re: #47 Shiplord Kirel

I’ve mentioned before that I was eyewitness to the 1968 Chicago convention riots. My late mother was a delegate and I was there with my parents. It is one of the things that soured me on the Democratic Party for many years to come. The folks had taken me along in the hope that I could see their party in all its populist glory and be converted from my budding interest in the GOP. What I got instead was Hubert Humphrey being muscled into the nomination by a corrupt establishment, and, on the streets, a riot by the police. I watched from our hotel balcony, since I was 19 at the time and didn’t dare show my face on the street. The Chicago cops went berserk, furiously beating anyone they could catch. The victims I saw were not throwing rocks and bottles of shit, they were running for their lives. It was the first time I had smelled tear gas, The cops had endured an incredible amount of provocation from leftist agitators, but the latter beat a hasty retreat when things turned ugly and the cops vented their rage on bystanders, hangers-on, and concerned if naive young who had shown up to take part in a peaceful demonstration, a demonstration they had every reason to expect to proceed in peace.

And then you get this:

Just before the 1996 DNC in Chicago, a local printer made up a batch of shirts that read, “We kicked your father’s ass in 1968 … Wait ‘til you see what we do to you.” The front read: “Chicago Police,” and then, “Democratic National Convention Chicago—1996.” The shirt wasn’t endorsed by Chicago PD or the police union, but it became so popular with city cops that Chicago Mayor Richard Daley issued a warning that any officer seen wearing one would be disciplined