Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Conservatism: there are some people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

I really should read my own blog.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Consistently wrong since 2002

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Let’s finish the job.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

The revolution will be supervised.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

This really is a full service blog.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / The DC March

Reader Interactions

186Comments

  1. 1.

    RedDirtGirl

    I went to a local march in Coney Island. I was a little disappointed that some grownups spoke at the rally, since I know that at least in DC they weren’t having any speakers over 18, but it was a great turnout. Met people from great community groups that have been working against violence, gun-related and other, for years. Very inspiring!

  4. 4.

    schrodingers_cat

    Went to my first political march, with my next door neighbors. There were about 3000+ protestors in a not so large town in western MA. It was blustery and cold, with highs in the 30s. I wore my pink hat made by a BJer.

  5. 5.

    Baud

    I also thought the seriousness of the kids was a good foil for the ludicrous NRA video they showed.

  6. 6.

    Schlemazel

    The march in St. Paul drew just shy of 20,000. That is great considering it was bitterly cold (for comparison it was warmer for the women’s march in January 2017).

    The MSD high school hockey team is in town for a national tournament. We had a father, two Senior boys and two Freshman girls from there talk to us about their experiences at school on 2/14/18. It was disturbing and moving. We also heard from a young man who lost his father to a workplace shooter in Minneapolis 5 years ago and several students from local schools.

    I had two experiences with ‘counter protestors. I engaged the first because I noticed he was pacing the outside of the crowd and mumbling to himself. He had his red MAGA hat & a Trump-Pence campaign sign. He was not angry but also not all there. The other was with a group of 4 guys filming the crowd after 2/3 of the folks had left. The asshole with the AR-15 lapel pin is apparently a youtube performer. a couple of us talked to him & it was obvious he wanted to film a reaction. He left disappointed.

  7. 7.

    Another Scott

    Thanks for the pictures, MM. I had planned to be there, but I’m still not over my “cold” yet. :-( I watched it all on C-Span.

    Looks like it was a great, inspiring time.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  8. 8.

    cmorenc

    FINALLY these kids have organized and rallied an enormous number of citizens to stand up to NRA, amply enough to firm up the backbones of some politicians, and put worry in other politicians who heretofore feared the NRA more than sane citizens concerned with safety of children (and other adults)..

  9. 9.

    Mandalay

    More “both sides” bullshit and false equivalence from Marco Rubio in his NRA-funded statement this afternoon:

    “While protests are a legitimate way of making a point, in our system of government, making a change requires finding common ground with those who hold opposing views. Common ground is how we were able to achieve the STOP School Violence Act, improvements to our background check system, propelling CDC studies on gun violence and now, a ban on bump stocks. And finding common ground is what it will take to pass our red flag law so we can take guns away from dangerous people.”

    Ironic that Rubio whines about “common ground” when his NRA paymasters have never yielded an inch on any issue of significance. The Civil Rights Act and gay marriage didn’t come about through finding “common ground”, and gun reform won’t either.

    It will come when enough bastards like Rubio are voted out of office.

  11. 11.

    gkoutnik

    Over 400 motivated marchers on a just-above-freezing day in lil’ ole’ Oneonta, NY, the middle of upstate NY gun country. The NRA did what I could never do – turn my not-political wife into an activist – she teamed up with a HS student to create it and make sure it happened. Local coverage.

  12. 12.

    Schlemazel

    @RedDirtGirl:
    I was unhappy we had a couple of adults here also, both politicians. The first was a combat veteran who spoke of how the Army treats guns (Not allowed on base, no ammo except under very controlled situations etc). He also named 3 elected leaders who are blocking gun safety bills here in MN. The other was – surprisingly – a Republican from the lilly white suburb of Edina. He spoke of his frustration but didn’t name names (those 3 mentioned earlier are his parties leadership in the State House). The focus was on voting out the blockage so I give them a pass but would have prefered an all student rally

  14. 14.

    Another Scott

    @gkoutnik: Excellent. You’re right to be proud. Congratulations to her, and to you.

    Keep it up. It’s important!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  15. 15.

    Raoul

    A propos one of last night’s threads, I gave up and unfollowed Tom Nichols today. He was in high dudgeon that the marches wouldn’t matter much.

    Really.

    A couple thousand people marched in Oklahoma City today. And over 800 towns and cities across America organizing marches (and list-building, and voter-registering, and having a good run-through of how to organize complex logistical events) won’t matter much?

    The thread last night discussed how never-Trumpers are, of course, still conservatives. They want Trump out, but they don’t want progressives gaining power, or even mastery of community organizing.

    In that lense, I decided that his bullshit today was highly political bullshit. He can hump his anti-Trumpism elsewhere.

    Oh, and also, the St. Paul MN march was fantastic! Biggest rally I’ve ever seen on the Capitol lawn (I was in Philly for the Women’s March, so can’t compare that one – but I’ve been to dozens of rallies in 20 years in MN. This was huge).

  18. 18.

    Schlemazel

    @Schlemazel:
    The other thing I was VERY pleased with was that they brought Black Lives Matter into the discussion and into the protest. I am very disappointed that it takes killing white kids to get the nation to talk about the issue of gun violence. The had speakers from the black and native communities and several speakers gave a shout out to BLM in the fight to end this madness.

  21. 21.

    RealityBites

    Off topic but I need advice. Just got a looong message supposedly from Mark Zuckerberg forwarded to me from Facebook. I know it’s a scam, but does anyone have any idea what danger it poses? The message tells my Facebook friend to forward the message to all of her contacts so she won’t have to pay for Facebook starting at 6pm tomorrow. Looonnng message, full of BS. Can anyone help?

  22. 22.

    cosima

    Thank you to all of the marchers! Inspiring stuff — love the fierceness of these warrior children and everyone supporting them.

  25. 25.

    randy khan

    We were in NYC today, but in appointments all morning, so we came to the march route late. There was still a big crowd at Central Park South around 2:00 to 2:30. A lot of the chants were being led by young kids – 10 and under. As the march passed the Trump Parc hotel, people started pointing at the hotel* and chanting “shame.” The beginning of the march passed another Trump building just west of Central Park, so I imagine they’d practiced on that one first.

    Walking back to our hotel around 4:30, we crossed Sixth Avenue around 51st Street, and we could see the police cars trailing the march maybe 6 or 7 blocks south of us. There must have been a ton of people there.

    Lots of awesome signs, of course, a fair number with glitter. And the crowd definitely was younger than your average protest crowd.

    *Funny thing, though – they weren’t using their index fingers to point. I guess everyone wanted to use the longest finger to make sure the people in the building knew where they were pointing.

  26. 26.

    Betty Cracker

    Reposting from downstairs: Went to the Tampa march with a friend and her kids. The Tampa Bay Times estimates there were about 15K people there. At the riverfront park adjacent to the site of the march, there was the annual Bark in the Park event, so we not only got to support the kids, we got to pet many lovely doggies. It was a good day. One of the speakers was a MSDHS student.

  28. 28.

    RealityBites

    @cosima: has my friend screwed up by sending out to her contacts? Done any damage?
    Facebook sadly is not replaceable for animal rescue right now. Arranging transports from high kill shelters to rescue groups, lost and found, adoption event notifications…. I NEVER have posted or will post anything personal. Wish so many rescuers had another platform.

  29. 29.

    Mary G

    We are already seeing TV & online commercials for candidates to replace Darrell Issa. That has never happened before. The primary is three months away.

  30. 30.

    RedDirtGirl

    @Schlemazel: That’s another reason I went to the March in Coney Island. That’s a community that is struggling with gun violence on a regular basis. Upper West Side, where the big NYC march was, not so much. One of the groups that put the Brooklyn March together is the Coney Island Anti-Violence Collaborative. Looks like they are really doing important work there.

  31. 31.

    Schlemazel

    @RealityBites:
    It is part of an information gathering operation. The sort of thing Cambridge Analytics would love to track as it helps them identify mules who will carry their messages

  34. 34.

    cosima

    @RealityBites: I’m not a techie, but my first question would be did she send it intentionally, or was her EM hacked (I often get random odd emails from friends, and I just ignore them, figure someone must have got their email address somehow)? If she did send it intentionally, she should send out an email to her contacts apologising for the confusion, telling them to ignore the email about XXXXX, and to delete it without clicking on any links. It’s possible that it has links that are bad if clicked on (viruses), so definitely she should do that asap.

  35. 35.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    David Frum Retweeted ABC News
    Risk-averse corporate entities making highly visible contributions to formerly controversial causes is exactly what profound cultural change looks like
    ABC News
    The New England Patriots loaned its team plane to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students and their families traveling to Washington, D.C., for the #MarchforOurLives rally.

    not just risk-averse, Kraft actually calls trump a “friend”

  36. 36.

    Schlemazel

    Many great signs, a lot we have seen already. The best one (in that I had not seen it before):
    What if these kids are the answer to your thoughts and prayers?

  40. 40.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    If you haven’t seen Emma Gonzales’ speech, pleas find it and look at it, that six minute and twenty three second speech is a total damnation of all the NRA talking points and should shame the NRA and their Ammosexual minions. and to those counterprotesters(mostly White Males) GFY

  42. 42.

    Betty Cracker

    @Mr Stagger Lee: Saw it about an hour ago and kinda lost it. The courage of that girl just blows me away. So proud of all those kids. And worried about them.

  43. 43.

    Hellbastard

    Just got back from the march in Moscow, ID. Guessing there was roughly 200 people there, including a brass band playing music while we marched from downtown to a nearby park. Heard speeches from a couple of youngsters and college students. Had a great time. Took some pictures if BJ is looking for submissions.

  44. 44.

    Betty Cracker

    As for the ammosexuals, saw on Twitter where some of them showed up at March for Our Lives rally sites with AR-15s slung over their shoulders. I hope every one of them dies painfully of untreated ass cancer. Despicable sons of bitches.

  46. 46.

    satby

    @RealityBites: if they have FB they have access to email. We used to do all transport and shelter pull coordination by email and phone. If people don’t want to share theirs that’s a red flag.

  47. 47.

    Mnemosyne

    Just got home from the LA march — since I’m still wearing a knee brace, ruckus and I met up to be Team Slow & Gimpy. The march seemed pretty huge — at one point, we stopped to rest but the crowd kept coming.

    We bailed slightly early to get lunch on Olvera St. Taking Metro made the whole thing simple, especially since they added extra cars to the trains going downtown.

    Now I’m laying down icing my knee while Charlotte naps on me.

  49. 49.

    Betty Cracker

    @Hellbastard: Send them to me if you’d like — bettycrackerfl -at- gmail-dot-com. I’ll do a post later tonight or tomorrow morning to share photos. Thanks for marching!

  51. 51.

    efgoldman

    @RedDirtGirl:

    That’s a community that is struggling with gun violence on a regular basis.

    I think the two young men from Chicago, who spoke in DC, were especially effective for the same reason.
    They are both going to grow up to be preachers or politicians, i think. Remarkable, as all of the kids were/are.
    Said downstairs: if you are too old to remember, or never had kids, note how hard it is for kids that age to put themselves in front of the public like that.

  52. 52.

    Mary G

    Here’s the writeup about my town. Lots of people, more than the Women’s March, looks like.

    I love that there are so many homemade signs at all these marches. It’s one thing to hold up a sign some organizer hands you, but to sit down and do some art means people are committed.

  53. 53.

    Mnemosyne

    Also, the LA march incorporated BLM pretty well and there were a lot of supportive signs. The one adult who spoke was a survivor of Columbine. Everyone else was college age or younger.

  54. 54.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    @raven: True that, they have to a soul that feels shame.
    @Betty Cracker: I would like to give a shout out also to young Naomi Wadler, her speech very simple but strong and to the point.

  55. 55.

    efgoldman

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Kraft actually calls trump a “friend”

    Not a small corporate jet, either. One of two 767s the team owns.
    Kraft and Weasel Face may be friends, but the family has a long history of supporting liberal causes.

  56. 56.

    cosima

    Watching BBC coverage of this — very youth-centred focus, and recognising that it’s the young Parkland survivors, Emma’s speech, the silent protest. Ends on a positive note, saying that for the first time change in gun control laws doesn’t seem impossible.

  59. 59.

    If a Tree Falls

    Attended the march in Greenville, SC. About 2,000 people showed up. Passed a group of counter protesters at one point. I didn’t even bother to look at them, although I do remember an old man with a “Trump/Pence 2016” sign that really wasn’t appropriate for the situation. A teenage girl shouted at them, saying “You can’t win. There are too many of us!”

    Listened to five speakers, a mix of teenagers, adult activists, and local politicians. Looked at the write-up on the Greenville News online when I got home and saw myself in the lead picture. I’m the long-armed guy with a sign that says, “People in other countries don’t live like this. Why should we?” The shit-eating grin on my face is not a happy smile. It’s a savage grin of fierce approval at the young speaker’s declaration that she is not a puppet of the left, that these were her words and her views and the powers that be better pay attention.

    Not a bad day for my first political rally. Though next time, I’m going to invest in a long cardboard tube to hold up my sign. My arms are still tired.

  60. 60.

    zhena gogolia

    Wow, I just watched Jennifer Hudson singing “The Times They Are A-Changin,” incredible.

  61. 61.

    Gin & Tonic

    As an old white guy, looking at the events of today, I sincerely hope Trump is some kind of last gasp of old-white-guy-dom.

  64. 64.

    Central Planning

    I sent a panoramic shot to BC. We had about 5000 here in Rochester. No incidents whatsoever.

    The mayor of Rochester spoke. Her father (grandfather?) was shot when she was a kid. The other adult that spoke was a woman whose son and two others were killed at a shooting at a local Boys and Girls club. Both were great speakers. Everyone else looked to be 20 or younger. The whole thing was very inspirational and engaging and depressing.

  67. 67.

    Mnemosyne

    Also, too, I had professional art on my homemade poster — Mary Engelbreit created two pieces for today’s march that she allowed people to download and print. I printed them at 11×17 and stuck one to each side of a piece of foam core. I left about 4 inches of blank space at the bottom and cut a handle for easier carrying.

    I got a lot of good responses, especially from AA ladies who seemed to appreciate that a young Black child was the character portrayed.

    (I cropped out the “Ban Assault Weapons Now” part when I printed it to make it more about gun violence overall and not just assault weapons.)

  71. 71.

    Princess

    @Raoul: You won’t miss anything. Tom Nichols is an ass. I was complaining about Rick Wilson yesterday, but Nichols is much, much worse. He is in far deeper denial about the origins and spread of Trumpism — he blames Democrats calling out GOP racism over the years for making the GOP racist now. So much for the party of personal responsibility.

  72. 72.

    Ruckus

    @Schlemazel:
    They had kids from Black Lives Matter at the LA march as well, ages 11 to 17. They were great, one was a fiery and angry speaker, and the crowd roared in appreciation of that as well as what she said.
    Every person that I heard speak was under 18, I was amazed how well they spoke, how composed they were. I’ve spoken in front of large groups and it takes a lot of control to get even close to good, let alone very good. These kids were beyond very good.

  73. 73.

    Suzanne

    Just got home from camping with Spawn the Younger, so I missed the March here in PHX. But from looking at Facebook, it appears it was a resounding success. Good. Spawn the Elder is at his dad’s house, and apparently they did not attend, but Spawn walked out a few weeks back. Good for these kids.

  74. 74.

    hitchhiker

    Seattle was great fun today — tons of happy marchers + sunshine + a general feeling of optimism.

    2 thoughts:

    First, Emma Gonzales is astonishing. She radiates power and humility somehow in equal measure and simultaneously. I could watch her forever.

    Second, I was thinking about what this moment would be feeling like absent the guts and fury and love of these kids & everyone who supports them. After the election, we all told ourselves it was going to be ugly, that Trump suddenly had built-in advantages that would be very hard to overcome, and there would be a lot of times when we’d lose. I never imagined that high school kids would create a counterweight, and I’m just beyond grateful to them.

  75. 75.

    Princess

    I didn’t really want to go to the march today. It’s cold here and I would have preferred to stay home. But I wanted to show the kids that we are listening, we are here, we will help, and we care. So I went.

  76. 76.

    Ruckus

    @Mary G:
    I wrote the other day that I got an email from some republican running for CA gov and he had an endorsement from Newt. I sent him a nasty reply. If you’ve seen my posts here you might imagine how nasty. People need to fight back as well as vote far better. Assholes like Issa and this Cox dipshit need to understand that their bullshit doesn’t fly any longer.

  77. 77.

    Steve in the ATL

    @raven:

    We had this crazy religious motherfucker with huge placard listing all the sinful stuff including sissies, muslims and sports nuts!!!

    That’s the best kind to have around, as it’s obvious that they are nuts. Not likely to change any minds.

  79. 79.

    Schlemazel

    @Ruckus:
    Back in the 90s the state finally had a surplus after years of shortfalls that led to school funding cuts. Students at my kids school were talking to the SOcial Studies teacher & wanted to march on the school board to demand an increase in funding. The teacher suggested it was not the board but the State Senate that was the hold up. In a matter of 10 days they organized a rally at the capitol that attracted 4-5,000 students to storm senators offices. My boy was selected to be the press representative. He was on TV a lot that night. I was very impressed with his eloquence, and the simple, clear message he gave. Kids will surprise you.

    BTW – the next day one of the local radio assholes (Joe Soucheray who pimps himself as ‘Garage Logic’) attacked my son on the air repeatedly. When the boy called the station and asked to be interviewed and respond on his show he was shut down. Joe is a pussy, afraid to debate a 17 year old kid.

  80. 80.

    Mary G

    @Mnemosyne: Thanks for that link. I love Mary Engelbreit. My dishes are a set of hers I got at Pic N Save years ago. I was excited to see her store, but they have not made a comeback.

    @raven: Wow! I’ve been trying to find something really unusual for my garden and some of those would be perfect, though I’m pretty sure I couldn’t afford them. That’s a much better use of bullets than shooting things up.

  81. 81.

    patrick II

    @RealityBites:

    I’m pretty sure that if Mark Zuchenberg wanted to send all of your friend’s friends a message on Facebook he would not have to ask your friend to forward it.

  82. 82.

    Ruckus

    @raven:
    Unfortunately you are correct. They had their shame surgically removed at conservative camp. Went there specifically to have that done.

  83. 83.

    Mary G

    This tweet and the replies made me sick:

    A six-year-old just handed this to me. pic.twitter.com/9osX7LNpFj— Laura Koenig (@2nickels) March 24, 2018

    It’s a cheap lollipop with a note attached that reads “this is the prize I get for staying silent during active shooter drills.” One of the replies said that they had had to ask the parents to chip in because there was no money in the budget for such fripperies. No wonder these kids are so passionate. Duck and cover was bad, but not like this.

  86. 86.

    Schlemazel

    The NRA commented today
    “your classmates would still be alive and no one would know your names”

    Do these asshole not hear themselves? Do they think these kids are happy & excited to be spending their time being famous for having their friends murdered because of the NRA?

  87. 87.

    Brachiator

    @Schlemazel:

    Many great signs, a lot we have seen already. The best one (in that I had not seen it before):
    What if these kids are the answer to your thoughts and prayers?

    Love it!

    And really enjoyed reading the reports from various marches. I could not attend the local protests, but watched the live stream.

    It has been a very inspiring and hopeful day.

  88. 88.

    Gelfling 545

    @cosima: And if they were going to start, now would definitely not be the time. Hell, they should be paying us.

  89. 89.

    Ruckus

    @Gin & Tonic:
    At the LA march there were OWG sprinkled in the crowd, like me, but we were vastly outnumbered. That gives me hope that the OWG domination of everything is ending.

  92. 92.

    Ruckus

    @Schlemazel:

    Joe is a pussy, afraid to debate a 17 year old kid.

    Especially one who will show him up to be the pussy that he is.
    Good for your kid. Assholes in adult suits have fucked up this country and our democracy for far too long, and kids like these will have to live here a lot longer than us old farts will. I hope they succeed and will give whatever help I can.

  93. 93.

    Comrade Colette Collaboratrice

    These kids are so goddamn great. Wish I hadn’t spent march time sitting in a hospital waiting room while my kid had his hand X-rayed.

    How is Faux News covering the marches? I just can’t stand to watch it myself, but I’m willing to throw you jackals to the wolves.

  95. 95.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Just one more canuck: @efgoldman: Kraft and Weasel Face may be friends, but the family has a long history of supporting liberal causes.

    that’s a surprise, I looked up Kraft on wiki cause I never did know where his money came from, I was curious to see if his business would be affected by his public image, doesn’t seem like it, mostly real estate it looks like. And Wiki at least lists him as a Democrat

  96. 96.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Schlemazel: Of course the gun-nuts think that. There are only 2 reasons any of them would want to “become famous”: to make themselves feel important, and to turn the resultant “fame” into a means to accumulating money. Narcissism & grift – it’s all they know or care about

  97. 97.

    sukabi

    @WaterGirl: Very powerful photos and speeches by the kids. Inspiring.

    How’s your ankle coming?

    I broke mine in January…had to have screws in one bone and a plate in the other…nasty scars on both sides of my ankle…thought it would never stop hurting.

    Been “weight bearing” for a couple of weeks now and can finally walk for a block or two (with a cane) without too much discomfort.

    By far the worst, most painful experience I’ve ever had. ? but it does get better.

  99. 99.

    Gelfling 545

    @Ruckus: Hopefully people will begin to become aware that the claptrap politicians like to spout about how pitiful our students are is just that.

  101. 101.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: We got weird snow. Huge flakes that were mostly watery. The side screens of my porch are covered with frozen wet snow. It snowed most of the day but don’t think we have more than 2-3 inches on the ground.

  102. 102.

    Schlemazel

    Friend on FuBook posted “These kids are the future”
    Another responded
    “NO! These kids are our NOW creating their future!”

    I like that.

  103. 103.

    Mnemosyne

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    Stuff like this should scare the shit out of Republicans. Gun control should have been a nonpartisan issue, but Republicans decided to politicize it. Now they’re so identified with the NRA that they won’t be able to separate themselves before the midterms happen.

    Couldn’t happen to a better group of assholes.

  104. 104.

    Ruckus

    @Mary G:

    Duck and cover was bad, but not like this.

    Duck and cover was totally fucking stupid and even most of the kids knew it while we were hiding under our desks. But it was stupid because really if there was a nuclear war there wasn’t a lot anyone could do, other than bend over and kiss your ass goodby and we all knew that was why it was stupid. Guns aren’t nuclear war, these aren’t countries attacking another, these are sick individuals, who have access to military grade weapons, not of mass destruction but of individual destruction on a large scale. Duck and cover was stopped because it would do nothing, gun control has and can do a lot to stop this. We had duck and cover but we didn’t have armed intruder drills in school. And we had guns, but not current military style rapid fire, easily reloadable weapons. What we also didn’t have was the NRA of today and rabid republican scare politics, with duplicity of the MSM.

  105. 105.

    JMG

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Kraft is a big philanthropist in Boston, but not extremely political as far as I know. His late wife Myra, a super person, was a mucho influential behind the scenes person in Mass. Democratic politics. Maybe her spirit came and sat on his bedside earlier this week

  107. 107.

    Another Scott

    ICYMI, RollCall has an excellent summary of the DC March:

    A Universal Message at ‘March for Our Lives’ — Vote This November
    Demonstrators chanted ‘Vote them out! Vote them out!’

    Posted Mar 24, 2018 6:19 PM
    Griffin Connolly

    As hundreds of thousands of people from all over the United States flocked to the “March For Our Lives” rally in Washington on Saturday, the message was clear: Hit the polls this November.

    “Vote them out! Vote them out!” the crowd of roughly half a million people chanted throughout the afternoon, referring to members of Congress who have resisted calls to enact sweeping gun control legislation.

    Pennsylvania Avenue was packed with people as early as 10:30 a.m. and as late as 3 p.m. A group of a few dozen high schoolers dangled their legs from a limestone ledge on the eastern facade of the National Archives Building. Toddlers mounted the stone horses outside the Federal Trade Commission. When the original route from Twelfth St. to Third St. filled up, the crowd spilled south toward the National Mall into the numbered streets intersecting Pennsylvania Avenue.

    Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, worked with the gun control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety for over a month to organize the march and more than 800 sibling marches across the country Saturday.

    […]

    Paul Galligan, 55, lives in Summit, New Jersey. Lucia Cotelo is an eighth-grader at Good Hope Middle School in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

    Both cited Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Emma Gonzalez’s television appearance the day after the Parkland shooting as their inspiration for driving down to Washington for the march.

    “My friend showed me the speech of Emma Gonzalez online, and she really moved me,” Cotelo said. “She has such a powerful voice. She stands for all of us. She really made me want to share my voice, too.”

    After watching Gonzalez’s speech, Cotelo, 13, asked her dad to take her to the march. He said yes. Even if he hadn’t, she believes she still would have found a way to sneak down to D.C.

    “I’m very lucky that my parents agree with me. Even if they were against me, I would still go,” she said.

    […]

    Good, good.

    More coverage like this, please.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  109. 109.

    Brachiator

    @sukabi:

    pretty sure irrationality, paranoia and greed are their only drivers at this point.

    Yep. And desperation.

  110. 110.

    Jay C

    @Schlemazel:

    The focus was on voting out the blockage so I give them a pass but would have prefered an all student rally

    Disagree: it’s obviously a good and heartening thing that “students” – in general – have been at the forefront of the MFOL movement, and its best public face: but as a matter of practical politics (which, sadly, is where issue of gun control will be actually decided), the more diverse and widespread the anti-NRA/anti-AR coalition becomes, the more effective it will be. Especially given that that “voting” thing…
    For once, the NRA and its creatures have been caught flatfooted on the wrong side of the PR on a gun-control issue: they are sure to be fighting back – especially come election time – and I’m sure one of their main media themes is going to be to try to paint MFOL (and any other opponents) as either some naive “Children’s Crusade”, or the brainchild of sinister “radicals” (replete with the usual arsenal of smears).
    The NRA has spent decades of time and millions of dollars trying to frame themselves as the only “Real Americans”: the more a widespread and diverse opposition – who can’t be dismissed as punk kid activists or paid “crisis actors” – throws that crap back in their faces, the quicker their influence will fade.
    Of course, they will still have all that money: but that’s where the “voting” bit comes in….

  111. 111.

    WaterGirl

    @sukabi: Yikes, that sounds awful! I’m so sorry. That’s a long time to hurt.

    They aren’t talking about pins or screws or surgery, and I am beyond thrilled about that, as you can imagine! I see the orthopedist again on Wednesday – that will be 2 weeks from the break – for a weight-bearing x-ray. (yikes!) Then back into a non weight-bearing cast.

    Hoping there aren’t any surprises in the x-ray, or at least only good ones! I am a big baby about pain, so I think I got off really easy in that department. For a week I took 2 tylenol every 5 hours. Now I am taking one tylenol every six hours. It hurts if I move it wrong or jar it, but otherwise it’s mostly just uncomfortable.

    The bone I broke was the little ankle bone, not the big one, and I broke it low enough that nothing is attached to it at that point (ligaments, etc). So if I had to break it, I think I got really lucky. It’s a struggle though, getting around with a non weight-bearing cast! Especially with a pup who had ACL surgery!

    My friends are really coming through for me, and I am very grateful.

  112. 112.

    lgerard

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    that’s a surprise, I looked up Kraft on wiki cause I never did know where his money came from, I was curious to see if his business would be affected by his public image, doesn’t seem like it, mostly real estate it looks like. And Wiki at least lists him as a Democrat

    Much of his interest in charity came from his late wife Myra. who was involved in almost every public initiative, particularly those involving woman. in the 90’s the Patriots drafted a player named Christian Peterson. Right after they drafted him it came out that he was involved in a few domestic violence situations. She made her husband immediately cut him.

    kraft’s original money came from the packaging industry

  113. 113.

    WaterGirl

    @raven: it was the worst possible weather for the march here. Right at 32 degrees, freezing rain/snow. I was hoping for good weather everywhere, hopefully there was good weather in bigger cities.

  115. 115.

    Drunkenhausfrau

    Chicago was cold and crowded and fired up! Got hubby and daughter to go. Son at college too. Radicalization of offspring complete.

  117. 117.

    Brachiator

    @Jay C:

    and I’m sure one their main media themes is going to be to try to paint MFOL (and any other opponents) as either some naive “Children’s Crusade”, or the brainchild of sinister “radicals” (replete with the usual arsenal of smears).

    Let ’em. Many of these “children” will be voting in the midterms and more will be able to vote in 2020.

    Adults can join in and speak up for themselves. And vote.

  118. 118.

    Patricia Kayden

    @raven: Sickening. The NRA has finally met its match in courageous students who aren’t going to back down and who will be voting this November or in the near future.

  120. 120.

    Patricia Kayden

    @Jay C: My understanding is that the NRA has less than 5 million members and is not representative of most gun owners. Kind of like how “One Million Moms” is probably just a handful of disgruntled Conservative women. Ditto Donahue and his Catholic crusade organization.

  121. 121.

    Kelly

    @Mnemosyne:

    Gun control should have been a nonpartisan issue, but Republicans decided to politicize

    They decided to favor guns, racism and pollution. Here’s hoping all those turn into anchors around their necks.

  122. 122.

    dexwood

    Whole new generation stepping up. They can walk on this old fucker’s lawn as they please.

  123. 123.

    germy

    Paul McCartney Invokes John Lennon at March for Our Lives

    Beatles legend Paul McCartney was among the many celebrities who took to the streets on Saturday around the country, joining hundreds of thousands of protesters demanding action to stem gun violence in America.

    Interviewed by CNN in New York City, McCartney, sporting a “We Can End Gun Violence” T-shirt, made clear that the issue is personal to him.

    “One of my best friends was killed by gun violence right ‘round here,” he said.

    McCartney was of course referring to his former bandmate John Lennon, who was fatally shot by Mark David Chapman at the entrance to the Dakota, his residence on the Upper West Side.

    Since Lennon’s death, more than 1 million Americans have been killed as a result of gun violence.

    (NY Magazine)

  124. 124.

    efgoldman

    @tobie:

    The poise of these kids speaking in front of hundreds of thousands of people just blew me away.

    I grew up to be radio announcer and a musician, I appeared in public a lot, and was damned good at it, if I say so myself. My kid, a professional journo who is both much smarter and better educated than I, still doesn’t like it.

  125. 125.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Ruckus: FTR “duck & cover” wasn’t entirely stupid – so long as the anticipated bomb was on the order of a Fat Man-style A-bomb. It might actually have saved some lives on the lee side of a 1920s-era elementary school like the one I attended in the mid- to late-1950s.

    Problem was, by the time the Rooskies had a weapons system capable of delivering a nuke to CONUS (the Tu-95 “Bear” ca. 1958) they also had multi-megaton-yield H-bombs it could carry. Which would pretty much smash flat any metropolitan area worth targeting. At that point D&C ;^D was stupid, the more so with ICBMs.

    (I wonder if anyone ever thought of naming a pub “The Duck & Cover”?)

  126. 126.

    sukabi

    @WaterGirl: yeah, it’s been pretty awful. Right now it’s mostly weird nerve sensations…numbness, prickliness, stiffness and swelling…getting range of motion back is going pretty well…

    When you get to the point of being on your foot again get some physical therapy, it will help. ☺

    I can’t imagine having to deal with a broken anything AND managing an injured dog too… Happy Healing☺☺

  127. 127.

    Pupjoint

    I went to the march in Tranquility Park in Houston. 5000 plus, with great speeches by Sheila Jackson and the Mayor. Then we marched to Ted Cruz’s office. It was amazing!

  131. 131.

    hitchhiker

    The hate on David Hogg is quite extreme … for some reason the crazies have anointed him as their chosen victim of online harassment. I’ll laugh when we win next November & his courage is part of the reason why.

  132. 132.

    Schlemazel

    @Jay C:
    I would be happier if gun safety was not a polarizing issue, we want both parties to be working for it. That takes away the NRAs power. I see your point & you are not wrong we just see the results differently.

  135. 135.

    JMG

    In summer camp, I got to the next to the top level of the NRA marksmanship program. It was ALL about gun safety and how dangerous guns are. Of course, JFK was President at the time. Let’s face it. The malignant change of the NRA was a direct response to the idea that white supremacy was no longer entrenched in law.

  137. 137.

    Schlemazel

    @Uncle Cosmo:
    I did some work for Civil Defense in the 80s. The RUssians would have ‘footprinted” Minneapolis & St. Paul. Because of our population & the fact that their warhead could miss by 20 miles they would have dropped 3 10 Megaton warheads at 20 mile increments from Northwest to Southeast. this would have been adjusted with larger targets getting more & smaller fewer. Duck and cover might have helped at Hiroshima but would have been a waste in a real nuclear exchange.

  140. 140.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Uncle Cosmo: I have really distinct memories of an elementary-school fire drill in the mid-1970s, in the course of which my second-grade teacher mentioned that she had had to to air-raid drills in school, but they finally realized that the nukes were too powerful for it to matter. I think that was the first time nuclear war really impinged on my consciousness.

    (She was a terrible person, a bellowing ogre with no clue how to deal with her class of junior delinquents, but I think that was the one moment of actual education she managed to impart that year.)

  141. 141.

    Schlemazel

    @JMG:
    1977. The NRA was taken over but the lobbyists & political operatives. I dropped my membership in 1979 because of them.

  149. 149.

    NotMax

    Mom (90) just called to say she made it home from Manhattan; 800k people estimated there. Train coming back was so cheek-to-jowl crowded that conductors didn’t come ’round to collect tickets.

  152. 152.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    anybody troll trump yet with the side by side pics of his inaugural and DC today?

  153. 153.

    Gin & Tonic

    @WaterGirl: It gets better. A year ago today I came home from the hospital and my arm was as useful as a tree branch. Now I’m back in the gym, back on my skis and back on my bike.

  154. 154.

    sukabi

    @Mnemosyne: he’s being attacked because he and Emma have a very clear, concise, powerful message — and they have truth shining down on them. The haters figure if they can shut those 2 down they can silence the message.

  156. 156.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Matt McIrvin: looking for the name of the congress critter who got a HS student suspended for his potty-mouth, I see the ACLU stepped in and got results

    A Nevada high school student who was suspended last week after he called a congressman’s office and told an aide that lawmakers should “get off their fucking asses” and act on gun control will have his punishment lifted.
    The Washoe County School District in Nevada made the decision Friday, four days after the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter demanding the disciplinary action against the 17-year-old junior be overturned.
    District officials, in a statement, said it would withdraw the suspension rather than risk or be involved in “expensive and protracted litigation.”
    Though officials were reversing their decision, the district stood by their action to punish the teenager, arguing that the phone call occurred on the grounds of Robert McQueen High School and provoked other students to yell and curse at students.
    Noah Christiansen was one of thousands of students who took part in walkouts across the country on March 14 demanding gun control legislation after a mass shooting left 17 students and faculty dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.

    the Congress weasel is one Mark Amodie. The ACLU is one of the groups I set up a monthly donation for after the Debacle. I’m glad I did.

  158. 158.

    tobie

    @NotMax: Kudos to your mother for marching in Manhattan. 90 and still at it…that’s amazing. My mother (89) went to her local march in Bradenton, FL, which had 500, which is actually something in a fairly conservative community.

  159. 159.

    wenchacha

    @Schlemazel: I can’t be alone in believing that the folks from Black Lives Matter made great inroads with their protests. I think they broke the levee with righteous demands that law enforcement recognize their humanity.

  160. 160.

    Miss Bianca

    @tobie: i just got emailed a photo from the Boston march, sent by my sister, who’s almost 70 and has been a rebel and a rabble-rouser since she was a teenager. Go, sis! Go, olds and youngs together!

  161. 161.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @wenchacha: representatives of BLM were named to a group that’s looking into police reform in Chicago. I think that’s huge, especially in the city that is regularly neck-and-neck with Boston as most racist in the county

  163. 163.

    Mnemosyne

    @sukabi:

    The haters figure if they can shut those 2 down they can silence the message.

    Yes, because when they killed Rev. King, that shut the whole Civil Rights Movement down immediately. ?

    Seeing Rep. John Lewis, proud marcher at Selma, brag about his “F” rating from the NRA today made me happy. I should urge my rep here in blue California to wave his just as proudly.

  164. 164.

    ruckus

    @Uncle Cosmo:
    Duck and cover was stupid because someone somewhere thought it would work. Why and how someone so deluded could get in a position of…… Neverfuckingmind.
    But it really was stupid on it’s own merits. It was stupid before the weapons were available because it was totally unnecessary and it was far more ridiculous after weapons were available because they were available. And some adults recognized that even the kids knew this and it just stopped and no one needed to explain.

  165. 165.

    Pupjoint

    @Miss Bianca:
    I wish I took pictures. Because I was FaceTiming it live to my GF who was out of town.
    I got the kids to chant a recycled 60’s chant: Hey. Hey NRA! How many kids did you kill today?

  166. 166.

    J R in WV

    @Schlemazel:

    The NRA commented today
    “your classmates would still be alive and no one would know your names”

    This was a guy on NRATV who uses a pseudonym to appear on NRA TV, telling lies about people who oppose gun violence. He’s a lawyer out of Texas, afraid to do his political dirty work suing his real name. Cowards, mostly, being paid to do dirty work.

  168. 168.

    Ohio Mom

    @If a Tree Falls: Try using foam core instead of poster board. You won’t need any sort of pole or stick.

    Because it is very light but also rigid, it is very easy to hold up. When your arms tire, you can rest it on the tops of your feet, leaning against your legs, for a bit.

  170. 170.

    ruckus

    Local LA TV station KTLA said 60,000 at the LA march. It was far more than that. If there were 500,000 at the woman’s march this year there were a hell of a lot more than 60,000 today.

  171. 171.

    Joy in FL

    I went to a march in the county seat. A local organizer and her team pulled it together in the last week. We had at least 70 people in the small town. We marched a mile and a half from a park to the Historic Courthouse. People, mostly young, spoke and built each other up while protesting unrestricted weaponry. The local law enforcement supported the event. This county where I live was record-breakingly red for Trump in 2016. I thought today was a very good day.

  173. 173.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @ruckus: The point I was trying to make was that it was only not stupid in a threat environment that never existed. I guess it had some psychological value in the sense that kids (& parents) didn’t feel totally defenseless. For a few years. By the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis we all knew that the last two bullets on the bogus Civil Defense poster were all that mattered:

    6. Immediately upon seeing the brilliant flash of nuclear explosion, bend down and put your head firmly between your legs.

    7. Then kiss your ass goodbye.

    (But come to think of it, D&C wouldn’t be entirely worthless in case of an earthquake. Definitely second-best to getting the hell outside & away from structures that could collapse or topple, but if you were trapped inside, any action that might protect you from the ceiling crashing down would be better than nothing…)

  175. 175.

    tobie

    @Miss Bianca: When I was growing up, my mother would go to the trials of Viet Nam draft dodgers to support them. So protests are not a new thing for her. Kudos to your sister for marching today! Yay old and young liberals together!

  176. 176.

    Lizzy L

    I went to rally/march in Oakland. No idea how many people — it didn’t feel like a lot to me, 5000 at most. Too many speeches, but the speakers kept it short, and there was lots of emphasis on voting, and tables set up in the plaza where you could register to vote. I gather there was a larger crowd in San Francisco.

  177. 177.

    Feathers

    @ruckus: Did you read? For the initial period when it was developed, and about a decade afterwards, it was a viable strategy. This is when bombs would have been carried by airplanes and there would have been a air battle trying to take out as many as possible.

    Although duck and cover was taught to everyone, it was really intended for the rural areas within sight of the blast’s flash, but far enough away not to be hit with the immediate effects. The radiation effects from a single blast follow a fairly narrow path and are highly determined by the weather. Of course this era ended when missiles became the delivery method, but the training still went on. However, it is important to realize that it wasn’t stupid people who came up with it. It still would be good advice for a single strike, what you might get from a terrorist or accidental blast.

    One note – I’m old enough to have gotten the how-to-survive-the-bomb training. In order not to freak us out too much, they also taught other civil defense: what to do in case of a flood, fire, tornado, and basic first aid and rescue. If they are going to do shooter drills, they should be teaching kids all this other stuff too. It’s more useful and probably lessens the trauma.

  183. 183.

    PaulWartenberg

    Went to the March in Lakeland. Turnout wasn’t swarming – it was about 100 – but for a Red county like Polk this still matters.

    I heard Tampa’s turnout was 15,000. Impressive.

    I just wanna live long enough to vote for Emma Gonzalez for President, okay God?

  184. 184.

    Ruckus

    @Uncle Cosmo:
    As you are well aware, an earthquake is far less damaging than a nuclear blast, from any weapon that has been available for the last 73 yrs. Possibly wider spread but not nearly as deadly. And I know this because I’ve been in a pretty nasty earthquake. Everything in my house and machine shop achieved ground level, one machine was knocked over and went through a wall. The damage in the shop cost me about $2250 per second. The major quake lasted about 20 seconds, the after shocks did no damage even though the first was still severe. 60 people died. My friends house, about a mile from mine burned to the ground. And all of that pales in comparison to the pictures from Japan in 1945, let alone any bombs made by the time I was in elementary school ten yrs later.

  185. 185.

    scottinnj

    @schrodingers_cat: I think Tom’s later point was the only march that will ultimately have any effect is if 18-29 year olds march not in DC but march to the voting booths. If yesterday’s march makes that more likely that is good. Only 45% of 18-29 year olds voted in 2016 vs. 72% for over 65. And only 15% voted in the 2014 midterms. I hope those trends change but that, not yesterday, is what will matter. That is the only way politicians will change. And keep in mind i think the NRA voters will be pretty motivated to get out in November.

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