No Kings. Not Today. Not Ever.

The following is a personal statement.

Today is a day of national protest against the authoritarian regime being imposed by a narcissist and those who are afraid to stand up to him.

Today is the day when my husband — an arch-Conservative who has never participated in a political protest in his life — is going to his first political protest.

We are doing it so that our grandchildren will have a country worth living in. We are going because:

The convicted felon in the White House acts like a mob boss and misuses the Department of Justice to intimidate anyone who opposes him. At the same time, he pardons or commutes the sentences of fraudsters and criminals if they voted for him or made a donation to him.

Masked agents grab people off the streets or in buildings. Some of those being detained may be serious criminals. Others are citizens or lawful residents who are wrongly detained, including people whose views Trump doesn’t like.

Trump is sending troops into cities that neither want nor need troops. The military is not supposed to be used as police against citizens.

Trump is attempting to dictate the policies universities can adopt, threatening to cut off federal funding if they do not comply.

Trump enabled Netanyahu to pursue inhumane attacks on Gaza that killed innocent Palestinians or starved them to death. He treated Netanyahu like a hero instead of as a war criminal.

Trump claims socialism is bad, but sends billions of U.S. dollars to a socialist country so that their citizens will have free health care, while millions of Americans will not be able to afford healthcare.

Trump has kissed Putin’s ass so many times that Putin probably has hickeys on his ass.  Ukraine deserves our full support.

Trump has appointed incompetent people who have made us and our country less safe. He appears to have appointed them simply because they donate to him, feed his ego, or look like plastic-surgeon-generated Barbies.

No Yellow Here

The organizers of the event want everyone to wear yellow to symbolize hope and courage.

I will not be wearing yellow.

This is not about hope for me. This is about determination and outrage.

I was one of those who took to the streets and fought for the civil rights of minorities in the 1960s.

I was one of those who fought for the rights of women over our own bodies so that the days of coat-hanger abortions would end.

I was one of those who took to the streets again and shut down campuses and buildings over the Vietnam War and Kent State.

Now I am one of many who are disgusted at how this country is being dismantled by people who do not truly love America and its promise while claiming that they do.

I’ll be damned if  I sit quietly by and let it happen.

I am old now. I shouldn’t have to be out in the streets at a protest again. But I will be there. And I bet a lot of other old folks will be out today, too, because some memories fade with age, but we remember the promise of this country and what we fought for.

No billionaire and his fawning buddies are going to get away with destroying this country without encountering more resistance than they ever imagined.

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Update: You can now see some of the pictures I took today.