Day in the Life of an Idiot

 
Image: 2025 "Hands Off" protest at the Saint Paul capitol, two signs visible one reading "Dump DOGE" and another that reads "No Compromise with Facists." 


We had a very bright (if windy) day on Saturday for the HANDS OFF protest here in Saint Paul. Everything kicked off at noon, and I initially thought I could get to the capitol building by light rail, as there is a station a block and a half from my house. I only walked as far as the Wendy's parking lot because I could see a MASSIVE crowd of people waiting to get on. My heart started to swell a little because this was very reminscient of the Women's March in 2016 when we managed to get a crowd of 90,000-100,00 people.



Image: Two dinosaurs with signs that say "Hands Off Climate Science! Denial is Exinction."


So, I turned around and jumped into my car. I was not particularly hopeful that I could get anywhere near the capitol, but I remembered a couple of secret side streets that had offered up parking spaces in 2016 and so I decided to take a risk. I went down a street in town that is also a bus route and I watched tons of protestors piling on (I could tell them by their placards!) to the bus at each stop along the route. It wasn't long until the bus had clearly filled to capacity, as they skipped a major intersection and just plowed on without stopping. 

I pulled my car over at the bus stop, hit the flashers, and shouted, "Anyone going to the protest? I can take three!" 



Image: Four protestors all dressed for success in matching outfits that read "Hands Off!" and "Trump" (crossed out) "Not my President."


Three women of a certain age all came over and hopped in. They were all from Minneapolis and had parked in a spot where they'd hoped to be able to catch a bus further in. I ended up dropping them off at Dale Street because they didn't want to scout the neighborhood for a parking space, which was fair. Although, had they stuck with me they would have gotten a pretty prime spot. I ended up just off John Ireland Boulevard (for out of towners, this is the broad avenue that leads directly to the capitol building) near Saint Paul College. (Again for those not from around here, this is a LONG walk, but actually shockingly close, given the crowd size.)



Image: A sense of the crowd. Visible signs read: "They're eating the Checks; They're eating the Balances." 

I could tell as I walked towards the capitol with a stream of other people that we had not made the numbers of the previous protest. The last I heard, our official count was 25,000 (which seems a little low to me. I had estimated 100,000 in 2016 and I'd been damn close. This honestly felt like 40,000 to me?)   Regardless, there weren't nearly as many people this time around. I suspect that the real reason isn't any kind of political apathy, rather the fact that for whatever reason there were multiple protests scheduled in dozens of other nearby places and towns. A couple of my friends when to a second protest in Saint Paul, in a different neighborhood!



Image: A sign painted in the bisexual flag colors that reads "If Kamala were in Office, We'd be at Brunch Right Now."

I didn't end up staying all that long on Saturday. The protest had a number of speakers, but the capitol steps have very strange accustics. It's very difficult to hear what anyone is saying unless  you are directly lined up with the stairs. Like, I could hear the speeches as I walked down John Ireland, clear as a bell. Ironically, I could hear nothing when I was on the capitol grounds just slightly to the east of the stairs. It's so strange. But, this has happened at other events. 



Image: Sign that reads "Current Threat Level: Orange" with an arrow that points to an orange silhouette of Trump.

I felt very heartened to be among so many like-minded folks, but it was an oddly lonely experience for me, too. I'd planned to meet up with a couple of friends, but we never managed to connect. Cell phone service was really spotty once we were near the capitol grounds and so I missed a bunch of "Hey, we're still waiting for you at the place!" messages. Instead, I ended up wandering around taking pictures of clever signs. (As a note for those worried: I asked permission for every photo--except the crowd ones--but I worked very hard to only choose shots for social media and this blog that did not show people's faces. Or, if their faces were visible, I picked ones where people were clearly wearing hats, sunglasses, or otherwise obscuring themselves somewhat.)



Image: Very Good Dogs with signs that say "Dogs Against DOGE."


Probably the most exciting thing that I witnessed was the forced march pushing the counterprotestors out of the capitol area. A group of people fully surrounded the MAGA folks and bravely marched forward, pushing them backwards all the way out to University Avenue. It was... I mean, it honestly brought a proud, happy tear to my eye. There were so, so many more of us. And they were unable to stand their ground against a sea of humanity. 

May this be a metaphor for what we can do collectively!



Image: Sign that says, "Does this ASS" (picture of Trump in his grampa pants) "Make my Country Look Small?"