The Biden Administration Is About To Have Their “1968 Chicago Convention” Moment

Sweet Jesus, my heart is breaking. When these pro Palestinian protests originating at Columbia University started to spread nationwide, I literally prayed that the Universities and local municipal agencies had learned the painful lesson of the Vietnam war protests of 1968. sadly, my prayers went unanswered. Maybe I didn’t pray hard enough.

I was `11 years old in 1968, and living in Chicago during the Summer of Unrest. I was already both politically aware and motivated. And even in puberty I instinctively understood the emotions of the students, and their desire to use their voices and administration stances that they felt were violent protests to attempt to change administration policies that they found both repugnant as well as unconstitutional.

Unfortunately, nothing has changed in the last 56 years. The entrenched fossils running the federal and local governments haven’t learned the lesson of 1968. If you want to compare the pro Palestinian protesters to anybody, compare them to the youth movement that sprang up around mass school shootings in the wake of the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas tragedy in Florida. They are both enmeshed in peaceful protests that concern ideological issues that the protesters feel strongly about. Strongly enough to mobilize and protest. Something that just happens to be protected by the First Amendment.

These stupid f*ckers haven’t learned the lessons of 1968! They are already considering the protests starting at Columbia University in New York, and spreading nationwide as some kind of loosely knit national cabal with a loosely knitted national agenda. And nothing could be farther from the truth.

After the MSD tragedy in Florida, the student activists used their online resources to create national protests involving school walkouts nationwide. But the thing that the cretins in charge fail to understand is that there is no national coordination, nor a national agenda towards a specific goal. These groups are homogenous, each with their own agendas and goals. And with their own local leadership.

Why don’t they get it?! The NYPD breaking into a building on the campus of Columbia University, and hauling away some 60 peaceful college protesters is not going to change the attitudes of goals of the students nationwide to try to gain their aims. Thankfully the NYPD chose a non confrontational attitude in ending the takeover of the campus building, but that’s no guarantee that the authorities in different jurisdictions will take the same hands off attitude.

I am particularly irked by the response of the vaunted Texas Department of Public Safety goons in breaking up the protests at the University of Texas at Austin. They almost gleefully used tear gas and pepper spray to break up the protests on the college campus. Man! Talk about some Texas bad asses! Why didn’t some of those same hard asses use some of that pepper spray and tear gas to immobilize the insane *sshole in that classroom in  Uvalde while he slaughtered 21 teachers and students? Where were all of these gung ho hard asses then? What a bunch of slack jawed wusses!

And the Biden administration is in the hurt locker. Just like 1968, this problem is not going to go away. These kids well and truly have the bit in their teeth, and with the end of classes nest month, they’re going to have all summer to plan and coordinate their protests. And with the wonders of social media, they’re much better prepared for the road ahead than their 1968 predecessors.

The Democrats rode the anti gun protest youth vote in 2018 to retake the House. Biden rode them on environmental issues and a general antipathy to Trump in 2020. And he rode his accomplishments on gun control and the environment to minimize Democratic losses in 2022.

And he’s going to need them again to win in 2024. But they aren’t going to come cheap. These people are not driven by the normal ideological mantra of the Democratic party. Instead they are driven by their very well formed opinions of right and wrong on issues that are important to them. And right now, they are motivated by the inexcusable Israeli carnage in Gaza. And they’re not going to listen to any of the normal governmental bullsh*t doublespeak,

Biden is at an inflection point in his presidency. He needs not only the support, but the enthusiasm of of the 18-29 base to come out and support him in 2024. But he isn’t going to get them if he doesn’t put a choker chain on that flying monkey Netanyahu. The sanguine tragedy of the deaths of the seven World Central Food Kitchen workers by Israeli drones was a galvanizing point.

If Biden wants wo win in November, he’s going to have to make a stand on Israel. Fortunately, the majority of his Democratic caucus is behind him on reining in the insanity of the military aid to Israel. As is the majority of American Jewish voters, who are horrified by the excesses of the Netanyahu regime. The only ones against him are the GOP caucus, and they’re going to be against him no matter what he does.

These are the moments that don’t just define a presidency, they define a presidential legacy. Biden is currently faced with a decision between what’s right, and what’s politically expedient. And judging from the passion and enthusiasm of the 18-29 crowd, his decision may shape the outcome of the 2024 election. These are the moments that define not only legacies, but the shape of the world to come.

I thank you for the privilege of your time.