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We took an Uber to the event and left our cameras at home. These pictures are from our cell phones. I was worried/hopeful that the protest might descend into a riot. There were lots of news reporters and photographers there — I even asked one fellow if he'd share his photos with us. There wasn't a riot although there was some talk about guns and the right for protestors to "bear arms" even there at the state capitol. Not a path I'd want to take.
There is some awareness of the threats and insults 47 has made against Canada — tariff wars, border disputes, threats of annexation, 51st state, "governor Trudeau", etc. I talked with one fellow who had a sign about the tariff dispute, identified myself as Canadian, and discovered his partner was Canadian as well!
Friday past was the disastrous televised White House meeting with President Zelensky (see NPR Report) where Putin's Puppets made it clear where they stand — they don't stand for democracy and treat Ukraine as an extortion opportunity (give us your rare earth minerals, we'll give you up to Putin). The history of cease fire violations by Putin was not something 47 & Vance would hear. The idea that you cannot have a cease fire without security guarantees was a notion that these puppets would not let Zelensky argue. They seemed to have no awareness of the Budapest Memorandum (1994) where Russia, the UK and USA promised to protect UA sovereignty in exchange for giving up nuclear arms. So much for security guarantees. They didn't even seem to understand that this war started in 2014 (Trump thought the annexation of Crimea was 2015, Vance corrected him). The event was an embarrassment but there are many who still side with 47 and Putin. GOP OMG WTF! It was a terrible day for us made all the worse by the news that a dear friend Don had passed away back home in hospice care back in Canada.
There were lots of Ukraine flags; someone was giving out sun flowers (a UA emblem); and I wore my MUGA T-shirt — Make Ukraine Great Again. A popular MAGA translation at this event was "Morons Are Governing America". There were some of the same speakers from the last 50501 protest. A good sized crowd came but we wished there were more. There were some great signs, check the photos above.
After about an hour of people gathering and listening to speeches we marched down Congress. Kate and I trailed the group and, with our aged injuries, could not keep up. It was a very windy day and our hats and signs kept getting blown away. There was quite a large police presence in cars, on bikes and motor bikes, and, ominously leading up the rear, a group on horse back. Fortunately the police presence wasn't required; no riot ensued.
Can it get any worse? Well, yes it can get worse. And apparently it will get worse. We are distressed to see this sad state of affairs in a place where we have so many fine memories.