If I could gently offer an alternative line of thought in regards to the impact on the election. As a former member of Republicanland I can say emphatically that the violence during the summer of 2020 cost Democrats dearly. Defund the Police was branded on every Democrat to the point they almost lost the House, and Kenosha County, WI has flipped red.
We have enough time and distance until the election, and this is nowhere near summer 2020 levels. But it is a problem and if it is still happening in the fall it could help put Trump back in the White House.
I get your point. But the setting of current protests--on campuses--makes some difference from summer 2020 settings. I think some larger questions might be: how are current clashes similar yet different from summer 2020? Who is benefitting most from scenes of campus chaos? Who benefits from these optics? Who are the good actors? Who are the bad actors? What are the implications that the settings of current clashes are institutions of higher education? Are there other motives to create chaos on university campuses at the present political moment?
The protest should, I think, focus on the incompetent and criminal leader of Israel. Netanyahu failed to protect his nation and is killing thousands of Palestinians just to keep his butt in office! If our campus protestors focused on the root cause, then maybe the Netanyahu protestors in Israel could gain the force necessary to drive Bibi out of office and into jail where he belongs! I smell a Russian fish in some of the extreme actions of some of the "college" protestors!
I tend to agree with main points here. Based upon having a former academic insider's perspective about timing of current protests at higher education hot spots, I offer the following: as this particular brand of protests come at a most fleeting time in a university semester as spring term is on the verge of closing out, loose ends get tied up on a dime. Then comes a short lull before Summer I term commences. A huge vibe shift always happens about now. I'm hoping all chaos blows over. As it's just adding to a strange mix of real-time, dizzy, unbalanced politics. The most bothersome part of university protests right now is militia-style clashes on campuses--always confusing. Fog of war comes to mind. Our nation' collective memory cannot help but be triggering late sixties and seventies campus scenes. The then and the now. Different, different. Still law enforcement presence and stance against student bodies--the look of confrontations--such a magnet for as Mills suggests, some bad actors. Ominous mix. We are in a confusing transitioning time. I'm hoping campuses chill down as usual as summer terms get underway.
I do hope you’re correct, Thomas, and I agree with your reasoning. But, if the protests do not die down, we could be looking at 1968 in Chicago once again. Frankly, I feel it’s time for Biden to disown Bibi Netanyahu.
Charlie Sykes’ piece in __Atlantic__ does a 1968 retrospective. Chilling. Who doesn’t love chaos more than Magavites? What lazy con man who likes to think he’s always leading the fray as he sits dazed and empty in his own courtroom drama? Who wouldn’t love to see summer 2024 become rife with militia-style law and order and want to claim it? That will be a problem. Or could be. Depends on how hot summer gets. And it’s way past time to disavow Bibi.
I really don't understand the methods used by the protestors. I don't think blocking traffic, taking over university admin buildings, taking down the American flag and replacing it with the Palestinian flag, etc. are winning many over to their side. I also don't understand the antisemitism in this Country. What influence do the Jewish people in America have over what Netanyahu does in this conflict. I think the administration is doing as much as possible to bring this to an end but is fighting an uphill battle with the warring parties.
If I could gently offer an alternative line of thought in regards to the impact on the election. As a former member of Republicanland I can say emphatically that the violence during the summer of 2020 cost Democrats dearly. Defund the Police was branded on every Democrat to the point they almost lost the House, and Kenosha County, WI has flipped red.
We have enough time and distance until the election, and this is nowhere near summer 2020 levels. But it is a problem and if it is still happening in the fall it could help put Trump back in the White House.
I get your point. But the setting of current protests--on campuses--makes some difference from summer 2020 settings. I think some larger questions might be: how are current clashes similar yet different from summer 2020? Who is benefitting most from scenes of campus chaos? Who benefits from these optics? Who are the good actors? Who are the bad actors? What are the implications that the settings of current clashes are institutions of higher education? Are there other motives to create chaos on university campuses at the present political moment?
The protest should, I think, focus on the incompetent and criminal leader of Israel. Netanyahu failed to protect his nation and is killing thousands of Palestinians just to keep his butt in office! If our campus protestors focused on the root cause, then maybe the Netanyahu protestors in Israel could gain the force necessary to drive Bibi out of office and into jail where he belongs! I smell a Russian fish in some of the extreme actions of some of the "college" protestors!
I tend to agree with main points here. Based upon having a former academic insider's perspective about timing of current protests at higher education hot spots, I offer the following: as this particular brand of protests come at a most fleeting time in a university semester as spring term is on the verge of closing out, loose ends get tied up on a dime. Then comes a short lull before Summer I term commences. A huge vibe shift always happens about now. I'm hoping all chaos blows over. As it's just adding to a strange mix of real-time, dizzy, unbalanced politics. The most bothersome part of university protests right now is militia-style clashes on campuses--always confusing. Fog of war comes to mind. Our nation' collective memory cannot help but be triggering late sixties and seventies campus scenes. The then and the now. Different, different. Still law enforcement presence and stance against student bodies--the look of confrontations--such a magnet for as Mills suggests, some bad actors. Ominous mix. We are in a confusing transitioning time. I'm hoping campuses chill down as usual as summer terms get underway.
I do hope you’re correct, Thomas, and I agree with your reasoning. But, if the protests do not die down, we could be looking at 1968 in Chicago once again. Frankly, I feel it’s time for Biden to disown Bibi Netanyahu.
Charlie Sykes’ piece in __Atlantic__ does a 1968 retrospective. Chilling. Who doesn’t love chaos more than Magavites? What lazy con man who likes to think he’s always leading the fray as he sits dazed and empty in his own courtroom drama? Who wouldn’t love to see summer 2024 become rife with militia-style law and order and want to claim it? That will be a problem. Or could be. Depends on how hot summer gets. And it’s way past time to disavow Bibi.
I really do pretty totally agree with you Thomas, and I hope we are both right because otherwise Carlton’s message will be true in the fall.
I really don't understand the methods used by the protestors. I don't think blocking traffic, taking over university admin buildings, taking down the American flag and replacing it with the Palestinian flag, etc. are winning many over to their side. I also don't understand the antisemitism in this Country. What influence do the Jewish people in America have over what Netanyahu does in this conflict. I think the administration is doing as much as possible to bring this to an end but is fighting an uphill battle with the warring parties.
I think we must also ask who is using whom by staging protests on university campuses. I think it's confusing--and feels like it's meant to "confuse."