Americana: The War Is Over

In Chicago's Grant Park last week, a decade after the riots at the 1968 Democratic Convention, a group of latter-day Yippies shouted the old battle cry: "The whole world is watching!" But hardly anyone was. Then the Yippies went marching through the streets, and the friendly police even provided two motorcyclists to clear the way. They sat in a busy intersection, chanting, "The streets belong to the people!" But when a few cops finally told them to move on, they meekly complied. They smoked pot and slept in the park, but their main complaint to the bored police was, "How come we're not getting busted?"

A crowd of up to 50,000 had been forecast for the Tenth Annual Festival of Life; only some 150 came. "Who was here in 1968?" one speaker asked. About four hands went up. Complained Waitress Janet Dezutter, 36, who had carried a VOTE PIG IN '68 banner in the good old days: "I felt like a grandmother among them. Times have changed. The war is over." Activist Dave Dellinger made a short speech. "Who's Dave Dellinger?" someone asked. After his speech, Dellinger retired to a near North Side loft for a wine-and-cheese party for tenth anniversary survivors.