Quote:
Originally Posted by riseagainstrocks
A quick thought on the protests in general:
I live in Northeast DC and walked down to the Capitol around 1:30 on Saturday to see what could be seen. I was surprised and pleased to find 600,000 of my closest friends in good spirits, holding clever signs (my favorite was along the lines of 'if I make my uterus a corporation will you stop regulating it?'), and feeling the camaraderie of being surrounded by ideological allies. I saw families, groups of 'frat star' bros, beautiful women, crust punk-types, old people, children, and one guy in a wizard robe. It was truly awesome.
Outside of the violence on Friday (committed by anarchist groups, NOT representative of the anti-Trump protesters) the rally was peaceful, massive, and inspiring. I'm looking forward to the next one - might actually make a sign this time instead of just observing.
There is a world of difference from being a candidate and being the president. He has to either a) follow-through on his promises (the wall, banning immigration from Muslim countries) or b) not follow-through. Either he does a, which appeals to 30% of the voting public (well, that's how many voted for him, it remains to be seen how many of those were pure anti-Clinton votes) and damns him even more in the eyes of everyone else or he does b, in which case 70% of the public still thinks he's an ass, but now he's told lies he can't walk away from and the 30% that voted for him feel betrayed. It's a no-win. If you have another path to a victorious Trump presidency I'm (and I'm guess he is) all ears.
Serious question, do you support a border wall and a ban on Muslim's entering the US?
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I attended the inauguration (in protest). It was pretty crazy. My wife went to the women's march (I got sick so I couldn't go) and the difference in the vibe was night and day. The inauguration made it crystal clear the divide we have in our country right now. Protesters were seriously angry (and yes, the ones destroying property were anarchists, not anti-Trump protesters) and supporters looked really confused as they walked by. Like "why are they upset?". I think a lot of them seriously don't understand it. Just like we don't understand them.
I was excited to be a part of something historic...I didn't even get into the mall because protesters were blocking people from getting in at the security checkpoints (before someone makes the argument that this is why the crowd looked thin, there really weren't millions more behind me blocked from getting in. Metro around 9AM was absolutely DEAD). In quite a fitting moment, it started to rain right as Trump started swearing in. It stopped, and Trump said something like "it's because God wouldn't let it rain on the inauguration" (which is something even more scary - I'm seeing more and more religious references. At least before he was just secular crazy. This has got to be an attempt to get the religious right support). Generally, I can safely say no one looked too thrilled (supporters or protesters).
One particularly sad moment came on my way home. The people waiting to get on the metro started shoving their way through the people trying to get off the train. The people getting on were getting annoyed at these people trying to get off and someone made the comment they are "probably democrats". Someone bumped into someone else's wife and the response was "You touch my wife again and I'll ****ing kill you." This is the divide we face right now. Common decency is going out the window.
For the record, if any of you reading this are a tourist and not used to taking a public transportation system - let people OFF before you get ON a bus or train. If you are on an escalator, stand RIGHT and walk LEFT. You will make a lot of people happy.