Mrs Magill and I went to the rally in Nashville today. We spoke with several very nice, but angry, people. Also, my shirt was a hit.
My shirt:
Went to a rally here in a Los Angeles suburb. I was surprised at the number
of people who showed up. I had expected maybe 50 - 100 but I would estimate
that there were well over 500. The warm clear weather probably helped increase
the turnout. Wish I had taken photos of some of the signs - several were well
done and quite clever. While the protest was peaceful it was very noisy with
people blowing whistles, honking car horns, banging on bells and drums, and
much yelling. I dislike noisy environments and didn’t stay very long - perhaps
30 - 45 minutes.
I took my Nikon FE2 (cant track that!), but only exposed about 20 frames. It was so crowded that it was difficult to get good shots. I need to expose the remaining ~16 frames and get it developed.
We have iPhone SEs. My wife set hers to airplane mode and used it to take pictures. I set mine to airplane mode, turned off WiFi, turned on the passcode to open it, and turned it off. And I left it in the car. When we got home I took it out of the car and brought it inside to turn everything on. Strangely, it was not turned off (even though I had turned it off). I did have to enter my passcode to open it. But it should not have been turned on at all. I’ve heard that Stingray can boot phones that are turned off.
- Do I need to worry about Stingray or other malware?
- Is there any way I can check?
This is actually music to my ears. I’ve read a number of dour posters on other boards who’ve said that seniors wouldn’t protest the potential loss of SS/MC. I’ve been bullish on senior outrage, and today seems to have validated my outlook.
My wife was surprised to see so many older people at the rally, though she said she shouldn’t have been. Older people collect Social Security. Many older people are veterans. Older people have spent decades building up their retirement savings, only to see them being destroyed by Trump. Older Americans can’t, as is a stereotype, sit back and say ‘I’ve got mine. You need to work harder.’
This is a multigenerational fight. It involves current recipients, recipients in the next 5-10 years, and adult children who often serve as caretakers, many times in addition to their own kids.
I’m really disheartened by the lack of young people at these rallies. I don’t think they believe there is anything they can do about the way the country is. They might be right; it’s just us older white people whose early civic indoctrination and privilege have made us naive enough to think that rallies actually accomplish anything.
Also, there were a lot of LGBTQ+ supporters there, who tended to be younger. (Most I noticed were 20-somethings.)
They worked during the Vietnam War. (But then, politicians paid more attention. At least, their calculus was more sound.)
Most of us don’t get weekends off. Retirees have all the time in the world to protest.
My observation was on a Saturday in a college town. There is usually no shortage of young people downtown on a Saturday.
College kids work too, you know. And guess when they usually wind up working since they’ve got classes Monday-Friday?
I went to the Metuchen NJ protest. Wet, cold but very happy to meet a lot of determined people. Pics and posters on my facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/15Jewd5RUY/
I was just reading some online comments to the news story about our protest. Apparently I should have gotten $400 from George Soros for my attendance. I’ve been ripped off! 
Tempe, AZ, the bluest town on this side of Phoenix in Cole park. About 500, probably because there was a presumably much bigger one at the state capitol I was too lazy to go to.
No visible cops or park rangers, no apparent MAGAts. Several speakers with bullhorns but turned down low as across the street from the park was a residential area and the organizers didn’t want to impact them unduly. After the speakers were done the crowd was led to a nearby pedestrian overpass on US60 to display their signs.
My two favorites,
There is no sign big enough to list everything wrong
So bad the introverts are here
Step by step, the longest march
Can be won, can be won
Many stones can form an arch
Singly none, singly none
And by union what we will
Can be accomplished still
Drops of water turn a mill
Singly none, singly none
Say not the struggle naught availeth,
The labour and the wounds are vain,
The enemy faints not, nor faileth,
And as things have been they remain.
If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars;
It may be, in yon smoke concealed,
Your comrades chase e’en now the fliers,
And, but for you, possess the field.
For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,
Seem here no painful inch to gain,
Far back through creeks and inlets making,
Comes silent, flooding in, the main,
And not by eastern windows only,
When daylight comes, comes in the light,
In front the sun climbs slow, how slowly,
But westward, look, the land is bright.
-Arthur Hugh Clough
I’ve been searching for a story or a link that gives an estimate of the total number of people who participated in protests yesterday, but I have not found one. If anyone does, please post the number and the source.
Those of you who didn’t attend because of age or health or circumstance, please don’t feel bad. You were there in spirit and that’s ok.
The guy who spoke first introduced himself and said he was unpaid.
I have seen between 3 and 5 million, with over a million in DC alone, posted on Facebook (the 50501 Movement’s page) so take that with a grain of salt. Heather Cox Richardson’s newsletter today said “millions”. Safe to say there was a substantial turnount.
I was at the Lansing one, with other members of my community band and our instruments.
Nobody paid us either!
At the Lansing event, both the Lt Governor and the Attorney General spoke, as well as numerous state legislators. Did other rallies also have high-level officials appear?
We had our state assembly woman. But we’re just a county seat with a population under 50,000. Any higher elected officials would have been in Santa Barbara, Sacramento, or DC.