Why We Were Better Ridin’ With Biden

By Darlene Mitchell August 19, 2025 August 22, 2025 Black and Brown Issues, Celebrity Comments, Democrats, Donald J. Trump, Fossil Fuel, Lies and Corruption, Medicaid, Medical, Medicare, Political Parties, Social Security, White Supremacy Movement

Why We Were Better Ridin’ With Biden

Editor: Well, if we wanted chaos, stupidity, and cruelty we’ve got it, in spades. All those folks who didn’t get enough of Trump the first time around and couldn’t wait to get his sick, narcissistic ass back in the White House are paying the price now, right along with the rest of us. And the folks who didn’t vote because they were taking some effin’ high road, shame on you. In a democracy there isn’t a lot to do, other than look at candidates and choose those candidates whose philosophy and policies come closest to match your individual hopes and desires; and that magic happens at the ballot box. Cate and I agree about a lot of things and her thoughts on Joe Biden coincide with mine. No one is perfect, but some are a lot more perfect than others; and yes I am comparing Joe Biden at his worst to Donald Trump at his best. DSM

By Cate Rees-Hessel and D.S. Mitchell

Joe Biden is a man of integrity, whose life long career of public service is still in effect – he’s still an advocate for the American people, despite dealing with cancer. Donald Trump has never advocated for anyone but himself.
President Biden is a dedicated husband and father, not a cheating adulterer that once claimed he’d like to date his own daughter.
Joe had, despite COVID-19 chauffeured the economy, to a place that perhaps still needed a bit of tweeking but was showing tremendous growth and high employment. There were no insane, unnecessary, ill-advised tariffs that are in fact a direct tax on the American consumer.
Joe Biden nor any other Democrat would never have even suggested such devastation, trauma, and cruelty as Trump’s Big Bad Bill. That bill is going to deliver big cuts to the social safety net, add trillions to the deficit and just incidentally give the richest 1% a huge tax cut.
Joe capped insulin at $35 monthly, a real blessing for seniors; which Trump is talking about rescinding Joe’s policy so Donald can “help” the drug companies.
Joe supported health insurance for all, while Trump policies are cutting Obama Care, Medicaid and Medicare. A healthy populace is a good thing for a country, and pays back in so many unimagined ways.
Joe gave us a beautiful, progressive black woman of dignity and intelligence as our VP; Trump’s VP pick spends time courting White Supremacists & Neo-Nazi’s in Germany and other European capitals.
Joe and the Democrats gave this country its first significant infrastructure bill in 70 years. Fixing roads, and bridges, bringing Wi-Wi to rural America while Trump tries to claw back promised federal money for many promised projects and offering nothing more than putrid pork in return.
Joe Biden and his team gave us all time low unemployment, while Donnie Doodle’s employment reports are so bad he has to fire the civil servant giving the information; because of course like everything else he doesn’t like, “it’s a hoax or fake news.”
Joe Biden was the savvy and supportive VP to our first black President, Barack Obama – they worked together beautifully. Donald Trump on the other hand is trying to intimidate and fight with duly elected black mayors and governors across the country. Racism is alive and well under Daddy Don.
Joe gave us a classy First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden – not Donald’s immigrant wife with questionable legal status and a staple in her navel and a naked centerfold archived somewhere.
Joe Biden treasures the privacy of the American people while Donnie Felon thought having Elon Musk chainsaw through the government was a good idea. What is the plan for all that information? Whatever it is, Joe Biden would never have been part of it.
Joe Biden doesn’t intentionally go looking for a fight, while Trump is fighting with someone all the time. Sometimes just because he’s an ass and stupid as a trout and other times because he needs some nonsense vibrating the airways so he can hide, distract and deceive.
Joe Biden used his time to get work done, not ride around in a golf cart demanding we change the Gulf of Mexico, to the “Gulf of America,” “annex Canada as our 51st state,” or demand the “takeover of Greenland.”
Joe Biden was not touring the world on Jeffrey Epstein’s airplane or visiting Epstein Island. However, Donald Trump was flying around acting the big shot with old buddy Jeff, but now he ‘barely knew him.’
President Biden was an attorney who has a head for public administration and business, not a seven-time bankrupt reality show idiot who threatened his former school with big lawsuits if his grades were ever released.
Joe Biden is a Democrat. Trump is head of some coalition faction that used to proclaim to be Republicans but are now full MAGA and are likely to fall apart as a movement when Trump’s leaves center stage.
Ketanji Brown Jackson was appointed by Joe Biden, Trump appointed Brett Kavanaugh
Joe Biden is pro-labor, he was the first president to ever stand on a picket line, while Trump surrounds himself with extremist minority political fringe advocates and greedy 2 percenters running the country.
With Joe and Jill Biden, class and dignity returned to the White House – for a brief four year period, we had a break from the insanity of “The Donald” and his thug routine.
Joe Biden followed the law when it came to immigrants and immigration. With Trump we now have the world’s best financed national police force (who wear masks, no name badges, and snatch people off the streets) arresting cooks, seamstresses and gardeners. The outlaws and criminals that Trump promised to arrest and deport have vanished right along with his promises of lower food prices.
Joe Biden believes in science and he believes in funding research, Donald Trump hates science and wants us to be as dumb as an illiterate peasant in Medieval England.
No one ever accused Joe of using the office of the presidency to fill his bank account, but that’s what we have going on now more than during Trump’s first term. Emoluments? Who cares about a word that most people have never heard of.
Joe Biden would never have rolled out a red carpet welcome for War Criminal, Vlad Putin, but Trump did. Since when do we celebrate killers? Now, I guess.

Instead of changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America for purely racist reasons, wanting to change names of sports teams back to racist ones, wasting money on a military parade for his birthday, or wanting to be a king, President Biden was concerned with healthcare, infrastructure, and real world problems. Joe always had America’s best interest at heart, always thinking about the little guy in our society, a true patriot that took care of actual issues that we as Americans face. God bless President Joe Biden for his service.

Take Time to Smile

By Darlene Mitchell August 12, 2025 August 12, 2025 D. S. Mitchell, Donald J. Trump, Happiness, Positive Vibes, Social Issues

Take Time to Smile

By D. S. Mitchell

Before I get any more irritated at Trump’s threat to take over D.C. I think I need to switch gears. I know, I’ll just take a few minutes to think of all the things that make me smile. Join me for a moment to reflect on the sweet and simple things in life.

Beach grass whipped by the wind
The feel of cotton against my skin
Electric BBQ’s
Donating blood
A dash of Irish Cream in my morning Cappuccino
Soldiers in their dress uniforms
Children’s handmade cards
Ed Sheeran’s “The Shape Of You”
Looking through freshly cleaned windows
Montana’s endless skies
Roller skating at Oaks Park, Portland, Oregon
Paddle wheel river boats
Finding that lost earring
Homemade Clam Chowder and Cheese Bread
Letters to the Editor
Antique car shows
A freshly cleaned bathroom
Cashmere and tweed
The thinnest, crispiest French fries
A new supply of business cards
Lunch with Mom
A February 29th birthday
Dancing cheek to cheek
Random acts of kindness
Circular driveways
Summer days at the lake
Winning $100 on the Scratch Off ticket

That’s it. I hope you took a minute from the insanity of the 24 hour news cycle, put up your feet and smiled at a few of the simple things in life.

Calamity Politics is a progressive news magazine dedicated to human rights, universal health care, elimination of the Electoral College and restoration of Democratic control of the Congress and the White House. Join the New Resistance. Dump Trump. Protest and demonstrate. We don’t have to take this crap. Our soldiers didn’t die on the battlefield to allow this to happen. Join the New Resistance

The Low Road

By Darlene Mitchell July 13, 2025 July 13, 2025 Anxiety, Demonstrations and Protests, Fascism, Human Rights, MAGA's, Poetry, Protests, Social Issues

The Low Road

Editor: A poem for our time. ‘The Low Road’ by Marge Piercy illustrates the necessity for each individual to take a stand against injustice. This post was suggested by Karen Tate, author and podcaster. Get inspired, we need all the soldiers in this war that we can recruit. Remember the June 17, 2025 rally and come out and give the Trump administration the big middle finger to their dangerous and undemocratic policies.

‘The Low Road’

by Marge Piercy

What can they do
to you? Whatever they want.
They can set you up, they can
bust you, they can break
your fingers, they can
burn your brain with electricity,
blur you with drugs till you
can’t walk, can’t remember, they can
take your child, wall up
your lover. They can do anything
you can’t stop them
from doing. How can you stop
them? Alone, you can fight,
you can refuse, you can
take what revenge you can
but they roll over you.

But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, an army
can meet an army.

Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge. With four
you can play bridge and start
an organization. With six
you can rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no
seconds, and hold a fund raising party.
A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter;
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media;
ten million, your own country.

It goes on one at a time,
it starts when you care
to act, it starts when you do
it again and they said no,
it starts when you say We
and know who you mean,
and each day you mean one more.

Fireworks At Home Can Burn Big

By Darlene Mitchell June 25, 2025 June 25, 2025 Holidays, Medical, PTSD, Wes Hessel

Fireworks At Home Can Burn Big

By Wes Hessel

Natural Inclinations

When Fourth of July rolls around, the desire for something to light up the night and go boom grows large, as does the temptation to DIY. It always holds true, fireworks are best left to the professionals, as the consequences can be life changing.

Even Sparklers

The fact is even simple pyrotechnics are potentially quite dangerous. Sparklers burn at temperatures in the area of 2000 degrees – that is about nine and a half times the boiling point of water, high enough for some metals to melt. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has said sparklers account for over ¼ of the ER trips for injuries caused by fireworks, and “For children under 5 years of age, sparklers accounted for nearly half of the total estimated injuries.”

Causing Fires

The NFPA reported in 2017 fireworks led to about 19,500 fires: almost 1 in 10 of those to structures, 500 of them burning vehicles, and 17,100 outdoor or other fire types. Five years later (2022 – the latest available statistics), these stats skyrocketed (pun intended) to 31,302 blazes – 3,504 structures, 887 vehicles, 26,492 outside, and 418 unclassified. These incidents caused six deaths, 44 injuries to civilians alone, and $109 million of property damage directly connected.

Young Children

Direct fireworks injury numbers are also sobering: three years ago, an estimate of 10,200 ER visits with treatments. Based on the CPSC (the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission) report on fireworks for that year, the NFPA stated: “Over half of those injuries were to the extremities (29% hands and fingers, 19% legs, 5% arms) and 35% were to the eyes or other parts of the head. Children younger than 15 years of age accounted for 28% of the estimated 2022 injuries.”

Triggers

And there are other factors to consider, such as the loud noise-young children cannot only be scared by it, but their hearing can be damaged. People with PTSD often can be triggered by such stimuli, and one isn’t always aware of who is living with this condition. Our pets, also, may not react well to the sound and light effects of fireworks; as a personal example, last year on the 4th I took our puggle for a quick bladder break before we left to watch pro fireworks. Someone in the neighborhood shot off a pyrotechnic and our fur baby turned tail, literally, and practically dragged me to get back in the house. Keeping small, loved ones, be they human or pet, inside will keep them safe from falling fireworks debris and the effects of the strong sounds.

Conclusion

It’s not worth the risk to take fireworks into your own hands – you or someone else could easily get burned in more ways than one.

Life is Like the Lazy River

By Darlene Mitchell June 23, 2025 June 23, 2025 #Karen Tate, Health/Fitness, Mental Health, Positive Vibes, Psychology, Staying healthy

Life is Like the Lazy River

Editor: When everything seems to be crashing around you, maybe all you need is a few days on the Lazy River.

By Karen Tate

I felt like I was holding on by a thread after my husband’s heart attack. I found myself a caretaker while working a full-time job, dealing with our out-of-touch employer, editing my new manuscript for my publisher, keeping my radio show on the air and trying to pay the bills – then the opportunity to spend a couple days floating on the Lazy River at a resort in Las Vegas presented itself.

Yes, it was in the hottest part of summer in Las Vegas, but anything was better than being in the office where I could not shake off my boss’ demoralizing words. I thought our performance for the last thirty years in his employ buffered us from the angst and vulnerability so many workers were feeling these days, but no. His reply to my query if my husband could expect sick leave during this health crisis kept echoing in my ears. “I don’t want to pay Roy for sitting home on the couch!” (I didn’t yet know about disability.) It took all my strength to refrain from hoping in his next life he came back as a fruit fly, a migrant worker picking strawberries or the guy who cleans out port-o-potties.

So we packed up the car and headed for Las Vegas and the Lazy River. Days of floating in quiet contemplation was just what I needed to recharge my batteries and have a moment to think about something besides stents, pills, and doctors and how overwhelmed I was feeling.

At first, the Lazy River just allowed, allowed, allowed me to be, with no pressure. I could drift with no place to go but round and round, softly, gently, and quietly. Even the kids sharing the Lazy River were not a source of aggravation. It was peaceful and my brain could click off for a few hours.

As the hours turned into days, I began to feel like myself again and before I knew it the creative juices were flowing and this Lazy River became a source of inspiration.

Sometimes we can just float along in life, easily avoiding the chaos all around us, without having to put forth much effort to avoid turbulence. We see others around us going under but somehow we’ve managed to catch the current that just steadily pulls us along out of harm’s way. We may be lucky enough to continue like that for a bit, but sooner or later we’re going to brush up against the rocks. We might even find ourselves feeling water-boarded as we are unable to avoid getting sucked beneath rapids and struggle to the surface gasping for air. If we’re lucky, in the next few times around the bend, we might be able to catch our breath. We feel lucky to maneuver ourselves away from the crushing weight of the waterfalls, large and small, we see along the journey.

As we go round and round, with each turn of the wheel, we learn to adapt. We discern how to place ourselves so that we float along in the most stable position possible. We stretch and strengthen our muscles to avoid the rocks and rapids. We keep an eye on the horizon so we might manage to make our way around log jams. We wear protective covering to ward off direct hits we might not avoid along the way. Sometimes if we look for them, gifts will present themselves during the journey, and it is so important to be ready to embrace those moments in gratitude.

Sometimes that Sacred Travel Story is nothing more than a short jaunt to a hotel outside Las Vegas where you can get off the hamster wheel, disconnect from the mundane world for a bit, breathe, and listen to that voice within. We have all the answers inside ourselves. We just have to slow down, cut out the distractions and tap into that inner voice. It may sound cliché but its true.

**Remember to look for and grab the joy that exists between the rain drops!**

Have ‘Ya?

By Darlene Mitchell June 22, 2025 June 23, 2025 Food, Human Rights, John Curran

Have ‘Ya?

By John Curran

Have ‘ya ever seen the workers in the California fields?

Fields that stretch in places as far as the eye can see,

that go on for a hundred miles, two hundred. Vast.

It feeds a nation.

The workers there bent over

to the task.

It must be hard on the back,

after a while.

They’re Mexican though….

It must be damn hot in the summer sun,

Not much shade.

They’re Mexican though….

So,

Have ‘ya ever seen?

OPINION: Little Pink Houses

By Darlene Mitchell June 21, 2025 June 21, 2025 Demonstrations and Protests, Disability, Entitlements, Human Rights, MAGA's, Social Issues, Trumpism, Women's Rights

OPINION: Little Pink Houses

Editor: Millions of people attended No King protests nationwide, and some experts believe that it may have been the largest single-day protest in U.S. history. Reports indicate that more than 5 million people attended the anti-Trump demonstrations in 2100 towns and cities nationwide.

By John Curran

In our little Mayberry sort of town we have protests too-against this idiot and all his corruption. And an outsider might be surprised because Josephine County, Oregon as well as adjacent counties in this part of the state are, and have been been for years very strongly Republican. The majority vote in the 2024 presidential election was a Trump landslide. At the time of the actual election and preceding it, you would see a lot of pro-Trump signs and endorsements in all its various, and at least here, peaceful forms. The killings ain’t got here, yet. But it is getting a little more tense.

We had our fourth major protest on Saturday; the day when the nation as a whole was saying, Everywhere is protest. Everywhere is outrage. Everywhere the same desire, get the cancer out before it just destroys everything. And of course, easier said than done.

By legal, institutional means, the political system has been manipulated to enable this huge dysfunction to have achieved the position where it can begin to consume the host and that’s pretty galling if ya ask me. The fact that this monster has been created from within; is us, or at least a good portion of us, the worst of us, sickens me. The resulting power mad soulless Babylon becomes unsustainable for the majority where the ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality just leaves the sick, the disabled, and the less than perfect to die. And with that, it’s obvious they don’t care.

So, ok, and with that, our little town on Saturday June 14th, 2025, had its fourth big protest. What was so cool was that it was bigger, louder, and even more jubilant than ever; like minded people coming together, working for a common cause. A friendly smile, a big hug, we are all getting to know each other just a little bit through these protests. In a way, these protests are more like mass unstructured community outings, mostly people of like feelings, but also, just anybody who knows how to act somewhat normal is welcome. So far so good.

And of course it wouldn’t be a proper protest without a few anti-protesters, to keep it interesting. Before a few was all it had been but this time, it was more like Custer’s last stand with Custer telling the dozen or so assembled, “Get out there boys. Damn they’re back again talking all that stuff about rights, and No Kings and all the while criticizing our fearless and duly elected leader. So get your big trucks and your big boots and let’s make some noise.”

“But sir ….theys so few of us it seems, and theys so many of them.”

And damned if he didn’t hear that and think an actual thought….”Yeah, right, I hadn’t thought of that.”

Despite being outnumbered a few of them actually began walking amongst the crowd, but most were content to just drive by in their pickup trucks and blow black smoke and yell, “Fuck you” a lot. The ones walking through the crowd had put themselves out there, however, they mostly walked around smirking and saying cruel and demeaning things to people in wheelchairs, slow elderly people with their walkers, or just anybody, who wanted to question their motives. Motherfucker.

But they don’t really deserve any credit for mingling with the crowd. They weren’t really brave as they wanted us to think; ’cause they could pretty well figure that, even though greatly outnumbered they were not gonna be actually threatened or hurt in any way. They would have to be the ones to start it, cause that’s not who we are. Neither are we poor and pathetic, we’re more like powerful now, and getting more powerful everyday. Do you have to wonder why?

Ways to Celebrate Juneteenth

By Darlene Mitchell June 18, 2025 June 18, 2025 Black and Brown Issues, Cate Rees-Hessel, Holidays, Human Rights, Joe Biden, Race/Ethnicity

Ways to Celebrate Juneteenth

Editor: Also called Emancipation Day, Freedom Day or Jubilee Day, Juneteenth is the commemoration of June 19, 1865, the day enslaved African Americans in Galveston, TX, learned that they were free.

Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, but it only applied to people in Confederate states, not those enslaved in Union-held territories (they were not freed until the proclamation of the 13th Amendment). In Texas, a Confederate state where there was little Union Army presence, slavery continued years after the Emancipation Proclamation — and even after the 13th Amendment was passed by Congress on January 31, 1865 —most enslaved people in Texas were not aware of the news. Finally, in June of 1865, Major General Gordon Granger and a contingent of Union troops landed in Galveston, Texas to tell the enslaved peoples that the Civil War had ended and that they were now free. Something worth celebrating, I’d say.

Ways to Celebrate Juneteenth

By Cate Rees-Hessel

Thanks to President Joe Biden, Juneteenth is now a national holiday, as it long should have been. Here are some meaningful ways to celebrate this historic holiday with loved ones:

Wear a Juneteenth T-shirt – my husband and I each have one (mine is pink).
Teach a child about actual Black history.
Teach a child about Abraham Lincoln, a president who was not afraid to end slavery, even if it caused the Civil War.
Attend a Juneteenth event – towns all over the country are celebrating.
Make a donation to the Obama Foundation – obama.org or the NAACP – www.naacp.org.
Make a donation to the United Negro College Fund – after all, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.” uncf.org
Watch “The Color Purple” or “Roots”.
Read “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf”
Watch “A Raisin in the Sun”.
Check out the Juneteenth book displays at your local library.
Look for Juneteenth museum displays.
Have a soul food picnic.
Read about the Obamas, and Vice President Kamala Harris’ family.
Research Hakeem Jeffries.
Research Cory Booker.
Post about Junteenth on social media.
Read about the slaves that positively affected the life of Dolley Madison.
Wish people a blessed and happy Juneteenth.
Do something for holiday fun: water park, bike ride, enjoy summer on this new holiday.
Resist racism by protesting against Trump – help save our democracy.
Read about apartheid and Nelson Mandela.
Many Black males are targeted for crimes they do not commit – tell a Black man you love and believe in him.
Support Black owned businesses ( add a few)
Watch Black television shows, listen to Black radio: letsstaytogethertalkshow.com, www.soarradio.com, and visit Black social media: www.facebook.com/theofficialplussizepower/.
Pray for President Biden’s health, and thank him for making this holiday possible.

Street View, NO Kings Protest

By Darlene Mitchell June 18, 2025 June 22, 2025 Conservatism, David Shadrick, Democrats, Demonstrations and Protests, Disability, Health Care, Politics, Social Issues, Trumpism

Street View, NO Kings Protest

By David L. Shadrick

Darlene, John, Vajra, and I arrived at the NO Kings protest at 9:55 for the 10 o’clock start. There was already a huge crowd of loud and noisy citizens. John was pushing my wheelchair, while Darlene, Vajra, and I, carried our signs, musical instruments and water.

The Josephine County Courthouse, just happens to be directly across 6th Street from the Republican Party headquarters. During the three previous protests, the Trumpers could only marshal 3 or 4 pro Trumpers to yell insults in our direction. Today, however, the Trump supporters, numbered as many as a dozen, carrying American flags and Trump Won Signs.

There wasn’t an inch of sidewalk space to be had on either side of the street due to NO Kings protesters crowding even the area in front of the Republican Headquarters. As we thought through our options Darlene noticed a shady spot with an unoccupied bench a block down 6th Street on the Republican side of the street, not exactly in the middle of the action but the location made us a visible commodity, quite visible in fact.

I grabbed my trusty 8647 sign, my goat horn, and then rolled out onto the sidewalk where my sign could be easily seen by the slow moving and horn honking traffic. I could hear John and Vajra drumming while Darlene rang her cow bell. We were basically a block down the street from the biggest part of the crowd when a dour looking Trumper made his way through the densest part of the crowd, heading in my direction. When he got close he said with a sneer, “Your sign is disgusting.”

I replied, “What’s disgusting are cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Veteran’s benefits.”

After several minutes of harassing a disabled veteran in a wheelchair he bent down close to my face and repeated, “your sign is still disgusting,” before retreating south toward the Wunder Bar.

The next Trumpers came in a gang of three, walking through the same crowd of protesters, without saying a word, making a bee line straight for me, apparently my 8647 sign really ticked them off. The first man, suggested quite irritably, that I “should go back to (my) pathetic life.” Before I could answer, I was interrupted by the second Trumper in the group, who was seemingly a decent person. He asked me why I was protesting and I told him that the cuts to all the safety net programs were going to force me to sleep in the street or on his couch. “Ok, well, I can understand that might be a problem,” he said, before he walked on. The third person in the group was a nicely dressed woman who suggested she liked “ice in (her) soda,” to Darlene who was waving a sign that said, “I.C.E. is best C-R-U-S-H-E-D. After their interaction with us, the three simply got in a car and drove away.

While I was eagerly blowing my goat horn, another Trumper ran up in front of me and whipped out a megaphone from behind his back, and began chanting, “GO TRUMP, GO TRUMP, GO TRUMP” to which I yelled, “and you go with him.” From behind me I heard a chorus of voices, led by Darlene, chanting, “8647, 8647, 8647.” The volume of the chant grew and the increasing furor sent the megaphone master retreating back to the safety of the six remaining Trumpers securing the Republican headquarters.

An old white guy, in a battered pickup slowed down to yell “fuck you,” as he passed.

“Is that the only word you know?” I demanded at the top of my lungs.

He again repeated the “fuck you” insult.

And I repeated, “is that the only word you know?”

The third time he said, “fuck you,” I again repeated my question, “is that the only word you know?”

The frustrated old fart, gunned his truck engine, and headed down the street, after tossing, “asshole,” in my direction; at last proving, even Trumpers know more than two words.

Another Trump friendly driver, waved his two middle fingers in my direction before causing his rig to belch a huge cloud of black diesel smoke, leading protestors close by to cough, sputter, and spit. I ignored him.

The middle finger salutes, the cursing, the belching trucks, the negativity, the insults, all came from the MAGA crowd. Not one person on the No Kings protestors side was rude or insulting to anyone, certainly not to the first wheelchair bound person they could find.