Protests and Parades: The Dog That Did Not Bark

We've been going at this thread for a little while, and I'm afraid that if I were reading it rather than writing it, I might be starting to lose patience. At the very least, I'd be asking: What's the point?

That's a difficult question to answer. I certainly don't want to have this interpreted as a broad and simplistic statement about where the country is now. There's nothing simple about this, and it would be a huge mistake to use these protests—however historic—as the basis for some theory about where the country is and where it's headed. By the same token, however, it would be a possibly even worse mistake to formulate theories that ignore the events happening outside your own window.

What are some of the things that a comprehensive theory would take into account? As previously discussed, there's the fact that much of the national press—led by The New York Times and The Washington Post—largely ignored what may be the largest peaceful protest in American history. If you're trying to understand the relationship between establishment media and the rise of MAGA, this is certainly a significant data point. Likewise, your explanations need to allow for both the magnitude and the distribution of the protests. If you're going to tell a Country Mouse, City Mouse tale, it needs to allow for a surprisingly large number of country mice on an unexpected side.

There's one more thing we should add to this list. In addition to what happened and where it happened, we also need to pay attention to what didn't happen. Even in the most solidly red districts, there does not appear to have been significant, organic counter-protests. There were the usual paramilitary groups like the Proud Boys and Patriot Front trucked in (in some cases literally). There were, based on published accounts and from what I've heard from friends, one or two disgruntled Trump supporters in places like Atlanta, either grumbling or trying to shout down the crowds. There were lone wolves carrying firearms, and in some cases committing acts of violence.

But I haven't found any accounts of large groups of local Trump supporters forming any kind of substantial counter-demonstrations, even in the reddest of red districts. Did they happen at all? Quite probably. But we can say with some confidence that they were rare.

What does it all mean? I have no idea. I'm not even prepared to advance any theories. All I'm willing to say at this point is that it's surprising and notable—and when the dust settles and we all start telling ourselves stories about what happened back in 2025, we need to make sure those stories include all the significant events and, in this case, non-events—even if they didn't make the front page of The New York Times.