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Stop calling up narratives from the past

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Illinois

* My weekly syndicated newspaper column…

Since the 2022 election, far too many Illinoisans have been far too eager to pine for a repeat of the past.

It started with nonstop rumors about Gov. J.B. Pritzker running for president. Every word he spoke, every position he took, every out-of-state trip he made was examined for signs of what everybody thought they knew. And they played it up for all it was worth whenever they could.

For many, the talk brought back those heady years when Barack Obama captivated the nation and eventually won the presidency, taking lots of local folks with him to Washington, D.C. Turns out, he wasn’t even the Democrats’ “Break glass in case of emergency” guy.

Around the same time, we saw the Chicago Bears drag out its 30-year-old playbook to demand a new stadium and use a town outside Chicago (Gary way back when, Arlington Heights in late 2022) to put pressure on the city and state to cave in to the team’s demands. Lots of folks just assumed it would work again. Nope.

And then White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf decided to defend his state stadium subsidy against the Bears by promising to build a new ballpark as long as he kept receiving state welfare.

Too few people failed to see the members of the current General Assembly simply weren’t going to literally stop the clock again so the governor and the House speaker (or Senate president, for that matter) could twist enough arms to seal a new deal before a dramatic midnight deadline. Those days are over.

These days, it’s a half-billion dollars for quantum computing or an equal amount of state cash to spark investments by the electric vehicle industry.

And, of course, for months we were constantly reminded of the notorious 1968 Democratic National Convention violence as last week’s Democratic National Convention approached.

There were some valid concerns, of course. I mean, the Chicago Police Department doesn’t have the greatest reputation.

There was also no doubt that some protesters would come to town itching for a street fight with the cops, using the Gaza war as a pretext and trying to manifest the angry spirit of 1968 again this year.

And lots of young people throughout the nation have been angry about this war, as many were about Vietnam (without the added personal threat of a compulsive military draft, of course).

But while antisemitism has been intensely ugly since last October, we hadn’t seen any truly violent protests, even though Cook County has more Palestinian Americans than any county in the nation.

A smallish block-long protest the Sunday before the convention was intensely covered by the Chicago and national media, but the cops seemed to outnumber the protesters.

Still, references to 1968 dotted the coverage, both on social media and in subsequent news stories, including the protesters came near the General John Logan Memorial statue, which was the scene of an epic battle between protesters and law enforcement back in 1968. At one point, protesters chanted the old line, “The whole world is watching!” during a scuffle that didn’t actually involve the police. It was almost silly.

The comparisons to 1968 kicked up a big notch when the news media reported rumors that 150 members of the National Guard had been deployed to the city. The National Guard, of course, battled protesters in the streets in ’68. Those fights are a big reason why Chicago mayors have been super-reluctant to call out the Guard in the decades since.

It turns out that far more than that were actually called up, but most had nothing to do with protest violence. It was mainly about terrorism or other disruptions. Hundreds of cybersecurity task force members, communications experts, chemical and biological response troops and explosive device experts were activated. Even some veterinarians were called up to care for bomb-sniffing dogs.

“They’re not called up to beat up protesters in Grant Park,” said one exasperated state official.

One protest outside the Israeli consulate turned violent when street fighters attacked a police line. Just a couple of protesters claimed minor injuries. Dozens were arrested, about a tenth the number arrested on the single most violent day of the 1968 convention.

It just didn’t pan out as some people clearly hoped.

All I’m saying here is we need to live more in the present than in the past. Our aging president has dropped out of the race, and now our aging news media narratives need to do the same.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 7:49 am

Comments

For the duration of the DNC there were 8 complaints filed against CPD officers. Make of that what you will.

Comment by Nope. Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 8:16 am
There was nothing compulsive about the draft in 1968. It was compulsory.

People drag out the old play books because if it worked last time, it should work this time. Unfortunately, people forget that the lessons of the past must be updated and adapted for today and the future.

Comment by Huh? Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 8:33 am
Mainstream political media isn’t there to make a good faith attempt to explain objective reality to its readers. That is nowhere in the top 100 priorities of the people who own it. I don’t know why we’d expect them to go beyond what is expected of them to stay employed in a job where they can do their ‘fact finding’ by trawling social media feeds and reddit.

Comment by Larry Bowa Jr. Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 8:37 am
Well it is going to be very hot this week so I hope they have hired refrigerator trucks for all the heat victims like when Richie was mayor and of course some are predicting a cold winter so buy lots of salt and more snow plows but make sure the CTA stops at all stops. Past is prologue

Comment by DuPage Saint Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 8:45 am
Nostalgia often goes hand in hand with laziness.

Comment by Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 8:55 am
=All I’m saying here is we need to live more in the present than in the past.=

Absolutely true. When I was in the classroom I was a social studies teacher and know that we must be mindful of the past, but we must LIVE in the present. Too much of history these days is presented incorrectly to meet a narrative. Playing up a violent episode nearly 60 years in the past is simply searching for click bait. In many ways, what happened outside the convention was very humdrum due to the fact that, for once, city, county, and state leadership coalesced nad was prepared. CPD has a tough history and a bad reputation, but this convention can help them begin to change the narrative. A lot of smart policing happened.

Comment by JS Mill Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 8:55 am
“It just didn’t pan out as some people clearly hoped.”

Some may have waited like certain birds do for the roadkill of a failed DNC convention and media spectacle, but it was a success. And it reflects well on elected leaders like Mayor Johnson. The CPD and its leader Supt. Snelling received the highest praise from the Secret Service, being called the best.

Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 10:09 am
As a corps, when they’re dealing with protestors, the CPD is very good and has been for a while. What they have had problems with is policing their own ranks to weed out the problematic officers.

Comment by cermak_rd Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 10:23 am
Has JB ever publicly said he wanted to be POTUS? Jim Thompson and Pate Phillip have passed. 1/3 of the House never served under Madigan. The ILGA deliberates differently now. 1968 was more than a 1/2 century ago. One more observation. Few incidents during the ‘96 DNC and the 2012 global summit was managed well too. It seems if CPD has time to prepare, they do a good job. It is time to move on.

Comment by levivotedforjudy Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 11:03 am
@ JS Mill -

= episode nearly 60 years in the past =

I feel old now.

Comment by JoanP Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 11:30 am
==I hope they have hired refrigerator trucks for all the heat victims like when Richie was mayor ==

Would you have preferred the bodies pile up in Daley Plaza?

Comment by low level Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 11:52 am
=I feel old now.=

Does saying it was 56 years ago make it feel a little better? LOl. I feel your pain.

Comment by JS Mill Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 12:22 pm
“But while antisemitism has been intensely ugly since last October, we hadn’t seen any truly violent protests, even though Cook County has more Palestinian Americans than any county in the nation.”

I agree with the assessment here Rich but I think this “even though” framing is unfair to Palestinian-Americans. The rise in anti-semitism is a problem for sure, but I think it comes in larger part from a certain brand of hyper-left (and hyper-online) agitators rather than everyday Palestinian-Americans. Possibly a misinterpretation of your meaning on my part, but I think your language here suggests that anti-Semitism comes solely from P-As, which I believe is inaccurate.

Comment by I-55 Fanatic Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 12:40 pm
@ I-55 Fanatic -

=I think this “even though” framing is unfair to Palestinian-Americans=

I agree with that, but your statement about the “hyper-left” ignores the fact that rise of anti-Semitism is seen much more in the “hyper-right”. That’s where everything is George Soros’ fault. That’s where the neo-Nazis are, where the shouts of “Jews will not replace us” come from. The murders at Tree of Life synagogue were perpetrated by a white nationalist. Let’s not forget Charlottesville, either.

Seen nothing like that from the left.

Comment by JoanP Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 1:15 pm
Eager for fights on the floor or in the streets, too many in the national press were longing to cover a Red Wedding and were very disappointed that the political convention turned out to be a political convention.

– MrJM

Comment by @misterjayem Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 3:09 pm
@JoanP that’s totally fair! The far right’s brand of anti-Semitism is extremely overt and probably the greatest of all kinds in volume and clear, intentional expression. Both extremes have an anti-Semitism problem, but it’s the kind that comes from the far-left that is germane to the discussion of pro-Palestinian protests.

Comment by I-55 Fanatic Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 3:17 pm
“disappointed that the political convention turned out to be a political convention.” I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broke out!

Comment by Skeptic Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 3:51 pm
“disappointed that the political convention turned out to be a political convention.” I went to a boxing match and a hockey game broken out[banned punctuation]

Comment by Skeptic Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 3:52 pm
I saw a lot of coverage of one protest parade, where the still photographers and videographers were more prevalent than the protesters - they even blocked the progress of the protest, becoming the story. They also chose camera angles and lens settings to visually compress the crowd and make it look larger and more dangerous. That’s on the edge of unacceptable for photojournalists. And why were the photojournalists concentrating? They already had a narrative in mind and were hoping to witness ‘68 take 2, anticipating a juicy fight shot they could sell to the wires. You are not supposed to root for a result as a documentarian, just show what actually happened. That’s enough.

Comment by Give Us Barabbas Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 5:27 pm
I wasn’t surprised at all by the rather muted protests. The movements were disorganized and involve issues whose direct impact is not felt by most Americans. And something more profound has happened since 1968. We’ve put down our signs and picked up our phones.

Comment by Pundent Monday, Aug 26, 24 @ 5:50 pm