On March 28th, a crowd in our local town of Hudson, NY assembled for the third NO KINGS rally. It’s best characterized by an aging group of wizened gray-haired folk mostly smiling and communing with each other in the park. A friendly, non-violent group. Attendance is estimated at 1,700: one event of 3,300 in all 50 states.
We have arrived at an insane moment in OUR NATION’S HISTORY in which the President’s persistent malevolence divides the citizens of this country. The division is growing wider each time Trump speaks or tweets. He cannot control himself. His deep dislike for the opposition party is best described as contempt. And the feeling is mutual with his opposition. Most of us who are in his opposition party are truly at a loss as to what to say or do when he speaks. We withdraw and wait for another utterance of untruth, a lie. Or witness another unfettered act of grabbing power. Indeed, it’s a steady state of indulgences, with very serious implications within and outside our country.
A growing number of citizens will not submit to his power, yet they seem to remain helpless. By sending the military into American cities, he raised serious questions about violations to the Constitution. (This is only one of many examples.) Sending ICE agents into primarily blue states to arrest and detain (and often deport) undocumented immigrants and American citizens, he is unleashing a flurry of deep anger and distrust. The killing of two American citizens passed the tipping point. In taking the United States into a war with Israel against Iran, he provoked the ire of millions and started a international conflict that cannot end well. His malevolence is beyond belief. And led to a movement of organized, non-violent gatherings to protest Trump’s actions (idiocy).
While editing the consternation of regular people protesting, I downloaded his State of the Union Address to listen again to his claims of success, blame of failure, crude use of language and his failure to understand the world in a more complex or nuanced way. Clearly, in his address, he sees anyone who disagrees with him a deep state liberal threatening the future of our country. I believe for the most part that the people who attended our rally were good people, reasonable people and tolerant people. Yet Trump makes impossible the voice of reason in response. This man is crazy. Truly crazy.
Today, I’m moving through and around the crowd, recording a group of concerned citizens thinking about themselves their neighbors. If you ask me why I’m doing this? I’m doing it for the same reason: deep down because I think it will make a difference. Yet, more importantly, I feel like if I didn’t I would be letting others down. Every healthy community, every democracy requires a commitment beyond ourselves and our immediate family and network of friends. We need to stand in ever widening circles and walk in longer lines, not in conformity, but in solidarity— to protect the right for each of us to live safely and freely in this country.
Hudson, New York
March 28, 2026