{"id":640885,"date":"2026-03-08T12:05:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T12:05:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/640885\/"},"modified":"2026-03-08T12:05:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T12:05:23","slug":"horrified-by-the-state-of-the-union-hes-an-angry-protester-but-hes-also-optimistic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/640885\/","title":{"rendered":"Horrified by the state of the union, he’s an angry protester. But he’s also optimistic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I know a lot of people who suffer from a chronic malady that gets worse each time there\u2019s news out of Washington. Supporters of the current president of the United States might refer to this condition as a side effect of Trump derangement syndrome, but it\u2019s more like Trump fatigue syndrome.<\/p>\n

Symptoms can include a desire to tune out for a spell, stick your head in an ice bucket, or find another way to numb the senses.<\/p>\n

But some brave souls, instead of looking away, step into the fray.<\/p>\n

Bert Voorhees, for instance.<\/p>\n

I came upon his name while reading coverage of the Monday evening demonstration<\/a> at City Hall in downtown L.A., where protesters railed against the bombing of Iran \u2014 the latest example of Trump acting as if he\u2019s king of the world and answerable to nobody, including Congress, the courts or the American people.<\/p>\n

\"On <\/p>\n

On the steps of L.A. City Hall, people attend the March 2 Answer Coalition rally protesting the attack on Iran by the U.S. and Israel.<\/p>\n

(Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

With missiles flying, civilians dying and chaos spreading, Voorhees told USA Today<\/a> that the Iranian ayatollah\u2019s violence against his own people did not justify a U.S. military assault. In Voorhees\u2019 mind, it\u2019s American democracy that is under attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people don\u2019t stand up and get loud about this, all together right now, we\u2019re not going to have a country,\u201d the northeast San Fernando Valley resident said. \u201cSo, it\u2019s time for people to get serious, get in the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

I called Voorhees, a retired lawyer and teacher, and we had a long chat that continued the next day over lunch in Montrose. We\u2019re both in our 70s, and we both have trouble aligning the country we\u2019re living in with the vision we had for it as younger men. Who could have anticipated years of bullying and name-calling, pathological lying about a \u201cstolen\u201d election or the routing of congressional and judicial opposition?<\/p>\n

I confessed to Voorhees that I completely misread the direction this country was heading back when the first Black president in history termed out in 2016. I would have bet that as a more diverse and tolerant population came of voting age, old divisions would fade slowly into history and the U.S. would keep pushing toward higher elevations.<\/p>\n

Silly me.<\/p>\n

\"Voorhees <\/p>\n

Voorhees says he\u2019s demonstrated hundreds of times, but with immigration raids and now the war in Iran, President Trump is keeping him extra busy. \u201cIf people don\u2019t stand up and get loud about this, all together right now, we\u2019re not going to have a country,\u201d said Voorhees. \u201cSo, it\u2019s time for people to get serious, get in the streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Maybe it was the naively wishful thinking of a parent wanting his kids to live in a more evolved country rather than one filled with Neanderthal notions about science, medicine, climate, and non-white immigrants.<\/p>\n

To Voorhees, these are reasons to raise hell rather than to lose faith, and he\u2019s not alone. The No Kings rallies<\/a> in greater L.A. were massive. Home Depot civilian patrols<\/a> have looked out for hard-working neighbors because \u201csilence is violence.\u201d The whistle brigades<\/a> are defending their communities.<\/p>\n

Denise Giardina, a Huntington Beach book seller and friend of Voorhees\u2019, has been on Home Depot patrols in her community and said planning various political actions is practically a full-time job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have daughters and wanted them to have more rights than me, and I\u2019m not sure that\u2019s going to happen,\u201d Giardina said.<\/p>\n

When Giardina needs a break, she goes for a hike, which serves as a reminder that a single protest doesn\u2019t change the world, but small steps matter. <\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you can\u2019t think about the end,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just one foot in front of the other. It\u2019s not government that\u2019s going to save us. It\u2019s going to be the people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A crowd gathered at Los Angeles City Hall on March 2 to protest the bombing of Iran by the United States and Israel.<\/p>\n

(Jason Armond \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Roseanne Constantino, a Silver Lake graphic designer whose activism includes knocking on doors during election cycles, sending postcards and making phone calls, has been on the front lines with Voorhees and shares his sense of duty.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, for people to say, \u2018I can\u2019t watch the news, I\u2019m numb, I\u2019m overwhelmed, I have to tune out,\u2019 is so much privilege talking, because they can tune out, because they\u2019re safe,\u201d Constantino said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI find it\u2019s like a gateway drug,\u201d she added, \u201cbecause even people who have never done anything activist in their life eventually find themselves at a protest and are buoyed by the community and the sense of purpose and expression of opposition, but also of the love of democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Voorhees, \u201cdemocracy is a privilege,\u201d and your participation does not end with voting. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to make sure they do the right things,\u201d he said, \u201cand that requires paying attention and supervising them, if you will. Politicians are supposed to work for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voorhees told me that under President Obama, when drones were used in targeted overseas killings, he took to the streets in protest.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an equal opportunity activist, but we just haven\u2019t had in my lifetime a person so determined to destroy democracy,\u201d Voorhees said. \u201cI called Reagan a fascist, and Reagan felt like a fascist until I met this man, who is the head of a fascist movement in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wagered that the bombing of Iran by the America-first president \u2014 who promised to end rather than start wars \u2014 was Trump\u2019s way of projecting strength at a time of weakness. Many of the president\u2019s true believers are applauding, but it seems that nothing was learned from past Middle East meddling that ended badly, and with no thoughtful consideration of what comes next, Epic Fury could be followed by Epic Quagmire.<\/p>\n

Voorhees insists this wasn\u2019t just a show of might, but an act of distraction.<\/p>\n

From the Epstein files, for instance. From the empty promises about lower prices for groceries and consumer goods, the droopy favorability ratings, midterm election fears and the mess created by tariffs that cost American merchants millions of dollars and were declared illegal.<\/p>\n

Voorhees is mad about all of that, but made a point of clarification.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s not demoralized.<\/p>\n

\"Over <\/p>\n

More than 200 people protest the U.S. and Israel\u2019s war against Iran in front of City Hall in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday. Protesters carried Mexican, Palestinian and Iranian flags at the rally organized by the Answer Coalition.<\/p>\n

(Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe arc of the universe bends toward justice,\u201d Voorhees said, \u201cbut it doesn\u2019t do it steadily. There are retreats. Two steps forward, one back. One step forward, three back. We\u2019re in one of those periods. \u2026 But we can overcome, and I believe in the long run we probably will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minneapolis is the model, he said. When two innocent people were killed in immigration raids, the community came together and rose in protest, forcing a retreat of Trump\u2019s forces and sparking a national conversation about the brutal tactics.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinneapolis pushed back against that with humanity, and that\u2019s the future we want to build,\u201d Voorhees said. \u201cThat\u2019s the future Martin Luther King Jr. always wanted. That\u2019s the beloved community. That\u2019s the ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things will change only if \u201cwe get up off the couch,\u201d said Voorhees, who attended another antiwar protest Saturday on the steps of City Hall with a sign that asked, \u201cWho Would Jesus Bomb?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can march ahead with a heavy heart and a downcast head, or dance ahead with a smile and a tune on your lips, hand in hand with people you care about. Why not do that? All empires fall. All kings and tyrants fail in the end. Sometimes it\u2019s fast. Sometimes it\u2019s slow. But that day is coming and, as the Twin Cities proved, love is stronger than hate, if only just.\u201d<\/p>\n

steve.lopez@latimes.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I know a lot of people who suffer from a chronic malady that gets worse each time there\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":640886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5123],"tags":[206742,272771,1582,276,718,9958,272774,25241,272773,14499,21132,2961,224,5337,3546,71441,272772,6620,277,8572],"class_list":["post-640885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-american-democracy","tag-bert-voorhees","tag-ca","tag-california","tag-community","tag-country","tag-denise-giardina","tag-downtown-l-a","tag-fascist","tag-head","tag-king","tag-la","tag-los-angeles","tag-losangeles","tag-people","tag-sense","tag-single-protest","tag-time","tag-trump","tag-violence"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116193469238160539","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}