CSotD: The Whole World is (Still) Watching
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Fiona Katauskas sets a familiar scene divided between old and young, which may be a stereotype, but putting the old fellow in a suit rather than Archie Bunker mode suggests another division, that between those who have and those who are still setting their goals.
The parallels between the Student Strike of 1970 and the current moment have been much discussed, and I wonder if the conservative students who wanted order and good behavior then are having the same sorts of flashbacks as those of us who followed Bobby in quoting George Bernard Shaw’s “Some men see things as they are and say why, I dream things that never were and say, why not?”
I gather the folks who opposed demonstrations then are, like the fellow in Katauskas’s cartoon, angry to see that the young people who can’t look away in silence are back in the streets.
Juxtaposition of the Day
Both cartoonists bring an accusation of elitism and privilege, as well as accusations of phony performative actions.
There is privilege simply by being in college, but, as in 1970, it’s revealing to see where the hell is being raised, and, again, it’s not just Columbia and Harvard. Much of it seems to be happening at state, not private, colleges.
Bramhall is correct that the homeless problem matters, though sleeping under a bridge in NYC seems better than being buried in bombed-out rubble in Gaza. Still, I’d like to have someone grab a clipboard and walk through the demonstrators, polling them to see how many have also worked to aid the homeless.
It was, after all, possible half a century ago to oppose the War in Vietnam, boycott non-union lettuce and grapes, and raise funds for the Free Clinic.
Smith’s accusation is a little tougher, though it sure feels like both-sidesing the issue. It would be nice if the kids were chanting “Stop the Bombing! Free the Hostages!” but that’s not how movements work.
You can care about many things, but you have to focus on one at a time or you’ll have no focus at all.
Joel Pett might have shown those ambitious signs, and had a wise old man sadly note how long people have wanted such things and how long it would take to achieve them.
But putting the scene behind glass shrouded in rich tapestry, and having the quote come from a fat cat in a suit talking to a file-toting bureaucrat, it also carries a clear message of resistance to change and resistance to youth.
Though Republican congressmembers seem determined to change this fact, the administrators at colleges tend to stay in office a long time, and see class after class pass through, most of them facelessly.
They often counsel patience and, in their world, that means wait six years. Most students don’t have six years and don’t believe the people in Gaza do, either.
Maarten Wolterink (Cartoon Movement) cuts through to a central issue that has begun to gain strength in the conversation.
If protesters haven’t, as Mike Smith wanted, called for release of the hostages loudly enough, they did celebrate a large Seder to protest the war and have, in general, brought more recognition to the number of Jews who oppose the attacks on Gaza.
Bernie Sanders issued an open letter to Netanyahu insisting that opposition to government policy is not antisemitic,
and a major newspaper in Israel, Ha-aretz (paywall), ran an editorial calling on the US to recognize Palestine.
It should be as simple as pointing out that Netanyahu’s Likud Party does not have a majority in the Knesset and he is ruling through a coalition of parties: Opposition to Netanyahu’s party is normal political back-and-forth. It’s not antisemitism.
Have there been antisemitic statements and slurs at some of the protests? Sure. But those bigots compare to the cuckoobirds who show up at Trump rallies. Is it the whole crowd, or just the ones whose behavior makes them stand out?
It’s as unfair to typify the protesters as antisemites as it is to go to a Trump rally and only interview the most outlandish crazies.
It is, however, how media works far too often.
“Because half a dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the field ring with their importunate chink, whilst thousands of great cattle, reposed beneath the shadow of the British oak, chew the cud and are silent, pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field.” — Edmund Burke
Though when I dream of things that never were, I imagine a middle ground where the grasshoppers aren’t quite so obnoxious but the cattle aren’t quite so silent, either. I still don’t know why not.
Of course, Nick Anderson (Tribune) points out, one reason why that middle ground isn’t coming about this time is that there are powerful people who have already built a reputation for fighting against college administrators and other eddicated pinhead libbrels, and the protests give them a chance to perform for their audience.
Although, Anderson continues, that need to continually perform leaves Republicans in an odd spot.
A couple of odd spots, in fact. They continue to defend the so-called “hostages” of January 6, who were far more disruptive and destructive than the kids sitting on the grass at colleges, but, while ignoring the assaults on police by those “peaceful tourists,” they’re also intent on firing college presidents for not siccing the local cops on their kids.
And then there’s the matter of having to defend Biden’s Gaza policy in order to rage against the Kollege Kommies.
This is a political party that voted down a border solution so they could continue to use it as a weapon in the coming elections, and two weeks ago, they were adamant about denying Biden aid for Israel.
Now they’ve had to line up behind him to prove their patriotic machismo.
Poor babies.
It’s hardly the GOP’s only problem, and I doubt NYC’s tourism board will be asking for reprints of this David Rowe depiction. We all know Rudy Guiliani cleaned up Times Square!
The saddest part is not the grotesque narcissist soliciting for sex in the alley. It’s Uncle Sam and Liberty looking sadly resigned to their roles in the farce.
After all, they symbolize us.
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