We were a day late and a dollar short. My husband and I would have gone to the rallies if we had known about them, but found out too late. We would have stood in the heat and humidity for something like this. “Over 1,400 protests against President Donald Trump and Elon Musk are expected across all 50 states on Saturday, organized by a pro-democracy movement in response to what organizers call a “hostile takeover” and attack on American rights and freedoms. Nearly 600,000 people have signed up to attend the events, some which will also take place in other countries, according to Indivisible, one of the organizations leading the movement in collaboration with a nationwide coalition including civil rights organizations, veterans, women’s rights groups, labor unions and LGBTQ+ advocates.”
What a marvelous thing to do! The more attention we can get, the better it is. Now, whether or not it makes a difference is anyone’s guess. These protests also taking place across the *world*. That’s pretty major. It seems that people everywhere stand in solidarity *with us* in the middle of this nonsense. The more visibility we can get, the better. And there are people of *ALL* ages and backgrounds participating! “Organizers say they have three demands: “an end to the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration; an end to slashing federal funds for Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs working people rely on; and an end to the attacks on immigrants, trans people, and other communities.”
Our current government is getting pretty damn repressive. Take DEI, for example. They insisted all government websites scrub any mention of it from the pages. It doesn’t matter who or what it is. Our military removed history that should have stayed put. How about the removal of the Enola Gay plane and crew, just because of the word “gay”? Or the removal of the Tuskegee airmen, or the Navajo code talkers who were able to use an unbreakable code based on the Navajo language? A lot of military people were safer because of that.
They dismantled foreign aid programs that support fragile democracies abroad and put on leave federal workers who protect US elections at home in a move that current and former officials say abandons decades of American commitments to democracy. And they are also threatening colleges and universities with losing funding if they don’t get every mention of DEI and everything, such as classes, related to it from their curriculum. Get real!
Since tRump took office, his administration has been vocal about its efforts to cut federal spending, regardless of who it may harm. Thousands of federal workers have been laid off or issued immediate termination notifications as part of Traitor Tot and Musk’s plan to cut spending and downsize the federal government. And Musk, the world’s richest man, has aggressively pushed policies to reduce spending as the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, all while repeatedly misleading the public about federal spending.
Then there are the tariffs that are going to bring lots of money into the US and make everyone “wealthy”. Uhm, no. It means prices of *all* things are going to go up and up and up. It means inflation will go up and up and up. People are losing money in their retirement funds hand over fist because the stock market is cratering and not just in the US, but across the world.
Agent Orange and his team have also taken extraordinary measures to crack down on immigration, aggressively pressuring ICE to pick up the pace of migrant arrests and touting mass deportation plans despite the administration making multiple missteps in recent weeks, including mistakenly deporting a Salvadoran man. By the way, a judge ordered them to bring the man home. They have appealed and are stalling. We’ve already brought some people back. Why not him?
To close: “Our communities are paying the price while the Trumps and Musks of the world cash in. It’s not just about money – it’s about power,” Hands Off! organizers wrote. “This administration is targeting everybody who isn’t part of the 1% – veterans, kids, seniors, farmers, immigrants, transgender people, and political opponents. All to consolidate power and reward their allies.” Our country is going to hell.
*****And now, please read a very special request from our awesome boss******
Zoomers, if you have any spare change, please, we could use it. We are now entering month five of Trump Depression Syndrome, the moniker given to the phenomenon of a lot of Democrats tuning out from politics to save their sanity. I understand and respect that. I also know that somebody has to stay on the front lines, or there won’t be an army left to fight this war. So, that’s us. Please, we could use your help. And thank you for coming here to read about all the events. Ursula
I saw a photo on DK, where a decent number of people turned out in London, at Trafalgar Square. My hubby is recovering from surgery, so our participation is out.
I knew the protests were supposed to be worldwide, so to hear about something like this is wonderful!
I’ve been seeing the advance notices for days … couldn’t participate because of current medical issues (grrr!!).
Hmmm, I keep up with the news. I wonder how I missed this. I use a cane and it would have sucked but to turn out anyhow? Oh hell yes. I’m sorry you didn’t get to go!
If you want to know about rallies that are taking place, check out web sites for Indivisible, MoveOn and you might get led to others. Today I was on the sidewalk with signs at two different locations in metro Kansas City, both sides of the state line. Then we drove by another for encouragement that was during the afternoon, but had to forego the Takedown Tesla on State Line Road because its time was the same as the Plaza event. Several hundred people were at each location with cars driving by honking and many with their own signs.
This was great because during Covid we all but stopped any demonstrations. Today there were very few anti people present. People here are ready for a change.
Oooo thank you for the info – very helpful! I’m really glad you got to go out. It must have been amazing! Ready for a change? Ya think? *GRIN*