Dan, please remember that the Nazis were tolerant of gays only because they needed Ernst Rohm- once they no longer needed him, they instantly became intolerant and began killing us en masse. If you haven't seen the film Paragraph 175 yet, I'd recommend it for insight into this subject.

I left Baltimore an hour before the march, Passing the Amtrak Station, I saw a crowd so large it was like a rally unto itself, stretching for a block in every direction. We drove to New Carrolton, thinking it would be impossible to fit into a train at anything other than a terminal stop on the Metro. Sadly, everyone else had the same idea, and it took over an hour just to get a farecard. I noted with some irony that the stations after New Carrollton featured mostly vacant platforms. Parking spaces adjacent the entrance were visible from the train as we whisked by.

I was struck by how sedate the crowd was. I could not get a chant going in line at New Carrollton. I and my friend sang Solidarity Forever on the train as we were moving, and although the train was mostly full, everyone else remained entirely silent.

We disembarked at Capitol South and walked toward the crowd. Upon joining them, I was again met with mostly silence. Nobody was chanting anything. I tried a few basic chants (This is what democracy looks like, etc) and a few people turned to look at me, chuckling. Nobody joined in.

It was so packed I couldn't march in any meaningful sense. It felt more like floating on a sea of bodies, being pulled in one direction or another by the undertow. As we moved along, more people did start joining the chants, however it was still sparse. There was no anger to this crowd, no palpable sense of outrage. On the one hand this was good. After passing under an overpass by L'Emfant Plaza, I spotted a small cluster of white robed men, some in peaked hoods. Despite their attempts to spark a violent exchange, none was forthcoming. Perhaps also, the crowd's relative bradycardia might contribute to the overall stamina of what I hope will evolve into a movement. Many times, these events merely serve as a means to vent one's spleen the way many did at Occupy, shortly before returning to their everyday lives and forgetting about it.

If however one is to channel energy, there must first be energy to channel. The moderate, mild middle- championed by many guests on this week's Blabbermouth - doesn't inspire passion in anyone. The absurd image of Eli standing on the corner holding a sign that reads "Be Reasonable!" hardly matches up to the more confrontational struggles for Worker's Rights in the early 20th Century.

In the week since I have seen most of the opposition to Trump repeat the blunders of the 2016 electoral cycle. His ascent is ascribed entirely to Putin. It is stated flatly that the emails stolen from John Podesta were only bad because Sanders supporters saw them and opted out of the Hillary project at the last moment. No mentionable is made of the content of this emails. The lack of introspection, the complete absence of any sense that the content of those emails itself- details of attempts to undermine Sanders through unethical and possibly illegal means- could itself be the problem. Barring the overthrow of the Electoral College system before 2016, those opposed to Trump will require the votes of people not dwelling on the coastlines. Rather than asking ourselves, "What do these people want, and how can we present our side that we can deliver it to them better than he can" we simply write the off as crazy, stupid racists. To hear Rachel Maddow tell it you'd think what the Democratic Party really needs to win in 2020 is to show even more disdain and contempt for the very people they need to vote for them.

Thate evening, I completed a round of Margaritas with my fellow travelers at a small restaurant we'd spied from the road on the way back to Baltimore. The conversation ranged from anime to peer-to-peer culture. I came home and collapsed in a heap on the bed. The following morning, I nursed my hangover whilst listening to Democracy Now!'s coverage of the day's events. I glanced at video feed online, and saw silent faces on that stage I had hoped not to see again- Debbie Wasserman Shultz. Chuck Schumer. I had a nagging sense that nothing's going to change. We're stuck with the same losing strategies, committed by the same losing people. I reflected on how old our leaders are. Bernie's pushing 80. Hillary's going to be in her 70's when the next round of elections come. Where are the bright young energetic people who typically lead revolutions?

Maybe this isn't a revolution. Maybe we're in for more of the same.

I attended a Unitarian service later that day. The officiant called for a meeting of activists in the church attic after the service. There, we did a round robin, where I heard many women complain that the March was not inclusive, because no attempt was made to compromise with the anti-abortion Republicans who might otherwise support an anti-Trump movement. A little part of me died watching these women argue that they should give away their rights freely, for fear of alienating the GOP. Rather that looking for the commonalities that exist- a concern for the economic wellbeing of the Midwest, a desire for good jobs with good wages extended to everyone- they were instead ready to sell out their civil rights.

The Right offers passionate intensity to rurals who are scared of losing their jobs. Their solutions are extreme and deeply rooted in bigotry. The Left offers the rurals nothing but scorn. And I sit here looking at both with abject horror.

Check out Kyle Kulinski's YouTube show "Secular Talk" and his push towards Justice Democrats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj_95Ld2…