Back in the streets

It’s been a busy two weeks

A couple virtual events and a couple in-real-life events. Here is a quick recap.

Virtual Event: Heather Cox Richardson & Rep. Jasmine Crockett

On Monday, April 14, we watched two livestream events. The first was “The Reality of Project 2025”, sponsored by Red Wine & Blue. This is an organization we had not heard of, but we learned that they are “a national community of over half a million diverse suburban women working together to defeat extremism, one friend at a time”.

The event featured two guest speakers – Heather Cox Richardson and Rep. Jasmine Crockett. The first 15 minutes or so was a conversation between the moderator (sorry, didn’t catch her name) and Heather Cox Richardson. HCR speaks eloquently, with a measured mixture of passion and righteous anger, leavened with her encyclopedic knowledge of American history and contemporary politics. Her commentary was insightful and interesting – a live version of the commentary we enjoy daily through her newsletter “Letters from an American”.

Then the energy level ramped up considerably when Rep. Crockett joined. We had not heard her speak before and now are looking forward to hearing her again. She has represented Texas’s 30th congressional district that includes Dallas and the surrounding area since 2023. Rep. Crockett took every question asked of her and ran with them, mixing anecdotes about her personal life, sharp criticisms of Donald Trump and his administration, and well thought-out positions on how we should resist and respond to the current national situation.

I looked for a recording of the livestream, but didn’t find one. Sorry!

Livestream: Fighting Oligarchy with Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Immediately following the Red Wine and Blue event, we tuned into the livestream of the “Fighting Oligarchy Tour”. Bernie Sanders and AOC brought their roadshow to Nampa, Idaho – just outside Boise. (We debated about going to see them live, but it’s a 300 mile drive, one way. The live stream was the next best thing.)

We didn’t need to rush – most of the first hour of the livestream was a view of the auditorium filling up, with music playing. Over 12,000 people packed the Ford Idaho Center.

The event opened with several local speakers – Dr. Penny Beach, a family doctor, State Rep. Todd Achilles, and Chandler Bursey, the president of the local chapter of the American Federation of Government Employees. Each did their part to explain issues critical in their areas. Bursey led the crowd in a raucous chant of “When we fight…we win!”, which fired up the crowd.

But the main attractions for the evening were AOC, who spoke first, and then Bernie.

I won’t try to summarize their speeches. I’ll just recommend you take an hour and watch the YouTube video. What you’ll see are two acknowledged east coast liberals talking directly to an audience in deep-red Idaho, and receiving cheers and standing ovations.

AOC drew on her working-class upbringing and personal history to engage with the audience, talking about the challenges of working low-wage jobs and contrasting that experience with that of the billionaires who are running the country.

She had the audience in her hands from the moment she began her speech. She said she had heard a local television commentator ask “Why are AOC and Bernie going to Idaho?”

“I’ll give you one simple answer – it’s because you matter!”

The crowd roared approval, and continued roaring until she finished and introduced Bernie.

This was the first time I had heard AOC speak, other than in sound bites on TV, and wow, she is impressive.

Bernie, in his typical angry grandpa style, continued drawing in the crowd by talking about the contrasts between “two Americas” – one where the billionaire class “have never had it so good” and one where working people live paycheck-to-paycheck, unable to pay rent, buy groceries to feed their kids, or afford healthcare.

He included many of the usual progressive talking points – medicare for all, affordable housing, free daycare and free college tuition, transforming the energy system from fossil fuels to renewables and creating good paying, union jobs in the process. All of it landed with the crowd.

April 19, Clarkston, WA

Later that week was the national “Day of Protest”, with events happening all around the country. The Asotin County (WA) Democrats sponsored a noon rally at the same intersection as the rally on April 5. It’s an easy drive (less than 10 minutes) from our house to the rally site. I attended the 1 hour rally, along with about 125 other people from Clarkston, Lewiston, and the surrounding area. It was cloudy and misting rain, but that didn’t seem to dampen the spirits along the street.

An unusual and somewhat unsettling thing happened at this rally. A small group of vocal Trump supporters came to stand on one corner of the intersection, side-by-side with other attendees. There were some words exchanged from one side of the street to the other, but no altercations. At the time, I wondered if this was some kind of counter action that the MAGAs were mounting.

Perhaps in anticipation of trouble, a Clarkston police car parked half a block away from the intersection. Thankfully, they were not needed.

One really interesting juxtaposition from that rally is shown in the photo below. A man carrying a large Trump flag ended up standing next to a woman who had an equally large Pride flag. They stood a few feet apart for most of the rally, but at one point I saw them talking. I doubt either person’s mind was changed by that discussion, but, to me, it represented what “free speech” is really all about.

May Day rally in support of workers

Several national organizations, including 50501 and Mobilize.us called for nationwide protests on May 1, May Day, in support of workers.

There were also protest rallies north of us in the university towns of Moscow, Idaho (University of Idaho) and Pullman, Washington (Washington State University). The local paper covered it extensively.

So once again I headed to the busy intersection in Clarkston. It was beautiful, warm day and the crowd was filled with enthusiasm. One young man had a bullhorn and led us in chants, like “Hey, ho, Donald Trump has got to go!” while cars passed, many of them honking and flashing thumbs up.

There were a few fingers flipped at us, a couple of obscene gestures, and more than one pickup truck passing by with its engine revving – apparently another way of signaling disapproval. But we laughed them off and enjoyed the camaraderie.

My favorite sign of the day was held by Carl, a man standing next to me. He told me he lives part-time in Alaska and part-time in Clarkston. He likes the cold weather up north, but comes south for a longer growing season for his garden.

What’s happening in your area?

That’s all for today.

Drop a note in the comments or send a note to mike@thecookandthewriter.com to let us know what you’ve seen and done.

Stay strong and loud!

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Questions? Suggestions?

Leave a comment below with any questions or suggestions. I always appreciate feedback.

Mike

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White Rabbit photo by Victor Larracuente on Unsplash