I attended the Resistance Event against the Electoral College on the steps of the Sacramento State Capitol. People in every state were rallying, though only six showed up in Madison, Wisconsin, and Trump supporters tell us to “quit whining”. People are disgusted to think a candidate can win 2.8+ million votes, but because of the way the electoral college works, her opponent won the election. He is our president too and people are fearful of his destructive agenda so this rally looks more like a hate Trump rally. The crowd grew from 400 to over 1,000 people.
My daughter Virginia and I attended together. I was hoping to meet with a friend Galen Hazelhofer and the first person she ran into was Virginia. Galen is on the right. In such a big mob of people I was amazed we connected. And, speaking of the big mob of people, the organizers were concerned about violence. But there was none at this morning to afternoon event but the night before, 150 people protested and closed a couple of streets and took over a tower in downtown Sac. They were all anti-Trump. As many of you know, my co-blogger is a Trump supporter while I stand in the opposite camp. I think if people make an effort to at least consider other’s points of view, we have a better chance of building a better and stronger democracy.
The organizers encouraged us to talk to Trump supporters and figure out what we have in common and where we largely differ. Two Trump supporters showed up at the rally. Virginia interviewed the man above and they talked for about twenty minutes. The young man was articulate, kind, sincere, educated and a veteran. I thought he had courage to come in the face of so many Anti-Trump people in evidence. His support comes from his veteran beliefs and that Obama did not do enough for vets. His friend was the opposite end of the spectrum, basically a war monger. Kind of like Allen West who quoted Trump’s choice of “Mad Dog Mattis” for Secretary of Defense: “Obama fired him (Mattis) to save the Muslims, Trump hired him to exterminate them.” And, “Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.” Taken out of context I’m not sure what that means, but saying those things publicly doesn’t give me confidence in Trump’s choices.
Even so, the rally wasn’t about hate. There were exhortations-do not revert to violence, anger and hate, but to build on what we know is good and protest vocally what we know is not good. And that probably sums it up best.
The organizers brought a Russian journalist to the podium. She declared that Putin considers the United States their worst enemy. Her message was clear. Make no mistake, Putin is not our friend. He made Europeans wonder why a U.S. President would give Putin any sort of gesture of approval after the slaughter at Aleppo.
The organizers brought a woman from Berlin who wanted to tell the world that after the Berlin Wall fell, East Germany was a drag on the economy, no decent infra-structure, crumbling buildings; a fearful, mistrustful, population. It took years and a lot of investment to heal the rift and bring the country to unity. Let’s not let that happen to us.
A famous science professor described the attack Trump’s agenda will have on climate change. He chose for the Environmental Protection Agency a person who claims climate change doesn’t exist, it’s a hoax. No wonder people are angry about Trump’s shortsightedness. Hundreds of environmental organizations have charted and changed toxic rivers into healthy streams; protected corals from acidic oceans; introduced native fish, wolves, birds and a multitude of threatened species to their original habitat and made visible, measurable, positive differences to our shared space. Corporations who have changed their business models to account for climate change have not spoken up or made suggestions to Trump. But, they know it is less expensive to accommodate climate change and move forward than to clean up afterword.
Of course, that isn’t going to happen, but that was the mood and what should have happened, in my opinion and many others. And, early, before so many people showed up, I counted 5 wheelchairs. What a testament to courage and commitment.
The organizers brought Christi Pelosi, a member of the Electoral College who spoke about the way it operates in California and how it operates in some other states. It is obvious that such a divided electoral college and its upside down results does not represent the majority of voters. It is an antiquated bill from 1787 that established the electoral college. I always thought the electoral college bill was established on the premise of the founding fathers belief the uneducated peasants didn’t know enough about what was going on in their country to be trusted to vote. But it wasn’t against uneducated peasants. It was to protect slavery and ensure that blacks did not vote. What a shame that people cannot get over bigotry. Blacks to this day do not get fair treatment in a country that is a beacon of freedom to the world.
These dogs were very popular at the rally. When Virginia and I left at 2:00, the protestors were marching around the State Capitol, and by the time we got into our car to head for home, the March completely surrounded the capitol. I was very disappointed in the early footage of the rally in the Sacramento Bee. They didn’t see the half of it.
Que Sera, Sera... Whatever Will Be, Will Be... 