On Thursday, July 17, hundreds in Salinas and Monterey joined the thousands nationwide who participated in the “Good Trouble Lives On” protests, speaking out against the actions of the Trump Administration. A small but growing volunteer group in Aromas is continuing that movement to give those who weren’t able to attend the rally on a weekday an opportunity to do so.
The Aromas Democracy Defenders will host the “Rise Up Now Day of Action” on Saturday, July 19 with three events: sign making from noon to 12:30pm at the Aromas Town Square Park on the corner of Carpenteria Road and Blohm Avenue, with the rally to take place at the same location from 12:30-2pm, followed by another rally on the San Juan Road overpass at Highway 101 from 3-5pm, near the Red Barn.
“We are a red, white and blue rally,” says Ginny Arguello of Aromas Democracy Defenders. “It’s just people who are very concerned with the erosion of our civil liberties and basic rights.”
The group has joined in other nationwide protests throughout the year, growing from about 50 people in April during the Hands Off rallies, to at least 175 during No Kings protests in June.
For information, email aromasdemocracydefenders@gmail.com.
(2) comments
This so-called movement looks more like a ritual gathering of aging white progressives and a handful of neocon remnants who never forgave the Republican base for rejecting their globalist agenda. They wrap themselves in red, white, and blue while preaching division and rehashing tired slogans that lost traction years ago.
These protests don’t represent grassroots democracy. They represent a particular ideological clique desperate to maintain cultural relevance while clinging to a narrative of perpetual crisis. Civil liberties aren’t being eroded by the people they protest. If anything, they’re eroding under the weight of state overreach, censorship, and selective enforcement championed by the very ideology they defend.
The real erosion isn’t in civil rights. It’s in honest discourse, equal justice, and the ability to disagree without being labeled a threat. This is not “democracy defending itself.” It’s political theater masking as civic virtue.
Why can't people accept the fact that Trump was elected by the American people to serve four years as president. To top it off he is doing just exactly what he said he would do and that's why he was elected. You may not agree with him but the majority of the American people do. To those who insist on protesting, quit your whining, acting like children and get a life. Many Americans didn't vote for Biden, but we accepted he was elected president and didn't cry our eyes out on the street corners. If yo don't like Trump, another election comes up in three years. Voice your opinion then if you are qualified and registered to vote.
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