Protesting Trump
By 
I thought this tweet summed up why the anti-Trump protests in Chicago had to happen and have to keep happening.
Someone always has to be the one to stand up and do something. ACT-UP did it then. Chicago did it last night. 7/7.
— Cara Lynch (@caradox) March 12, 2016
We are facing a real crisis in this country. That crisis is that a fascist is going to be the Republican nominee for president. Donald Trump is openly calling for violence against protestors. Sometimes sitting at home and worrying about the future of the nation while making sure you vote or even getting out the vote and working for a campaign is not enough to create political change or save our rights. Sometimes it takes direct action. The ACT UP comparison is apt, especially the day after Hillary Clinton idiotically lauded the Reagans on their actions concerning the AIDS crisis. This is a moment for direct action, as it was in the 1980s when thousands of people were left to die on the street because they were gay. There has been a lot of liberal hand-wringing over protesting the Trump events. But I have to ask those who oppose those protests, at what point do you stand up and act against fascism? When do we directly confront those who feel they have the license to beat or even kill protestors?
It’s not as if there aren’t legitimate reasons to worry about the implications of confronting Trump in this way. Won’t Trump supporters then do the same to Bernie or Hillary events? Maybe. And no doubt Trump will use his media savvy to take advantage of it, but that’s going to happen anyway. Will it turn off so many people that it somehow places Trump in the White House? No, I cannot imagine that happening. His supporters love him but everyone else in the nation hates him and that won’t change. Still, you never know.
But there are specific circumstances here that justify direct action, which I stated above. I don’t think I would support this kind of action against a Ted Cruz event. Say what you will about Cruz, and lord knows there’s plenty to say, he has not called for mob violence against those who oppose him. Trump has. Either that is confronted or it grows.
It’s quite likely that people will die in the course of this campaign. Between the masses of angry whites who carry guns and a candidate encouraging violence, for the first time since probably the 19th century, I expect to see murder during this campaign. These are the times in which we live. We can cower to it or we can confront it directly. Last night, the protestors in Chicago chose the latter. Good for them. I hope people continue confronting this great danger to the future of American democracy.
And of course:
I hate Illinois Nazis too. That’s why we have to protest them.