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Creativity, Solidarity Mark San Diego Women’s March

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I’ve been to a few demonstrations in my day: Los Angeles, Berkeley, Madison, Chicago, Ann Arbor, Washington DC, but mostly in San Diego. (Hey, I’m a child of the sixties!) And Saturday’s Women’s March through downtown takes the cake for the unity and overwhelmingly positive energy I felt.

I know more than a few people in San Diego’s activist circles and saw almost nobody I knew. That’s when I knew something really big was going on. Another clue was that the cellular networks couldn’t keep up.

The best part was the absence of any sense of personal alienation, despite being surrounded by a crowd of strangers. We were one. People were polite and caring. Strangers weren’t quite so strange. For a few hours we were wrapped in a cocoon of solidarity.   [Read more…]

Inaugural Weekend (And Beyond) Activism Calendar

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(See the SDFP election day liveblog for news throughout the day on Friday, January 20th)

There are community gatherings. There are rallies. There are protest marches. There are teach-ins. There are press conferences. There is art. There are even dance parties. And there are even events NOT related to the inauguration.

People from all walks of life find are finding ways to express their displeasure with the incoming administration. Check out the calendar below for events over the next ten days or so. Events related to the inauguration include the Trump/NOPE graphic.

Activism abounds in San Diego if you know where to look for it. I’ve been posting this progressive activism calendar on Fridays now for more than six months and every week I learn about new groups.   [Read more…]

Liveblog: San Diego & National Inauguration Day News

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Welcome to the San Diego Free Press Inauguration Day liveblog. Additional coverage will appear on our Facebook page throughout the day. Our Progressive Calendar has updated information on planned protests for the entire weekend,

The most recent posts will be at the top of this page, starting at about 8:30am PST.

Each post will be labeled with one of three terms:

LOCAL NEWS: Reports from our citizen journalists
NATIONAL BREAKING: Reports & photos from our Washington DC correspondent, Barbara Zaragoza, along with information gleaned thru social media.
NATIONAL OVERNIGHT: News from earlier demonstrations, plus reports about the Trump administration.   [Read more…]

The Storm Ahead: Weathering the Trump Administration

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While the nation’s attention is focused on hearings for the five high-profile Goldman Sachs execs/alums and other swamp dwellers proposed for President-elect Trump’s cabinet, the horrible reality of what’s coming in the near future is taking shape.

Come Monday, the United States of America –practically speaking–won’t have a functioning executive branch of government. Of the 690 Senate-confirmable jobs, the incoming administration has nominated just 28 humans. Many of those who have been nominated are either antagonistic to or ignorant of the agencies they have been tasked to lead.

The silver lining in all this is that people and organizations are coalescing to resist the challenges of the coming months. Once you get past the bad news in today’s column, I’ll share some information on these positive developments.   [Read more…]

San Diego’s Women’s March: Part of a World-Wide Human Rights Movement

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In 1913, thousands of women took to the streets of Washington DC on the day before Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration calling for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. More than twenty parade floats, nine bands, and four mounted brigades followed activist Inez Milholland riding on a white horse marching from the U.S. Capitol toward the Treasury Building.

Despite physical attacks by angry spectators hospitalizing more than 100 women, the parade, organized by Alice Paul and the National American Woman Suffrage Association, finished the route.   [Read more…]

Resistance is Not Futile: Trump’s Troubles Are Just Beginning

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Another would-be Trump administration official fell by the wayside yesterday, as recently exposed serial plagiarist Monica Crowley backed out as senior director of strategic communications at the National Security Council. She joins former CIA Director James Woolsey and Jason Miller on the list of those who didn’t make it to January 20th.

Nominees for various cabinet positions, including Andy Puzder (Labor), Dr. Tom Price (Health & Human Services), Betsy Devos (Education), and Steven Mnuchin (Treasury) are all in for a rough ride as Republicans rush to get as many as possible lined up for quick confirmation votes after Trump’s inauguration.

And then there is the inauguration, which should serve as a warning for just how dysfunctional and sad the next four years will be. Active resistance at each step of the way is our best hope.   [Read more…]

Resistance Rises as Trump Inauguration Nears

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On Saturday, supporters of immigrant rights at rallies around the U.S. denounced President-elect Donald Trump for his anti-immigrant rhetoric along with his pledge to build a border wall and discriminate against Muslims entering the country.

On Sunday, Supporters of the Affordable Care Act gathered to protest the health care law’s repeal in rallies across the country.

And throughout the holiday commemorating the late Dr. Martin Luther King rallies and marches from coast-to-coast called out the implicit and explicit racism of the incoming administration.   [Read more…]

A Dozen-Plus Opportunities in San Diego to Protest Trump’s Inauguration

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San Diego gets it. Lots of us are unhappy with the incoming administration.

There are community gatherings. There are rallies. There are protest marches. There are teach-ins. There are press conferences. There is art. There are even dance parties.

People from all walks of life find are finding ways to express their displeasure with the incoming administration. Check out the calendar inside for events over the next ten days or so. Events related to the inauguration include the Trump/NOPE graphic.   [Read more…]

Adios Chargers: Don’t Let the Door Hit You Where the Good Lord Split You

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The San Diego Chargers are headed to Los Angeles. Halleluja!

“After much deliberation, I have made the decision to relocate the Chargers to Los Angeles,” team owner Dean Spanos wrote in a press release and letter to season ticket holders. “Today we turn the page and begin an exciting new era as the Los Angeles Chargers.”

The slightly less than 44% of the voters who supported the team’s plan for a downtown stadium in the last election combined with the ‘only’ $375 million final offer involving monies from the County, the City and San Diego State University for some future venue were certainly factors in the decision to move.   [Read more…]

Trumped Up Trickle Down

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Oh, what a week. And it’s only Wednesday.

While the current President was bidding a dignified farewell and leaving hardly a dry eye in the audience on Tuesday, his successor was tweeting in response to accusations of water sports.

An opposition report, dog-eared from months of circulation around the national press corps, surfaced. It was, we were told, compiled by an ex-British spy with some credibility in intelligence circles, and the internet went wild over claims about Russian dealings with President-elect Donald Trump, including blackmail involving sex workers in a luxury Moscow hotel in 2013.   [Read more…]

Grand Theft, GOP-Style: Art Today, Civil Rights Tomorrow

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Trump’s day of triumph is rapidly approaching, and it has become clear his administration’s policies will amount to open season on the assets of the United States.

Congressman Duncan Hunter couldn’t wait for the inauguration and lifted a painting that displeased him from a Congressional art exhibit. Also, House members quietly changed a rule last week allowing them to hide records from future ethics probes. (More on these later in the story)

Not all assets are measured by monetary value, and this is today’s big story. In a hearing room originally used for inquiries into the sinking of the Titanic and the Teapot Dome Scandal, Senate Republicans are lobbing softballs at Attorney General nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions in the hope they can kick-start the erosion of civil and human rights in this country.   [Read more…]

Democrats Vote for Change in ADEM Elections As Labor Council Infighting Continues

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You wouldn’t know from reading today’s newspapers, but there were elections in California over the weekend. And, although the results aren’t finalized yet, it’s obvious something significant is going on in the state’s Democratic party.

Although these changes (in the short term) amount to little more than a sea of new faces at the state Democratic Party convention, the significance of record turnouts, competing slates of candidates, and the openly stated desire for progressive ideals all should give us optimism for a new era in politics in the Golden State.

Locally, controversies arose in Oceanside and Chula Vista. The North County event seems to have been procedural; the South County occurrence reflects a deep division among organized labor groups threatening the unity Democrats will need in opposing the actions of the incoming administration.   [Read more…]

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