Jay Weber Show transcript 7-19-24 6:40am
Here’s another way that the shocking attempt on Donald Trump’s life on Saturday-affected the Republican National Convention just a few days later: nearly all the protests that were planned ‘fizzled’ and ‘dried up’ overnight.
Which is great.
According to the Journal/Sentinel and a few other news sites, the organizers of these rallies lost all sorts of enthusiasm for the planned protests after the attempt on Trump’s life.
And you can read this more than a few ways: Did these protest organizers prove that they are actually ‘decent people’ who realized it would be a foolish and counter-productive thing to do, given that the over-heated rhetoric of the era helped lead to this sort of violence?
Or- did they lose their enthusiasm for protest if they couldn’t take to the streets can call Donald Trump a Nazi and a fascist and worse?
Or- did they figure that law enforcement was going to be more motivated to crack down and make arrests this time?
Or-did the fact that they were not allowed-anywhere near-the Fiserv Forum-where the attendees might hear them? Dampen their spirits?
It is ‘all of the above’?
Take your pick of reasons...
But....the J/S talked with some of them...including one group of about fifteen people who got screwed over by the group of leaders who were supposed to speak lead the thing and never showed up.
These protestors thought there would be large crowds of people to watch them moan and complain and read
Anti-Trump poetry- but there weren’t.
And if you are a real poet-you don’t roll out your new work: Orange Reich...to an empty room.
A Nazi America...it’s time to fight.
Donald trump’s face:
Like a kitchen sponge after chili night.
But he just sits and smiles...
Over his Orange Reich.
Thank you. Thank you.
That’s nearly original.
I stole the kitchen sponge line from the daily show.
I know you’re trump fans-but that’s a funny line. Admit it: the faces of those people with those fake tans look like the kitchen sponge on chili night.
But- if you’re ‘antifa Annie’ the poet-laureate of the protest circuit...you don’t roll that out to a sparce crowd. You want people to hear it.
And the ugly, angry lefty crowds that these protest organizers assumed would show up in Milwaukee this weekend- didn’t.
That’s fantastic for all sorts of reasons.
Even on the first day!
That was when the ‘big protest parade’ was supposed to occur. It had been months in the planning, my friends. Ten thousand lunatics from dozens of organizations the left were going to descend on Milwaukee in a day of rage and protest and maybe 500 people showed up.
It was such a pathetic effort that the organizers ‘cut bait’ and ran...rather than hang around for day two.
No kidding. After a little bit of pot banging and a smattering of chanting on Monday...we in the media all got a memo from the organizers that essentially said...’well...that’ll do it for us. We had a great time here. Half a million people marched against fascism and choked the streets of Milwaukee yesterday. We think we’ve made our points....so.... we’re calling’ this a success and pulling’ out.
The truth is-it was such a low-turnout embarrassment that they slinked off in disgrace.
Another activist from ‘forward Latino’ claimed they withdrew from participation after hearing that the city as referring to the scheduled speakers as ‘demonstrators’...when the ‘forward Latino’ message isn’t really a ‘demonstration’ message.
So then they were going to do a news conference outside city hall, instead, but decided not to after the assassination attempt on Trump.
And so...You can see how the big promise of left-wing demonstrations in Milwaukee during the RNC just sort of all...fell apart...due to a lack of planning and passion.
The one thing that I-won’t-joke about-is that this event turned out to be a dud for all sorts of restaurants and bars that were-right near- or inside-the hard and soft security zones. They were promised a lot of foot traffic related to this major event-
And instead- the security zone efforts choked off some of these businesses for a week, instead of helping them. There were other winners and successes for other parts of the city-and as far out as the suburbs-where a lot of these attendees were staying.
Regionally- MKE and southeastern Wisconsin absolutely profited from this...but I do feel bad for those shop and restaurant owners that were right down there- close to the Fiserv-and were certain it would mean big business- and it didn’t for some of them.
Others down there? Like Maders? A higher end restaurant close to the action? Apparently did quite well. Others, not so much.
photo credit: Dan O'Donnell X account
audio version of the segment here> Nearly all the RNC protests ‘fizzled’ and ‘dried up’ overnight.