If people were waiting for an organized pushback against the Trump administration’s agenda, it came on Saturday. But it didn’t come from lawmakers, it came from the people themselves.
People gathered in San Francisco to speak out against President Trump’s executive actions in a scene reminiscent of the massive protests during the Vietnam War.
“I feel as intense as I did when I was 20,” said Jim Sanderson from Redwood City as he walked to San Francisco Civic Center Plaza.
Sanderson remembered what it was like serving in the National Guard in 1970 after Americans had lost their belief in not just the war, but the nation itself.
“That was a very, very…it was tearing us apart, the war and all that,” Sanderson said. “I feel like that again but now the enemy’s from within.”
Thousands of people filled the street and plaza in front of City Hall, the sea of faces reflecting a full range of life experiences and concerns.
“Thank you for reminding us that sometimes the only way to be heard is to upset the status quo,” San Francisco activist Alex U. Inn told the crowd.
In the front row was Mai Alys from the East Bay. She, like a lot of people, is concerned about the possibility of cuts to Social Security. But she said she thinks it’s less likely to happen if people turn out in numbers like at Saturday’s rally.
“There isn’t anybody who doesn’t have a mom or dad or grandma or grandpa on Social Security,” Alys said. “I don’t think it’s going to actually be actualized. I don’t, because there’s 70 million people that will hit the streets and throw this guy into a dumpster, you know?”
The so-called “Hands Off!” rallies going on all over America were organized by a national group called Indivisible.
Susan Austin, co-lead of the Mid-Peninsula chapter, said the hope was to make an impression on Republican lawmakers in conservative states.
“What we’re going to see today is people in Alabama, in Pennsylvania, in all these red and swing states that are showing up and their legislators are going to have to take their constituents’ points of view into mind,” said Austin. “And more and more people are saying this wasn’t the Trump I voted for. These aren’t the actions that I was thinking I was getting with Trump.”
As he watched from across the street, Sanderson said he felt a sense of relief. Especially after there was so little resistance coming from elected officials in the first few weeks.
“There was no pushback from anybody. None. And for a minute I thought I was the only one who smelled smoke in the house–it was a fire,” he said. “It wasn’t until people started pushing back and they started saying, ‘A lot of people don’t agree with this,’ that’s when I felt, ‘Oh good. Now I’ve got to find something to do.'”
He’s doing what millions of private citizens are doing, showing up and making their voices heard. They’re hoping that the sheer numbers will mean elected officials, who have stayed silent, will have something else to fear besides Mr. Trump come election day.
John Ramos
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