The post-inaugural march

January 21, 2017 The post-inaugural march should become a regular thing...maybe a yearly thing! It was amazing to see so many people come out in Columbia, Missouri. People from all over Boone County, Callaway, Jefferson City...an estimated 2,500 people! Nobody could remember seeing such a crowd for a political activity...maybe there were some that big in the 1960s, the anti-Vietnam War era. But even that is doubtful as mid-MO wasn’t a hotbed of political activity. I went mostly in the spirit of community building. Truthfully, I don’t think Trump’s going to be able to follow through on his promises. And if he does—that’s when we really need to protest and support each other. As one of the signs said, “Resistance is not temporary.” But the march today was a good chance to show sincerity and see who’s going to be engaged. Our group—Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom--or WILPF—had a good showing of members and I also saw a lot of my Callaway County pals. Barb had created a “float” which consisted of a wheelchair with a large paper cutout woman inscribed “Affordable Care Act Dead by Presidential Decree.” On its toe was the tag “D.O.A.” It was a great concept and had the extra bonus of giving her something to lean on as she walked. And it was a pretty long march, so that was good. All afternoon, my phone blew up with texts from friends at other marches. John, James and Eli were in Oakland CA. Patty and Sam were in Madison WI. Holly was in D.C. D.C. was the biggest march and the media is saying “hundreds of thousands” appeared. I bet the phone companies made millions from all the people sending selfies and texts to each other!