Discussing Palestine protests, parallels to Vietnam, and what that means in 2024

 So, I've been seeing a lot of comparisons between the Vietnam protests and the Palestine protests in general. I even made a few myself, explaining my dad's experience with protesters spitting on him in the early 70s. 

I've seen parallels made both ways. I've seen pro palestine people post videos of people responding to Kent University's shootings and showing that the conservative response to the protesters then is the same as it is today. That these people are crazy, out of hand, and when police used violence they probably deserved it for being unruly. The message was that they were on the right side of history, and that conservatives gonna be conservative and they just hate principled individuals who make a stand.

On the flip side, I've seen people who are more moderate of conservative make parallels too. I've seen people say "remember when they drove the "silent majority" into the arms of Nixon in 1972? Remember, the protesters during Vietnam were a very loud and vocal minority. They screamed, they threw tantrums, but Nixon decided to say "look, we know the majority of the country isn't this, and I'm asking for the votes of the silent majority." And he swept. The democrats nominated McGovern who was too far left and hated by the political establishment, and between getting ratscrewed by his own party and Nixon's silent majority message working, Nixon SWEPT. It was a total blowout for the republicans, and a complete condemnation of the democratic party  at the time. 

It was also, effectively, the end of the New Deal coalition. That was actually in 1968, because the protesters were protesting back then when Johnson was in office, and THAT has a lot of parallels to Biden. And you know what? Johnson was a great president, i dont care what anyone says. Yes vietnam was a bit of a blight on his legacy, but unlike the far left, I can overlook something like that, given how this dude delivered on the war on poverty. 

In my opinion, the left threw decades of progress away here. Was it worth it? No. By the 80s, we had the counter movement of we need to be STRONG on foreign policy and invade MORE people. We had reaganomics undermining the new deal. We had the moral majority that was against everything the left was for. We had a full on party realignment away from the left, and while I cant just blame the left. A huge part of it was the dixiecrats defecting to the right over civil rights, but these guys threw away the best economy we ever had, over fricking foreign policy. And honestly, looking at the past, I'm not particularly charitable to the left here.

The fact is, the left IS annoying. They ARE offputting. And to resonate a theme in a recent Bill Maher clip I've seen, "no one likes you" (them). People, dont, like, these, guys. Get this in your head. We got half the country that's conservative. We also got a lot of people on the left who also aint fans of these guys. The actual far left is a very small sliver of the population. This doesn't make them irrelevant. I think they exist in just the right quantities to potentially screw Biden out of a second term. All you need is 1-2% of people in just the right states to throw the election. And they seem to be gunning for that, calling Biden genocide Joe.

Me, I see Biden like a modern Johnson and Carter wrapped up in one. I see him trying to appeal to his leftist base, although because these guys are so extreme and unreasonable, and he's just floudering with them. And now we're heading toward a convention in chicago, much like in 1968, with anti war protesters likely to ruin it, just like in 1968. And this isnt a good place to be. We're also reminding me of 1980, where Biden has been ineffective in passing legislation just like carter, and dealing with unrelenting inflation, just like carter, and an angry voter base that's leaning to the right. I'm scared for the future of the left here. I really am. This election is like 1968 and 1980 all in one. And it scares me. This is one reason I'm being so ride or die on Biden. He's not the best candidate, I didnt even vote for him the last time, but we're in a position where this is the best we got and the best we're getting, and if he loses, the country is gonna shift right.

If you asked me in 1968 if I'd vote for johnson, I'd say hell yes. I'd also think the anti war left was stupid and ruining it for all of it. In 1980, even if I felt like Carter was a wet blanket, I'd say yes, defending the left and the dems from the rising tides of the right was essential, and knowing what i do know, I'd know we were in for a bumpy ride.

And the same thing applies here. Foreign policy, I dont care a ton. I would say i generally support Biden. I think his policies and actions are reasonable, the protesters are unreasonable, but understandable, and to defend the left, YES, Netanyahu is committing war crimes and should be castigated for them. Im not defending israel too hard here. I still prefer them as a faction over palestine, but let's face it, i dont like EITHER of these guys. And I  find it perfectly reasonable to criticize Israel while still  supporting Biden. Many people have done it. bernie has done it. Heck even chuck schumer and biden have done it. 

But the left is  going too far. Im going to be honest, full stop, not a huge fan of the protests. I understand them and the anger, I can't say that I don't think they should have a right to do it. I know reading my past article, I do think i mightve come off as TOO critical, and too in favor of police. I just understand first amendment rights dont always cover protests on private property, nor are they warrants for violence. And if columbia or another university has to cancel classes because they fear for their students' safety, that IS a problem. It just is. People have a right to protest, but there are reasonable limits there and other concerns. This isn't the "public square" per se, and of course, safety comes first. 

And honestly, electorally, voters have every right NOT to vote for Biden. BUT, I would say this, be mindful what the consequences of such a decision are. Think of the big picture. is this worth a second trump term? Is this worth the potential political destruction of the left. is it worth driving the rest of the country to the right, and AWAY from the democrats and TO the right? 

In my mind, the answer is clear. I studied the last time this happened, and I believe those who dont learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. And I know the last time we were here, it didn't end well for us. I honestly view the protests as largely politically ineffective, the war went on for YEARS after it started, the democratic coalition imploded, and we got decades of neoliberalism out of it. Was it worth it? NO. NO IT WAS NOT. 

As I see it, I'm here to clean up THAT mess. 2016 was the start of a new realignment, the left has a hand to play here. But it's throwing it all away over a pair of twos so to speak. And I can't in good faith support what the far left is doing here. I just can't. Biden 2024. Defend our position, hold our ground, don't let the right make progress or we're screwed. 

 EDIT: Actually Vietnam was WORSE.

 There is one difference between Vietnam and Gaza that someone has pointed out though. In Vietnam, we had a draft. We had boots on the ground. Our troops were dying in what seemed like a pointless and unnecessary war with no real end goal. Think of Iraq but worse. 

Gaza is half a world away, and honestly, none of us have skin in the game. One positive thing was the protests ended the draft, we have an all volunteer military, and it's not OUR troops dying.

In that sense I actually have far more respect for the Vietnam people. As I see it, the gaza people are throwing this away for nothing. I just wanted to add that addendum as it's a good point.