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| Victoria Eason, left, and her mother Jennifer. |
"The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislatures, nor in its ambassadors or authors or colleges or churches ... but always most in the common people," Walt Whitman wrote in his preface to "Leave of Grass," lauding "... their deathless attachment to freedom."
As satisfying as it is to offer such quotes at face value, as eternal truths — Walt Whitman said it, he's famous, so it must be true — this one might merit a little picking apart.
First, the line was written in 1855. Meaning the American public's attachment to freedom wasn't so deathless that the country wouldn't soon be ripped apart in civil war over whether fellow human beings should be kept as slaves.
Who were these common people, anyway? Who are they now? The millions who turned out Saturday for massive "No Kings" rallies across the country? Or the millions more who voted for the president three times? Who support him now, and who will continue to do so no matter what. Even if he runs for a third term in direct violation of the U.S. Constitution?
We were divided then. We are divided now. In 2024, 49.8% of voters cast a ballot for Donald Trump. And 48.3% voted for Kamala Harris. Almost an even split.
Once, a tight election might have led to efforts toward bridge building, reconciliation. Now Trump is implementing radical change by executive fiat, without congressional approval or concern for public reaction, which was in full cry Saturday.
I slid over to the "No Kings" protest in Highland Park and was immediately struck by just how old everybody seemed. Gray hair, walkers, wheelchairs.
Why is that?
"It's an older crowd because we remember the way America was, and we want to get it back," said Betty Kleinberg, 83, of Deerfield. "It wasn't perfect, but it was better than it is now. We're doing this for our grandchildren."
"I'm a very active member of our community and am so appalled by everything going on," said Joanne Hoffman, 92. "As long as I still have my wits about me, I'm going to keep doing this."
You must really want to be here, I told Phil Reinstein, 87, tapping his rollator.
"I do," he said. "To try to save this country."
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| Grace Goodrich |
"We need more young people," said Grace Goodrich, 25, of Northbrook, there with her father, Paul. "It's going to eventually affect us more. We need to stand up for what makes this country great."
Jennifer Eason came with her 9-year-old daughter, Victoria.
"I'm here because Donald Trump is doing bad things," the 4th grader said.
Betsy and Curtis Porter of Glencoe brought their 6-year-old son, Ethan, already at his second protest — he also went to the first "No Kings" protest in June. I asked him why he was there.
"America is free," said the 2nd grader.
And what does being free mean?
"We make our own choices," Ethan said.
Sometimes those choices conflict. Several came to protest but didn't want their own voices cited. A woman holding a sign reading "I'M A 77 YEAR OLD GRANNY FOR FREEDOM" quailed at the prospect of having her photo in the newspaper.
"I want to live," she explained, fleeing.
To continue reading, click here.
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| Betty Kleinberg, 83, right, and Paulette Vainstock, 81 |
As I drove down Roosevelt Road in the western suburbs Saturday, there were hundreds of protesters at virtually every main intersection. It was thrilling! I may have worn out my car’s horn. Kudos to all who were there!
ReplyDeleteSpouse and I attended the event in Lisle and witnessed the same age-related fact as you did. We too are old and when we arrived 45 minutes early, I was struck by the paucity of younger people. But as time went on, that split in years eroded so that the difference in age was not nearly as apparent. (And by the way, if you have not yet received your check for having attended, please be patient as Mr. Soros is in his nineties.)
ReplyDeletehahahahahahaha :)
DeleteYou should sign up for the direct deposit option. I used to Soros checks but direct deposit is faster. I already got paid for Saturday.
DeleteJerry L
3600 events were scheduled for Sunday it's a lot of porta potties and little American flags that they were handing out and signs sometimes the permits cost money and the people doing all the leg work to get these things organized they get paid too.
DeleteI don't believe that there's Jewish money behind this but the DNC has big donors let's at least acknowledge that it cost a lot of money for Sunday and that somebody paid for it was it you I know it wasn't me I didn't send the DNC any money
We were also at the HP No Kings rally and were disappointed by the lack of younger people there. However, we did feel a great sense of unity with all those who were there. I loved the 19 year old who spoke to the crowd and described himself as the proud child of immigrants.
ReplyDeleteMy immigrant grandparents (Russia and Poland) moved around a lot when they came here in the early years of the last century. New York, and then Chicago, and later some of the outlying towns around the city. My grandmother had seven kids, all of them boys, and my father was the fifth, born in Highland Park in 1920.
DeleteHighland Park was a smaller and far diverse town then, but after WWII it became more affluent and heavily Jewish (which did not sit well with many of the natives, some of whom began calling it K*keland Park).
Thus, it's no surprise that their No Kings rally would skew elderly, wealthy, and Jewish. That's their demographic. And the kids who grew up there in the Fifties are in their 80s and 90s now. Hence the gray hair and the walkers. The canes and the wheelchairs. It is what it is.
On Saturday, there was far more diversity in other places. My wife and I were in downtown Cleveland. Got there early, for the parking, which I always do. I'm an early bird now. Hey, I'm old! We parked a block away.
The crowd was small, and I worried about the rally being a disappointing flop. But within the next hour, thousands swarmed into the small park, and the throngs engulfed it, and overflowed the space.
A stunningly beautiful fall day--sunny and 80 degrees. T-shirt weather. After the usual speechifying, it took twenty minutes for all the marchers to walk past us. And they were walking fairly fast, and they filled the street from curb to curb. Closely packed together. All ages, all races, all colors.
The event was festive and joyous and there was a carnival atmosphere. Couldn't even read all the wonderful signs. We wore our NO PARKING signs around our necks. With tape covering the PAR. Hence: NO KING. Not an original idea. Somebody in Chicago is altering the signs there.
People kept telling me how "brilliant" our signs were. Nah. Not really. Not so much. One of my favorites was the big and colorful butterfly, which was labeled: "This is the only real orange monarch."
Saturday, in the park. And it felt like the Fourth of July. A very good day.
they prob had other things to do, unlike the retired
DeleteSo the weak and the frightened joined the naive and the foolish for a day in the park and what a lovely day it was.
ReplyDeleteWishing that America could be the way it was before. sound familiar? is it really possible that that's a quote you got from somebody there
I can see why you might be wondering where the young people were I mean the ones that their parents didn't drag there but do you ever say to yourself where where are the brown people?
And not just in your Lily white suburb but in all of these rallies is just old white people white very white people .
So you got the white people of maga versus the white people of no Kings that's pretty much how it always is the white people fighting over America how it should be leaving everybody else out and you can grab the crumbs as they fall to the floor from the table of power
Good point Phil has about where are the brown people.
DeletePlenty of POC in downtown Cleveland, where I was.
DeleteIncluding a few co-workers from the Habitat ReStore.
"weak and the frightened joined the naive and the foolish" Really? Speak for yourself.
ReplyDeleteI am speaking for myself and I put my name on my comment
DeletePhil: Certainly no one wants life to return to exactly "as it was before". Too many ugly beliefs, actions and events. Survival instinct in all races and colors trigger desperate people to fight for crumbs. No race is immune to this human nature.
DeleteI am interested why, in your view, this is a white-only issue?
gee phil, predominately white people show up at demonstrations in predominately white suburbs-who could possibly have guessed? good god phil, you are a whiney little fella.
DeleteErnest I combed through hundreds of images and dozens of videos and it's fairly clear that this was an event that appealed to predominantly white people and predominantly older people
DeleteIn order to win the upcoming elections we are going to have to find a way to bring people of color and young people into the tent.
In enormous numbers.
We should be at least asking ourselves why they didn't show up.
People who feel screwed by the system poor or with enormous debt from loans they took to go to school.
People who've never been part of the middle class or feel like they're never going to be able to be a part of it to buy property to have a job where you get a pension
Things that the boomers take for granted and have benefited from greatly that have been made almost impossible to achieve for the younger generations and for people of color.
This didn't start with Trump administration after administration has been leaving these people out in the cold.
Showing our anger in such a large and impressive display throughout the country is unlikely to accomplish anything
They have all the power and we need to take over at least one of the houses of Congress.
Where are all the young people who came out in support of the Palestinians that demonstrated on campus just a short time ago they weren't there.
The Democratic party needs to be able to show them that they're going to get a seat at the table
You seem to be patting yourself on the back for using your first name - which is about as specific as "anonymous". Curious. You insulted a lot of people bearing witness to attacks on our democracy by calling them weak and frightened and naive and foolish. I'm glad you acknowledge you are speaking only for yourself. I"ll speak for myself and suggest you are offensively wrong in your assessment of these good folks, and further suggest that a little self reflection might be in order - - - One man's opinion.
DeletePhil, You ask where are the pro Gaza bunch? It's only convenient when the rally is at the college they are at.
DeletePhil at 4:19 makes a good point.
DeleteDennis I do care how people feel I really do. I just want the democrats to prevail in the midterms. then we might have a legitimate reason to feel a little better.if maga keeps the house and senate we are fucking screwed. if all of the people that demonstrated were additional voters for kamal in the presidential election. we still wouldn't have won. people just dont seem to get it. we need the Obama coalition to regain power. too many of them stayed home. we need to light a fire under their ass. or we are fucked
DeleteElmhurst rally had over 2000 ! All ages, all energized. I will show my age but I got there about an hour early to get a parking spot and there were already about 40 people there.
ReplyDeleteIt was a great day to march, to hear our speakers and laugh at some great signs and to be a little hopeful.
Downtown rally was very much all age and all color. Proud to be there. 200,000 proud Americans.
ReplyDeleteThe brilliant and fiery young speaker at the HP rally was Rachel Jacoby. We watched her grow up as a self-described community organizer. She graduated with a Masters from the Harvard Kennedy School, and was elected as a Moraine Township trustee in 2024. Remember the name.
ReplyDeleteI arrived a bit late in Arlington Hts, due to lack of parking nearby. By that time the crowd was not just the elderly, but I'd guess the average age was closer to Boomers than their grandchildren. The organizers need a better PA next time. Despite Phil's dismissal, I met all kinds of concerned people, all ages and not just white people. I know for sure that some in the crowd risked their freedom and/or bodily harm in similar events a long time ago, and others are risking the same in places like Broadview. Hopefully the crowds will grow with each edition of No Kings. I will be there, come join the crowd, if only to piss off Herr Drumpf.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who thinks there should have been more young people at the suburban rallies -- I think the young people you wanted were downtown and part of the 200K people who stood up against trump and ICE. That's where I would have been if I my knees would have allowed it. Instead I went to the Evanston rally, which was smaller but still thousands came. And there were a lot of older folks with canes and walkers and chairs, but there were also families and people of every age. My knees are on fire still. I'm getting one replaced in January, the other a few months after that. But I found a way to be part of it and I'm happy I did.
ReplyDeleteWe were in downtown Chicago, but arrived a little late and couldn't get close enough to Butler Field. So, we staked out a spot on a ramp on the south side of the Art Institute and just watched as the march began. It hadn't been our plan, but having an elevated spot from which to view the proceedings as the whole, wonderful panoply of patriots filled the street and just kept coming was captivating.
ReplyDeleteSo many clever outfits, so many clever signs, and not just a bunch of old white people like us. We ended up staying there from the beginning to the end, which took about an hour-and-ten minutes, admiring the mass of wall-to-wall everyday people marching by. This was on Jackson -- many went a block south on Columbus to Ida B. Wells Drive in order to head west, so it would have taken even longer if not for that. Uh, there were a LOT of folks.
As the Dolt in a Diaper inflatable went by, followed by cops, signaling the end of the line, we joined in and headed to and north on Michigan Avenue with the throng. A number of other late-comers joined in behind us, as we made our way north. The whole thing was impressive, indeed.
A guy was handing out little American flags, but they were bigger than the ones we had carried in June, so we obtained a couple. They were arranged upside-down on the little staff. My wife left hers like that, but I slid mine off and replaced it stars-up.
I, like our genial host, refuse to let the long-time flag-waving "law-and-order" Republicans who've attempted for generations to co-opt the flag as their own symbol of a warped version of patriotism have the flag to themselves. Let them have the Confederate and Nazi banners that so many of them embrace. The flag represents freedom, actual patriotism and a country that has evolved with a mission to ensure equality for all, not just "Christian" white people.
It boggles the mind that, in a single lifetime, we've gone from a country that helped spearhead the greatest anti-fascist coalition in history to one in which the orange felon and his minions attempt to make Antifa / cism seem like a sinister movement.
I went to the rally in the Beverly area with my wife and daughter. There were plenty of younger people there, as well as other age groups from little kids to people older than we are (70’s.) While I don’t agree with Phil’s assessment above, I’d fight for his right to speak his mind, as would anyone who attended the various rallies. In fact that’s why we were there, to stand against the current administration whom among other things is trying to control the press. Well, not trying, if one was to look at what’s happening at the pentagon. Actually doing it.
ReplyDelete"As bad as it seems today, it can always get worse. Eight years after Whitman was celebrating his fellow Americans for their “generosity of spirit” --he was volunteering at a Washington, D.C., hospital, tending to the wounded and dying harvested from blood-soaked battlefields. Don’t say it can’t happen; it has before."
ReplyDeleteOh, I agree, Mister S. Totally and completely. And the longer Felonious occupies the Oval Orifice, the greater the divide. It's the size of the Grand Canyon now. And the greater the likelihood of Version 2.0...Even if Jethro V. Dance succeeds him, our chances of a peaceful outcome seem to be getting worse.
Cyberspace is still our safety valve. If we had not been able to duke it out online for all these years, we would have been doing it in the streets a long, long time ago. But even the internet may not save us. On the contrary...it may actually doom us. Mr. Matchesky, meet Mr. Gasolini...
Grizz, you didn't go to a rally?
DeleteCleveland, OH. Scroll down from the top. Fifth comment, at 4:22 PM.
DeleteI would argue with Phil's contention that the marches lacked people of color. However, no one has pointed out the obvious, particularly in Chicago. Even perfectly legal POC were probably afraid to go to a rally due to the possibility of ICE attempting a raid. My SIL has a green card and I told him in no uncertain terms he should not be out there.
ReplyDeleteI am late to the discussion but want to second what Phil said about the lack of brown protesters, while adding a bit of context. I attended the NO KINGS event in Oak Park in June, and again this past Saturday. I also attended a smaller protest rally in Oak Park between these 2 events, and noticed the disappearance of POC at that time.
ReplyDeleteThe June rally did skew older, but was refreshingly diverse in ethnicity. I hoped POC would return to the 2nd No Kings rally this past week, and I specifically looked for them.
The crowd this past Saturday was far larger than the previous No Kings rally. There were definitely a lot more young people there, but the octogenarians (and older) drew more attention, with their wheelchairs, walkers, canes, caregivers and even signs proclaiming their ages. I saw POC marching, but not as many as I expected.
However - there were CARS driving down Lake Street, passing the marchers and honking, some holding signs out the car windows or sunroofs. Some cars passed the marchers multiple times. Many in the car parade were brown-skinned, and some held signs written in Spanish. I got the sense they felt "safer" joining in from their cars. I didn't take their photos out of respect for their privacy.
The fear of being "disappeared" in my town is real - 3 landscapers were taken this week. (that's the # I'm aware of so far. )
I was left with the impression that POC no longer feel safe marching here. Some marched, some displayed driveby protest signs, and some honked in support. It made me sad, but it also made me more determined to march in the future.
POC who feared deportation obviously stay home. Black people seem to be completely disinterested overall in being affiliated with the Democratic party
ReplyDeletePeople who fear deportation overall can't vote so their absence doesn't really have a bearing on the midterms or elections overall Black people can vote. They didn't vote in near the numbers that came out for Obama they were absent for Kamala
It's a block that we have to convince that were done screwing them over this is millions of people.we need them to turn out.
What are their demands ?access to the banking system, decent education to not have to fear the police safe neighborhoods. That's just part of it. can we actually hope to deliver on any promises that we make to them as a party?