I spent the past six weeks out and about a lot. Exploring the region. Watching the snowy freezing winter thaw and blossom into spring.
Also, the world is still going to hell.
So for a couple of excursions (the getting out and going somewhere kind, not the bombing a girls’ school and closing the Strait of Hormuz kind), I checked out events where people were demanding change to all this.
Stand Up for Science
First was on March 7, when down on the National Mall was the Stand Up for Science rally. It was an overcast but mild day. I hopped on the Metro and made my way there.
To see this.
Rep. Jamie Raskin was on stage speaking when I arrived, followed by other speakers decrying the massive cuts the Orange Thing’s administration have made toward scientific research over this past year.
I checked out the few tents around, grabbed some stickers and flyers that will sit in that tote bag untouched for like three years. One tent had a stack of plain poster board and an assortment of markers. Nice. So those who didn’t have time to make a sign could just make one right here. I took the opportunity to touch up my own.
With my own sign, I wandered among the crowd, which was a decent size but would have been nice if it were larger. I think the estimates I saw afterwards was it was two thousand people. Checked out the other signs.
Get rid of not just RFK Jr but Russell Vought, too.
Needs more jousting.
Too soon?
YES! To both!
Too little cardboard in the whole damn world, in fact…
Meh. That movie is overrated.
Well, with all the suppression efforts, just might be…
What a horrid yet well-matched pair.
Glad we got that cleared up.
Shit. Fund science instead of wars and even political campaigns. The result will make Lionel Hutz shudder.
Snap.
I mean… Yeah! Does it need to be said?!
Amphifa.
iknorite?!
The remaining speakers included more members of the House and Senate, including my own senator, Chris Van Hollen, whom you might know as the dude who went to El Salvador last year to retrieve Kilmar Abrego Garcia after being wrongly deported there. Plus the SUFS founder and someone telling the story of having her symptoms dismissed as a child (go figure) that were early signs of a chronic rare condition, research about which was gutted in all the DOGE purging.
After this, I wandered around the District a bit on some other errands while I was there, but I came across them before long. The cockroaches. By which I mean the National Guard. Milling around, in their fatigues. It’s sad that I have to credit them at least for that their faces were visible and their names on their uniforms. Just more grossness in my city from this administration that needs to go away.
No Kings 3
A couple days ago on March 28 was No Kings. There was of course a huge demonstration in DC, but there were also a ton of closer ones, so I went to the one right here in Germantown, MD.
My recently touched up sign made another appearance. Fifth overall, in fact.
And there were some great ones around, as well.
Oof. That strikes a nerve.
I think I read that as “eggs” at first. Still works.
Priorities.
Eat some fiber and get on it then. The 2028 primary will sneak up on us…
Same.
ICE had to go and kill people whose names make good protest signs.
o snap
Goes hand in hand with the forest fire prevention when you think about it.
Darkness doesn’t help either.
Or any color for that matter.
Good kitty!
Ah, the symbol of the party that needs more of it.
Minnesota Nice, specifically.
Could do that at any time…
Ugh. We need to trot out slogans from 20 years ago that are relevant again.
Seems offensive to potatoes.
Oh, please, for the good of everything, let it come true…
iknorite?
Probably drives the point home more that this is a white board.
I don’t know. His call for less conversation might result in that deadly-for-democracy silence.
If I’m being honest, some of these signs about defending democracy can’t help but give me pause. Fact is, this all happened in the first place because of a free and fair election. I guess we just need to make sure we’ll have more of them.
About halfway through, there was a series of speakers, beginning with Congresswoman Delaney and followed by local state reps and county councilmembers. A couple of them highlighted that this town has been ranked the most diverse town in the entire country multiple times. Sweet.
After that, back to sign waving, getting passing cars to honk in approval of our signs, and running up to each other saying “oh, I love your sign, can I take a picture?” And some chants. No Kings! Show me what democracy looks like… This is what democracy looks like!
And then, naturally, a yellow Baby Shark, a bald eagle, and a skeletal frog danced under the No Kings in America banner to Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop”.
For America.