As I sit in my Lowe Mill temporary abode snacking on pimento cheese and crackers (when in the South…), I reflect on events of a somber day that started with what looks like a targeted political assassination in Minnesota. At the time of writing, it’s unclear what the motives may have been so I will refrain from speculating. It’s just not helpful.

Donald Trump was too busy preparing for his birthday military parade to express words of condolences or condemnations or, you know, anything remotely decent. This is a screenshot of the White House “Wire” I took at 4:16 pm, Central time (5:16 pm in Washington). Holler if you see something I missed.

He had warned Americans not to protest his birthday, but if you thought they’d listen, you definitely have the wrong idea. There is literally nothing Americans hate more than being told what to do. Protest they did. You can find coverage of big turnouts in big cities wherever you find your news. My favourite visual, from somewhere in Indiana I think, was someone holding a sign that said “I’ll take this TACO to go, please.”

Me, I spent my lunch hour at Campus 805 in Huntsville, Alabama with … a lot of pissed off Americans. Organizers I spoke with thought the crowd at its biggest exceeded 1,500. Using a tried-and-true journalistic approach called “guessing,” I’d say 1,500 is probably about right. In a city of less than a quarter million in a deeply red state, that’s pretty good. I’d never seen a crowd that large in 3.5 years in this city. My lovely friend the singer Cheryl Llewellyn said the last time they had a big turnout like that was for the My Body My Choice rally in 2019 to protest the Alabama abortion ban.

People are pissed off, especially at the expansion of executive power. Americans love their Constitution and their democracy and their current president threatens both. Yes, you may point out that this is what they voted for. Sure. But are people supposed to shut up for four years because of that? Nope.

I have assembled a montage of the photos and videos I took today. I enjoyed the signs, the t-shirts (including Gulf of Mexico shirts), the special flags, the protesting pups. I noticed an especially large contingent of older folks including many veterans. Chatting with them it quickly becomes clear how unhappy they are with this president’s overreach. They risked their lives to fight political extremism abroad. They’re not about to tolerate it at home.

There was a good and visible police presence but they stayed across the street as far as I could tell and there didn’t seem to be any kind of animosity from either side. Cops need to be anywhere a crowd this big assembles. But they observed from a respectful distance and everyone was on their best behaviour. Except the rain that turned the field into a mud pit. And, huh, the heat. Your favourite northern flower was wilting something fierce.

There were speakers and songs, including one for Canada: Rush’s Closer to the Heart. This Canuckian appreciated the gesture.