Chicago Rising

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

Years ago when people wanted to know the news they went primarily to radio or television and tuned into stations that offered fairly consistent coverage from network-to-network or station-to-station.  People like Huntley and Brinkley and Cronkite told us what was going on, and we could rely on them for honest coverage.  Every school library, doctor's office, and many private homes also had copies of dependable news magazines like 'Time" and "Newsweek," and all average-sized cities and even many small towns also and their own daily or weekly newspapers.

That all went to hell in a hand basket a couple of decades ago with the advent of the agenda-driven Fox News Network and the arrival of the internet with its ever-increasing multitude of news sources.  Today news is fragmented and sources vary greatly with most having a particular slant or interest designed to appeal to a particular segment of the public.  When people want to see or read the news, they have many choices and can select ones whose views on the world make them feel most comfortable.  And wallowing in one's comfort zone, which I tend to do, leaves the news consumer with news that has been primarily selected or designed to fit his or her already-existing world view.

My "news" comes from a variety of left-of-center choices through internet news sites as well as a couple of political podcasts.  From those sources I have heard, repeatedly, that the presidential election this year will be very close, but the Joe Biden will manage to pull out a victory.  We should all be aware and concerned, and we should definitely all vote, but don't panic and put the house on the market before the election because sanity will win out in the end and Biden will prevail.

Stay calm.

Yes, my news sources admit that immigration issues and border security are a big deal and a solidifying factor for some Trump supporters, especially the ones who haven't worked in years and feel the Mexicans are coming here to steal their jobs.  The Democratic Senate and Joe Biden had a bill that would have eased the border situation, but Donald Trump told the House to turn it down because he needed chaos at the border as a campaign issue, so the House killed it.   The border is now officially Trump's problem, and Jim Bob down the road from where I live is going to understand the subtlety of that and change his vote to Biden.

Right.

All of my news sources feel confident that the issue of abortion will rule the day, and that it will be particularly devastating for Republicans in states which manage to have any abortion-related issue on the ballot in November.  Abortion, they argue, is such a political hot potato that even Trump is trying to distance himself from it.  There is plenty of anecdotal evidence - from the results of abortion-related ballot measures since the Dobbs' decision - that lefty news sources may likely be right on the major impact of abortion on the presidential election of 2024 - but will it be the tail that ultimately wags the dog?

The survival of democracy should be a pivotal issue in 2024, but it's not.  Trump's betrayal of the Constitution  through his trying to stay in power in January of 2021 by instigating an uprising should have resulted in his never being allowed to run for public office again, but the Senate failed in its duty to hold him accountable for the acts of insurrection.  Now he is talking in terms of becoming a "dictator on day one" of his next administration, and people just disregard him - like they do his continuing flow of bull excrement.  Trump may be lazy and inattentive to the needs of the country, but he surrounds himself with people who are very, very dangerous.

Another issue is the age thing.  Biden will almost be eighty-two on Election Day, and Trump will be seventy-eight.  The average life expectancy for a white male in the US is 76.3 years, so both Biden and Trump are well passed their use-by dates.  Biden's press, even on left-of-center sites, is that he is old.   Trump's press, at least lately, is that he was banging a porn star.  Age is not the predominant issue right now, but if it does come to be the dominant issue, Biden will lose.

The Israeli war on Hamas and the indiscriminate attacks on the Palestinian civilians in Gaza will be another important issue in the upcoming campaign.  Joe Biden hopped on Israel's war bandwagon on October 7th with a full-throated endorsement of the counter-offensive, and he is now seen by many as a part-owner of the horror and carnage that ensued.  Now Biden is stuck between his political left-flank who are shocked and angry about the plight of the Palestinians, and the Republicans who are egging him on to do more to support Israel.  And Bibi Netanyahu, the leader of Israel who has actively interfered in every US Presidential election since 2008 - is doing everything he can to use the US political situation to hold Biden in check.

Many young people could choose to stay home on Election Day.  They are principled and obstinate - just like Joe Biden.  If young people stay home, Biden loses.

Of course many of America's college youth have already had their day in the sun with regard to Israel's brutal treatment of the Palestinians.  Demonstrations against the Israeli occupation of Gaza occurred on university campuses across the US this spring, and Republicans tried to make political hay from the demonstrations by characterizing them as proof of Biden's weakness and affinity for radicals.

But the war in Gaza drags on, and American demonstrations against the war are likely to drag on as well.  This past week there was a lead article on the internet news site, "Politico," by Jonathan Martin entitled "The DNC Is Preparing for the Worst in Chicago - Without the Help of the City's Mayor."  Chicago will be the site of this year's Democratic National Convention, and it brings back memories of an earlier Democratic convention that was held there fifty-six years ago.

Young people protesting the US involvement in the Vietnam War filled the streets of downtown Chicago during the Democratic Convention of 1968, and the city's megalomaniac mayor, Richard J. Daley, loosed the city's police on them with deadly force, and the resultant visuals played on the television newscasts across America and helped to send Republican Richard Nixon to the White House in that year's election.

Martin's piece in "Politico" said that Democratic officials this year fear an attempt by youthful protesters to again turn the convention into mayhem much like the protesters did in 1968, but this year, instead of having an authoritarian mayor to rely on to help beat the protesters into submission, the current mayor, Brandon Johnson, is more apt to be politically aligned with the protest movement.  

Democratic officials will run the convention, and the mayor runs the city.  The people inside of the convention have begun work to limit opportunities for protesters to be active.  They are working to make it as "virtual" as possible with limited public involvement, and to have the floor of the convention managed by politicians who are adept at crowd control.  And instead of relying on the mayor for support, they have turned to the state's Democratic governor, J.B. Pritzker, to stand in the wings and be ready to respond if needed.  Pritzker has indicated that he could send in the National Guard if the Chicago police request assistance - a move that seems to be aimed at circumventing the mayor.

Some might argue that Democrats have not learned any of the lessons from their overreaction to the protests in 1968, and that they are setting the stage for a repeat of that political fiasco - in fact, I might argue that!

It should be a very close race his November between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, but if the Democratic Party gives the young people of Chicago and America no choice but to rise in revolt, you can stick a fork in Joe Biden because he will be done.