Flashback 1968

As I watch the news of the day unfold I'm anxious as I see all these protests on college campuses.  I want there to be a Jewish State and for Israel to get rid of Hamas.  I also want Palestinians to be safe and have food and have a homeland of their own with autonomy.And so I understand why lots of protesters want to demand their schools and our government divest from Israel.  It's because they are not honoring human rights while prosecuting a war against an entrenched terrorist group in urban areas.  This is tricky business of course.  But Israel can precision-strike a building in Syria that kills the Generals they know are there.  They are capable of precision.  So I see why people are speaking up.  I obviously don't condone any antisemitism or violence during protests.But what concerns me more is that this looks and feels like 1968 all over again for American politics.  The nation was on a knife’s edge. Race riots, burning buildings, division, Viet Nam and free love. We were divided on lines of age and race. The streets were a powder-keg and key national figures were killed. While there haven’t been such assassinations so far in 2024, the tension is, perhaps, equally high. And so are the stakes. In 1968, with our nation at war in Viet Nam and our President having just passed historic Civil Rights legislation in the last few years, there was much unrest. Race riots following Dr King’s assassination made the case for Nixon. He would go on to win because Bobby Kennedy was killed and the disorder frightened white voters.  The conservative, law and order candidate appears to be the answer in such times.  Nixon wasn't what this country needed in that sense, but he's what we got.  He was the beginning of the backlash to Civil Rights and began the drug war.   As an aside, he was a good President in lots of ways, even if he was our first proto-fascist President and a foreshadowing of Reagan and finally Trump.But back to the present.  Joe Biden didn't need any more headwinds.  With inflation, his age, the giant disinformation campaign and a fascist demagogue on the other side of the race, he needs this Israel thing to go away.  But he has to tiptoe because he wants the Jewish vote, which normally goes to the liberal candidate.  Embargoing Israel right now will obviously cause consternation among a large swath of the population.  But helping Israel kill and starve its neighbors could cause progressives to stay home on election day.I know this sounds cold and calculated but the Israel/Hamas situation will not get better with a Trump Presidency.  It would get far worse.  I want to prevent more needless loss of life and to stop the churning toward world war that seems to be inevitable.   But more than that, I want to stop another Trump Presidency because I don't know if we could recover from such a seismic event.This election is the most important election in our history.  I argue that it could be the most important event in American History because if it goes the wrong way, it could be our last election and our last gasp as a free people.I'm glad that the protests have gotten the Biden Administration's attention.  He should be warning Bibi that our assistance only goes so far.  Biden is bringing in food to Gaza.  He could and should do more.   But he also realizes that nothing is more important than this election.  And that is the saddest calculus I've ever had to speak for.  When innocent civilians are dying and it's not the first priority, you know it's a sad state of affairs for the human race. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit greenmang.substack.com/subscribe