Party Like It's 1968!
June 18, 2009 8:19 AM   Subscribe

To Set the Record Straight. . . "The only thing that stood between Marxist street thugs and public order was a thin blue line of dedicated, tough Chicago police officers." And with that sentiment, The Chicago Police who participated in the riots of 1968 are holding a reunion on June 26.

Chicago Copwatch is going to be there also.

You can show up properly attired or maybe in something more protective.
posted by Danf (34 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I should go in my Hunter S. Thompson costume from last Halloween.
posted by adamdschneider at 8:22 AM on June 18, 2009


Man, that Onion cracks me up every time. Like a baton. To the skull. Wait, this is legit? I'm sorry, this is just too weird to process right now.
posted by joe lisboa at 8:24 AM on June 18, 2009


the world's not watching
posted by pyramid termite at 8:26 AM on June 18, 2009 [1 favorite]


"Gentlemen, get the thing straight once and for all – the policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder." -Chicago Mayor Richard Daley *
posted by jammy at 8:28 AM on June 18, 2009 [6 favorites]


My recollection is that if there hadn't been any cops there probably wouldn't have been any riot, a lot of noise, perhaps some disturbance of the peace, but no riot.
posted by caddis at 8:30 AM on June 18, 2009


SERIOUSLY
This is so silly so some retired cops are going to have a get together and you want to protest it . I saw a link to my site on your face book page . How about protesting the GANG VIOLENCE THAT PLAGUE'S THIS CITY thats sadistic violence . Cant wait to see the dolls you make
posted by Mirror-Universe Optimus Chyme at 8:39 AM on June 18, 2009 [5 favorites]


"The only thing that stood between Marxist street thugs and public order was a thin blue line of dedicated, tough Chicago police officers." Obviously, those riots were all Pigasus' fault.
posted by Bernt Pancreas at 8:41 AM on June 18, 2009


Marxist street thugs

That's my new band name.
posted by HumanComplex at 8:41 AM on June 18, 2009


"Convention week left few unscathed. Not only was Sir Winston Churchill's grandson and namesake roughed up by Chicago's finest, but British parliamentarian Anne Kerr faced the indignity of a police lockup after getting maced outside the Conrad Hilton" (source)

I think there were also accounts of Eugene McCarthy supporters who got radicalized after getting beat up unprovoked by Chicago cops. Lumping all the victims of Chicago police brutality with "Marxists street thugs" is a McCarthyite distortion of history.
posted by jonp72 at 8:46 AM on June 18, 2009 [1 favorite]


I read that they've hired the human carpet as entertainment.
posted by orme at 8:48 AM on June 18, 2009


I hear the National Guard will be holding a similar event at Kent State in a couple of years.

But, in the meantime, can we start planning that re-do of Woodstock?
posted by HuronBob at 8:54 AM on June 18, 2009 [2 favorites]




I guess no one can resist the thrill of a 41st anniversary.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:56 AM on June 18, 2009 [1 favorite]


Check out the photos that they choose to use on the site... sort of a celebration of the police baton...

all said, I tend to be pretty supportive of law enforcement in these threads, but these guys are just plain stupid...

A lot of people have forgotten about that dark moment in police professionalism, so let's remind everyone 41 years later...

Idiots..
posted by HuronBob at 9:01 AM on June 18, 2009 [1 favorite]


I used to work with a guy whose dad was a cop and was there for the riots. He said his dad and his buddies loved beating the crap out of hippies, but especially loved attacking uppity blacks and putting them in their place.
posted by 2sheets at 9:12 AM on June 18, 2009


I think a bunch of aging hippies should show up and beat the crap out of them. Sure the cops had the upper hand back then, but 40 years of tofu and organic vegetables vs. 40 years of burgers and fries, beer and smoking? This time, things might go a little differently.

If nothing else, it would be amusing to watch.
posted by Naberius at 9:13 AM on June 18, 2009 [11 favorites]


Members of the Fraternal Order of Police says Chicago's finest continue to endure criticism for their handling of anti-war demonstrations that took place in Grant and Lincoln parks 41 years ago, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.

I know! Man, you brutalize a few peace-niks and it's like you're the bad guy all of a sudden!

"The only thing that stood between Marxist street thugs and public order was a thin blue line of dedicated, tough Chicago police officers," the union's Web site says.

The Chicago Police: Boldly striding into the 20th century.
posted by shmegegge at 9:16 AM on June 18, 2009 [2 favorites]


A lot of people have forgotten about that dark moment in police professionalism...
Unfortunately, I think you will find a startlingly large percentage of law enforcement who still consider Chicago to be a high point in police professionalism.
posted by Thorzdad at 9:17 AM on June 18, 2009 [1 favorite]


one time they shot a cougar so that was pretty good (the cougar was marxist) Cant wait to see the dolls you make
posted by Mirror-Universe Optimus Chyme at 9:23 AM on June 18, 2009


Mirror-Universe Optimus Chyme: "one time they shot a cougar so that was pretty good (the cougar was marxist) Cant wait to see the dolls you make"

is "cant wait to see the dolls you make" a reference to something? google returns bupkis. also, I can tell this is a sock puppet, but whose - dammit - whose?
posted by shmegegge at 9:36 AM on June 18, 2009


Maybe you had to be there. Things were getting pretty weird that summer.

There was a group of protest organizers who were trying to create clashes. They thought they were orchestrating the beginnings of a revolution. And yeah, they really were Marxists.

Their next target after Chicago was going to be the American Legion convention which was scheduled to be held in Portland a couple of weeks later. You've probably never heard of that riot, though -- because it didn't happen.

Tom McCall, the best governor Oregon has ever had, scuppered it. First thing he did was to activate nearly every National Guard unit in the state and bring them all to Portland. But more important was that he gave permission to hold a rock concert at a state park about 15 miles away from Portland. And he ordered state police to stay away from there, and not hassle people for using drugs. And he announced all of this on the TV.

The organizers had scheduled a march (and riot) for a certain day and time, but only a couple hundred people showed up. They marched two or three blocks, decided it was a failure, and dispersed. No riot, no violence.

But by all reports the rock concert was well attended and a great success!
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:38 AM on June 18, 2009 [8 favorites]


HuronBob: But, in the meantime, can we start planning that re-do of Woodstock?

Sure, let me just get Jimi Hendrix, Paul Butterfield, Janis Joplin, Keith Moon, Jerry Garcia, Blind Owl Wilson, Spencer Dryden, and Swami Satchidananda on the phone.
posted by shakespeherian at 9:44 AM on June 18, 2009


MC5 FTW.
posted by Sailormom at 9:47 AM on June 18, 2009


I'm looking forward to reading this story again in forty years about cops who served in Tehran, 2009.
posted by EatTheWeek at 9:56 AM on June 18, 2009 [1 favorite]


okay, Yips. looks like we're going to need a whole lotta acid. Sunshine's been working in the hotel for forty years now, so she should have no trouble getting into the water system.
posted by RedEmma at 10:02 AM on June 18, 2009 [1 favorite]


You know who else stood between Marxist street thugs and public order?
posted by PlusDistance at 10:22 AM on June 18, 2009 [3 favorites]


It's not the love you take, it's the dolls you make
posted by Flashman at 10:25 AM on June 18, 2009


Sure, let me just get Jimi Hendrix, Paul Butterfield, Janis Joplin, Keith Moon, Jerry Garcia, Blind Owl Wilson, Spencer Dryden, and Swami Satchidananda on the phone.

great job, i've already got john sebastian and sha na na!
posted by pyramid termite at 10:36 AM on June 18, 2009 [1 favorite]


The Chicago PD is a lovely place, full of lovely people
posted by lalochezia at 11:47 AM on June 18, 2009


That's cool. Maybe I'll go and celebrate the 123 anniversary of the Haymarket Riot.

(My great-grandfather missed the riot because he was in the dunes, testing bombs for anarchists.)
posted by klangklangston at 12:19 PM on June 18, 2009 [1 favorite]


There was a group of protest organizers who were trying to create clashes. They thought they were orchestrating the beginnings of a revolution. And yeah, they really were Marxists.

I'm not denying there weren't Marxists stirring up trouble in Chicago '68, but you can't deny there was a lot of collateral damage to bystanders, especially members of the news media who were trying to get the events on film. If the cops had nothing to hide and were merely preserving order, why should they worry about being photographed and televised?
posted by jonp72 at 12:49 PM on June 18, 2009


Off the pigs!
posted by Relay at 2:48 PM on June 18, 2009


"The only thing that stood between Marxist street thugs and public order was a thin blue line of dedicated, tough Chicago police officers," the union's Web site says.

What a perverse distortion of what a working class institution should stand for.
posted by univac at 7:53 PM on June 23, 2009


In other news: Chicago cop recorded beating bartender gets probation
posted by homunculus at 3:01 PM on June 24, 2009


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