What was accomplished by Saturday's rallies and marches?

[lees1975]

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2025/04/what-was-accomplished-by-saturdays.html

The turnout for Saturday's "Hands Off!" rallies and marches around the country clearly exceeded the expectations of the organizers. This was a kind of testing of the waters, a check on the political temper of the United States after just 76 days of the second Trump Presidency. I've been reading the media pundit reactions, the politician reactions, the statements from organizers, and the public reaction that we are getting from the media is predictable. I'm going to ignore a lot of the predictability in evaluating the effect of what transpired.

It'll be a while before the full impact of Saturday's events will be felt. The horror of seeing crowds ten times larger than even the most optimistic predictions in deep red states like Utah, Montana, Idaho, West Virginia, and Texas has Republicans in a real panic. Even what we've seen in some of the understated and carefully guarded words, mostly pre-fab stuff, over the weekend, that is one of the more visible reactions. From that side of the aisle, I don't expect a lot of words to be said. What I expect is a change of plans that will be noticeable soon enough.

And here's an obvious fact. If a Presidential administration has motivated protests of this size and scope, in virtually every nook and cranny of this country in just 76 days in office, it is in an unmeasurable and disastrous world of trouble, and it does not have a future.

It will take a while for this to sink in. The GOP is being held together by fear of retribution, not exactly a value of American politics that has ever had much success in the past. The margins are showing up in polling data that has become even more dismal for Trump than it was in his first term. Already. Saturday's rallies affirmed the feelings that are showing up in those polls, as did the special election results last week, and so now the party that is operating out of a fear of opposition and defeat , manifesting itself in a deathly fear of holding public, town hall meetings, is scared spitless. That, more than any words of a Fox News commentator, says just how scared Republicans are about their future with Trump in the White House.

So being committed to being in for the long haul is a strategy that will work.

[luvallpeeps]

1. We shall see. We're just getting started.

Whether advocating for social justice, protesting against injustice, raising awareness, building solidarity, advocating for policy change, amplifying marginalized voices, expressing dissent, commemorating historical events, mobilizing support for a campaign, or exercising freedom of speech and assembly, marches serve as a powerful tool for activism, advocacy, and social change. I googled it.

[Skittles]

2. THE REST OF THE WORLD KNOWS TRUE AMERICAN PATRIOTS ARE NOT TRUMP HUMPERS

YES INDEED

[Shoonra]

3. I have not seen....

So much hostility aimed at the President until now. Even during Vietnam, there was some consideration for Lyndon Johnson because of his civil rights legislation, even during Nixon there was less hostility. But Trump has generated genuine hatred and in record time.

[Hekate]

7. Well to be fair, we did hate BushCheney as well

[flashman13]

4. I know this is going to sound corny,

but on Saturday I felt a great awakening of common cause that is just beginning to show its strength.

The coming economic pain will drive people together in ever larger numbers for a common purpose. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

[lees1975]

5. Quote from the "Signal Press"

If a Presidential administration has motivated protests of this size and scope, in virtually every nook and cranny of this country in just 76 days in office, it is in an unmeasurable and disastrous world of trouble, and it does not have a future.

[orangecrush]

6. It's a warm up

Until millions go to DC with tents, SHUT THE WHOLE MOTHERFUCKER DOWN UNTIL HE IS REMOVED

[NJCher]

8. We can do it!

Eom

[lees1975]

14. Good idea.

I doubt that there will be very many GOP members of Congress who will feel the pressure, though I saw one analysis that pointed to the results in Florida, and concluded that if they represented similar potential turnout and vote preferences down the road, there are over 40 Republicans in the House and 10 in the Senate who are in danger of losing their job in 2026, if those percentages hold. And that's measuring results against deep red counties. It could be worse.

[NJCher]

9. We are lucky to have

An activist like Rebecca Solnit. She has extremely impressive credentials, not only as an activist, but as a writer. She has written 17 books.

I think you can see her writing talent in this essay. I went to the website and read the whole textbecause I know she’s such a good writer and I wanted every single word.

As I read, I copied a few of my favorite phrases. Look at this one, which describes Trump.

this incompetent, demented, emotionally and intellectually crippled, dysfunctional demagogue are setting in quickly.



Rebecca Solnit: a woman for our times.

[lees1975]

12. Here's the paragraph, but that's a quote from the Signal Press author, not Solnit. Her link is at the top of this one.

We have come from a point of uncertainty, confusion and paralysis following the 2020 election, that continued all through the last days of the Biden Presidency, up to and since the inauguration, to a point where the realization of the true consequences of electing this incompetent, demented, emotionally and intellectually crippled, dysfunctional demagogue are setting in quickly. For decades in this country, we have fought apathy among various groups of people in our country who somehow got disconnected from their responsibility and role as "we, the people," and buried themselves in something else, refusing to participate in the very activities that were meant for their own benefit, even during those times when their own perspective didn't prevail.

[NJCher]

16. now I have another

good writer to follow.

I also like how this person introduced the Mother Jones article and the breadth of the resistance:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/132268546

Her youtube name is Angela (at Parkrose Permaculture)and she not only posts about politics, she posts about gardening, too! Ideal for me; she even has an episode on how to control mint.

What I think is important about this one is that we need writers and thinkers to define what happened. While she does this through the Mother Jones article, she has other videos up on how the media undercounted the turnout and also on going to townhall meetings.

on edit:

also, under the Signal Press blog, on the right there are a whole group of 20-25 other sources to follow.

[NJCher]

17. the article at Signal Press

says it is by Rebecca Solnit.

[lees1975]

18. No, it posts a link to an article by Rebecca Solnit and then posts an opening quote from the article.

It does not name her as the author.

[NJCher]

19. That is incorrect

Not supposed to do it that way.

Signed,

English teacher

[poli-junkie]

10. Good analysis and inspiring.

And I like how the writer called out the media.

[Paladin]

11. Outstanding work at the protests, folks!

KEEP SHOWING UP!

[dalton99a]

13. Kick

[Aristus]

15. Mrs. Aristus and I weren't able to make the April 5th event.

She is champing at the bit to go to future events, including April 19th and June 6th. She really wants to make her anti-Trump feelings heard. Quite a change from back in the day when she was a conservative Republican, and only grudgingly approved of my attendance at protest rallies against George W. Bush and the Iraq War. Life is so much easier now that she is a liberal Democrat.

[Danascot]

20. Some information about the April 19th event

A group who took part in the major "Hands Off!" protests against President Donald Trump have organized another day of action.

The 50501 group is promoting nationwide protests in all 50 U.S. states on the same day against the Trump administration on April 19.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/nationwide-anti-trump-protest-planned-for-april-19-what-to-know/ar-AA1Crqnp