by Wayne Adair, Hamilton
It’s difficult to imagine a better way to spend a warm, sunny Saturday in April than taking part in the nationwide Hands Off protest against the actions of the Trump/Musk White House.
My wife and I were among hundreds of protesters on April 5 who carried signs, flags, and waved to fellow Bitterrooters as we lined up for blocks along First Street near downtown Hamilton.
A counter walked the length of the gathering and tallied 700 participants. Signs ranged from support for federal workers, including Forest Service employees, and staff at RML. Other fun signs?
• Deport Musk
• Hands off my Social Security
• Hands off: Make good trouble
• The power of the people is greater than the people in power
• Are we going to be Trump’s 7th bankruptcy?
And my personal favorite:
• Jesus loves the people Trump hates.
Phase two of the event saw the protesters marching north on First Street and cutting over to River Street Dance Theater where four speakers, including recent candidate for western Montana’s representative in Congress, Monica Tranel, spoke about the problems the Trump/Musk firing of federal workers has caused.
Perhaps the most satisfying part of the protest was the hundreds of well-wishers who drove by, smiling, waving and blowing their horns in support. Few detractors were evident.
Our local chapter of Indivisible, a nationwide group of volunteers supporting bipartisan unity, organized the protest. Look for more soon.
Kevin says
Joe Biden, ” I beat Medicare” That’s who you supported. Trump has a knack for setting your type OFF!!
WMA says
Kevin,
I supported Kamala Harris. And, pray tell, what is my type? TIA.
Tracy says
these folks are an ignorant bunch for sure. Hands Off what? They are going after criminals that have been robbing the government for years and I would suspect some of these folks are concerned that they will lose their ill gotten benefits. Keep you hands to yourself and out of our pockets and you have NOTHING to worry about.
WMA says
Hand off our Constitution is a pretty good place to start.
Bill Cavanaugh says
Musk is a U.S. citizen. Nobody is touching social security and that lie is older than you yet somehow never has materialized..
and above all, the country is overwhelmingly tired of your protests. And for crying out loud, can’t you old fart boomers get a tuning fork or learn to sing your crap songs in tune? It’s embarrassing.
Kevin says
You have many more Saturday’s to spend. Trump is doing exactly what we elected him to do. Oh, and he speaks in full sentences.
WMA says
Trump is an idiot who thinks airplanes existed during the Revolutionary War, that water bombing the burning Notre Dame cathedral would save the structure and that injecting bleach into the lungs might be a solution to Covid. He often speaks in gibberish.
Kevin says
and you continue to believe Rachel Maddow??
WMA says
You think I heard this damning evidence of ignorance on Rachel’s show? I heard the foolishness about Revolutionary War aircraft live during his 4th of July address to the nation in 2017, I believe. The garbage about bleach and covid was live during a press conference updating the nation on the disease. The insanity about water bombing the cathedral was during an impromptu news conference during which a reporter asked his reaction to the Notre Dame fire. I didn’t mention the orange fool bragging about invisible fighter jets or nuking hurricanes.
John Grant says
If Kevin thinks Trump speaks in full sentences he must’ve skipped fourth grade grammar and sentence structure.