Late to the party but…
We went to the protest at the state capitol in Topeka. It was later in the afternoon (3-5 pm) because they had a Juneteenth celebration on the capitol grounds earlier in the day. Temperature was about 90°. There were a few counter-protestors across the street, and of course because it’s Topeka the Phelps clan was there. This was our third protest, and it was by far the largest crowd so far. I would guess 5-6K.
As you know: can’t be. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Also of justice.
Some times are better than other times. As long as we’re the same species, that’s as good as we’re going to get. But that’s enough to make a huge difference in a whole lot of people’s lives (not to mention all the other species.) So fight to turn this back into one of the better times, and to stop it being one of the worse.
From what I can tell from what news sites I’ve checked, there were a whole shitload of protests all over the country, big places and small, red places and blue; and almost no violence, from either side. There was the possibly associated murder of Democratic politicians; there were some non-associated protestors who tried to rush the Rotunda in DC, breaking down a barrier in the process, and got arrested; and there was one person who drove a car into a protest as it was breaking up but didn’t seriously hurt anybody. Otherwise, all the anticipated shit – didn’t happen.
Take a deep breath, everybody, and show up next time, if you can.
Thank you for articulating what had been knocking about my head.
Also what is, I think, the most powerful argument for participating in rallies like this.
I think an additional argument is that, while the news-control people can and do fail to report on them, the people in any given place who see them (and who may well know some of those at them, the chances going up in the smaller places) are going to find out about them whether or not Fox etc. cover them.
And what they’re going to see is their neighbors waving USA flags, and behaving in general like patriotic Americans. Which most of us are, damn it.
I think in that fashion the strategy of having a whole lot of rallies in a whole lot of places, instead of trying to have one huge one in DC, may work a lot better.
So the more of us who show up, in more and more places – the better our chances get. And the more of us who show up, in more and more places – the more of us who show up the next time, in more and more places.
Reporting is 80 thousand plus in phila. It was quite the crowd.
Trump handed the popular opposition the opportunity for an overwhelming coup. It happened largely both organically and peacefully. It’s the best, undeniable win against that mean old man in a long time.
Today is Father’s Day, and my neighborhood smells like grilled steak everywhere. It’s the first good day after many disappointing ones.
Has there been any reliable estimate yet (or will there likely be one) of the total number of participants across the country?
ACLU estimate says over 5 million.
The thing that tickled me the most was every single party bus full of woo girls cheered as they passed by.
The Alt National Park Service (a resistance that started in 2017 during the 45 reign, with park service employees) has a count of 12.1 million. According to them they had members in as many locations as possible collecting data. But no way to verify this. When they were speculating throughout the day (they had about 7.2 million by 4 pm Eastern) people in the comments kept reminding them to count people who Erie driving by and honking in support.
I see the ACLU doesn’t verify their claim either. And they say 100k for Philadelphia, where I’ve also heard 80k. So who knows.
I know that the Mobilize web site allowed you to RSVP for an event but I can’t imagine many did (I didn’t).
D’oh! Of course the song is called “You’ll be back”. Darn my post protest, adrenaline filled brain 
Or actually accidental poisonings, if they serve raw milk.
I heard somewhere on some news broadcast (sorry, can’t cite-- I skimmed through a bunch) that Newsmax estimated 10,000 at trump’s parade? Could it have been that few? If any network was going to inflate numbers in trump’s favor, I’d expect it to be them.
The No Kings turnout was way more than 10K in each of many big cities.
It’s estimated by one of our local television news stations – not a bastion of liberalism but at least not Sinclair-owned – that the one I was at in Ewe-Jean had 10,000 in attendance. Of course, you can always count on our area to show up for these things. I am proud of us!
This title is misleading. It was an innocent bystander who was watching the rally who was killed. A protestor who was waving a gun around was wounded.
But what I find crazy is that it was a non-police “peacekeeper” who was carrying firearms and doing the shooting. The only people who should have firearms at a rally like this should be the police–and of course such firearms should only be used as a last resort.
Peacekeepers at demonstrations are pretty common, but they’re usually told not to bring weapons.
According to witnesses, Arturo Gamboa left the crowd and retrieved a rifle from behind a wall, and when the armed peacekeepers confronted him, he raised the rifle into firing position and ran toward the crowd.
Gamboa has now been charged with murder, Salt Lake City police say he “acted under circumstances that showed a depraved indifference to human life, knowingly engaged in conduct that created a grave risk of death and ultimately caused the death of an innocent community member.”
I suppose it’s possible he was just running away from the two armed peacekeepers. But his retrieving a rifle that had been hidden along the route of the demonstration suggests bad intentions. As bad as this was, it could have been a lot worse.
I haven’t found anything in the news about Gamboa’s background.
I agree that no one at a demonstration should be armed except for the police.
I’d like to think that the protests, including my being out in the rain for 2 hours, spoiled the Orange one’s birthday, but do we know that he saw the coverage and was upset by it?
to me phila looked bigger that what is reported. most of the outlets in philly are saying over 80k. it looked more like the recent eagles celebration (1 million) than the 4th of july (500k).
it went from 10am to 4pm so people were in and out. depends on when you were counting.
Paul Krugman today:
Notable points.
To those who say mass protests have no effect on anything.
While there are heroes willing to take a stand against tyranny whatever the personal cost, most anti-Trumpists are reluctant to stick their necks out unless they believe that they are part of a widespread resistance that will grant them some measure of safety in numbers.
In other words, the victory or defeat of competitive authoritarianism will depend to a large extent on which side ordinary people believe will win. If Trump looks unstoppable, resistance will wither away and democracy will be lost. On the other hand, if he appears weak and stymied, resistance will grow and — just maybe — American democracy will survive.
…We also saw a body blow to Trump’s image of invincibility and a demonstration that millions of Americans are willing to stand up for democracy.
Other signs that resistance from within is doing damage to the regime.
Furthermore, other developments are also suggesting a serious pushback against Trumpism. One is the remarkable comeuppance of law firms that capitulated to Trump’s threats and signed deals agreeing to do pro bono work on behalf of Trump’s causes. Now they see their top talent and major clients walking out the door, moving to firms that had the courage to stand up to Trump.
…
Another encouraging sign is the blowback against the administration’s aggressive, lawless roundups of immigrants, with hardly any effort to determine whether they are legally here.
Then Paul quotes Winston Churchill.
This isn’t the end of the assault on American democracy. It isn’t even the beginning of the end. But it may well be the end of the beginning.
It’s not over. Yet.
Nonetheless, despite the difficult times ahead, America has just passed an important test. May freedom ring.
He originally planned to post a few times a week on Substack. But times are such that he is posting every day, including weekends. The basic subscription is free. He does post a few things where part of the post (usually in-depth economic analysis) is beyond the paywall. [/shameless plug]