Trial of the Chicago 7

The federal government charged seven defendants for inciting a riot during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago.

The Trial of the Chicago 7

The Trial of the Chicago 7 tells the story of seven people standing trial stemming from various charges surrounding the uprising at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

The federal government charged Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner with conspiracy, crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot, and other charges related to anti-Vietnam War

The protests took place in Chicago, Illinois during the 1968 Democratic National Convention

My mother – some of you knew her – Claire – a political junkie – sat glued to the TV for months.

She watched the shit going down in Chicago – then watched a trial that lasted for almost 5 months – beginning on September 24, 1969 and not ending until February 16, 1970 .

But that still didn’t end it – appeals ran until November 21, 1972 – so the Chicago 7 hooked Claire for better than four years.

Backdoor deals, under-the-table payoffs, and political favors ran rampant in D.C. – sound familiar?

Two radical groups protested – whites – not Antifa but hippies – and blacks – not BLM but the Black Panthers – sound familiar? – and Chicago took the brunt of it.

I watched the movie the other night on Netflix – a couple shockers – they made the movie in 2020 and it surprised me – pretty good.

I loved Ali G & Borat – but didn’t know Sacha Baron Cohen played Abbie Hoffman until I just looked it up an hour ago – Hoffman led the hippies – along with Jerry Rubin – Cohen played the role perfectly.

As I said – I liked the movie – until the end when the Chicago 7 suddenly take on a heroic glow – and then I discover why – Aaron Sorkin wrote & directed the movie.

Sorkin is a tremendously successful Hollywood writer – but police once arrested him at the Burbank airport with hallucinogenic mushrooms, pot, crack cocaine, and a crack pipe in his possession.

A far-out liberal, he once hooked up The Meathead to create anti-Bush ads.

I started to participate in a screen-writing seminar with him a few years back – didn’t pay attention to politics at that time – but said “fuck you” when his socialistic slant started to surface in his presentations.

All that said – I liked the movie.

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Warner Books published Born to Be Wild in 1992 & it still sells every day at Amazon & Kindle. True story about certain members of the Warlocks motorcycle gang.

The story takes 21 years to play out – with many twists & turns – an amalgam of Sons of Anarchy & Breaking Bad – but these outlaw bikers make the Sons look like Cub Scouts.