by Chris Fin 
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Hands off all of it
When Wendy asked me to start writing Politically Speaking again, I wondered where to start. There’s so much going on at the federal level that’s going to impact our state, county, and neighborhoods—that I didn’t know what to focus on first.
It appears I’m not alone. I went to the big Hands Off protest in Santa Cruz with some friends and met lots of other friends there. The Valley was well represented in a crowd that some estimated at anywhere between 3,000 and 4,000 people.Â
The signs protested all the issues we’ve read about in the news. But the ones that really spoke to me were one next to me on Water Street that said “So many issues. So little posterboard.” A couple women let me take a shot of their signs saying “Hands Off All Of It!” and “I’m Pissed About All Of It!!!” As I say, it was a common theme.
But, mostly, people seemed glad that so many people showed up. They were glad our local assembly member and state senator came, though he didn’t speak. But they were encouraged by the sheer turnout. As my friends and I walked down Ocean, the signs stretched for blocks. One couple stopped the car and asked if the protest was still going on and where they should go. As we walked through downtown, people spotted our signs and asked us about the protest. They thanked us for coming.
I saw a Facebook meme a few weeks ago that seemed to sum up where we are. It showed Smokey the Bear with his famous words, “Remember, only you can prevent forest fires.” Under that, somebody had added, “Really, it’s up to you. There’s nobody else left.” Of course, it referred to the drastic staffing cuts in our national parks. But most people today really did seem to have a sense that we’re the last line of defense against this push to dismantle the government services our tax dollars pay for.
Individually, none of these people feel like they can do much. Some had signs wondering why their elected officials weren’t doing more. But I heard more than a few people say they felt they had to do something. They had to do anything they could. And they were heartened to see that they weren’t alone.
This was one of more than 1,000 protests nationally, and even internationally. I saw some figures saying it might have been as many as 1,300 events or more. Friends are reporting thousands of people turned out in red states like Utah. Hundreds showed up in small towns. And drone photographs show the streets of New York City crammed with people as far as the eye can see.
In weeks to come I’ll drill down on specific issues and the impacts they’ll have locally. Because this is just the beginning. As my neighbor said when she got out of my car, “I have a feeling we’ll be doing this again. A lot.” As usual, I think she’s right.