Not My President Day

I left the studio and did some speeching out in public

Yesterday, I had the honor to speak at the Not My Presidents Day Rally, Salt Lake City edition. What a great crowd! I got to see people I haven’t seen in years, reconnect with friends from rallies in the past, political pals, and, of course, people that I love very much.

The energy was big, but my favorite was a young man of about 10 years of age standing right in the front of the crowd, as angry as can be, and swearing more than I did. I love that kid.

Below are my renmarks from the rally, including the little bit I accidentally skipped when my 3x5 cards got stuck together.

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Salt Lake City

02/17/2025

I went to my first protest in 1990. I was young, dumb and full of optimism. I’ve been going to protests ever since. It seems like there hasn’t been a year where I haven’t had to stand in weather of all kinds to shout in solidarity with the hope of making change.

People are a mess. Left, Right, or apathetic, the human race is a total shit show. I went to my FIRST protest in 1990 and I have lived through the slow march of growing Right Wing Authoritarianism over the years.

Over the decades, we watched the Contract on America attack the poor and vulnerable, we watched as the Blue Sky Initiative pumped pollution into the air, and as No Child Left Behind left millions of children behind.

Every year beheld a new terrible idea, a new set of laws and initiatives that ignored the needs of the many and provided for the wants of the wealthy, the corporate, the military industrial complex, and the vapid.

Every year, a new Right Wing Horror …

Today - now - not a day goes by where something punitive isn’t thrown at the least of these, my brethren. Teachers are vilified, higher education is Belittled, compassion is mocked, and empathy is seen as a weakness.

Watching the federal government be dismantled by billionaires and bigots is hard to watch, impossible to ignore, but, for us, people like us, the people of Utah, we’ve been trained over the decades for fighting against authoritarianism by the Right Wing of the Utah Legislature. We are ready for this fight.

America elected a babbling hate machine that somehow elevates racism, hate, and misogyny while managing to utter maybe one in one hundred complete sentences. A champion of rape, theft, deceit, and, frankly libertarian level selfishness and narcissism. A GUY WHO QUOTES HITLER WITH A STRAIGHT FACE!

In Utah, we know that the Right Wing wants Confederate and Nazi flags in our classrooms. We know that the right wing wants to punish our LGBTQ family for their audacity of being their authentic selves. We know that the right wing wants to tear down our schools, shred our social safety nets, harass and punish the unhomed, and to break the spirit of our transgender families.

As the federal government gathers its steam to destroy our institutions and to intimidate our fellow Americans, the people of Utah are prepared to fight back … we’ve been training for years.

Let me ask you a question …

Are you angry?

What are we going to do about it?

This was a rough election, a rough inauguration, and it hasn’t even been a whole rough month since Trump took back the white house.

Our Joy and happiness took a beating.

I had belief, I had optimism, and I had purpose. Now? Now I have questions…

What the hell, right?

How did we let the literal fascists get another toehold on the country? How did we let this happen? Hope and Change was intoxicating, but HATE … Hate is a motivator unlike anything else in the known universe.

How did we let this happen? Democrats and sane Republicans dropped the ball, that’s how.

We didn’t take it seriously enough. We didn’t believe that after achieving so much, that there were regressive forces in this country - sleeping like cicadas - waiting for a clarion call to ignite their powerful fears of anything or anyone not exactly like them.

Let me get political for a moment -

The country is hungry for some good old fashioned populism, you know, the kind that Bernie Sanders carries in his pockets.

I know that we can argue about this forever and most opinions will not change. We even fight our own tribe when it looks like one of “MY IMPORTANT CAUSES” are getting less attention than your obviously inferior causes. Hell, Dems are so good at being shitty at populism that, get this, Donald Fucking Trump won again.

The Left are drowning the narrative. It’s that simple.

Not since prohibition have we seen a government so very out of touch with the will of the people.

So … what do we do? To quote Joe Hill, we “Don't waste time mourning. Organize”

Here you are. Standing in the weather, outside on a Monday, screaming at the government to stop causing harm, and to start to fulfill the promise of America, that all people are created equal.

“Don't waste time mourning. Organize”

We KNOW this truth, we LIVE this truth.

The only way to make change against the Authoritarian Regimes is with overwhelming force. They’ve shown us the way, a loud and hateful handful of right wing bigots run this government with phone calls - and we can do the same.

Be a constant irritant. Call your state and federal office holders EVERY DAY. March when you can, communicate your truths, shout your slogan and BE ANNOYING. Never underestimate the power of being annoying as a catalyst for change.

You’ve heard this all before, you know the cliches and the PROTEST chants because you are ready for this fight.

Unlike THEM, I believe in you. I believe in the power of the organised to effect change against systems that are designed to do harm.

Knowing that you’re on the right side of history isn’t enough. We have to fight. We have to throw off the shackles we've placed on ourselves and to start fighting fire with fire.

Have you heard what they keep saying about our transgender family? Have you heard them disparage our union brothers and sisters? Have you heard them say that they know better what citizens want than we know for ourselves? Attacking children, our LGBTQ family, education and educators, the climate, our air … why do stand by and let it happen?

It's time to stop being gaslit by Republicans. It's time to stop them stomping all over the people, regardless of income, housing, or orientation. When they go low, we need to punch them in the nose, and FIGHT BACK!

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