<One of the signs that I brought
with me to Saturday's rally.../
The Reckoner>
<i.>
Yesterday, America spoke, loud and clear -- from New York, to Alaska, just as the headline says -- through a series of "Hands Off!" rallies, about 1,200 of them, held to rally around two simple premises. First, hands off unions, following the Trump regime's bid to run those particular rights -- long held by federal workers -- through the shredder, too.
And, second, "Hands off" social programs that have come within the GOP crosshairs, like the essential trinity of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, simply because -- due to their accounting witchcraft, as they twist themselves into a pretzel, plotting another giant giveaway to the rich, one that will make the Trump 1.0 version look like a walk in the park, by comparison.
Barely three months into the second go-round, the nature of Trump's restoration has come into focus. Essentially, he hopes to rule like a Latin American caudillo, with as few impediments to that end as possible. All power will reside with El Patron; those who want his favors must kiss his ring to stand any chance of receiving them, which he may (or may not) grant, depending on his mood.
Those who don't kiss the ring can expect some form of aggrieved payback, whether it's the universities suddenly finding their research funding illegally cut off, or the Arab-American students getting swept off sidewalks by the masked ICE goons, who seem happily compliant with Trump's vision of them as his personal enforcers. (For parallels, see how Queensland's infamous "Hillbilly Dictator," Joh Bjelke-Petersen, and his notorious Police Commissioner, Terry Lewis, made this aspect a featured element of their repressive playbook.)
The "Hands Off!" events were based on an assumption, to which we'll return, that now is the time to speak out, before the Trump regime accelerates its sweeping attacks against civil rights, freedom of expression, and social programs that benefit the rest of us, rather than the cozy plutocratic psychopaths that make up its featured faces.
The continuing emphasis on waiting for the November 2026 midterms as the ultimate political reckoning is misplaced, simply because Trump will do everything in his power to avoid. The more discontent that surfaces now, the more pressure we can apply -- not only against those who continue wielding power like a blunt instrument, but on those who want it both ways, whether it's corporations bending over to stay silent, or the big name law firms that have paid Trump protection money, in hopes of being left alone.
We'll let the AFL-CIO describe the second goal, as only it can: "It’s clear that their executive order is punishment for unions that are leading the fight against the administration’s illegal actions in court and in the streets—and a blatant attempt to silence us. So now is the time to be even louder. "
<An example of our more pop art-y,
collage-oriented style of signage.../
The Reckoner>
<ii.>
Matters don't get off to a flying start. I'm fifteen minutes after our noon start time, picked out the signs, and parked. I'm heading to what seems like a choice spot, when the organizers start directing us back over to Main Street, which is about three or four blocks away from downtown. Three or four lengthy blocks, as it happens.
I grit my teeth, and head back to the car. It's easier to cut over onto the next street, zip over to a spot near the corner, and park there. I don't worry about the signs, because I assume that Officer Friendly and company will have other tasks to keep them busy today.
I get a laugh out of a couple from fellow demonstrators, when I gesture at the signs that I've brought. "Guess what? These are from the first Trump term." Now take a deep breath, pause, and deliver the punchline. "I didn't have to change a word!"
Ba-boomp! But seriously, folks -- I just flew in from Trump's latest power grab. And boy, are my arms tired.
Today feels definitely on the cold and blustery side, with the temperature hovering around 41 degrees. Thankfully, it's not raining, which the Squawker and I have encountered in previous protests. And the wind isn't whipping powerful blasts in our faces, another problem that we've run into before, as well.
Main Street itself has long been a fixture of Trump-related protests, which became weekly events during the regime's infamous 2017 to unwind the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In that sense, it feels like home, though change has come here, as well. The former Congressman's office building is up for sale; presumably, the potted plant that blocked the entrance door during the first Trump era can now be permanently relieved of duty.
I don't take long to fall into the rhythm, as the spontaneous chants begin to kick up: "1-2-3-4, we don't want a tariff war!", "No Kings! No Kings!", "Hey-hey, ho-ho, Trump and Musk have got to go," and of course, this old standby, that seems more pertinent than ever:
"Tell me, what democracy looks like? This is what democracy looks like!"
<Almost a decade on from Trump 1.0,
the metaphor remains the same....
Another sign pulled from the 2016 era pile/The Reckoner>
<iii.>
Any protest attracts its share of residual weirdness, and this occasion proves no different. A car bearing the legend, TRUMP 2024, circles continually around the block, sharing lanes with allies honking in support of our endeavor. A blue and white sign virtually takes up the whole rear window: TRUMP'S YOUR DADDY NOW.
The sight provokes a brief round of irritated responses from a couple older women and their friends standing next to me. I defuse their feelings by shrugging it off. "If you mean, father of all the various kids by all these younger women," I assure them, "then yeah, it's technically true. Otherwise, that's about far as it goes."
That earns me the appropriate laugh, and before long, the sign is totally forgotten. The TRUMP 2024 MAGA-Mobile continues up and down Main Street, making me wonder, for what reason? A show of force? A reminder of their presence? Keeping tabs on the opposition? Or maybe it's just another way to pass a lazy Saturday. Who knows?
It takes a little bit fancier footwork, mentally speaking, to ignore the driver's counterpart, a burly, heavyset man toting what looks like a GoPro camera. Over and over, he keeps posing the same question: "Anybody who's being being paid to protest? Anybody who's here, because they're getting paid?"
I'm tempted to pull out my wallet, which has literally sat empty these last couple of years, slide it over his lens, and shout, "Is that have enough street cred for you?" I think better of it, though, and stare blankly straight ahead, as if I didn't hear him. What can I say?
My urban survival training definitely comes in handy, at the oddest of times. I watch him move down the sidewalk, firing his questions at whoever's willing to listen, though it doesn't look like he has many takers. Eventually, I turn my attention back to the goings on Main Street.
Nearby, a boombox is pumping out anthems that seem more eerily appropriate than ever, whether it's "Get Up, Stand Up" (Bob Marley & The Wailers), or Neil Young's signature '90s anthem, "Keep On Rockin' In The Free World": "We got a thousand points of light/For the homeless man/And a kinder, gentler machine gun hand..." I feel a twinge, then a shudder, which is just enough to make me clutch that sign a little bit tighter. Because you never know, right? Anything is possible out there, on the streets.
<Another Trump 1.0-era sign,
though we didn't produce the graphic --
we just lifted this one, and stuck it on a sign,
'cause we thought it looked great!/The Reckoner>
<iv.>
Between the various chants, and brief catchups with various friends and acquaintances, I check on Squawker, who's staying in the car this time, citing a general feeling of being rundown, and dog tired, that makes standing for an extended length of time impossible.
Around 1:45 p.m., the crowds start to head for the exits. Fifteen minutes to go. By any measure, though, today's event has proven itself a resounding success. There were no incidents, leaving nothing for the cops to do, which pleased them to no end, I'm sure.
From what I've been told, about 1,000 people turned out, on both sides of Main Street; we could see them, long before we zeroed on in our respective parking spaces. That's a thousand more people to tell off King Donald, and hopefully -- some way, somehow -- send him and his aggrieved mob heading for the exits.
Which brings me back where I started, to the central issue -- at times, the only one, it seems -- on the minds of the legacy media: "What good does any protest do? Who is listening out there? Who's paying attention to this?" Though such questions may sound logical, from a basic strategic viewpoint, they are often the wrong ones to raise.
All autocrats thrive on their ability to manage public perception. At times, they may command genuine popular support, like El Salvador's despot, Nyeb Bukele, or twist it toward their own ends, once events stop cooperating -- as Hungary's longtime strongman, Viktor Orban, is doing, to divert attention from his country's continuing slide into impoverished and isolation.
The "shock and awful" approach of Trump's first months back in office -- the blizzard of executive orders, frenzied power grabs, and rapid, often ham-fisted moves to silence his critics -- follows a similar script. The perception of power is often far more important than the reality. The faster a beleaguered opposition leaves the field, the more rapidly the autocrat can cement the impression of an all-powerful, all-knowing godfather, whose will cannot be countered.
Public protest is the most powerful and immediate means of cracking that invincible facade. In certain situations, like the Ceausescu family's fall in Romania, it may often be the only available option, when access to power is denied. However, the fallout need not always be so dramatic, as New Jersey Senator Cory Booker demonstrated last week, with his record-breaking, 25-hour speech, which took place in the run-up to Hands Off!
What amazed me, most of all, wasn't the response to Booker's speech; his abilities in the arena are well-established. What surprised me was a question that I saw on Facebook: "What will it accomplish? What it will have changed?" That's the obvious question, but the answer is not so simple, as Ruth Ben-Ghiat suggests (see link below): 350 million likes on TikTok, 110,000 live followers on YouTube, and 28,000 voicemail messages left for Booker's office.
But there's a greater value that goes beyond mere numbers and statistics, as Booker himself suggested in 2018 -- by flipping the script, and thus, the attention, away from the authoritarian in charge: "I think if we give all of our energy—psychic, mental—toward Donald Trump, it makes him powerful….If you make Donald Trump your central focus, then it’s going to be much harder to get to a sense of common purpose."
Once people stop paying attention, they also stop obeying. This is the risk that keeps autocrats awake at night, because once their subjects have stopped obeying, it also means they've stopped believing. And that's when autocracy becomes irrelevant, as Ben-Ghiat concludes: "Authoritarians want us to feel hopeless and helpless. It’s up to us to show them that we will not submit quietly and that we believe in struggle and collective action. Like Sen. Booker, each one of us can do something, using the spaces and means we have, to meet this moment with the same resilient and resolute spirit he showed on the Senate floor."
And that is the most important reason for going out and protesting whatever they may have in mind for us, as we all did this weekend. Now is not the time to drop the baton. -- The Reckoner
Links To Go: Hands Off
(Our Democracy, & Everything Else That Matters!)
Lucid.com: What Senator Booker's Speech
Teaches Us About Effective Resistance Strategy:
https://lucid.substack.com/p/what-sen-bookers-speech-teaches-us
Yahoo News: Angry Protesters From New York To Australia
Assail Trump And Musk In "Hands Off!" Rallies:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/hands-off-protests-against-trump-041432862.html?.tsrc=1340&ncid=crm_-1285232-20250405-192-&bt_user_id=cSKPvmJQUVngg5iwA63hPLBDIqSlEUpW5RdVZ%2BN6QMB7%2FUIOYpw13Ydv2FwuXKLM48bSCJ%2FsDe8mYCmuqq7cGr57JYxQHYYF21eMyGpEBqYEpBhDcHY0oE3blbXH9XpK&bt_ts=1743883185997
*Reckoner's Note: unlike the legacy media, we will never use the words "Trump administration," because it's a neutral term that normalizes his behavior, and those of his psychopathic sycophants. It's also inaccurate, unless you count the administration of grievances, and repression. We don't; hence, "Trump regime," which suits its overall conduct far more accurately.
