Weekend Quotables
Weekend Quotables
DNC wants no protesters. But protests there will be.
Won’t you please come to Chicago…
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 we can bring
We can change the world — Graham Nash
The protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention helped sway public opinion on the Vietnam War and the draft, highlighted the need for police reform, forced journalists to rethink their trust in government sources, and ushered in a new era of social and political activism.
They also drove a nail into the coffin of Mayor Daley’s Democratic political machine.
But Democratic leaders are now worried about a pro-Palestinian march planned for the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this month, saying a large protest could play into Trump’s hands.
The critics say the protest could lead to clashes with police or counterprotesters that would allow Republicans to blame the chaos on Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and paint the GOP as the party of law and order.
My prediction — you can count on thousands of protesters filling the streets outside the DNC despite efforts by the powers that be to deny them permits to march and to discourage them from coming.
Weekend Quotables
IL Gov. J.B. Pritzker
"We're excited that they're all [50,000 visitors] coming with full wallets," Pritzker said. "They're going to spend their money all across Chicago, and then many of the delegates, of course, in the convention hall, will help, be helping us, to nominate and become victorious, our nominee for president and vice president." — ABC 7
Former Chicago police officer Bob Angone
Pulled from his South Side tactical beat in 1968 to help patrol protests in Lincoln Park, then-Chicago police officer Bob Angone, 84, says it immediately was clear how unprepared the police were for a week of demonstrations.
“I saw a 10-year-old kid run by me carrying a gumball machine. I was supposed to shoot him, so that shows you what kind of leadership we had,” says Angone, who didn’t follow that directive. “Chicago would’ve ended up with its own Nuremberg trials if cops had followed Daley’s orders, shooting and killing people.” — Sun-Times
Don Johnson, Newsweek reporter covering the ‘68 DNC
“These were white, middle-class kids — the sons and daughters of suburbia,” says Johnson, 84. “It opened eyes.” — Sun-Times
Gordon Quinn, Kartemquin Films founder
Quinn looks back at 1968 and says what happened then was supercharged activism: “It radicalized a lot of people and helped them to understand that they can’t just take the government’s lying.” Sun-Times
Dave Zirin @edgeofsports
There were many untold stories from the Olympic games, including thousands of migrants and unhoused people who were driven out of the city to make it "acceptable and clean" for tourists. — Democracy Now
Bernie Sanders
Today, just 3 Wall Street firms, BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street, manage over $20 trillion in assets. They are in virtually every sector of our economy. This is what oligarchy is about. Democracy will not survive with this concentration of economic & political power. — X
Jeff Houser on Anita Dunn, Harris/Walz campaign advisor
“Anita Dunn consulted for Pfizer, so she shouldn’t work on healthcare issues. She owns stock and has complex investments in Chevron, so she shouldn’t work on climate change. She has bond holdings in Lockheed Martin, so she shouldn’t work on military and foreign policy issues. She holds thousands of dollars of Wells Fargo and Visa debt, so she shouldn’t work on consumer credit issues. And she’s advised companies from Lyft to Salesforce to Reddit, so she shouldn’t work on most Big Tech issues.” — Revolving Door Project
DNC SPECIAL ON HITTING LEFT. DON'T MISS IT.
Hitting Left with Mike KIonsky & Friends will be airing live during the Democratic Convention with four straight days of special programming. Aside from covering the day-to-day goings on inside the Convention, we will be talking with current protest organizers and '68 protest vets.
TUNE IN AUG. 19-22, 2-3 pm CDT at WLPN 105.5 FM in Chicago and STREAMING LIVE everywhere at lumpenradio.com.
