Not seen since 2020, large demonstrations have been taking place here in northeast Wisconsin since March 15th. Yesterday saw the largest so far with the largest in Appleton with 2,300 people in attendance, Oshkosh with slightly less, and Green Bay at less than 1,000. Green Bay, not to be outdone in spirit, saw a little over 1,000 outside the KI Center protesting in the freezing rain and sleet Elon Musk’s invitation-only crowd for all to witness his contempt for the law and democracy. What is perplexing most people is that the state’s barely liberal-leaning (4 to 3) Supreme Court dismissed, without giving a reason, the state’s Attorney General motion to stop Musk’s voter bribery scheme. Many I talked to are pretty disgusted at the Democrats generally for not pushing back hard enough.

It was exhilarating to see so many people in one place coming out to protest Trump’s dictatorial rule. There was a lot of anger and frustration expressed—some of it quite eloquently, some of it quite lovingly vulgar. There was the usual screaming and laughter that one gets at a demonstration. And it was all great. But there was a lot of serious talk about a third party to replace the Democrats; some suggesting the Democratic Socialists of America be that third party. Since November’s election, a lot of people have lost faith in the Democrats’ ability to push back against MAGA, but not in voting itself. We had a very high turnout for what is normally a low-turnout election. Roughly half the registered voters turned out. Many rural Republican voters sat this election out. This is what did in Brad Schimel, Musk’s hand-picked lapdog for the Supreme Court. Many thought he would win, which is why this election felt like such a win, for once.

This demonstration lasted more than two hours at Houdini Plaza in downtown Appleton less than a mile from Lawrence University. The first 45 minutes were taken up with speeches and announcements; the rest took place along the sidewalks up and down College Ave. More than half the people who passed by us in their cars honked in favor of what we were doing.

Several things stood out to me: the youth, the diversity, the enthusiasm. Many people I talked to doubted whether these demonstrations or bigger ones going forward will, by themselves, have any effect on Trump or the Republicans. Some I talked to mused of a nationwide one-day strike as a more effective strategy.

One thing I did find a bit unsettling was a lone person, a young man, who carried a large Palestinian flag. He seemed to be alone in the sense that it appeared he was without any mutual support, no friends, no protectors. No one harassed him, nor did he do anything provocative. I just didn’t know what to make of it except he looked very unsupported. I do know a lot of people support the Palestinians, especially the young, but the apparent iciness may have been due, perhaps, to the fact (maybe) that some of the organizers did not invite or discouraged any display of Palestinian support. Contradictions of this magnitude within the movement already? We need to talk; Palestine is part of this!

Postscript

I live in a red area in a purple state—Wisconsin. In the small town of New London, about a 45 minute or so drive west of Green Bay, where I live, we saw just a few days ago, what is in all probability, the first political demonstration that town has seen in almost a century. New London has a meat packing plant that is easily the lifeblood of this small town’s economy. This plant employs mostly migrant workers, who have now been directed by the Trump administration to self-deport or face forced deportation in 30 days. Perhaps Trump and Schumer don’t think that the townspeople, of what would otherwise be a mostly white community, care about their migrant neighbors, friends, co-workers, fellow students, and co-parishioners.

In the world of homo politicus, the maxim, “None can hurt more than your own kind,” seems hauntingly applicable in how many in the working middle class feel about the Democratic Party, and rightfully so. While I cannot roll with the knee jerk tactic of cutting one’s nose off to spite one’s face, what is one to do when the only two big parties are so tightly tied and bound to private property and capital? You punish the party that pretends to be pro-union, pro-working class. And that party is none other than god damn, weak as water Democratic Party. This is a moment that all of us on left, the socialist left, need to grab and run with. We may not get this opportunity again for a long time if the Trumps and Schumers have it their way. The fact that Schumer has not been removed yet speaks volume as to the decrepit moral state of the Democratic Party. We may not be in a revolutionary period or a pre-revolutionary period, but I dare say, that it appears the furniture in this house is very quickly being rearranged.

Nothing, I think, illustrates all of this more than the anti-Musk demonstration we had here in Green Bay on March 30th. It is unusual, to say the least, to see a demonstration of 1,000 people on a good day. But that is what happened on the 30th in the cold freezing rain and sleet.

Hey Chuckey boy, are your eyes open, are you listening now?