Several hundred Vermonters, including Yours Truly, gathered at the corner of State and Main in downtown Montpelier for a Saturday morning protest against Orange Hitler and his gang. It was a lively event, and impressive considering that it was apparently organized at the last minute. (We’d been monitoring the 50501 website for events in the area, and we didn’t see a Montpelier rally on the schedule until late in the week.) Also considering that it started raining about halfway through the scheduled hour-long honk-and-wave. Most people stuck it out until noon, although some of their signs looked a bit worse for wear.

We got an encouraging response from passing vehicles, many of which honked their support and got enthusiastic cheers in return. It was a beautiful thing.

Do gatherings like this matter? Do they make a difference? I can’t prove that they do, but they’re better than the alternative of not doing something.