Situation Demands Massive DC Demonstration ASAP

The federal government is being dismantled and our democracy is under siege. Each day we move deeper into a post-Constitution America. Perhaps at no time since the Civil War has a situation so threatened the nation and its very foundation. The time is now for a massive NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION in DC. AOC calls the current situation a 5-alarm fire. As with all such infernos, immediate action is required. Right now that conflagration is perhaps 5% contained. It’s time for “We the People”, en mass, to show our anger and resolve.

The 50501 Movement is to be commended for creating the first sizable regional protests and their excellent work should continue. But now there also is a requirement for a single national protest. The DC group of the 50501 Movement is looking into the possibility of just such a protest. But as 50501 explained to me, they aren’t an official organization. And they don’t have the funds or resources to plan such a national event. The 50501 group had a permit for 5,000 on 2/17 and they had more that 10,000 protestors show up. That caused safety and security concerns. So, what is needed is an existing organization with the size and resources to assume responsibilities for a massive DC protest. Certainly, such an organization is out there.

DC is the only place for a 1 to 2 million person demonstration. 50501 participants could be a sizable portion of the rally as could the growing army of purged and furloughed DC federal employees. The capital city is the historic and spiritual center of our fast-fading democracy and that is the exact reason almost all previous mass national protests were held there. Think 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1987 Second National March for Lesbian and Gay Rights, 1995 Million Man March and the 2017 Women’s March on Washington. My bet is that a “National Rally to Save American Democracy” would draw 1 to 2 million people and would be of such scale that even the mainstream and corporate media couldn’t ignore the public’s rage.

The place for such a mass DC protest is on the National Mall—assuming Trump’s new National Park Service now even would be allowed to permit such a mass demonstration against his shredding of the Constitution and push toward a fascist American. What’s to stop him from making such a demonstration illegal by declaring a National State of Emergency or declaring Marshall Law and use his Wehrmacht for enforcement? So, time is of the essence. Assuming it could be permitted, the Washington Monument would be an ideal focal point and from where speeches and musical performances would be delivered. The crowd probably would spill down around the Reflecting Pool (think scene of DC demonstration in Forrest Gump) and beyond and on the other side of the Monument would reach well down toward the US Capitol Building.

My first DC protest was the March on the Pentagon in October 1967. That march involved only half the 100,000-person crowd that had just demonstrated under the Washington Monument. After the protest, Abbie Hoffman led half the protestors over the Potomac to the Pentagon. As it did for me in 1967, I’m sure 2025 protestors would be emotionally impacted by the scale of the rally and by being among national landmarks. It would make participants realize what a critical point we now are at as a nation and encourage them to be even more dedicated to the cause and ready to participate in local and national demonstrations that could flood the nation with peaceful protest.

I believe AOC should be one of two public faces of a National Rally to Save American Democracy. She is young, motivated/angry, intelligent, knowledgeable and knows how to speak to and fire up a crowd. The other, obviously, needs to be Senator Bernie Sanders, the dean of America’s contemporary progressive movement. He already is on a national Fighting Oligarchy Tour with a special focus on Stellvertretter des Fuhrers Musk’s actions.

Folks, you’re living history. Now be a part of it!

See you in DC under the Washington Monument.