008]

15. The BBC ran a documentary on Nixon's back channel with Ho Chi Minh.

The BBC ran an hour show about this, stating that Nixon sabotaged the Paris peace talks by promising Ho Chi Ming a better deal.

No US media ever covered this story.

[Ken Burch]

18. If you can remember the name of that documentary or know of a link to it

Please post it. I knew that Nixon had influenced the South Vietnamese position at the talks (his campaign had sent Anna Chennault, the Chinese-born widow of "Flying Tigers" squadron founder Claire Chennault, to persuade the Thieu regime to hold out on a deal at the talks) but was unaware that he had ALSO had back channel dealings with "Uncle Ho". Just like the Big Dick to play it both ways. 25,000 U.S. troops and at least 300,000 Vietnamese soldiers and civilians died just to put Milhouse The Malevolent over the top.

If only that had come out in '68. If only it had at least been revealed in '72. Damn those who hid the truth and enabled the Trickster.

[H2O Man]

17. Many members

of the media took beatings, too. Just for wearing press passes.

There is no evidence that I am aware of that supports the claim "these people" stayed home, losing the election for the Merry Warrior. It was Humphrey's failure to separate himself from LBJ's war policy that caused the "undecided" voters to move to Nixon, along with the Phillip's "southern strategy."

Perhaps the most interesting thing, too often overlooked, is the communication between LBJ and Nixon in the period before the election. Johnson felt that Humphrey was a weak character, which was true. The truth is that LBJ favored Nixon, and he was not alone in that. But that can't be confused with the grass roots. The grass roots supported Humphrey, and had the campaign gone on another four days, Humphrey would have won.

Thank you for you contributions on this thread.

[Ken Burch]

19. You're welcome. It's only through passing on this history that we can hope to stop it recurring.

(btw, my favorite story of insane cop violence at Chicago was told by, of all people, Winston Churchill's namesake grandson, who was covering the story for a British newspaper. A cop asked him his name and then bashed him in the head when he told the cop what it was. As Hizzoner so aptly put it that year "The police are not here to create disorder. The police are here to PRESERVE disorder!"

[H2O Man]

22. "The Tales of Hoffman"

is a wonderful book of transcripts from the trial of the Chicago 8 (then 7!). I suspect that you are familiar with it, and mention it here as a resource for younger DUers who are interested in the events from the convention. It is edited by Mark Levine, George McNamee, and Daniel Greenberg.

I fully agree that it is only from being aware of what has happened in the past, that we can hope to avoid making the same errors today. And for a variety of reasons, I think that we do well to keep 1968 in mind this year. There are curious dynamics in both the democratic and republican primaries that remind me of '68.

[WillyT]

26. Um... Martin Luther King Jr. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Were Shot Dead Two Months Apart, And...

a few months before the convention.

http://www.newsmakingnews.com/vm,mb,mlk,lorrainemotel.jpg



Imagine what would happen if the same thing were to happen today to either of our candidates!

Do you really think people would just say, "Oh well...who ya voting for now???

:wtf:

I doubt I'd vote at all... and the PTB probably knows that.

:shrug:

[suston96]

27. Nixon gave the people hope.....He had a secret plan to end the Vietnam war...

That was in 1968. He left office in 1974 and the war was still on. So much for promising hope.

[WillyT]

29. Do You REALLY Wanna Go There ??? - Jesus Christ !!!

I could just as easily say that the candidate of "experience" will pull a Nixon, and promise to end the war somewhere around the end of her SECOND FUCKING TERM !!!

FUCK THAT !!!

Put Chelsea in uniform, and THEN we'll talk!

:wtf:

[suston96]

30. Worked like a charm. Nixon was inspirational too. He inspired me. LMAO!

[WillyT]

31. Well... There Ya Have It !!!

I'd bet ya dollars to donuts, that more people will lose their lives under Hillary, than Barack.

I got 5 dollars, you got some donuts???

:evilgrin:

[suston96]

32. Huh? Losing lives? What does that mean? I am talking about hope and inspiration ......

.... that Obama is promising and you want to sell me donuts for five bucks? Uh, does that include the donut hole?

[WillyT]

33. LOL !!! -It's A Zen Thing... The Hope, Is In The Hole

:evilgrin:

[suston96]

34. Had a great argument in Philosophy class many years ago"

The question was: what happens to the hole when you eat the donut?

That's rhetorical, by the way, because the argument could go on for days, months, years.

[Hart2008]

14. Chicago

Chicago
Graham Nash
So your brother's bound and gagged
And they chained him to a chair,
Won't you please come to Chicago
Just to sing.
In a land that's known as freedom,
How can such a thing be fair?
Won't you please come to Chicago
For the help that we can bring.

We can change the World.
Rearrange the World.
It's dying
to get better.

Politicians sit yourselves down,
There's nothing for you here.
Won't you please come to Chicago
For a ride.
Don't ask Jack to help you
Cause he'll turn the other ear.
Won't you please come to Chicago
Or else join the other side.

We can change / yes we can change the World.
Rearrange / rearrange the World.
It's dying / do you believe in justice?
It's dying / and if you believe in freedom.
It's dying / Let a man live his own life.
It's dying / Rules and regulations who needs them?
Open up the door.

Somehow people must be free,
I hope the day comes soon.
Won't you please come to Chicago,
To show your face.
From the bottom of the ocean
To the mountains of the Moon.
Won't you please come to Chicago
No one else can take your place.

We can change / yes we can change the World.
Rearrange / rearrange the World.
It's dying / If you believe in justice.
It's dying / and if you believe in freedom.
It's dying / Let a man live his own life.
It's dying / Rules and regulations, who needs them?
Open up the door.

I still love seeing these guys perform this.

[Ken Burch]

20. Thanks for posting that.

BTW, for the benefit of younger DUers, I'd like to point out that the first verse of that song was a reference to Black Panther Bobby Seale, a member of the "Chicago Eight"(the group including "Yippies" Abbie Hoffman Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden and Rennie Davis and Quaker peace activist David Dellinger, among others, who were tried for organizing the protests outside the "Democratic" Convention in '68) who was bound and gagged in Judge Julius Hoffman's reactionary courtroom for demanding that the court honor his legal right to act as his own counsel at the trial.

Later, Seale's case was separated from the others, who were then known as the Chicago Seven

If HBO FILMS ever put out a home video or DVD version of "Conspiracy!", their recreation of the Chicago Eight/Seven trials, find it. It has interviews with most of the participants(and also marked what was probably the last time Jerry Rubin and Abbie Hoffman were in the same room before their deaths), and vividly depicts the repressive treatment of Bobby Seale as well as the mockery of justice represented by the entire trial.

[WillyT]

23. Thank You !!!

Perfect !!!

:yourock:

[Madam Mossfern]

24. I remember that nightmare

I worked for McCarthy at the "Eugenoeus" art gallery in NYC.
Remember those wonderful posters with the dove?
I watched in horror as my friends were clubbed.

[no name no slogan]

25. One of my profs was a McCarthy delegate in 1968

And sadly, the action inside the hall tended to resemble the action outside the hall.

[Raine]

28. I was too young to vote but watched on TV

as all this lead to the election of Richard Nixon. :-(