Just Back From Congressional Town Hall. The Dragon is Awake.

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32. YEAH! This is a terrific report, TygrBright!

I went to a Dianne Feinstein - um - er - I was going to say town meeting but she wasn't there. But WE were. This was Friday afternoon. There was a private meeting scheduled up on her 9th floor offices, with only names-on-list entry. The rest of us "great unwashed" whose names were not on the list were left outside, not allowed to go upstairs to her actual offices. And that meeting was only with a staffer out here from Washington DC., who was evidently here to record the meeting and their questions so she could hear the playback. We were told Feinstein herself was here, but at a fundraiser elsewhere in town.

So okay then. We went outside. Nobody I saw was giving up and heading back to their cars.

We were confined to the sidewalk outside of this office building on a busy corner of West L.A. There looked to be about 20 of us. No - wait - a few minutes later there were more people. And then a few minutes later, still MORE people. By the time things got rolling, with a leader and her megaphone, introducing speaker after speaker who were all members of the crowd, each given two minutes to speak, it looked like there were at least 100 of us!

LOTS of homemade signs, a few pussy hats, special t-shirts on people who had been obviously been to the L.A. Women's March, and one of the organizers had thoughtfully made up 8x10 two-sided colored flyers for those of us who hadn't brought our own posters. I got one that said "#NotMyPresident" with caricatures of trump, Kellyanne CONway, and I think Stephen Miller on one side, and "Where's Dianne?" on the other side. An older woman was passing out bumper stickers with the word "IMMIGRANT" on them. I took one of those, also.

There were plenty of cheers for IMPEACHMENT (which I'm always going to write in caps, to draw attention to it and underscore the importance of it). One young woman had made a sign that said "Honk If You Are Ready To IMPEACH" And she stood at the edge of the group, closest to the street, holding it up for passing traffic. Sometimes, when the light changed and you could cross the street, she did, dancing along the crosswalk as she went, holding her sign up so it faced traffic that was stopped, waiting. And MAN did they honk! There was so much honking you could barely hear yourself think. Sometimes there were long, loud, low-pitched honks that came from passing construction trucks. Lots of appreciative fists punching the air, thumbs-ups, and hands waving at us from the many vehicles that passed us. From the many anti-Iraq War rallies I've attended here, I knew that was a show of approval. Some of the honking was staccato, others sounded like the driver was just leaning on his/her horn. But there were DEFINITELY loads of commuter supporters out there.

There was ONE guy crossing the street from where we stood, who I think was on his way to lunch, and he turned and smiled at us good-naturedly, and said something about "let's give the guy a chance!" We disagreed, although we were respectful and not abusive about it.

ONE guy. Versus what had to be a few hundred cars and trucks, and of course the 100-or-so of us.

There was much cheering, and chanting! "Do Your Job!" "Where's Dianne?" "This Is What Democracy Looks Like!" and my own submission: "Where Are The Tax Returns?" Many other chants but I can't remember them all. Many pro-immigrant signs. Many more anti-trump signs. Someone had used that mural art of trump and Putin in a kissing embrace and the caption "From Russia With Love." #NeverTrump. "Still Not getting Paid To Be Here." "Fact-free Zone" on a photo of the White House. "Trump Supporters It's OK To Admit You Were WRONG." "Immigrants Feed America." "Don't Privatize America." "Don't Tread On Us." "NO #Swamp Cabinet." "38% Approval. SAD!" "Making America Hate Again." "NO to GOP Supreme Court HEIST! Filibuster!" "Love It! Improve It! MEDICARE FOR ALL!" 'Indivisible. Resist Trump." "Donald Trump! WHAT PART OF DEMOCRACY DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? Investigate Russian Ties." And "RESIST. America has Lost Her Way. SAVE HER! RESIST" in red, white, & blue hand-drawn letters.

I saw a guy with a stack of homemade posters which he'd created - printing various things out and then mounting them on a white foam-core backing. They were very sturdy, which was nice because it was a little big windy out there. I admired them and complimented him on how well-done they were - they looked really professional. After it was all over and I went home, I borrowed his idea and mounted several of the signs I'd collected on large sheets of cardboard left over from the dismantling of a large cardboard box. That, a hoodie in honor of the L.A. Women's March, and my new pussy hat, went into a box in the trunk of my car. I'm now thoroughly prepared for any future marches and actions!

Yes. The Dragon is awake.