2016 Is Not 1968

Matthew Pennekamp

Politics, United States

Don't kid yourself: the chaos and unrest of 2016 has nothing on one of America's roughest years.

The line of protesters at the Republican National Convention ambled their way into Cleveland’s Public Square, festooned in individual brick wall costumes given a common span by their interlocked hands. Some were chanting pithy slogans of the positivist pro-love type (“The walls that they build to tear us apart / Will never be as strong as the walls in our heart”), some the more adversarial anti-Trump variety (“There is no debate / Trump equals hate”). Others made small talk and flashed immediate, amiable smiles when they caught sight of like-minded observers. Receptive watchers, however, were few and far between. “So ineffective!,” one exception casually declared, to which his companion replied, “It’s just something to do to feel like you’re doing something.” These two passers-by did not betray a partisan affiliation by either their appearance or words. They wore neither the dirt-caked beards of the anarchist left nor the “Hillary for Prison” t-shirts made ubiquitous by the efforts of Alex Jones and Co. Indeed, their tone could neither be called joyous nor rueful; the words uttered were as cut-and-dry as a court reporter’s typeset. As they saw it, what was supposed to occur with a bang instead elicited a mere whimper.