Protests are going on across the USA and maybe beyond. Ours started at 3pm in Hackley Park, which is downtown. As we exited off of the highway we noticed right away that the streets were lined with parked cars. I was hoping for a good turnout, and there was. There were hundreds of people and maybe a thousand or more (I have no idea, but the park was full and it is a city block large.)
We parked in a city lot and walked a block or so to get to the park. The crowd was very energized. We have a band stand for our annual summer Parties in the Park. It had been decorated with banners for today. There were several people congregating up there, all speakers, waiting their turns to speak.
We met up with a few friends who’d texted they planned on attending. We walked around looking at the amazing variety of signs people had brought. The one at the top is probably the favorite one I saw. One of my friends said there was a Cheeto Clown there in full clown mode with the mask and everything. Sorry I missed them or you know I would have taken a pic.
Some people said they didn’t care if their face was showing when I snapped pics, and some did and hid behind their signs, probably wisely. Just to play it safe, I have blotted out all faces from these pics except for any speakers in them.
The speaker who made the biggest impact on me while we were there (wish my feet and back would have let me stay longer) was a woman veteran who was stationed in Germany when the Berlin Wall came down and worked with classified documents. She had a choice few words for cheeto and what she called “Margalargo” and the classified docs left lying around there.
There was an organizer there who talked about “ranked choice voting” which really got my interest. They are going to try to get it on the ballot in Michigan if we can get enough signatures on petitions (estimated to be 600,000 valids sigs.) I know what he said interests me enough to do a little research on it.
NOTES: there is a pic of what is sky with a blue circle around it. That dot in the circle was a drone that stuck around for a good couple of minutes. It started high, the came down just above the band stand and stayed hovering for a bit. When I started taking pics of it, it went high again, came down for another bit, went high, and then disappeared. There were no identifying marks on it, so who knows where it came from.
A guy with a security shirt was standing in front of us. I wanted to know who hired him, so I walked up and tapped him on the arm. I asked him, and he said he was a volunteer. I asked, “a volunteer for who?” He said one of the organizers of the protest. He said he had experience in behavioral inpatient psych ward and was good at defusing volatile situations. Seemed like a nice guy and probably not a bad idea to have him around in case someone tried to start trouble.
Speaking of trouble, when we left at around 4:15 and headed back to the car (my back is out of whack after wheelbarrowing many loads of pine needles, pine cones, and wet dirt to the back and so I had to get off of my feet) we heard someone yell, “hey!” to us from a SUV with cheeto and couch f***er signage held in their hands out of the window. I looked over and one person had a camera and was taking video of us. I laughed and held my sign towards them. They never said a word but hey to get us to look over so the camera got good video. Maybe just goobers, but gave me pause.
Please notice one of the signs that says, “Democracy is not a spectator sport.” It’s true. If we want to hold onto democracy we need to get ourselves up into action.
UPDATE: My friend stayed until the end. The Mayor spoke and said 5,000 attended. YES!
Dropkick Murphys in Boston on April 5:
Tao Talk 
Ahh I have various feelings about this. Even the penguins think he’s a dick. I really love that one. Didn’t we try to tell people? Perhaps more will listen next time. Probably not.
All of the things people (maybe like us, but still) are protesting, we warned them about. It gives a bit of hope, but I fear we are not going to change a damn thing.
People who are his supporters, driving around and laughing, I get a clear picture of that in my mind. So many people are just stupid and ignorant, to think anything that is happening is funny or good.
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I appreciate your comments. Just to clarify, I was the one laughing at them. Good way to diffuse the anger I felt at the audacity to be filming me, for what purpose I’m unsure.
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I gotchya. That’s my fault. I got emotional reading this. I think I rearranged your words in my head. That’s the image of them I see, though! What other reason do they have to be driving around, looking at protestors, filming you?! They’re laughing at us. They think it’s a joke.
I’m glad you went. I would have loved to have gone to one.
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OK on your view, I see what you’re saying. When I see a unified thousand against a sad couple of folks in an SUV, they are the joke today. Imagining them sending their little jpgs to Dr. Evil (what was the name of that guy Mike Myers played a few years back?) lol. Sorry, my mind took it too far.
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Yes! Dr. Evil, with his cat, Mr. Bigglesworth.
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Great photo-essay. We had a great crowd nearly 1000 people in a town of 35000 in a staunchly red state. I was thrilled to be a part of it!
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Violet, FABULOUS. The message is clear: begone with thee, Satan and The Flying Monkeys.
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Good for you Li! I love the signs and yours particularly! It’s good to see how many people are stirred to stand up and come together! Bravo!!👏 💕💕💕
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Thank you, Cindy. It’s good to feel a part of this wave of resistance.
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I love it and you’re so welcome! 💕💕💕💕
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Some energy, wonderful to see the reports.
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Thanks, Paul. Don’t give up on US just yet <3
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Having been bitten by a deer tick, I can say that those diseases were cured by antibiotic and antimicrobial medications. The diseases caused by the luna tick may be curable by radical democracy. One of the deer tick diseases could have killed me without treatment. The luna tick disease could kill a lot of us.
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Absolutely, Steve. I see WI thwarted Dr. K’s attempt to buy a judge. Why isn’t he being charged and arrested? (probably a rhetorical question.)
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Definitely a rhetorical question, but still worth answering. The Attorney General filed suit to stop the bribery. The judge randomly assigned to the case was Susan Crawford (the candidate Muskrat was working against). She recused herself. I heard (but can’t verify) that numerous other judges recused themselves because they donated to her campaign.
Musk did change the terms of his offer in response to the suit. The million dollar bribes, which were to go only to people who could prove they had voted, were changed to go to people who signed his petition – the same as the $100 bribes. Since they weren’t explicitly tied to a particular candidate, or even to voting, they were deemed legal.
The petition was to oppose “activist judges”; code for any judge who dares to rule against the Don and the Muskrat. This presumably included Susan Crawford.
Since Wisconsin has seven supreme court justices and they serve ten year terms, this grotesquerie will be repeated almost annually. The next year WITHOUT an election is 2030. I fear $100 million campaigns could become commonplace, since the $25 million Musk spent is less than 0.01% of his wealth. It would be the equivalent of a millionaire spending $700.
The next two elections may be cheaper as they won’t change the ideological majority.
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Thanks for the lowdown on it, Steve. The only issue I have with what you say here is comparing Mr. K to a muskrat. It’s an insult to muskrats everywhere.
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Bravo! So good to see people coming out to protest. It is very heartening when anyone stands up to bullies!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
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It really lifted my spirits that’s for sure.
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❤️
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The tariffs don’t make a lot of sense.
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Graham, not much about what’s going on lately does.
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They make sense in the light of George Bailey’s speech in “It’s a Wonderful Life” when the bank failed. He said “Potter isn’t selling, Potter’s buying! And why? Because we’re panicky and he’s not. That’s why. He’s picking up some bargains.”
I think the tariffs are to induce panic selling so the Don and friends can pick up bargains and cash in when the market recovers. I expect they started by selling short to profit from the crash, errr, “correction”, so they’re already making money from it.
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Great signs! I was part of the Manhattan March (more of a walk) starting at the NY Public Library on Fifth Avenue.
We have ranked choice here and it’s been disappointing. If I could I’d go back to the previous majority vote.
Thanks for visiting Buttercupland.
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Thank you Buttercup. Awesome on the Manhattan March! I think I saw a pic of that one on bluesky yesterday. Good to know about ranked choice. I’d love to hear more about what you like and dislike about it if you have time.
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❤️❤️❤️
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:) Did you see anything going on from your window?
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Someone I know was in Midtown and remarked how many people there were and how few cops. He asked one about it and he said they had not expected so many people. But everything was peaceful so the police did not care.
I could not go for a number of reasons, but I understand there’s another one planned for May 1. Hoping I’ll be able to do that one.
So annoyed that mainstream news had so little coverage…the Contrarian covers demonstrations every week, and they had a good video with the comments filling in the turnout all over the country.
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You know, I can see where the police are in no hurry to crush a crowd who is protesting them being attacked killed on Jan 6 and the perpetrators let loose. And the way they are going after Veterans rights/healthcare/protections is not endearing them to our brave military people. Cheeto and his flying monkeys better watch out.
They’ve got an event at GR ICE HQ on the 17th and I plan on going.
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I suspect that’s true. They have no respect for anyone. Sooner or later it’s going to bite back.
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What an overwhelming turnout, Lisa! Good for you to have been there! <3
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Miriam there is hope for US yet. <3
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I believe so, Lisa! We survived many disasters. We can overcome this one. <3 <3 Keep up the good work! :-)
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<3
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Glad it was peaceful.
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ME TOO.
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We marched in Boston. Couldn’t hear a thing that any of the speakers said and it was cold and rainy. But it was great to be among tens of thousands of people and read all the clever signs.
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Happy to hear you attended. That is the most important, I think. Tens of thousands is very encouraging! I watched Senator Cory Booker on Colbert last night and was again heartened to hear him speak.
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Yeah, I’ve heard that as well. Just seems such a weird position for a right-wing politician, but I guess he’s all over the place.
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Sorry, was trying to reply to cycle club.
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Thanks for this… had heard of the demonstrations through e-blasts from an American friend to his contact list. Glad to know the event was peaceful… hopefully these will bring about change.
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You’re welcome, Steve. We’ve got to keep the pressure up. I watched Senator Cory Booker on Colbert last night and he inspired me to action all over again.
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Thanks for sharing, watching this now. Canadians hear a fair bit about higher profile elected officials in the US, and Sen. Booker is no stranger to us. The world needs more Bookers!
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Steve, I’m going to forget my grudge against him for not helping Bernie win in 2016. I think he’s growing a pair, finally! Sorry if that’s crude, but the wishy-washy Dems need to get courageous and NOW.
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No, I get it… the Dems really do need to step up and lead the way.
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Fantastic interview… I loved what the senator said. Comforting and motivating words for the nation.
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We’re showing the legislators we will take to the streets. It has been estimated between 5-6 million came out on Saturday, even if the press is NOT covering it or grossly minimizing the numbers. Now it is up to the legislators to get their asses in gear. No Joke. We are on the precipice. I keep hearing people say, “well, once the fascist is out of office…” No, we can’t wait and see. The time is NOW.
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The hedge-fund owned press… 🤯
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Steve, I feel like I’m in a nightmare that I can’t wake up from. I’m haunted by fears of what kind of world my granddaughter might grow up in.
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It’s a very troubling time, and we feel for all our American friends and family as each day seems to bring another disaster.
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We had around 1000 at ours. It was so good to see us out in force in this small town. Loved your pix.
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Violet do you follow Michael Moore on substack or get his emails? He said there were an estimated 5 to 6 million people who turned out, but the mainstream media is downplaying it. Thanks on the pics.
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No I don’t. I had heard 3 million.
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It seems that freedom of speech is being monitored everywhere these days, and those who speak are sometimes intimidated. Wonderful to see the protests.
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Paul, you are absolutely right on all accounts. The machines have become agents of human activity, both good and evil.
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Yes, I think tech shows up the shadow. We had the internet, it touted great things then a large slice of it was porn and gambling, Smart phones and crime, I guess we no longer hide the shadow :)
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We were behind the stage to the right of the screen, where it was really impossible to hear much of anything. But we did see all the speakers and the Dropkicks as they made their way to and from the stage. The rain really picked up why they were playing.
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It is a memory you will remember always.
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