Dem
47
GOP
53
Another half-dozen reader reports from the No Kings protests this weekend:
J.S. in Sudbury, MA, writes: Over 800 enthusiastic protesters were downtown in Hudson, MA. My favorite sign:
G.N. in Albuquerque, NM, writes: I was traveling from Albuquerque to Denver so I needed to find a place to stop if I could. A large part of the motivation to figure this out was from reading the comments about No Kings on Friday. So, I ended up in Walsenburg, CO, which was along the way. One nice thing about going to a small town protest, at least in this case, is that they feed you! There were 170 people there from their best estimates. One encouraging thing was seeing a lot of older white guys honking their support and some of them were even driving pickups (there were, of course, a few thumbs down and fingers too, but a lot more positive responses). I must admit that sometimes I feel like I am the only one in my demographic who supports this stuff, so going to an area that Trump won and seeing that kind of support was nice:
J.S. in Seattle, WA, writes: I just got home from the No Kings protest in my town, Lake Forest Park, WA, a small Seattle suburb. It was a fun and uplifting experience, despite a steady rain. There was a really enthusiastic crowd, maybe around a thousand people, spread along the sides of the two heavily traveled state highways that come to a junction in the heart of town. The junction is known locally as "Democracy Corner," because it has been the location of regular protests and vigils dating back to the Iraq War.
The protest was scheduled from 3:30 to 5:00, and there was a lot of traffic and a lot of waves and honks from most of the drivers. I didn't see any negative reactions other than a noisy pickup truck that let out smoky exhaust as it zoomed by. There were some great signs and a lot of inflatable costumes, and I was able to get some photos:
L.E. from Santa Barbara via Victorville, CA, writes: Due to a prior obligation, we were on the road and unable to attend the Santa Barbara No Kings event. However, when we arrived at our Saturday night destination, Victorville, CA, we found a huge No Kings event there. The San Bernardino Sheriff's Department estimated 1,000 participants. This doesn't count all of those (like us) who were honking as we drove by the gathering:
A cherry on top of the whipped cream was the giant pick up truck we saw driving by flying the American flag and... a "Newsom 2028" banner.
I felt so happy that we could participate in some small way, having missed the Santa Barbara event.
H.B. in State College, PA, writes: We had a great turnout of 2,000-3,000 or so on a perfect day in State College! Lifted my spirits tremendously in these dark times:
R.L.D. in the Beautiful Black Hills, WY and SD, writes: In all my 57 years, I've only ever known Spearfish, SD, to have two protests and they were both No Kings protests. Yesterday, I drove the beautiful half hour of Black Hills scenery to the bustling metropolis to attend my second ever protest in the Queen City, so that I might say 'no' to royalty in America. It was a bit chilly, hovering about 47 degrees with some wind. Pretty typical for fall in the Hills, but also not exactly fun to stand in for an hour and half. But stand there we did. I don't have an official count, but my own Fermi estimate suggests maybe 100 people. And on top of that were all the smiles, waves, and honks of solidarity from the people driving past on the two main arteries. There were a few thumbs down from some passers-by. One lady yelled out her window "You're not even from Spearfish!" The hell I'm not! Lady, my name is emblazoned in bronze on a plaque at the middle school from back when I was on the school board that built that school. Spearfish is big enough now that you wouldn't necessarily know everyone or recognize them on the side of the street, but I have no doubts that the only non-Spearfishians in the crowd were people like me coming in from outlying towns.
My favorite sign this time around: "Our last king had dementia too!" There were veterans protesting troops patrolling American cities. At least three of us had signs about how we all love America.
It being a college town, Spearfish is a bit bluer than average, but it really says something that so many people braved the weather to let their neighbors know how they feel about all this nonsense. And to the man who shook his fist out his driver's window to yell out "Trump 2028," thanks for demonstrating exactly what we're up against. I still think we all (or at least one of us in every state) need to know how to protest putting on the ballot the name of a person who is ineligible to the office:
More tomorrow! Good medicine for those who are feeling dispirited. (Z)