# Minneapolis: Dems need to be careful to avoid a repeat of 1968 **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 29, 2020, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647 "2020-05-29T05:43:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/81 "2020-06-02T10:54:35Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > Even your pro-Trump cite says the bail fund is for “protesters,” not “rioters.” Do you think it’s impossible that, in all the chaos, well-behaved protestors have been jailed as rioters? Is it so objectionable that individuals in the Biden campaign (not even “the Biden campaign” itself) would want to help those people? > > Most posters here agree with you that the guy in the video is some sort of outside agitator. But think for a second – who stands to benefit when peaceful protests (supported by many) turn into rioting and looting? Who would likely pay this agitator? Bidens idea isnt bad which is to get rid cash bails because its a big burden on the poor. Such a program is a good idea but should be immediately suspended because it could very well be going to bail out the criminals behind this crap. Who benefits? Anarchists and others who benefit from terror and the destruction of order. Who pays them off? Thats what needs to be investigated. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/82 "2020-06-02T11:11:09Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Bidens idea isnt bad which is to get rid cash bails because its a big burden on the poor. Such a program is a good idea but should be immediately suspended because it could very well be going to bail out the criminals behind this crap. > > Who benefits? Anarchists and others who benefit from terror and the destruction of order. > > Who pays them off? Thats what needs to be investigated. Looters are different than protesters. The vast majority of protesters are peaceful and haven’t harmed anyone. Looters loot. There’s a difference. Why are you grouping these two very different categories together? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/83 "2020-06-02T11:27:11Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Now we have the Biden campaign providing [bail money for rioters.](https://thebl.com/us-news/biden-staff-donate-to-protester-bail-fund-as-rioting-violence-escalate.html) I’m sorry, but this is just incorrect. First, it’s not the “Biden campaign” The story says Biden staff donated. And the story also says “did not make it clear on whether the donations were coordinated within the campaign” Second, the story clearly says it’s for “protesters” while you somehow put “rioters” in your post. I suggest you read your cites more carefully to avoid mistakes such as these in future posts. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/84 "2020-06-02T11:32:40Z")
This is feeling more and more like a Burning of the Reichstag moment. The last thing I’m worried about is whether an anarchist gets their bail paid, when our own president is using the military as his personal campaign op tool and is threatening to treat protests as insurrections. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/85 "2020-06-02T11:44:24Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Looters are different than protesters. The vast majority of protesters are peaceful and haven’t harmed anyone. Looters loot. There’s a difference. Why are you grouping these two very different categories together? I don’t doubt that is the truth but then why are the authorities so reluctant to crack down hard on the looters and destroyers? Are they afraid that the peacefull protesters might evolve into criminals. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/86 "2020-06-02T12:19:32Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I don’t doubt that is the truth but then why are the authorities so reluctant to crack down hard on the looters and destroyers? Are they afraid that the peacefull protesters might evolve into criminals. Who says that authorities are reluctant to crack down on looters? AFAICT, looters are arrested when they’re identified and law enforcement is in the vicinity and has this capability. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/87 "2020-06-02T14:21:58Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Who says that authorities are reluctant to crack down on looters? AFAICT, looters are arrested when they’re identified and law enforcement is in the vicinity and has this capability. LA here and a tale of two days. Sunday, organized looters descended on and destroyed quite a few businesses in Santa Monica and Long Beach (each separate cities from Los Angeles). The police didnt seem to have any plan whatsoever to deal with looting and burning and it took them hours to respond and the damage had already been done. In some cases the looters were looting right in front of the police who did nothing. Monday, in Los Angeles neighborhoods of Hollywood and Van Nuys. It took no more than a few minutes for the LAPD to respond to looters and the damage was fairly well contained. The looters seemed to be targeting drug stores. It was important for the police to respond quickly because looted drug stores cant fill prescriptions and that can adversely affect the health of locals, especially those without cars. Cellphones have made looting and vandalizing much safer and effective. Looters pull up in cars, have burglary tools at the ready and are in and out in a few minutes. Then they go somewhere else. One fortunate thing for Southern California is that there are far fewer cases of arson. It should take far less time for (big) businesses to reopen. There seems to be debate whether insurance will cover riot damage. If it doesnt that will really hurt the majority of businesses that were damaged…small ones. In some cases it took years for burned businesses to return after the 1992 riots. That greatly affects the local communities as many people dont own cars and grocery shopping for a family can be difficult. For the sake of the greater population looters must be dealt with quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/88 "2020-06-02T14:42:59Z")
Resolved: Democrats need to be careful to avoid a repeat of 1933. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/89 "2020-06-04T03:29:04Z")
Barack Obama’s statement on Medium was pitch perfect: > **[How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change](https://barackobama.medium.com/how-to-make-this-moment-the-turning-point-for-real-change-9fa209806067)** > > As millions of people across the country take to the streets and raise their voices in response to the killing of George Floyd and the… > [@](#): > > First, the waves of protests across the country represent a genuine and legitimate frustration over a decades-long failure to reform police practices and the broader criminal justice system in the United States. The overwhelming majority of participants have been peaceful, courageous, responsible, and inspiring. They deserve our respect and support, not condemnation — something that police in cities like Camden and Flint have commendably understood. > On the other hand, the small minority of folks who’ve resorted to violence in various forms, whether out of genuine anger or mere opportunism, are putting innocent people at risk, compounding the destruction of neighborhoods that are often already short on services and investment and detracting from the larger cause. I saw an elderly black woman being interviewed today in tears because the only grocery store in her neighborhood had been trashed. If history is any guide, that store may take years to come back. So let’s not excuse violence, or rationalize it, or participate in it. If we want our criminal justice system, and American society at large, to operate on a higher ethical code, then we have to model that code ourselves. But then today in his town hall, which I watched part of, he apparently said nothing along these lines at all–and the local right wing TV host (and presumably others elsewhere) pounced. D’oh! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/90 "2020-06-04T03:41:26Z")
Maybe you can call him up and offer him your political strategic advice? With your help, the right wing media will stop pouncing on things he says or doesn’t say. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/91 "2020-06-04T04:36:49Z")
I would be a good advisor, that’s true. I predicted on Daily Kos that Reverend Wright would be a problem months before that actually blew up. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/92 "2020-06-04T05:18:45Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I would be a good advisor, that’s true. I predicted on Daily Kos that Reverend Wright would be a problem months before that actually blew up. :dubious: Odd that somebody with your supposed political acumen wasn’t able to figure out in advance something as simple as the fact that Rep. Ilhan Omar would be opposed to rioters burning down buildings, since you claim you were “pleasantly surprised” by her conveying that message. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/93 "2020-06-04T08:46:38Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I would be a good advisor, that’s true. I predicted on Daily Kos that Reverend Wright would be a problem months before that actually blew up. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/94 "2020-06-05T00:29:25Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Cite? Here you go. It was actually April 2007, nearly a year before it blew up in March 2008: [https://www.dailykos.com/comments/329212/11230308#comment\_11231151](https://www.dailykos.com/comments/329212/11230308#comment_11231151) > [@](#): > > I live in the rural “heartland” (in the swing state of Missouri), and I play poker with a lot of people who are exactly the swing voters that gave us victory last fall. They are sick of the GOP, but they are very suspicious of anyone who differs from them too much culturally. Some examples of what scared me, anyway: > > > [@](#): > > > > He had sampled various faiths but adopted none until he met Mr. Wright, a dynamic pastor who preached Afrocentric theology, dabbled in radical politics and delivered music-and-profanity-spiked sermons.[…] > > > > Mr. Obama was entranced by Mr. Wright, [who] traveled to Cuba to teach Christians about the value of nonviolent protest and to Libya to visit Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, along with the Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.[…] > > > > Mr. Wright, who has long prided himself on criticizing the establishment, said he knew that he may not play well in Mr. Obama’s audition for the ultimate establishment job. > > “If Barack gets past the primary, he might have to publicly distance himself from me,” Mr. Wright said with a shrug. “I said it to Barack personally, and he said yeah, that might have to happen.” > > I personally think this pastor sounds pretty cool. But just as I would never consider voting for Dennis Kucinich to get the nomination, this all sounds too radical to sell to middle America. Imagine Edwards having a close bond with such a pastor[…] > > And the calculated talk of putting distance between them right at the end of the article makes it a lot worse, it seems to me. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/95 "2020-06-05T00:47:55Z")
Your instincts were right: you thought it was too radical to sell to middle America, and Obama lost every middle America state except Minnesota and Iowa and Wisconsin and Illinois and Michigan and Indiana (!) and Ohio, gaining a mere 96 electoral votes from the region. Seriously, get on the phone with Biden’s people, politicians will pay big bucks for that sort of insight! ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/96 "2020-06-05T01:52:39Z")
:rolleyes: Obama was nearly knocked out of the primary. David Axelrod and all his top aides, and every political observer, agrees on that. It was only a sensational race speech (and the fact that he had banked so many delegates) that saved him. Had the video come out a month or two earlier, Hillary would have been the nominee. Also, political scientists have concluded that there was a “missing landslide” in the cards for 2008. A generic white male nominee would have beaten McCain by double digits, but Obama underperformed relative to the political environment. We are very lucky that it was such a fertile environment, and that the GOP brand was in the tank (people remember the economic meltdown, Sarah Palin, and Iraq, but forget that a lot of the GOP’s problems had to do with Mark Foley, who has somehow been forgotten). ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/97 "2020-06-05T02:03:13Z")
> **[Revisiting Obama's Historic 'Race Speech' 12 Years Later : It's Been a Minute](https://www.npr.org/transcripts/815006149)** > > Twelve years ago this week, presidential candidate Barack Obama gave what became a historic speech about race. He spoke in response to video that surfaced of his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, heatedly criticizing America's foreign policy and... > [@](#): > > JON FAVREAU: I remember where I was exactly. Like, you remember… > SANDERS: Yeah. > FAVREAU: …Everything about something like that because… > SANDERS: Where were you? > FAVREAU: I was in headquarters in Chicago. > SANDERS: That is the voice of Jon Favreau. > FAVREAU: I’m the co-host of Pod Save America, co-founder of Crooked Media and former speechwriter to Barack Obama. > SANDERS: A few weeks ago, Jon was telling me about maybe the most stressful day of Barack Obama’s first campaign for the presidency, the day the so-called Reverend Wright story broke. > FAVREAU: A bunch of us from the communications team, press team just stood around someone’s TV watching it. And we’re like, holy [expletive]. > SANDERS: How did you feel in that moment? > FAVREAU: I think we’re (expletive). > SANDERS: Here’s why they all felt that way. Flashback to this time in '08 - candidate Barack Obama had won not just the Iowa caucuses but also the South Carolina primary. And the thinking was he’d be able to build a coalition of black voters and white voters and all kinds of voters and possibly win the presidency. Hopes were really high. But then the Reverend Wright story - it involved Obama’s longtime pastor saying things like this[…] > SANDERS: Reverend Jeremiah Wright was the pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Wright had married the Obamas and baptized their children. He was heavily involved in Obama’s '08 campaign. But these tapes that were leaked of Wright from an old sermon saying things about America that Obama’s campaign really wanted nothing to do with - it all went against Obama’s message of hope and racial harmony. This story, if it kept snowballing - it could kill his campaign and kill this idea that America could ever elect a president who is not white. > Jon Favreau says it took a while for the Obama campaign to decide exactly on how to address all this. Soo… The Obama campaign was caught totally flatfooted in March 2008. Jon Favreau thought they were “fucked”. But my warning from April 2007 was worthless? :dubious: Mmmkay then. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/98 "2020-06-05T12:30:26Z")
I mean, sure, change what you said, from " this all sounds too radical to sell to middle America" to something like your new position, which is, “this will present a challenge to his campaign,” and it suddenly becomes both true and Captain Obvious. Maybe you read these speeches before his campaign did, which, bully for you I suppose. But your prediction was wrong. And your prediction in this case is wrong too: the public is strongly on the side of the protesters, and the protests are already starting to see major effects (school districts removing SROs, LA defunding the police, cities across the country reforming use-of-force guidelines or duty-to-intervene guidelines). People are pissed, righteously, and Trump is losing ground badly. Rather than wag your finger at the protests and give your terrible political advice to Biden and Pelosi, maybe step back and watch how real political leaders lead. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/99 "2020-06-05T15:08:24Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > [Obama's Historic 'Race Speech' - 12 Years Later : It's Been a Minute : NPR](https://www.npr.org/transcripts/815006149) > > Soo… > > The Obama campaign was caught totally flatfooted in March 2008. > > Jon Favreau thought they were “fucked”. > > But my warning from April 2007 was worthless? :dubious: Mmmkay then. Take two sainthoods out of petty cash. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647/100 "2020-06-05T18:06:36Z")
At the time, even this liberal white guy thought “God damn America!” might be slightly over the top (but understandable). Now, three years and counting, it sounds (to me) tamely obvious. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minneapolis-dems-need-to-be-careful-to-avoid-a-repeat-of-1968/854647.md?page=6)