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-- Restless in Seattle -- |
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| Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of both. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays. |
Former Chrysler head honcho Lee Iacocca said that as the west coast goes, so goes the country. If so, the new millennium is gonna' be a blast! First San Francisco outlaws capitalism (you can read about it here). And last week, Seattle reminded us of the good old days of civil disobedience, another term for mass mayhem in the streets. Ah, it sends tingles up and down my spine just thinking about it.
Seattle Mayor Paul Schell said that he wanted the World Trade Organization meeting to showcase how Seattle could allow people of diverse opinions to meet and discuss their disagreements peacefully Ha! On the first day, his police just stood back and watched the chaos. "It takes great restraint for police to watch unlawful activity and do nothing," Shell said. But after a couple million dollars of damage, he had a dramatic change of heart. On Wednesday, this liberal icon of the sixties imposed a dawn to dusk curfew on the downtown area of the city that Microsoft built - thus trampling all over the first amendment, I might add. (How can you express yourself freely without being able to throw rocks at the police at three in the morning? It just isn't fair!) Under his direction, police used riot clubs, tear gas, and rubber bullets to control the crowd. Tom Hayden mutates into Richard Nixon right before our eyes. Is nothing sacred?
The news reports on television showed enough to make a boomer cry. There was a guy walking down the street wearing a turtle costume waving his flippers in the air. Another guy carried a sign that said "Free ATM!" (Verb or adjective? I donno'; does it really matter?) Guys were throwing chairs through display windows of retail stores. Some lady cried in vain to one protester: "You're not doing any good. You are an embarrassment to the city, to the country! What are you doing?" The guy stopped only for a moment to respond, "You don't get it. This is a matter of self-defense!!" To which the lady replied, "What are you defending yourself against, the window!!!??" Oh, doesn't it warm your heart?
Still, the soul of the 60's demonstrations does seem to be sadly absent. In the 60's we protested over the war, civil rights, and abortion. Last week, according to Gregg Easterbrook (of The New Republic), the issues were "the genetic modification of canola oil and WTO side letters on cross-border intellectual-property enforcement." Kinda' deflating isn't it? (The cynic may ask how many thousands of children have been harmed by the genetic modification of canola oil... but then, that is not the point... is it?)
To tell ya' the truth, I'm not sure what it was all about. But then, that makes it all the more reminiscent of the demonstrations in Washington, D.C. thirty years ago. November, 1969, at the base of the Washington Monument. Yep, I was there.
I was a volunteer reporter for the campus radio station, WAMU, at the American University. It was just a little campus radio station, but we took it very seriously. On the Friday night before the big demonstration, I went on the air to report a disruption down at DuPont Circle. "So if you're going out tonight, be sure to avoid the area." Then I went off the air, got into my car, and raced right down to DuPont Circle.
I was naive enough to think that my little reporter badge might protect me from responsibility and consequences. Well, that night I learned that tear gas knows no boundaries. And it is effective! Gawd, how I love the smell of tear gas in the evening!
Meanwhile back on campus, several miles away, a bunch of students took over a corner of the student cafeteria and set up a command post and Red Cross emergency treatment center. They went around to the dorms asking for donations: sheets, blankets, pots and pans, soap and water, money. That night, a couple hundred freshmen got a first hand exposure to the concept of extortion. You want your car to make it through this weekend unscathed? Then you want to make a donation. Believe me, there is no honor among lawless protesters.
Let's make sure we all understand this: This was hardly a protest against the war in Vietnam... at least not for most of them. That was just the cover story. This was a chance to do all those wild and crazy things they could not get away with at home, an opportunity to thumb their noses at authority - and thumb they did! And if by chance, things got so far out of hand that classes and final exams had to be cancelled... well, sacrifices had to be made.
By noon on Saturday, 100,000 kids had arrived in the nation's capital. (Some people say there were closer to half a million. Does it really matter?) I stood on the sidewalk and watched a group of demonstrators go by; I made eye contact with one of them. "Peace now! Peace now!" he shouted angrily at me, as if I was restraining him. "And if I don't get peace now, I'll beat the crap out of you. In fact, I think I'll beat the crap out of you anyway." Conviction solid to the core of his soul. And so it went.
Somehow, that made about as much sense as anything did that weekend.
Anyway, they spent the day listening to music and anti-war speeches, chanting crazy poems, and smoking that funny tabackie. And after the fall exams were cancelled, everyone packed up and went home. Mission accomplished. Chalk up another one for lawless disorder and social decadence.
So what took place last week in Seattle was a start... from little acorns does the mighty oak grow. But I expect all of you to have your tear gas masks in working order for the next big demonstration, wherever and whenever it may occur. After all, we have a reputation to live down to.
Next time I expect to see you all out there, doing your part to make the world safe for anarchy.
For more of Hershel's essays, check the BBHQ Archives or the Boomer Essays.
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| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
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