Camden: Olympia protest’s size impressive

The “Hands Off” protest on April 5 was one of the largest I’ve seen in Olympia or Spokane. It filled the Capitol steps, the Supreme Court steps, the flag circle between them and the road around the circle. It was estimated only at “over 5,000” by the department, but seemed larger than even the Women’s March.

The “Hands Off” protest was also impressive considering similar numbers were showing up in Seattle and Vancouver, with other gatherings around the state. The Olympia crowd was a mix of ages, although the average probably tended to over 50. Some looked like they may have been part of those Vietnam War protests of the late 1960s and early 1970s, having traded their huarache sandals and tie-dyed shirts for orthopedic-soled walking shoes and fleece vests.

Many who held up signs demanding protections for Social Security and Medicare obviously had skin in that game. Others were veterans protesting the double whammy of cutbacks at VA hospitals and the firing of federal workers who are veterans. There were signs demanding hands off immigrants, tariffs, reproductive rights, gay rights, transgender rights, Medicaid, national parks — and in one case, “porn stars” although it seems like being a porn star is inherently a hands-on kind of occupation.

There were also young families and some teenagers, who often had the most creative and artistic signs.

While the true impact of these protests won’t be known for a while, it would be a mistake to minimize or belittle them. One podcaster suggested that these are just “children of the ’70s reliving their glory days.” Another blogger described the crowd as “about 1,000,” which suggests he’s either bad at estimating or didn’t bother to find an official source who could.

Critics discount protesters at their peril. Political cartoonists usually depicted Vietnam War protesters as unkempt and uneducated, but in the end, they helped sway the public and the government to end the war.

Liberal commentators scoffed at the tea party rallies, but they helped shift control of Congress back to Republicans in the 2010s. The Occupy movement presaged Bernie Sanders’ surprising presidential campaign.

Sometimes protests are unexpected harbingers of the future. When 1,000 or so people showed up to protest an end to certain exemptions for measles vaccines in March 2019, no one would have guessed that vaccine resistance would become widespread two years later during the COVID-19 pandemic or that the featured speaker, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., would be Health and Human Services secretary six years later.

The best thing to do about protests is to join them if you agree or join a counterprotest if you disagree. But don’t knock people who care enough to “peaceably assemble for redress of grievances.” The Framers of the Constitution thought they were pretty important.