May 9

May 9 Jammin' With Joe

Chicago, CTA, Protest, Public Declarations

“(Crosstown traffic) So hard to get through to you
(Crosstown traffic) I don’t need to run over you
(Crosstown traffic) All you do is slow me down
And I’ve got better things on the other side of town”

— Crosstown Traffic, Jimi Hendrix, from Electric Ladyland (1968)

By now, no one should be surprised when 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold a rally outside of Chicago’s Palmer House to show their displeasure with President Joe Biden, affectionately known to the demonstrators as ‘Genocide Joe.’ Late this afternoon, Biden held a fundraiser at the hotel that would net him $1,000,000.

Biden’s money grab did little to endear him with another segment of Chicago voters: those who commute by auto and bus. I once again hopped on a 146 bus as I headed to the demonstration, which began with a rally in the plaza located at the intersection of Ida B. Wells Drive and Michigan Avenue—ground zero for pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Chicago.

I missed the rally because of the traffic. Shortly after passing Fullerton Avenue, the bus I was on hit a traffic jam. What I was witnessing was not the usual backup at the Oak Street curve caused by the idiotic traffic lights that regularly halt the flow of traffic on what is an eight-lane highway. Only in Chicago.

We were moving at a crawl until we exited onto Michigan Avenue, entering what was a major traffic jam. By the time we reached the bus stop at Illinois Avenue and Michigan, I knew walking the last mile would be faster—much faster. As I half jogged, I could see that traffic was gridlocked on Michigan Avenue, Wacker Drive, and all the side streets.

This was Biden’s third fundraiser since October 7 in the downtown area. Given his recurring claim that he is just a regular guy—a claim that is suspect because he has never sounded like the ‘Regular Guy’ who does movie reviews on WXRT—I can’t believe that he doesn’t understand the chaos he creates when traveling with the two armored limousines known as the ‘Beasts,’ an ambulance, one or two buses holding the White House press corps, a communication vehicle, dozens of police cars, a motorcycle brigade, and who knows what else.

Biden put the downtown in gridlock for the better part of three hours. Ironically, the only place traffic seemed to be moving was on State Street. CPD had relegated the demonstrators to the southbound lane between Monroe and Adams, while keeping the northbound lane open. Sometimes I wait for 10 or 15 minutes on State Street for a 146 bus headed north. Not tonight. As I stood on the sidewalk, I witnessed a steady stream of CTA buses headed north, bumper to bumper, with cars mixed in. An officer would then halt the northbound traffic. Another would signal or radio to an officer north of the intersection at Monroe and State, telling the officer to send the southbound traffic on its merry way. This cycle was repeated until Biden left the Palmer House.

I had seen the NYPD to deploy this technique when Donald J. Trump arrived at Trump Tower the night before his arraignment in the hush-money case currently unfolding in New York City. One bus after another rolled down Fifth Avenue, creating an additional barrier between the crowd lining the westside of the Fifth Avenue, and the entrance to Trump Tower that Trump would pass through when his motorcade arrived. This was exactly what CPD was doing tonight.

Thankfully, Biden used an area near Solider Field as landing spot for Marine One. CPD would only need to close DuSable Lake Shore Drive for 20 or so minutes, assuming Biden moved quickly from the limo to the helicopter. Later I spoke with someone who was headed south on DuSable Lake Shore Drive, coming from Belmont. He was parked in traffic for over an hour, but he is a Trumper so who cares?

The Biden Campaign needs to rethink its strategy. Tickets to the fundraisers reportedly cost somewhere between $25,000 and $50,000. Assuming a married couple only needed one ticket, conservatively speaking, 80 people attended the fundraiser. The campaign would do commuters a huge favor by renting two luxury buses to take the donors to O’Hare, where Biden could meet with them at the O’Hare Hilton. Champaign and caviar served on the bus would prove to be festive.

As for the demonstration, at best, it was lackluster. Both the police and the demonstrators stood around for two hours, visibly bored. Same speeches, same banners, same chants. The organizers are overplaying their hand. The number of people attending these demonstrators is steadily dropping with each successive one.

But there was a dash of humor to be seen. As I walked along State Street in the middle of all the chaos, I saw a white Rolls Royce stuck in the halted northbound traffic. When I walked past the car, looking in the open window, I saw the driver smoking something. I have no idea whether it was just a hand-rolled cigarette or something else, but if it was something else, that guy sure has guts given the number of cops in the vehicle’s immediate vicinity. A Rolls Royce passing a demonstration where some demonstrators carry banners and flags demanding affordable housing. Rich, literarily .

The campus Gaza Solidarity encampments reinvigorated the campaign against Biden for the last couple of weeks, but those are now waning. It is time for a new page or two in the playbook.

And I continue to wonder what the organizers think they will have accomplished if Trump defeats Biden in November. ‘Genocide Joe’ may have plenty of time to enjoy his ice cream cones next March, but the organizers will have to print new signs and banners, replacing ‘Biden’ with ‘Trump,’ who will prove even more supportive of Israel. A Pyrrhic victory if there ever was one.

[Click on an Image to Enlarge It. The Images Are Not Necessarily in Exact Chronological Order]