Right wing culture is so bad » « You didn’t know you’d wake up this morning to hear an old man raving about teenaged boys’ sperm counts

The Morris protest march

We had a good turnout, somewhere around 100 people, despite the damp gray morning and intermittent rain. We had one cool cat show up, there was also a dinosaur somewhere in the crowd.

For a gang of anti-American agents of antifa, there was a lot of patriotism on display, with flags everywhere. Mary and I were carrying the new Minnesota flag — a few people asked us what it represented, I guess the update hasn’t gotten to everyone yet.

We also had dogs show up. Everyone despises Trump.

We did have one loudmouthed jerk show up, who raged at us at the top of his lungs, looking positively demented as he screamed about money being spent on foreign countries and the Democratic government shutdown. He was quietly separated from the group and wandered off to die of apoplexy somewhere else, I presume. He apparently worked at the UMM physical plant and was laid off recently, and is very resentful.

Good morning, good crowd, we did our part in the wave of protests sweeping across the country.

Right wing culture is so bad » « You didn’t know you’d wake up this morning to hear an old man raving about teenaged boys’ sperm counts

Comments

  1. says

    Had a couple waving Trump flags from their cars near the end, but otherwise crickets in my part of Texas. Pretty sure that they didn’t show up en masse because they lack the masse. Sticking around would only serve to show that they’re the fascist freak minority, even in red Texas.

  3. robro says

    Just saw a report that there are 100,000 at a march in San Francisco. There are several demonstrations here in Marin.

    Yesterday, Marc Benioff (CEO of Salesforce) apologized for calling for the National Guard to be sent to SF after the backlash.

  4. flange says

    The loudmouthed jerk who screamed about the “Democratic government shutdown” isn’t a certified Republican asshole, or he would have said “DEMOCRAT government shutdown.

  5. tedw says

    We just returned from the protest in Highlands, NC, which is currently full of tourists (like us) up here to see the fall leaves. We had planned to use my father-in-law’s cabin up here for some time and the protest just happened to coincide with our trip. This was the first time my wife and I had done something like that, but it won’t be the last. Fortunately my child was there and they have done this a number of times before and helped us with signs, etc. It was great! The organizers said there were over 600 people there as compared to 400 at the last one in June. There was a counter protest a couple of blocks down in front of a store (which we would normally have gone into but skipped for obvious reasons) that has a “Trump 2028” sign among other propaganda in the window. There were maybe 2 dozen people at that demonstration. Of course the cars driving by would often express their opinions; by my admittedly biased account they were roughly 10:1 in favor of us. So all in all a great way to spend a beautiful fall day! Made me feel optimistic, if only for a brief time.

  6. birgerjohansson says

    Flange @ 4
    You nailed it!
    .
    I am waiting for coverage to come in over the Swedish-language media.
    .
    Even those who do no longer have Facebook need to see this.
    The long-term prospects for USA are bleak.

    The four possible outcomes after removing an authoritarian leader
    .https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BY1JMWw5s/

  7. Mobius says

    I just got back from the Tulsa protest. Good turnout, even though it was raining when the protest started.

    Lots of flags, some dogs, and lots of fun. Those dang antifa were sure being patriotic.

    There was one person that drove past giving us a thumbs down. Didn’t see any Trump flags or birds being given. That was unusual for Oklahoma.

  8. foolishleader says

    I would say there were about 250-300 people at the No Kings MN NW Metro which is Robbinsdale, a first ring suburb of Minneapolis.

  9. hyper1doom1spiral says

    About 7,000 in my neck of the woods. Rode my bike with kids for a twenty two mile protest. Had a upside down 3’x5’ US flag pre-burnt on a 6 foot flag pole. My kids had a homemade Antifa action placard on a pole (these worked very well), Communist placard and “FUCK tRUMP” one onside and “FUCK GRPD”on other placard done with 6” stencils. Great art and crafts with the kids. Attaching these to bikes worked out pretty good. Had one, what I can only guess was a liberal from the protest group told us “Fuck off communist” (vast majority was supportive). And what I’ll describe as internet trolls (Didn’t look like typical the Rapist supporters) in a mammoth dodge pickup truck harassing the protester almost running them over. They (protesters) were literally in front of the truck pushing back as the truck was revving engine and going forward. Almost another Heather Heyer incident.

  11. StevoR says

    Just seen meme on fb :

    We don’t need another Nero!

    With cartoon of Trump as Nero in front of burning White House and background holding box of matches.

    No authour signature visible, something that I first thought was Japanese / Chinese kanji characters but turned out on closer inspection to be musical notes in white emboss- y font at top right corner.

  13. hillaryrettig1 says

    Nice big crowd in our small town. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of signs that were explicitly antifascist (as was ours), and the support from the passing drivers.

  14. ANB says

    Fort Bragg, CA. 7000 (on pop. sign). About twice that in region. At least 1500 turned out. (I’ve got some experience in counting crowds).

    One MAGA shirt passed me. Otherwise, a fun and friendly event.

  15. Pierce R. Butler says

    Very upbeat demo in Gainesville, FL today – impossible to get a nose count with all the milling around, but easily a thousand or more. Only one or two hostiles, who left quickly; small police presence, with nothing to do. Numerous inventive costumes, lots of great homemade signs (mine: “Impeach Vance (& Johnson) First”).

  16. StevoR says

    Aussie ABC coverage :

    Crowds have gathered across the United States for more than 2,600 planned “No Kings” protests against Donald Trump.

    Organisers say the rallies reflect frustration over the administration’s prosecutions of perceived enemies, immigration raids and the sending of troops into cities.

    What’s next?
    Some experts have forecast that as many as three million people could take to streets across the country by the end of the demonstrations.

    Source : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5uSg9lqXMg

  17. says

    Had a nice time at the protest in downtown Tucson this morning. Plenty of singing, dancing, inflatable animal costumes, cheeky signs, etc. No real police presence and no tear gas or national guard, so call it a win. Nice reminder that we’re not as alone as they try to make us think.

  18. StevoR says

    USA is meant to have govt of the people by the people for the people NOT dictatorship by Trump of Fascists for the undeserving obscenely rich.

  19. raven says

    Just got home from a long day.

    Our local West Coast demonstration was packed with a huge turnout.
    I got there early and it was so crowded, I never managed to see even a large part of the people there.
    Which means I can’t estimate the crowd size.
    It was way more than the first one which had 7,000 people. I’m guessing it was 10% of the local area it draws from, which is pretty amazing.

    The weather was a warm October day and the people were mostly upbeat and festive, considering the dismal era we live in. A lot of good costumes.
    No police, no counterprotesters that I saw.
    Afterwards there was a good DJ with Electronic Dance Music and a Dance of Defiance. A lot of people stayed for the dance, including me.

    It was not only necessary but our events are fun and entertaining.
    It is a huge contrast with the firehouse of hate, lies, and fascism directed towards us every day by the GOP, with the Mainstream Media holding the hose.

  20. raven says

    I now have more signs of the dismal era we live in, the one that started 10 months ago.

    At the demonstration, the organizers were handing out a lot of helpful information.
    I now have a card in English and Spanish telling me what to do if I’m stopped by ICE.

    I also have directions of what to do if there is an Active Shooter.
    Run, hide, or fight in that order.

    What do do if the Police, ICE, or National Guard starts firing tear gas at us.
    Move out of the cloud, change your clothes, and take a 20 minute cold shower.
    (I knew I forgot something. A change of clothes and a portable shower.)

    The instructions didn’t say what to do if the police start shooting pepper balls or steel cored rubber bullets.
    Protect your head and eyes and leave as soon as possible.

    I never thought when I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s that I would end up living in a dystopia like this one.
    And…here we are.

  24. HidariMak says

    I’m impressed that the dissidents were unsuccessful at raising any notable stink in those No Kings rallies. The head MAGAts were desperate over the past few weeks with their claims of nationwide riots and mayhem, and I suspect some were directly encouraging various militias to stir up some chaos. And I doubt that the lack of agitators appearing in the news means that there was any lack of agitators.

  25. microraptor says

    @24: It’s quite a change from the far right attacks against the Black Lives Matter protests.

    Went to my local protest. Despite being in a small, conservative part of the country there was still quite a turnout. Local news says it was over 1000 people.

  26. Silentbob says

    @ raven

    Thanks so much for your resistance. Such a huge difference between those who talk the talk and those who walk the walk. If we have a future it will because of people like yourself, just sayin’.

  27. Silentbob says

    @ 18 Stevo

    I hate to break it to you, but “people” meant rich white men. It never meant anything else.

  28. Silentbob says

    @ ^

    I mean, Lincoln himself (who coined those words) when asked if that included “negroes” was like, WTF? Of course not!

  30. StevoR says

    @ 27. Silentbo : “I hate to break it to you, but “people” meant rich white men. It never meant anything else.”

    Until people decided that it did mean more than just that. Because history and cultures and views of humans are not immovable static changeless things.

    It means more than that now. At least for most Americans, I think. Yes, the founders were – in a great many cases racist AF and some of them controlled slaves and they came up with a really crappy political system that badly needs a major update to become suitable for this century and our improved zeitgeist and understanding of human rights – including the idea that one vote should have one value so should be no more EC among much more.

  31. StevoR says

    Apparently according to this (8 mins 25 secs) No Kings (is) officially the biggest protest in US history. I hope that’s correct and I hope it makes a major difference.

  33. Silentbob says

    Government of rich white men by rich white men for rich white men doesn’t sound quite so noble does it?

    (But that’s all it ever meant.)

  34. StevoR says

    @ ^ Silentbob : No. That is NOT “”all” it has ever meant. Clearly not. It means & has meant different things to different people at different times and most of them I think do see it as having meaning far beyond that narrow old interpretation.

  35. birgerjohansson says

    The Brit opponents to slavery were mostly racists themselves, but recognised the inherent cruelty of the institution. Which is a step up fron their ancestors.

  36. Kevin Karplus says

    Our city of around 60,000 had 15,000 show up (OK, some were probably from other parts of the county, but the county did have 2 other official events: one a tiny one up in the mountains, and one having Dolores Huerta speaking at the rally), which was a better turnout than the 10,000 at the last No Kings Day protest. My wife and I ended up near the end of the parade, and it took us about 1:15 to do the 0.7-mile route. We were feeling lazy, so we just reused our signs from the previous protest.

  37. anat says

    birgerjohansson @35: Opinions on most things lie on a spectrum. The goal of engaging with the public isn’t to make a huge number of people make a different binary choice, it is to slide everyone just a bit along the spectrum towards one’s position.

  39. jenorafeuer says

    birgerjohansson @35:
    There had long been a significant abolitionist movement in Britain, but it only really got serious political support when it could be combined with other things as well. Such as the late 1700s when it could be used as a way to screw with the Americans, and provide an excuse to search American ships to see if they were carrying slaves as contraband; and then later in the early 1800s when it could be used as a way to screw with Napoleon, who was in the midst of trying to re-establish control over Haiti.

    Having a significant number of lawmakers who believe it is wrong and having a sufficient coalition to actually make laws against it are, sadly, two different things.

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