Grant Park 40 Years Later

[Potomophobia 17]

I know I'm getting old when no one has mentioned what happened in Grant Park 40 years ago.I watched Obama's speech live. I remembered that it was 40 years ago that the Democratic convention shook the country, for better or worse, in that same place. What moved me was the fact that something huge was happening again.Will this be for better or worse? I dunno..... but having lived through both, I am more optimistic now than I was then.This is a great Country and we are all fortunate to be a part of it.

[Largetotals 0]

forgive my ignorance butGrant Park?

[AmScray 354]

forgive my ignorance butGrant Park?

A park in Chicago that hosted the 1968 Democratic National Convention (and it's riots) as well as the acceptance speech of Barack Obama. It's about to be fucked over to put up an awful childrens museum. I hate Daley with fire in my veins- mainly because of Meigs Field- but wanting to ruin Grant Park to further his own retarded ideas of Disneyland-Chicago is flat out vomit inducing. Put it somewhere on the South Side, for christs sake. Eminent Domain some ghetto property in the "borderline" areas of Hyde Park. That would be a perfect place for it.

[timwakefield 69]

RFK was pretty much guaranteed the Democratic nomination in 1968, and he promised to pull our troops out of Vietnam. When he was assassinated in June, the Democrats replaced him with Hubert Humphrey, a conservative Dem who was not going to end the war. The anti-war movement was obviously huge at that time. So anyways the Democratic convention was being held in Chicago. About ten thousand anti-war protesters came to Chicago to protest Humphrey, and the Yippie group, led by Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, attempted to get permission for a rally. They went through all the correct channels and everything, explaining that there were gonna be thousands of people there and all they wanted was to be allowed to organize and meet peacefully. The mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, flatly refused all of their requests, and instead met the 10,000 protesters with (according to wikipedia) 23,000 police and national guardsmen. The riot also led to the famous Chicago Seven case, wherein Abbie Hoffman et al were charged with inciting a riot. They were all convicted, and then all cleared on appeal.Anyways, Grant Park in 1968:And this week:

[Potomophobia 17]

A park in Chicago that hosted the 1968 Democratic National Convention (and it's riots) as well as the acceptance speech of Barack Obama. It's about to be fucked over to put up an awful childrens museum. I hate Daley with fire in my veins- mainly because of Meigs Field- but wanting to ruin Grant Park to further his own retarded ideas of Disneyland-Chicago is flat out vomit inducing. Put it somewhere on the South Side, for christs sake. Eminent Domain some ghetto property in the "borderline" areas of Hyde Park. That would be a perfect place for it.

Sad.

[Potomophobia 17]

Nice job Tim,On top of all that, don't forget that Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated that year as well. We had an unpopular war (with a draft) and 2 leaders shot dead in a matter of months. Those were indeed some trying times. I was living in the city at the time. I did not get involved in the protests. I will never forget the anger, frustration, confusion and fear that was rampant at the time. 2 weeks later I got drafted.Those were the days.

[timwakefield 69]

Yeah I also left out that Bobby Seale, one of the founders of the Black Panther Party, was also indicted and brought to trial but his trial was severed from the others because of his repeated outbursts. At one point the judge literally had him bound and gagged (rather than remove him from the courtroom and charge him with contempt...?). Basically he had the same fate as the other seven as far as the trial (being jailed for awhile and then eventually having the cases thrown out).On another note, Steal This Movie is a pretty decent movie about Abbie Hoffman for those of us who weren't around to live through it. It can also be easily stolen here .

[Balloon guy 158]

It is a nice point about Grant ParkThose of you that have never really had any president other than Bush would do well to notice, this country is great. Even when we have bad times, we come back from them and do great things as a whole.We have done more to help people we have defeated in battle than anyone, we help the world during disasters without strings attached, we have a good soul.So no matter which direction the country goes for short spurts, remember that in the long run, we are a good people, a great country and it's a good time to be alive.

[LongLiveYorke 38]

It is a nice point about Grant ParkThose of you that have never really had any president other than Bush would do well to notice, this country is great. Even when we have bad times, we come back from them and do great things as a whole.We have done more to help people we have defeated in battle than anyone, we help the world during disasters without strings attached, we have a good soul.So no matter which direction the country goes for short spurts, remember that in the long run, we are a good people, a great country and it's a good time to be alive.

Tru dat

[Nimue1995 1]

It is a nice point about Grant ParkThose of you that have never really had any president other than Bush would do well to notice, this country is great. Even when we have bad times, we come back from them and do great things as a whole.We have done more to help people we have defeated in battle than anyone, we help the world during disasters without strings attached, we have a good soul.So no matter which direction the country goes for short spurts, remember that in the long run, we are a good people, a great country and it's a good time to be alive.

You're not going to make yourself popular with the "sky is falling and the country is going to be ruined" crowd with statements like that BG .