The day after Donald J. Trump spoke to Congress (and actually made a modicum of sense) I posted on Facebook:
“You know how President Trump and the boys and girls of the GOP say we’re all being paid to protest. Could I get some of my liberal friends to agree to let me use a picture, and you give me one sentence about who you are, and I’ll combine them?”
I knew
my wife—who hates any turmoil—wouldn’t get involved;
but a healthy sampling of people agreed to take part. So
here’s a profile of ordinary Americans who currently oppose the policies
of Donald J. Trump.
(Also, if you stick with me, you will meet at least one kind of right-wing nut.)
First protester to respond was Mike Hudson, like so many in the thread to follow, a former
student of mine. He wrote: “I’m a programmer from Ohio and I marched for free.”
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| Mike, right, is a Bengal's fan. |
John
Curry was next: “Retired Educator/Law Enforcement Officer.”
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| Darn commie! John, reads to a grandchild. |
Stephen
E. Ball: “I’m a retired Middle School math teacher. I marched in Cincinnati
because, at the time, we needed just one senator to switch his vote to prevent
Betsy DeVos, a lifelong opponent of public schools, from being confirmed as Mr.
Trump’s Secretary of Education. No one paid me to march. I carried two signs:
one that said ‘Smart Trumps Stupid’ and the other said ‘Strong Public Schools
Empower and Unite.’ I was extremely disappointed that my Senator, Rob Portman,
admitted that he was inundated with calls to vote against Ms. DeVos, but chose
to ignore his constituents and confirm her.”
Liz Ball, his wife, added: “Retired, mother, daughter, grandmother, teacher’s wife. My homemade protest sign:”
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| I used this for both Steve and Liz Ball. |
Jean
Meyer Purdy noted that she would not be protesting, “too many people, too much
hate from the other side.” She was “just going to sit back and watch the show,
eventually he is going down.”
Okay, not
a Trump fan.
Kathy
Fleischmann Stemmer responded with a quote from Bodie Thoene: “Apathy is the
glove in which evil slips its hand. Anonymous.”
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| Kathy Fleischmann Stemmer always stands up for what she believes. |
(I will add most of the other pictures at the end.)
Randall
Bird added his voice: “Retired but still engaged.”
Tracey
Bridge Baker: “Friend of Special education students in the best public school
EVER.”
Mark
Sherman: “Retired teacher and full time progressive. For free.”
Harry McIntyre:
“I am a union steel worker who has been to rallies in Columbus and Washington
DC and never paid a dime! Protesting because he cares about the county. Take
that GOP!”
Terrie
Puckett: I’m in...perhaps a line like ‘simply—because it’s the right
thing to do.’”
Jim
Viall: “Retired Railroader.”
Ernie
Richman (an old high school friend): “Use my picture—play fair.”
Chelsea
Chase: “31-year-old Democrat in a family of Republicans who is lighting up her
representatives’ email frequently!”
Tom
Powell, a conservative friend, questioned my premise: “Sorry, you’re stretching
it again. Nobody said you were all being paid to protest, but the organizers
are. You need to ask for your cut!”
(I
told him I’d take him to lunch when I got paid.)
Kathy now
sent a description: “Retired educator, protestor, letter writer, phone caller,
town hall attendee, boycotter, tweeter, newfound activist and patriot. I do
these things for democracy, women’s rights, LGBTQ community, immigrants, for
the America I love and the rights I enjoy.”
Joey
Caylor Spencer: “We are protesting via phone, email, and snail mail. A disabled
stay-at-home mom, married to a redneck liberal Navy vet, parents to a disabled
autistic son, and future nasty woman, neuro-typical daughter.”
Renee
Thielen Elliott: “I support a free America. Trump is not the way to go. He’s
clueless. Count me in.”
Kim
Jackson Weber: “I’ve protested and will continue to do so. January was the
first time ever, and all unpaid. I believe the majority of the people and the
spirit of this country are not aligned with the decisions and the rhetoric
coming out of the White House.”
Kris
Goodfellow: “I’m an Ohio kid who followed the rules, worked hard and grew up to
be an executive at a small, self-funded software company.”
Faith
Langenkamp (another conservative friend) simply replied: “Whining liberals!” I
assume she’s a Trump fan.
Claire
Cavell Hale: “My husband Jon and I went to our local town hall meeting this
past Saturday to stand up and actively oppose legislative decisions made by our
S.C. senator, Tim Scott. Over 500 constituents waited in line for admittance
into a venue of only 200 and unfortunately we were about 20 people away from ‘getting
a ticket.’ We waited outside during the event and joined others in urging the
senator to come outside and face his additional constituents. There were rumors
going on inside that the people outside were paid protestors being compensated
$1500 a week. It was at that point that I felt the need to wear a badge that
read ‘I am not a paid protestor.’”
Jane
Renaker Simmons: “We protest because there is too much at stake to remain
silent.” Her daughters Olivia (also one of my old students) and Amy went along.
Later,
Olivia explained why she marched: “For the future of the earth, and for
humanity.”
(Man,
I liked having that young lady in class. See Amy, Jane and Olivia below.)
Then her older sister chipped in to explain: “My name is Amy Donnenwerth. I am a music therapist and a long time social activist. I protest because all social injustice issues are intertwined. Oppression in any form cannot be tolerated or ignored. We are all connected. When any group of us is marginalized, it is our duty to rise up, stand up, speak up and make sure our voices are heard.”
Then her older sister chipped in to explain: “My name is Amy Donnenwerth. I am a music therapist and a long time social activist. I protest because all social injustice issues are intertwined. Oppression in any form cannot be tolerated or ignored. We are all connected. When any group of us is marginalized, it is our duty to rise up, stand up, speak up and make sure our voices are heard.”
Mary
Fitzpatrick: “How can I get paid to protest? I could use the money. Photo is me
at Woman’s March with my cousins.”
Jeanne
McCoy Bautista: “Long time listener, first time protester. I was a substitute teacher
for six years and am now an administrative assistant and contact support...Definitely
no one is paying me for my phone calls to my senator, nor will they pay me for participation
in the March for Science…”
(The
March for Science is coming up on April 22.)
Milla
Lorelei Mélomane: “I have never been paid to protest.”
Timmiera
Lawrence: “Mother of three, public educator for 25 years—unpaid protestor!”
Jill
Lytle Beitz: “Our son was a college student when he was diagnosed with brain
cancer. Without Obamacare he would have been thrown off of my insurance. I give
Obamacare credit for the additional time it gave him and for the fact that we
did not go bankrupt. I march for others who deserve this care (and oh so many
other reasons.)”
Ryan
Ascolese: “I really hate large crowds…but I’ve been braving them to protest the
president.”
Gary
Ruther: “…teacher in El Sobrante CA and a Marine and former soldier.”
Nancy
McMichael: “Warrior princess must protect all the children!!”
Susan
Michael Moore Craig: “Mother, wife, union unpaid protester. Our students and
children deserve the best.”
David
Simms: “I remember saying a few months back exactly what would happen if Trump
won and how misguided you have to be to vote for him. I remember getting
hate messages saying this and that.”
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| A liberal will now try walking on water: David Simms. |
Chad
Russell is also a former student, but he’s of a conservative bent. He dived
into the contest, asking me: “So are you saying you do not believe anyone is
getting paid for protesting?”
I said
no one I knew got a dime.
Chad explained
that he didn’t think Trump was hurting us at all, that “there are companies
that pay people to protest Kroger or P & G,” so it wasn’t “far-fetched” to
think some were now being paid, “particularly when the media feels like they
are being left behind...(ha, ha, LEFT behind). I kill me.”
(That
was a really weak conservative pun.)
Lisa Sullivan: “48-year-old feisty liberal photographer, mother of two.”
Lisa Sullivan: “48-year-old feisty liberal photographer, mother of two.”
Jean
Frost Paul: “Never paid to protest injustice! It’s an honor and a privilege to
be able to fight for what is right and good.”
Suddenly,
the thread got a bit weird. Some angry conservative, a friend of a friend,
opined: “Idiot get a life!!! Your a loser.” He added six emoji thumbs downs.
A
liberal, with a penchant for English, corrected: “you’re”
This
really hacked him off: “Your an idiot, into the fiery pit you go loser.” (I’m
not sure whether he meant I was going to hell, or the person who corrected his
spelling was, or whether both of us were going to be needing asbestos undergarments.) For fun he added six more emoji thumbs downs.
He got
corrected again: “you’re.”
The
angry conservative responded again: “Duh..guess you never learned spelling!!! I
can spell idiot and loser!!!
I try
not to insult people on Facebook; but this a little much. I replied: “You are
also good for comic relief.”
He
wasn’t feeling it: “Liberal idiots are losers, Trump proved that last night [in
his first speech before Congress]. You are all going to be thrown into the
fires.”
Four
more thumbs down.
Me to Angry
Emoji Man: “You must be quite the theologian.”
Chad
and Kathy continued arguing. The former wondered how any of us thought Trump
was hurting America. “Why, because he wants current laws to be upheld? Because
topics of what bathroom you will use have merit?”
He
wondered if we didn’t like Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos because she wasn’t
“from the union. Let’s face it our educational system isn’t what you think
it is. It’s pretty crappy in fact. And let’s just keep parents from being
accountable...it’s insulting and doesn’t work.”
I
chipped in with a joke: “Ack. DeVos just said black colleges started because
people wanted ‘school choice.’ I think she’s seeing Frederick Douglass.”
(She
did say it was all about school choice. Apparently, she’s never heard the term “Jim
Crow.” And that’s no joke.)
Kathy
provided an excellent list: “1.Trump signed three executive orders to benefit
oil pipelines and remove Obama environmental protections. 2. Reinstated the
anti-abortion global ‘gag rule,’ which will increase the number of unsafe
abortions around the world. 3. Signed an executive order voiding President
Obama’s mortgage cost reduction. The .25 percent cut to federal mortgage
insurance, set to take effect today, would have saved new homeowners roughly
$500 a year. The rate drop would have benefited first-time and lower-income
home buyers. 4. Began plans to build the big, stupid wall and other nods to his
base of anti-immigrant hysterics on taxpayer $. 5. Removed IDEA helpsite from
Dept of Ed website. 6. Rolled back transgender protection. 7. Allow crap to be
dumped into rivers in the name of coal jobs. 8. Start dismantling ACA with no
plan. Proposed a budget that will blow current deficit out of the water. 9. Embarrassed
us across the world with his bullying. 10. Embraced fake news calling it real.
Chad
and Kathy kept up the debate.
At some
point, I responded again to the insults of Angry Emoji Man: “Oh, my, someone
who communicates by emojis thinks I’m an idiot. How can I possibly match a
person of such astute thought? If only I were 1/100th as perspicacious as you.”
“Your a complete jerk with a Skelton key to
hell!!!” he replied.
(See update at end for the return of Angry Emoji Man!)
Salvador
Ki Sanchez (one of my students at Leaves of Learning last semester, and another
great young man) joined the fray: “High school freshman who wants to stay
educated in what’s going on around me.”
Chad asked
why he didn’t like Trump.
Salvador:
“I think he is not fit for his position, both from an experience standpoint,
and a maturity standpoint. Many of his policies affect people I know and care
about in a negative way, and I think some of the actions he has taken both in
and out of office have been inappropriate.”
Kathy continued
explaining to Chad why she opposed President Trump: “You like sludge in water,
you like a liar in office, then he’s your guy...I definitely don't like Trump…Don’t
like the rich getting richer. Don’t think Trump can fix it. Not a nationalist
but am a patriot. Don’t think we need more military. Don’t want my taxes to
fund a wall, rather fund healthcare. Don’t like bullies, ergo Trump.”
Dwane
Shelley (another former student and a well-known conservative thinker) wanted
to know: “Am I included?”
I said
yes.
He said
he was protesting, “but in reverse.” He’s a Trump fan. Keith Armstrong (also a
former student) agreed.
“Involvement
is always better than sitting on one’s posterior,” I replied.
Janice
Shankel (a huge, huge Bernie fan) joined in: “Mother, grandmother, former
sub teacher, designer and salesperson for Xerox, am happy to do anything to get
my voice heard. Trump must go!”
Gina
Young: “Save our parks!”
Shannon
Woods Hall: How can I help?! I’m involved in multiple women’s movements.
Raising my boys to think for themselves. Gearing my writing to reflect the era.
Pushing against the haters.”
Finally,
it was J. Selden Napier’s turn: “I do not get out much being quadriplegic;
however I do know how to burn up social media. The American health plan appears
to have some flaws in it. I’m looking to see what the real deal was.”
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| The Napier family, Jay left, looks like a pretty cool clan. |
And
that, my friends, conservative and liberal, and everywhere in between, is a
pretty fair sample of those of us who don’t like the policies and personal
behavior of President Donald J. Trump.
***
After I posted the above to my blog, Angry Emoji Man returned to channel Trump and add a bit of wisdom to the thread. First, this:
“Your an idiot and loser John Viall.... and stupid. Your
gonna wear yourself out for the next eight years. The republications have
control and will be there for many years thanks to all you stupid prostesters!!”
John Curry, one of the “prostesters” replied: “----, did
you pass Fifth Grade grammar and spelling?”
Angry Emoji Man: “You must be a liberal idiot too!! Loser
John Curry.”
Curry: “Keep on writing, ----, you’ll get a fine chance to
show us even more of your lack of intelligence.”
Angry Emoji Man: “John Curry hahaha loser! You can attempt
to rattle me all the day long and for the next 8 years and then some and you
will only offend yourself. To think you voted for Hillary Clinton gives me
shivers!! Lol no wonder your stupid!!!”
Curry pointed out a variety of spelling errors.
With that, Angry Emoji Man laid out the most logical case he could muster: “Kiss my ass, dumb ass!!! Your the one that’s crying!!! Loser...”
With that, Angry Emoji Man laid out the most logical case he could muster: “Kiss my ass, dumb ass!!! Your the one that’s crying!!! Loser...”
Eventually, I replied to John to be sure he knew the post
had been updated to include these responses. “We
all need some humor,” I said. I refuse in almost all cases to insult others on Facebook. I will, however, poke fun.
Angry Emoji Man got me again: “It’s updated dick head.”
Two liberals admonished him for name-calling. He refer to the first as “just another loser.” Then to the second, he said: “…your a crybaby
loser. I am dying of cancer, at least I know my grandchildren will grow up in a
Great America. Five months after the election and your still crying. I have a
great President, you don’t have Hillary ‘Thieve’ Clinton!!!! Hahaha.”
At that point, I started feeling sorry for the man. I know I want my children and grandchildren to grow up in a great country, too. My “dick head” response was this: “Sorry to hear you’re sick; never good
for anyone. I guess I’m just someone who thinks anyone who has cancer should
have health care. Go figure.”
Finally, the angry fellow posted: “I am in a nursing home
and well covered.”
I hope he is. I hope all people who need health care get it at a price they can afford or with government aid. I’m a liberal, see; and I don’t mind paying taxes to insure people
with cancer receive help.
I read what my angry foe said, and simply hit “like.”
I read what my angry foe said, and simply hit “like.”
***
Here’s a gallery of photos representing almost all of the “paid
protesters” who responded to my original request.
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| Renee Thielen Elliott, looking beautiful after cancer care. |
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| Randall Bird, left, with his son. And are those Christmas trees I see? |
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| Shannon Woods Hall (apparently she forgot liberals were supposed to make "War on Christmas.") |
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| Mark Sherman, retired teacher. (Also missed the War on Christmas memo.) |
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| Harry McIntyre. Don't we all want what's best for our families? Conservatives, too! |
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| Terrie Puckett. (Probably not for Trump.) |
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| Joey Caylor Spencer and the whole Spencer clan. |
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| Kris Goodfellow, right, takes on a Michigan fan. |
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| Mary Fitzpatrick (purple scarf). She will be helping organize the March for Science on April 22. (She'll do it for free.) |
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| Timmiera Lawrence and her youngest daughter. I can tell you from teaching what a cool family she has. |
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| Jill Lytle Beitz: her family had to worry when her son developed cancer. |
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| Gary Ruther served with the Marines. Semper Fi. |
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| Nancy McMichael and her family. Her daughters were cool to have in class. |
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| Janice Schankel: a Bernie supporter, for sure. She also takes good care of my brother. |
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| Kim Jackson Weber can protest and dance, either one. |
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| Jean Frost Paul: Not getting rich from protesting, folks! |
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| Tracey Bridge Baker, left. Yeah, she's ready for Medicare. (Also a Democratic program, fought originally by the GOP as "socialized medicine." |
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| Jim Viall, a distant relative, center. Will protest for free. Can serve as minister. |
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| Couldn't resist this adorable shot. Ernie Richman, an old high school friend. |
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| Couldn't resist the youth look again: Chelsea Chase (Chelsea Hamm) in 1993. |
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| Two protesters for the price of one: Claire Cavell Hale and husband John Hale. |
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| The elusive Milla Lorelai Melomane may be behind that protest sign. |
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| Ryan Ascolese (one of the best writers I ever had in class.) Willing to protest even if crowds make her nervous. |
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| Breaking the bank, Susan Michael Moore Craig (front) and friends get "paid" to protest. |
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| Lisa Sullivan a few years back. A creative young lady in my class. |
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| Salvador Sanchez; I was lucky to have him in class recently. A young man who can think for himself and doesn't need to be paid. |
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Another youngster who was in my history class; but maybe not last year.  |
***
A late addition from Rod Jackson, who saw my post: I am 66
years old, retired from the Air Force and Federal Civil Service. I have a
Master’s degree in Education. My wife is 64 and has a Bachelor’s degree in
Psychology (helps her deal with me). We, along with my daughter, granddaughter
(6-years-old, no college degree) and two very good friends both college
educated, marched in Washington, D.C. on 21 January. None of us were paid to do
so. I have to tell you, protesting is hard work. It took me several days for my
old bones and muscles to get over walking for nearly eight hours. Having said
that, we will most assuredly do it again. I would posit most of the folks
making the claim that Liberals protesting are paid do so because the Right
cannot gather enough folks to make a difference. However, if they use the same
math that Trump uses to estimate crowd size they most likely believe their
crowds are at least as large as ours.
 |
| And the wife! |
This one, from Jude Wood, also came in late: I am 69 years old. Married (to the same guy) for 50 years.
Hubby served in the Army 1965-1968. Dad served in WWII and came home with a
Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Daughter-in-law served 1997-2001. Son has been in
(Chief Petty Officer) 20 years and will return to middle east for the fourth
time in July. I am a retired nurse/paralegal. I live in Tennessee so I am a
proud liberal living in a sea of red. I marched in January. Rod is right. It
costs money to march but I will do it again. When not marching, I send at least
four postcards every day. Lately, they have been to our two senators, my
representative, Nunez, and Burr. These guys will have my name memorized and I
figure I will probably end up on a list somewhere. Don't care. I have three
young granddaughters. I don't want them growing up thinking their grandmother
thought it was acceptable for any man with power to molest them with impunity
and then be elected to be the leader of the free world. That is just one of
many reasons I am fighting Trump. I am the one in the pink blouse. Resist!
I love that one.
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| Jude Wood is on the right. |
