Thread: The street scene in Chicago

The street scene in Chicago
Email|Link|Comments (12) Posted by Michael Paulson November 4, 2008 06:34 PM
It was a picture-perfect day in Chicago – temperatures in the 70s, a clear-blue sky, and the crowds building inside and alongside Grant Park, where Barack Obama is scheduled to hold his election night rally.

The setting is rich with history – the park, of course, is named for Ulysses S. Grant, who commanded the Union Army during the Civil War – and the park was also the scene of rioting during the Democratic Convention of 1968, which occurred during a period of great concern over civil rights just after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Today, many of the larger buildings along the southern stretch of Michigan Avenue have American flags mounted to their facades, and the Hilton Chicago, a hotel closely associated with the 1968 unrest, is festooned with red-white-and-blue bunting. Along the avenue, which runs parallel to the west side of the park, vendors are hawking Obama merchandise – buttons and T-shirts, mostly – and many people are decked out in as much Obama gear as they could find. On Congress Parkway, where the crowds waited for access to the fields, there was a guy posing for photographers wearing a pinstriped baseball uniform with the name Obama and the number 08, a young woman was selling T-shirts saying “Obama 08/Grant Park/I Was There,’’ and a teenager was playing an electronic version of “Somewhere over the Rainbowâ€

“He has brought so many people together.’’

Now there is one deluded person. This country can't be more divided. I know parents who are not speaking to some of their kids and vice versa, co-workers who no longer speak and best friends who are on the outs....all over Obama. There is something DEEPLY wrong about all this over a man ruling for a executive office. It's downright creepy! Some of his followers exude the attitude of Jim Jones groupies and act like they are part of some religious cult! They are going to be deeply depressed sooner or later!