The American Spectator | USA News and Politics
These are not the ideologues … but rather those for whom action and a sense of belonging represent a reward worth seeking.
"Activism in those years came surrounded by an awful lot of conformist fun-seeking, “conformist” because, for all the claims about “fighting the system,” there was a great deal of trying to be like everyone else. And “fun seeking” — getting high on the vibe from the crowd was a huge incentive for joining a protest march, particularly when it came with an outsized frisson of sexual excitement.
"Famously, iconic folk singer Joan Baez and her two sisters posed for a widely-distributed poster with the caption “Girls say yes to boys who say no.” Lest anyone mistake the intent, the sub-caption noted that proceeds from the poster’s sales would go to “The Draft Resistance.” Some feminists professed outrage, but for young men in 1968, the message was revolutionary. Having largely been raised with 1950s sexual values, and particularly subjected to various macho imperatives — be a football star, be a soldier — the idea that girls might offer themselves to a draft resister was profoundly subversive.
"Unsurprisingly, the 60s protests flagged as the Vietnam war began to wind down, and many of those who’d been simply along for the ride, for the thrills, moved on with their lives. But the most dedicated radicals refused to give up, moving from orchestrating mass protests to more violent terrorist action, notably a series of bombings aimed at the government and the military. The murderous bombing at the University of Wisconsin math center was one such, the 1971 bombing at the Pentagon yet another. Sadly, one legacy of the 60s protests was a willingness to see the United States itself as unworthy. While most former protesters were themselves opposed to violence, far too many quietly sympathized." . . . Among them: Obama's political partner and mentor, Bill Ayers
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