Briefly:
Upon the announcement of Donald Trump’s successful bid to become Presidente of the US of A, a local fanboy in Melbourne decided to dub himself ‘Supreme Leader President Donald Trump’ and to organise a public celebration. First aiming to have a victory party at Federation Square on Saturday, November 19, after discovering the fact that a rally to #BlockTheBill was also scheduled for the Square on that date, the time and place was changed to Parliament House and Sunday, November 20. The Facebook event page attracted a large number of interested parties which, as well as all The Usual Suspects of the far right, included a much larger number (hundreds!) of racist teenyboppers. Naturally, shortly after fanboy made his bold declaration, the methgoblins of the True Blue Crew jumped on the Trump bandwagon, as did the neo-Nazis in the United Patriots Front. And so, naturally, anti-fascists organised a counter-protest …
Despite a good deal of hype — bizarrely, The Age decided to explicitly link the Trump rally to the Springvale fire (Far-right group to rally in Melbourne as Springvale fire tragedy fuels racism on social media, Neelima Choahan, November 19, 2016) — barely a handful of people elected to rally for Trump: just 20 according to Adam Carey (later amended to 30), with most reports suggesting perhaps twice that number (40-50). On the other hand, something in the order of 300 or so people attended the anti-Trump rally, including the FIVE FLAG GENERAL — who proved once again to be unbashable.
So … all in all, the Trump train appears to be stranded somewhere between Frankston and Melton stations, the altright in Melbourne remains a fringe enthusiasm for keyboard warriors, and the TBC and UPF failed to paint the town orange. They did, however, once again retreat to The Pumphouse Hotel, confirming the pub’s status as a fascist-friendly venue: boo! mAd props to all the good folk who rocked up to tell Trump and his handful of supporters to bugger off — you rock! See youse next time … and remember that your pressure really does place real limits on the ability of the far right to mobilise and to build.
See also : Anti-immigration, anti-racism forces protest in Melbourne, heavy police presence, ABC, November 20, 2016 | Melb CBD closed off for Trump rallies, SBS (AAP), November 20, 2016 | Melbourne pro-Trump rally outnumbered by police and counter-protesters, Calla Wahlquist, The Guardian, November 20, 2016.
TRUMP is still President. YOU LOSE!
1. Shortly after we marched away, I received a (second hand) report that about 40 Fash had turned up at Parliament. It sounded to me like a bus arriving late from Bendigo & Melton. Even if that was correct, we still outnumbered them about 3 to 1 (my unscientific estimate of our numbers being about 200). A number of people I spoke to thought we should have stayed at Parliament for another half an hour. We probably would have if that busload had turned up before we left.
2. Stalkeeblog: “TRUMP is still President. YOU LOSE!”
Actually, Trump *isn’t* President and won’t be for another two months. We came out to oppose Trump’s local boosters, who are actual capital-F Fascists. And, while Hillary Clinton has lost (and good riddance to her), the Left hasn’t lost at all. It’s one thing to put your feet under the President’s desk, you see, and another thing entirely to implement your policies against determined grassroots opposition. Let’s see how smug Trump & his supporters are in about 18 months time, after people realise the harm he intends to women & ethnic minorities in no way translates into benefits for white male workers.
You think Dubya ran into opposition? Well, to quote the inimitable BTO, “You ain’t seen nothing yet”.
But we don’t have a president in Australia. YOU LOSE!
@Andy Sour grapes. Even by your unscientific and unfactual numbers, 200 whining weiners from the dissident, disenfranchised slums of Melbourne hardly count for a meaningful uprising, which is why you always lose except in your own deluded imaginations.
@Leftardstic Who knew? Still losing as always. Have a shower.
@stalkleeblog:
It wasn’t an ‘uprising’, it was a counter-rally which proved to be effective.
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