Unsolicited advice
Thursday, Nov 10, 2016 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
Thousands of people marched and protested through downtown Chicago on Wednesday night, voicing their disdain — in no uncertain terms — with Tuesday’s election of Donald Trump to be the 45th president.
The protest began shortly before 5 p.m. outside the Trump Tower at 401 N. Wabash.
What began as a group of a few dozen soon grew to a crowd of about 1,800 to 2,000 people after three groups combined into one, said Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi
“Despite traffic disruptions, roadway obstructions and at times, individuals climbing onto vehicles, there were no major incidents,” he said in a statement, adding that a Chicago Police mounted unit, bike teams, patrol cars and tactical, saturation and gang teams all responded to the protest. […]
About 11:30 p.m., the group again took to Lake Shore Drive, heading south from Chestnut.
No offense to the protesters, because it’s their right to voice their opinions, but all the people I know who worked or volunteered on campaigns were too exhausted to participate in a 7-hour protest march last night.
For instance, a campaign official who promised to call me last night apologized to me this morning for not doing so. She said she went to bed at 3 in the afternoon and slept until 4 this morning.
So, if each one of those protesters (in Chicago and in another two dozen around the country) had spent a few evenings phone banking swing-state voters, they may not have needed to be on the streets last night.
Just sayin…
- Anonymous - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:18 am:
So, with every election there are disappointed-even angry voters who didn’t get their candidate elected.
What’s different now that we have mobs taking to the streets? Can’t say it’s Trump’s doing. He and his supporters are calmly going about their lives.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:25 am:
Welcome to Trump Derangement Syndrome.
It replaces Obama Derangement Syndrome.
Which replaced Bush Derangement Syndrome.
In our virtual worlds, we don’t need no stinking reality!
- @MisterJayEm - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:26 am:
“all the people I know who worked or volunteered on campaigns were too exhausted to participate in a 7-hour protest march last night.”
You know one person who did both.
– MrJM
- Hard working Art Student - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:27 am:
Because of what this election symbolizes, a possible roll back of progress on a lot of social issues.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:27 am:
From the top of Trump Tower, the protesters looked like little ants mutely looking for their queen.
- Chicago_Downstater - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:27 am:
It’s kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
People don’t participate in the system because they think it’s already rigged against them–sometimes for good historical reasons. But if you don’t actively participate in the system, then it’s always going to at least appear “rigged” because you’ve already removed your voice from the system.
To be fair though, I’ve always been a “change from within” kind of person, so maybe I’m biased.
- blogman - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:28 am:
I would love to see who organized this protest. It had to be coordinated by some group. Any idea who is behind it? Will the media care to try to find out?
- Hard working Art Student - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:29 am:
Also, any advice as to how to mobilize people for 2018?
- Groucho - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:29 am:
Maybe our teachers need to spend more teaching civics and less time teaching our students how to whine and protest about losing (trophies for last place). I’m not happy about the election outcome either, but we had an election and my side lost. Time to move forwards and act like adults.
- yo - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:30 am:
Amen, Rich. Hey, I have a great idea, let’s protest the peaceful transfer of power! Let’s cry because Trump won, meanwhile the political party we support just rigged the primary to anoint Hillary, who was the worst candidate imaginable given the mood of the country. You want to protest something, go protest the DNC.
- 10th ward - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:31 am:
excellent analysis Rich. Anger misdirected. Don’t remember seeing protests after 08 or 12 Presidential elections
- Juice - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:31 am:
Anonymous, Trump was openly saying he wasn’t sure if he would accept the results of the election and his supporters were encouraging mass protests if he lost on the basis of nothing.
Instead, we have a President-elect who has lost the popular vote but gets the win anyways.
I don’t really see what that there is much point in the protest other than allowing people blow of steam, but don’t act like the other side wasn’t preparing to do so as well if things had gone differently.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:32 am:
===go protest the DNC===
Oh, please. That’s even more ridiculous.
- Anon221 - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:33 am:
The Nation is divided in many ways, and the vote counts for this election are a big reflection of that. You have one candidate winning the popular vote (growing every day), and the other winning the electoral vote. I am not going to get into the whole Electoral College thingee (Rich would probably ban me for life), but there are deep divisions out there, and people who are feeling the deep pain of their vote not counting. What has struck me the most, is those young people who are in their early teens, or just on the edge of votership, and their reactions to this whole election cycle. By 2020, most of them will be able to vote. What lessons did they learn from these past 18 months, and how will that influence their lives in the years to come? GOTV is a hard sell if you think your vote and your voice don’t matter in the first place.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:33 am:
===Don’t remember seeing protests after 08===
Didja miss that whole tea party thing?
- Trolling Troll - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:37 am:
Great post!
- Ron - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:37 am:
The electoral college has to be abolished.
- YSW - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:39 am:
Lots of organizers and others who worked hard on campaigns marched last night. Many were weary but reached deep down for the energy to come out. Not all marched for 7 hours, some were there for the earlier hours and some joined later.
What I can say for sure is that the protest made a difference for people of color, LGBT folks, Muslims, immigrants, and others who are threatened in Trump’s America. The solidarity was overwhelming, both within the protest and in the cars on the streets and people on the sidewalks.
It might be hard for those who are not part of one of the groups targeted by Trump and his supporters to fully understand how much it means to marginalized folks to stand together, protect each other, and see others who are not marginalized joining them because they believe in a more inclusive America.
- Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:39 am:
Damaging the property of others doesn’t help get your message heard. More likely it shuts the ears of your audience. And protest Trump buildings all you like, but he’s not there. Heck, he doesn’t even own those properties.
I wish more time was spent thinking about why others have different views from you and perhaps talking to those folks (the ones who will talk rationally anyway) to perhaps find some empathy and common ground, than letting anger drive people to do destructive and unproductive things. This also goes for those more inclined to gloat than protest at the moment.
- walker - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:43 am:
Yep. And many have been working over 12 hrs a day for weeks.
- Demoralized - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:44 am:
==The electoral college has to be abolished.==
Along with the abomination of the Illinois constitution right?
Not a big fan of constitutions are you?
- Patty T - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:44 am:
They certainly have a right to protest but not to block streets or disrupt others & their right to move about freely.
- Bogey Golfer - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:44 am:
Saw some interesting numbers. 8.7 million LESS voters for President from 2012 to 2016. Of that 1.9M went Republican and 6.8M went Democrat. A lot of people were disgusted both both either voted for Johnson or Stein (1.7%), skipped President vote or didn’t vote altogether.
- RNUG - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:46 am:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-U9TUkdIYw
- Demoralized - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:47 am:
It was anger that elected Trump, so why should the post-election atmosphere be any different. That being said, I think these people need to calm the heck down. I’m getting tired of these arguments every four years that somehow the Republic is going to blow up if we don’t get our choice of president. The Obama haters were convinced we were headed for destruction and yet here we are four years later going about our business. We’ve replaced the Obama hate with Trump hate now. Wonderful.
- Six Degrees of Separation - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:47 am:
For the EC to be abolished, we would need a constitutional amendment ratified by 3/4 of the states, and there are probably a good 1/4 who benefit from the way things are now where it would be a tough sell. Not impossible, but this will take time and effort.
- Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:48 am:
–The electoral college has to be abolished.–
Ah, the old kneejerk reaction. If you want to have that discussion, perhaps wait a year or two until cooler heads prevail, not two days after an election when you don’t like the results. Amending the Constitution is a long, onerous path even when the country isn’t deeply divided.
- Amalai - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:48 am:
Bern baby Bern. so sick of all the excuses and plays from the super left. what do you say when someone tells you that Bernie got more votes than Hillary? at no time was he as close to her in pledged delegates as Hillary was to BHO in 2008. voted for Johnson? you made a difference, and a bad one. did not vote at all? yep, you too. it is true that this is the first Presidential election under the Voting Rights Act changes. that may have hurt too. but, Dems, if someone changes the rules, and you cannot get them changed back in time to get folks registered and to the polls, start bringing them out to register and in to vote. It’s not social media fun, but it is old school important and effective work. Soros might have funded buses and gotten better results than with other methods.
- 618er - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:50 am:
“excellent analysis Rich. Anger misdirected. Don’t remember seeing protests after 08 or 12 Presidential elections”
10th Ward, that might be simply because those that didn’t get their ‘win’ back in 08 and 12 had jobs to get back to the next day…
- BK Bro - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:50 am:
This would be like Indians fans protesting the fact that the Cubs won. Mindless exercise. Welcome to the low testosterone/grievance society.
- Michael Westen - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:50 am:
Good luck with getting small population states like Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota and Alaska to go along with getting rid of the Electoral College. Ain’t going to happen.
- JohnnyPyleDriver - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:51 am:
I know a lot of people that put hundreds of hours into the primaries, only to have it rigged against them. So when you say they should have spent more time in the general, their choices were to shill for the DNC that hosed them, shill for Trump, or sit on the sidelines until after the election. I don’t think your advice hits the mark because it ignores who a lot of these folks probably are
- Chicago_Downstater - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:51 am:
@Patty T
I’ve always found that argument ridiculous and a little condescending. The entire purpose of a protest is to disrupt. If you don’t want to disrupt, then you shouldn’t be protesting.
As for telling people where they can protest, it’s kind of the equivalent as patting someone on the head and telling them to go to the kids’ table while the adults talk. If that’s what you are going for great, but otherwise kind of goofy.
- Ron Burgundy - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:52 am:
–there are probably a good 1/4 who benefit from the way things are now where it would be a tough sell.–
At the most extreme example, Wyoming which now has about 18x less electoral votes than California (3 to 55) would have about 65x less influence than California under a popular vote (600k population to about 39 million). To put it in base terms, what’s in it for them to change the system now?
- Grass Bowl - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:57 am:
Well said, Rich
- Anonymous - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 10:58 am:
New Hampshire and Iowa and all of the other small states will never allow the Electoral College to be abolished.
- Loop Lady - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:00 am:
Let’s not do this… work quietly behind the scenes to change the Democratic Party in the post Clinton era…
- Lester Holt's Mustache - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:01 am:
I think that to some extent, we should be understanding of these young folks. A lot of them are simply scared, -and need an outlet for that fear. Non-violent protests are one way for them to deal with that. Not counting policy disagreements that they will have with a completely republican government, many of them fear for their basic safety. While 95% of trump voters are just regular people, the most visible face of the trump campaign so far for these young people has been what they see on the internet - the racist trolls, the holocaust jokes, nazi propaganda directed at Jewish journalists, videos of gays being assaulted by groups of men, slurs directed at them personally because of their political views or their ethnicity or sexual preferences. They probably don’t come into contact with your average union guy who is angry about jobs and voted for trump on the chance that his trade policies will help them. Or republicans who just didn’t like Hillary.
I’ve got family in the Deep South, and it works just the opposite for them. They don’t come into contact with your average young liberal. What they know of liberalism comes from videos of black lives matter protests, or Facebook memes about riots in ferguson, and these same young people automatically assuming they are also racists and bigots simply because they may end up voting for Trump. We often only see the ugly face of our political opposition, and conflate that to include all members of one political group. Too often that turns into a cycle where you only focus on the ugly side your opponents politics, and start looking at them as enemies instead of seeing them as Americans.
These young folks should try to give trump a chance, and not just assume the worst. We should try to understand that these folks need an outlet right now, not chiding them for expressing themselves. That’s my unsolicited advice, anyway.
- N'ville - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:07 am:
http://www.redstate.com/patterico/2016/11/09/hillary-win-popular-vote-reviving-dangerous-arguments-abolishing-electoral-college/
- Aldyth - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:10 am:
Remember Occupy protests? Don’t underestimate the anger that’s out there and the willingness to disrupt. Giving the protestors a stern lecture that they are behaving like kids is only going to make them more angry. There are plans to shut down America on Inauguration Day and two months to figure out how to do it.
Condescend at your own risk.
- Captain Illini - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:12 am:
The election turned out just as I had predicted…Illinois would be an anomaly to the rest of the country due to the utter failure of it’s governor. Thus - although big bucks did get a few wins, we’re still pure blue. Mark Kirk and Kelly Aayotte went down because they didn’t support anything but themselves and yes, Trumps’ baggage led many to not support him either. Why Clinton lost is simple - string together her responses to all of the past scandals swirling around her and the answer is, “I don’t recall.” Well for me and most - if you can’t recall why would I trust you with anything?
- JohnnyPyleDriver - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:15 am:
Yea, abolishing the electoral college is a terrible idea. Without it, candidates would only campaign in large cities and their platforms would be entirely city-centric.
- jeffinginchicago - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:17 am:
My wife’s employer has a petition up to fight the new incoming Trump administration. How does an employee who doesn’t necessarily agree navigate that work space?
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:19 am:
===is only going to make them more angry===
As HRC said the other day, anger is not a plan.
Get back to me when you have a plan to do more than disrupt.
- Emily Booth - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:20 am:
I’ve never seen a Presidential election where people actually cried at the results and expressed fear for their families and children.
- JohnnyPyleDriver - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:29 am:
==As HRC said the other day, anger is not a plan.==
How can you say this after Tuesday? Anger without a plan is exactly what just handed republicans power of every major office in the land…
- JohnnyPyleDriver - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:30 am:
==I’ve never seen a Presidential election where people actually cried at the results and expressed fear for their families and children.==
I have muslim friends on facebook bidding me adieu because they can’t feel safe sending their kids to school in this country anymore
- Night Rider - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:32 am:
Well said. I’m hoping everyone who sat this election out, didn’t volunteer, didn’t donate, etc. — will channel their anger at this result into action 2018 and 2020.
- Keyser Soze - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:36 am:
Judging by the professionally printed signs, the Chicago protest was not spontaneous and was well organized. But, by who? I share blogman’s curiosity. One of the things that separates this country from banana republics is that we accept the results of elections, even if we don’t like the results. President Obama is presently offering a good example of this tradition.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:41 am:
It would be interesting to see how Kirk fared in the counties where Trump put up good numbers.
- AlfondoGonz - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:54 am:
I could easily see a scenario where history looks upon these particular protestors as courageous, prophetic, and, sadly and mistakenly, dismissed.
For the time being, it’s no different than any other protest. People have a right to be heard and they are invoking that right. Let’s not pretend Trump supporters wouldn’t be expressing their displeasure should Clinton have won.
- Patty - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 11:54 am:
i am sorry Chicago I didn’t know there was no effective way to get your voice heard but to disrupt & leave a mess. It is very likely a number of them failed to exercise their right to vote. Btw I voted for Hillary.
- Doofman - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 12:01 pm:
“Didja miss that whole tea party thing?”
You mean the protest movement that lead to GOP victories in the 2010, 2014 and 2016 elections? Maybe these protests end up like Occupy and don’t actually affect any elections but maybe this time will be different.
- VanillaMan - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 12:03 pm:
Anyone proposing the end of the Electoral College is revealing themselves as someone who doesn’t understand what a federal government is or what it does.
The office of the president is not just a leader of the US, it is the head of the Federal Government. The difference should be recognized, especially by anyone interested in government or politics.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 12:24 pm:
=Welcome to Trump Derangement Syndrome.
It replaces Obama Derangement Syndrome.=
The irony of that “Syndrome” is that Trump will be victimized by it. He was one of the band leaders before. Living and dying by the sword as they say.
=Maybe our teachers need to spend more teaching civics and less time teaching our students how to whine and protest about losing (trophies for last place).=
Or maybe parents ought to be doing that.
You think it is teachers that aren’t doing their jobs? Go to school sometime.
Get back to me when you can explain why teachers spend their own money to buy their students winter coats. Their compassion for kids overrides their desire to teach parents how to be parents and own their responsibilities.
- @MisterJayEm - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 12:36 pm:
There seems to be some confusion about the nature of the gathering in question.
The part that I attended, directly in front of the Trump building, consisted of LGBTQ people, Muslim people, brown people, Latino people, immigrants, disabled people, young people of all sorts and some plain ol’ white folks like me chanting affirmations — affirmations that they are not alone, that they are not universally rejected, that some Americans will not stand idly by if the president elect attempts to fulfill his campaign promises to roll-back the rights of LGBTQ people, Muslim people, brown people, Latino people, immigrants, disabled people, and women.
Did some people in a large gathering get out of hand? Of course, some people in a large gathering always do. Were some people angry? Sure, but most were simply heartbroken. And many were afraid.
The gathering that I attended was less of a protest against the results of the election than a protest against the policies the winner promised in his campaign.
But more than that, it was a rally of and for the people who will pay the price for that election.
– MrJM
https://twitter.com/MisterJayEm/status/796510462439489536
- Steve Rogers - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 12:52 pm:
VanillaMan: Don’t forget that the syndrome that preceded Bush Derangement Syndrome was Bill Clinton Derangement Syndrome. It seems every eight years since Clinton won in 1992, we’ve had a “reaction” successor. Bush, the family values candidate, was elected as a reaction to B. Clinton’s moral indiscretions. Obama, the anti-Iraq war candidate, was elected as a reaction to the failure of the Iraq war and the questions as to why we went there in the first place. Trump, the outspoken standard bearer of any and all Obama conspiracy theories, was elected as a reaction to alleged executive usurpation. Who is going to be the next reaction president?
- Carhartt Representative - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 12:58 pm:
Did anybody see Joe Walsh and his musket. I think when Trump refused to commit to accepting the election’s results, it’s hard to get mad at his opponents for doing this same thing.
As for teachers giving out last place trophies? The teams have been cancelled due to lack of funding. There are no first place trophies, yet alone last place one.
- Urban Girl - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:03 pm:
Was my comment deleted? Why?
- Downstate AgMan - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:08 pm:
==Their compassion for kids overrides their desire to teach parents how to be parents and own their responsibilities.=
Amen. If you are having trouble dealing with the election, teach your children about voting, teach them about what you believe and why you believe it. You can do this I know as I had to teach my children the last 8 years what my core values were and let them decide how to move forward. One is a resident of Indiana and the other Kentucky. BTW we all voted for Trump.
- Chicago_Downstater - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:08 pm:
@MisterJayEm 12:36 PM
Thank you for that comment. I’m a member of the LGBTQ community and I thought about going down for the reasons you gave. In the end, I decided that it might conflict too much with my belief in the peaceful transfer of power, but that was just my own decision…and it was a hard one to make.
I respected the peaceful protesters such as yourself last night for following your own beliefs and I will be joining you if Trump acts on certain abhorrent proposed policies.
- Carhartt Representative - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:14 pm:
I’ve often tried to explain pro-lifers to my more liberal friends. If you really do believe that abortion is murder, it’s pretty hard to compromise from that. By the same token, if you really believe that Trump is going to allow LGBT kids to be bullied, kick out Muslims and Mexicans from this country, and do all manner of other things he promised to do during the election, where do you compromise? Name calling the LGBTQ community is alright, but physical violence is out? We’ll only kick out half the Muslims? Sometimes, compromise just isn’t possible.
- Chicago_Downstater - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:25 pm:
@Patty 11:54 AM
If you are the same commentor as Patty T & were directing that comment at me, then I’d say that’s kind of the point of the post, right? I’m not arguing with that. If there were protesters that didn’t vote when they could’ve, then they missed the better opportunity to affect the system.
However, my second comment was directed to Patty T’s statement that s/he was ok with the protesting…as long as the protesters didn’t really…protest. I found that silly. That’s all.
- Chicago_Downstater - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:27 pm:
@Patty 11:45
If I’m being self-absorbed/paranoid & you aren’t the same commentor/weren’t directing that at me, then I apologize. Social media has warped my soul
- Honeybear - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:34 pm:
Totally agree Rich. It seems like they are protesting the successful and peaceful democratic electoral process.
Let Trump do something FIRST. Then attack it.
I could go for it even if they attacked something that the Republicans are planning on doing like repealing ACA. Fine attack those plans, etc.
“Not my President” is petulant ( not that I’m above petulance ) and just wrong. The process worked and there are so many other things that would actually get traction.
- the Patriot - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:35 pm:
I think Rich just stumbled into the problem for the democrat party moving forward. The young, energetic core is built of entitlement-participation trophy folks that don’t understand how hard it it is to win in life. Sometimes the opponent doesn’t play fair, sometimes the officials are bad, and there are often forces beyond your control. The people who win in the end are the one’s who pick their teeth up off the ground get up and keep fighting.
- @MisterJayEm - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:36 pm:
“Social media has warped my soul”
Social media is the worst!
– MrJM
- Anonymous - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:40 pm:
So fine that they’re peacefully protesting. Blowing off steam. They have a right. When those protests block streets, engender fear and prohibit businesses from functioning, then it’s not a peaceful protest. Maybe their right to gather and protest could be regulated to a park? An area where others don’t feel threatened (and then avoid since there is fear?)
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:42 pm:
===then it’s not a peaceful protest===
Sure it is.
Too many drivers think they own the streets.
- Carhartt Representative - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:43 pm:
=I think Rich just stumbled into the problem for the democrat party moving forward. The young, energetic core is built of entitlement-participation trophy folks that don’t understand how hard it it is to win in life.=
They came of age after Bush crashed the economy and grew up in a time of color coded terror warnings. As for the participation trophies, they didn’t buy their own trophies when they were growing up. It was the Baby Boomers and Gen Xers who did that.
- YSW - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 1:54 pm:
Spot on comment by MisterJayEm. Some folks here are talking about their IDEA of how last night went, not the reality.
- AlfondoGonz - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 2:13 pm:
“The young, energetic core is built of entitlement-participation trophy folks that don’t understand how hard it it is to win in life.”
This is no less ignorant than saying the conservative core is made up of racist red necks.
Sweeping generalizations should be left at the door that leads to productive conversation.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Nov 10, 16 @ 4:18 pm:
@Keyser Soze:
I finally saw some photos in the press and it was curious that a spontaneous protest featured so many people carrying custom printed signs.
I am not sure if such gatherings are effective. The ugly riots and BLM protests in Milwaukee may have flipped Wisconsin to Trump.
Demonstrate all you want, but keep the assemblies peaceful.