There was a new dimension to the anti-Trump protest Saturday that drew a record turnout of an estimated 1600 citizens to the grounds of the Washington County Courthouse. It was opposition to his new war against Iran.
First off: it is a “war,” all the BS to the contrary by President Trump and his lieutenants. When you drop thousands of bombs on an enemy and send in a big part of your navy and thousands of troops, it’s a war.
When Indivisible, a nationwide organization, started its protests, the primary message was “No Kings,” a protest against Trump’s authoritarian challenges to the U.S Constitution. A common homemade sign then was “No Kings Since 1776.”
By the end of last year, a second theme has shown up on the homemade signs carried by the protesters: opposition to ICE and its heavy handed, even murderous methods.
A new third dimension emerged this year: opposition against the four-week-old war that Trump and Israel initiated in Iran. Several signs said “No Kings, No ICE, No War.”
As with past Indivisible rallies in West Bend, the event was peaceful and in cooperation with local police departments.
However, a representative of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office did shut down a music setup that that was ready to play from the grass between the sidewalk and the street. No rationale was given to the organizers for that restriction.
Was that clamp an abridgement of citizen rights to assemble and protest? Music has helped to set the atmosphere at previous rallies in the city by the same group.
My guess is that Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann was involved in the no-music decision. He is an avowed Trump adherent. Sheriff Martin Schulteis, who was elected separately, was obviously involved.
The demonstration kicked off at 1 p.m. with temperatures in the low 40s, overcast skies and stiff north winds. It ended at 2:30 as scheduled.
Lots of drivers and passengers in cars gave what appeared to be supportive honks and hand waves as they passed by. Only a few blared in apparent disagreement.
Across the state and nation, equally large groups of anti-Trump protectors showed up in 3300 communities large and small. The total number of demonstrators has been estimated at more than 8 million, up from a record 7 million in a nationwide protest last October.
In interviews as I sat next to the sidewalk, there was general concern that President Trump would soon commit ground troops to Iran’s soil as a way to establish a clear victory. What victory means to him has never been clear. Goals raised by his team ranged from regime change, military dominance, elimination of missile capabilities and return of power to the people of Iran.
Recall that Trump said that the U.S. raids by the U.S nine months ago had already “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
The president has been promising that the expanded war would be over relatively quickly, but no citizens I talked to believes that we would be out of the Middle East quagmire any time soon. (In his 2024 campaign Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours after taking office. That was 14 months ago, and the war rages on.)
Individuals at the Saturday rally were not optimistic about our new engagement. Navy Veteran Bob Mayer said Trump went into the war with no more rationale than “he felt like it.’ Mayer sees Trump as “a sociopath.”
Terry Lundberg, who has relatives who served in Vietnam, said, “He doesn’t learn,” referring to the unsuccessful U.S. military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
I have been dreading an invasion by thousands of Marines and paratroopers, who are staging off the shores of Iran. They would undoubtedly take the objectives that Trump lays out, but, unlike airstrikes, it won’t be without spilled blood. Some of our boys will come home in body bags if Trump launches a ground war.
Torinus is a retired U.S. Marine officer.
