Preserving Democracy

 

Last weekend, The Crew along with 7 million other people, gleefully decided to give up their Saturday to exercise their constitutionally protected rights of assembly and free speech at a No Kings event. With less than two weeks until Halloween, this was a big sacrifice for some of us but what better reason to give up our time than for the sake of preserving democracy?

Kib was very excited about going to his first protest. The one in our town was held at Rainbow Park, named to honor the soldiers of the Rainbow Division in World War I. Obviously, the homophobes haven't figured out a way to change its name yet. 

It's always important to know your rights, especially when dealing with a dictator.

So, who do we run into first on this beautiful day? A couple of Marxists, obviously.

Sorry I didn't get any photos of the frogs.

More of those violent/paid protesters Speaker Johnson was talking about. Isn't it interesting that these people are considered dangerous by the Republicans and yet the president referred to the mob of rioters who broke into the capital on January 6th as patriots, then pardoned them?

 

Another pair of treacherous protesters. Ashley, our next door neighbor, made this fabulous sign for her stepdad. She wasn't there so he was taking photos of it with as many people as were up for participating. Too bad there wasn't a frizzy hair contest, we might have won the couples division.  

The Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson also said he expected to see "the people who don't want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic." He seems to have overlooked the fact that according to the Preamble of the United States Constitution and the Tenth Amendment, power belongs to the people.

As for a massive show of force by the police, these two friendly officers came by on their bikes and hung out in front of the bait shop for a little while. Apparently, they were called in to calm down a guy who was threatening protesters.  

Well, that pretty much sums it up! It's sad that this protest was even necessary but we had a good time, ran into a lot of people we hadn't seen all summer and met some very nice folks, too. An act to remind the Republicans and their convicted felon leader that they work for all the people, not just the ones who give them lots of money, was long overdue.

The permit for the protest was only for two hours so there was plenty of time for lunch and shopping afterwards. It's sad that protesting has become just another one of those things we do these days, but we can also vote. There are elections coming up on November 4th all around the country that can impact the reach of this current administration. Search for your state's election calendar to find out what's on the ballot and register to vote. Judges are up for election in some states and they are crucial to upholding laws that protect voting rights and congressional district maps. We don't need any more states being gerrymandered like Texas.  

Now that we've made an effort to stand up against tyranny and stocked up on candy bars, we should probably get back to having fun decorating for Halloween. Maybe we'll put on a movie instead of watching Dump tear down the East Wing of the White House.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend!