Hands Off!

Americans take to the streets to protest Trump/Musk

On Wednesday — what Trump proclaimed as “Liberation Day” — but after the markets had closed, Trump announced moronic tariffs aimed at countries large and small, including two islands devoid of any industry but populated solely by seals and penguins.

I kid you not.

Predictably, the markets dropped like a rock, tumbling to the steepest one-week decline since the Covid crash of 2020. Biggest difference? Trump didn’t cause Covid.

All of which set the stage for Saturday, when an estimated 1,400 “Hands Off” rallies were scheduled all across the country, in both red and blue states — indeed, in all fifty states — as well as foreign countries. CNN cited the crowds as being in the millions.

My home town of Pasadena was the site of one of those rallies and I joined in the protest. On a gorgeous Spring day, a crowd of several thousand people lined both sides of Colorado Boulevard for several city blocks, holding up all manner of signs and expressing a wide range of concerns, with humor and creativity.

Let’s take a look…

(Your intrepid reporter, sporting a “Free the Books” t-shirt and a “Bros for Roe” cap. Thank you, Crooked Media, for the merch.)

Here are some shots of the crowd…

(View from the post office steps toward the Paseo shopping mall.)

(At the Paseo, looking north.)

(View toward the post office.)

Member of Congress, Judy Chu, gave a speech on the post office steps, but no one could actually hear her, due in large part to all of the chanting and the honking of horns by cars passing by, trumpeting their support.

Of course, this really wasn’t an event about politicians making speeches, anyway. This was about the people showing up to demonstrate their outrage over what is happening in this country. These weren’t “paid protesters” as some have claimed, and the vast majority of the signs were homemade — some of which were fabulous…

(“Silence is surrender. Speak. Resist. Rise!” “Vote out the fossil fools!”)

(LGBTQUI+ Equality Now)

(“This is the Home of the Brave — I’m standing right here.”)

(“Dear world, we are SO sorry!” “So much wrong, so little cardboa…rd!”)

(“Perimenopausal witches against corruption — tired, angry and ready to hex fascists.”)

(I hate protesting, but I have NAZIs more!)

I can relate — lots of more comfortable things to do on a lovely Spring day, but here we are. Kinda reminds me of that great scene from Independence Day…

Y'know, this was supposed to be my weekend off, but noooo. You got me out here draggin' your heavy ass through the burnin' desert with your dreadlocks stickin' out the back of my parachute. You gotta come down here with an attitude, actin' all big and bad... and what the hell is that smell?

I could've been at a barbecue!

Instead, we showed up — in the tens, the hundreds, the thousands, and ultimately the millions! Amidst so much chaos, we assembled, peacefully, to make our voices heard. And no, this won’t make Trump change, but it might make us change. Saturday was a moment of pride, and a base from which to grow.

In community, forward!

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Notes:

Trump imposes tariffs on seals and penguins (USA Today)

Stock market’s worst week since the Covid crash of 2020 (BBC)

Millions rally in protests across all fifty states and foreign countries (CNN)