A few days ago, my wife and I decided to attend the local "No Kings" protest. Unrelated, however, my son was in town last night to stay over as he had agreed to help his friend move from our old neighborhood in Perkasie to the York, Pa area.
I mention this visit because JW and I had an hour long discussion last night about what it would take to change America from our current slide towards an authoritarian government.
What was different about that late-night conversation, was that JW was more hopeful, citing the protests in Los Angeles as a sign that people were starting to wake up, while I was less so, a stark switch from most of our previous talks where he was less positive that there would be a strong enough push back from the electorate.
While we both remain frustrated by our two main political party's active restriction of other viable political parties, their dependence on monies from the super rich which then leads to policies that benefit them, and their lack of putting the everyday American first when governing, we do disagree in our perception of the democratic party as I still believe that the democratic party is more than just the lesser of two evils when deciding how to vote (not starkly less, but less).
He specifically blames the Dems for losing the 2024 election, which I partly agree with, as I have stated in previous posts, that our message was not clear enough, and that Harris did not separate herself enough from Biden's problems. But more so, I believe that the 2024 loss was more about the selfishness of the American electorate which is now OK with open cruelty to people that are different, immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community, etc, as long as their dozen eggs and gallon of gas cost $2.
It seems clear to me that hate is the best motivator for winning an election, while love/compassion is a distant second. That as long as we have a sickness in our collective souls, leaders like Trump will continue to win elections.
Which brings us to the protest we attended yesterday.
The good news is that it was well attended, despite the rainy weather. Certainly hundreds of people turned out, the majority with signs indicating their reluctance to allow a king to run our government. It was heartwarming, not just to see all the people there, but to witness the reaction by many of those who drove past the protest which lined both sides of the street. Lots of honking (for the Honk if you support Democracy signs), lost of waving, lots of smiles, lots of people using their phones to document the event.
While I certainly don't know what percentage of those who drove past did not know that this was a No Kings protest, and more specifically, that the local protest would be at that particular location, it seemed to me that many people were surprised to see all of us standing in the rain chanting "Dump Trump" and "No More Kings". And that a majority, while not overwhelming majority, supported our efforts.
Again, it made me feel a bit more hopeful. But is it enough?
Obviously, Trump will continue to assail the Constitution, will continue to deport illegal immigrants for no other reason that they entered America under the radar, with little regard to getting rid of the worse of the worse, as, I believe, many people who held their nose and voted for him, thought he would do.
It won't matter that hundreds of rallies were held in cities all around the country, attended by far more people than will be at his military fest/birthday bash. Trump will continue to demand that ICE deport a few thousand people, yes, they are people, by the way, from our country.
He will continue to spit in the face of Lady Liberty, will continue to equate racism with patriotism, and will continue to be supported by millions of Americans who think they are immune to the cruelty because they are white, or male, or wear a red hat.
So again, is today's protests enough?
Or do we need to take the next step beyond protests, and begin a program of civil disobedience?
I asked someone I had never met before who was standing next to me at the protest, when were we going to block the intersection and cause a traffic jam? When were we going to cause some inconvenience to our fellow Americans?
She looked at me without answering, so I gave her a break and said that I thought that, while I was certainly encouraged by the size of the protest, I didn't believe it would make a difference.
To give her credit, she said that given that Trump's electoral victory was marked by close races in all seven swing states, and that even though he won them all, he won by a couple hundred thousand votes, in total, and that in four of those states the Democratic Senator prevailed, perhaps it will only take exposure to people in their own neighborhood to swing them back.
I am glad she is hopeful, but I don't share her optimism.
I think we need real action.
#OWPAT
Old White People Against Trump
There is no hesitancy among Trump and his acolytes when it comes to displaying cruelty against black and brown people. We saw that in action with the handcuffing of Senator Padilla a few days ago.
But perhaps if more old white people placed themselves between ICE agents and people of their community whose only crime is to have come here illegally, two, five, even ten years ago, the optics might galvanize the resistance, and stiffen the spines of our politicians, on both sides of the aisle, to just say no, as Nancy Reagan preached.
No to deporting hard working members of communities all across our country, no to the use of extortion against universities and law firms, no firing thousands of federal workers, no to gutting our environmental laws, no to entrusting our health care to a man with admitted brain worm disease who has spent the last few decades spreading misinformation about vaccines, no to aligning our country with war criminals such as Putin and Netanyahu.
Even better, when will the Christian community, Catholics, Protestants, Methodists, etc, begin to hear from their pastors and ministers that belief in Christ's message compels them to get out into the street and surround and protect those among us who are being persecuted?
Economics matter, certainly the result of the election last November in which the memory of inflation paid a large part proves that, so perhaps when grocery prices start to rise because the people who do the really hard jobs in our meat packing plants and on our farms are no longer there because they have been deported or are afraid to go to work, Americans might actually connect the dots ans realize that we need immigrants, just as immigrants have always played a significant part in the creation of our great country.
But just as important, optics matter. It is easy to dismiss the protests when those in the streets are the wrong color, or just young (and presumed to be) stupid, but when old white people are being arrested, or beaten, or otherwise subjected to police brutality, perhaps America might begin to realize that the lie that anyone who is protesting is being paid, is just another big lie from a man who has no moral compass, and very little grasp on any reality that differs from his perception that he is always right.
Even more so, when the real Christian community, and I know you are out there, is inspired by pastors and ministers who apply the teachings of Christ to the events of the day and encourage their flocks to reread the Sermon on the Mount, and apply the Beatitudes to the atrocities that are being perpetrated every day in our country, when Christians are being arrested for interfering in the rounding up of good people from their communities, even more Americans will wake up to the evil they are supporting.
Is it time to cross that line to civil disobedience? Is it possible to turn our country from its path towards authoritarianism without it?
More importantly, do we possess the fortitude, the guts, to be inconvenienced as we fight against a president and his cult, as they trash the perception of America as the "shining city on the hill?"
I have posted a few times with the label First Amendment. Here is one from early 2021.
https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2021/01/freedom-of-speech.html
Also, speaking of the Sermon on the Mount, here is my take on those lessons, An Atheist for Christ
https://wurdsfromtheburbs.blogspot.com/2024/04/an-atheist-for-christ.html
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