I attended my third No Kings protest yesterday on a cold and windy day. For me, it was the best one yet. Not because I believe the fascist administration will in any way change their behaviors—they won’t suddenly start policing their own corruption; they won’t stop shooting U.S. citizens or throwing immigrants in camps without due process; they won’t stop protecting pedophiles; they won’t suddenly discover empathy and begin to house and feed the poor or offer better healthcare to the sick or create job opportunities or stop their cruel and ridiculous war or their whitewashing of history or blatant racism and obvious misogyny; they won’t stop insulting and hating and calling a lunatic everyone who disagrees with them . . . I do digress.
What made this rally the best is that so many people cared enough to show up, here and across the country, and even internationally. Attendees were mostly cheerful. They were creative with their signs. They appreciated each other.
Of course, it’s not enough, not nearly. But it gave me hope that come the midterm elections, if the fascists don’t foul them, the Republicans are going to lose bigly, and perhaps the repair work can begin. And in the words of Winston Churchill after the Allied forces won a decisive battle in Europe in World War II: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
Meaning, maybe, hopefully, we are on our way to upholding our constitution and our ideals. If not, it’s only going to get worse.
