As the Trumpian assault on this country’s constitution accelerated through the month of February, more and more people on social media were grouching along the lines of, “If this was France they’d be rioting in the streets of Paris already but all the Americans do is file lawsuits.”

Well yes, lots of lawsuits are indeed being filed at state and federal level, and are stacking up daily, as much of what Musk and Trump are doing is actually illegal. But that’s not the whole story. In fact, protests are accelerating across the country – it’s just that they are spread out across a very large area, so not as photogenic.

Some background: Here in the US, the contiguous 48, i.e., the 50 states minus Alaska and Hawaii, is a little over three million square miles (add Alaska and Hawaii and we’re talking 3.8 million). France? Around 200,000 square miles. So, a disgruntled resident of Marseilles who wants to get to Paris only has to drive about 480 miles. The UK is even smaller; even with all the little islands around its shores added in, it tops out at just under 81,000 square miles.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that the US is a strongly federal system, with a great deal of political power also resting at the state level. Unlike France, which is the epitome of a unitary state, i.e., Everything happens in Paris. (Or so most Parisians believe, although when it comes to political power, they’re right.)

And, of course, mass protests in the US can get frighteningly violent, thanks to the preponderance of heavily armed police forces that aren’t afraid to open up. To give just one local example, the City of Philadelphia ended up reaching a $9.25 million settlement with protesters who were hit with tear gas and pepper spray during the 2020 Black Lives Matter demonstrations following the murder of George Floyd. At one point, the City brought in the National Guard (that’s sort of akin to the Territorial Army) and declared a curfew. 

Remember, too, that the social safety net has some massive holes here in the US. If you get fired from your job (because, say, you missed a couple of days to go wave placards, or your face showed up in some news story the company owner didn’t like) then you don’t just lose your income. Odds are, you’ll be losing your health insurance, too. 

All good reasons why protests in the US don’t usually look like those in France.

And yet, protests across the US are gathering strength. March 7 this year saw a series of protests under the banner Stand Up for Science. Started as a grassroots movement of grad students horrified by the impact of funding cuts across a broad swathe of scientific research, there ended up being over 120 separate events registered on the Stand Up website. This included 30+ major rallies in cities coast to coast, each with thousands of participants; plus, a slew of smaller events in deeply Republican states like Missouri. Pennsylvania saw big rallies in both Philadelphia (in the south-east corner of the state), and Pittsburgh (around 300 miles to the west).

The above was in Seattle; phagocytose is a biology term, something to do with engulfing and destroying (yes, I had to look it up). 

Being scientists, the standard of placards was particularly high.

Transgenic mice (if you don’t know the story behind this one, look it up, it’s depressingly hilarious).

The Columbia Missourian, a local newspaper from that area, reported, “The Missouri Capitol’s south lawn was packed Friday as nearly a hundred Missourians protested federal budget cuts as part of a national movement called Stand Up for Science.” In many ways, those smaller events are more indicative of the building groundswell of anger.

Anti-Tesla protests are also growing, with regularly scheduled events at Tesla showrooms and charging stations across the country. What started as a few people waving placards outside a handful of showrooms has escalated to the point that you can go to ActionNetwork.org and find out where the next events will be in your area.

It’s got to the point that Chicago’s finest were deployed ahead of a protest in that city.

President Trump ranted recently about the “Radical Left Lunatics…trying to illegally boycott Tesla.” Must be working, then.

Another grassroots group called 50501 (50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement) is organizing “to uphold the Constitution and end executive overreach.” Each successive ‘day of action’ has seen more locations and larger crowds involved. 

These are just some of the events I’m aware of; there are other grassroots actions being organized across the country.

Some of the most astonishing, however, have been the protests at the Town Halls held by Republican Representatives and Senators. Town Halls are when a pol leaves DC to go back to their home constituency or state and has a meeting with voters. They’re usually fairly civilized affairs with the pol bragging about the great things they’ve achieved and voters politely listening and taking it in turns to ask questions and raise local concerns.

From BlueSky. Jack Bergman townhall (congressman from Michigan)

The mounting level of vitriol GOP congresspeople have faced in recent weeks, even in the deepest of deep red states, has prompted the Republican leadership to tell party members to stop holding public events. Meanwhile, phone lines to Congress are jammed. I saw one report that the Senate switchboard is averaging 1,600 calls a minute, up from the usual 40—I doubt people are calling to register support and praise.

The rising tide of anger is not surprising. Funding and job cuts are hitting everything from cancer research to agricultural programs to Veterans’ Affairs to anyone who works for the federal government. Rumor has it that the postal service—a literal lifeline in rural areas—may be next. There’s also the chaos of on-again-off-again tariffs. The stock market is tanking. And now threats are being drawn up to slash Medicaid, the federal health insurance for the poorest, which covers about half of all births in this country, plus a third of kids, and more than half of all nursing home residents. Next on the block will be Medicare (federal health insurance for those age 65+), and social security (the state old age pension system).

So, the only people not being impacted at this point are … pretty much the richest 1%? Shocker.

Remember the Leopards Eating People’s Faces Party meme, the parody of voters who support cruel policies and are then surprised when their own lives become worse? It started back in 2015 with this viral tweet:

We are indeed living in one big FAFO timeline.

The national Democratic Party leadership have been infuriatingly slow to react to the extreme political threat of this constitution-shredding moment, or to the levels of anger across the country. But some Democrats have seized the moment, offering to hold their own Town Halls in Republican districts. And some local organizers reportedly are planning “empty chair town halls” in Republican districts, akin to the one pictured above in Bergman’s district, saying they’ll hold the meeting even if invited pols don’t show up.

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren (D) showed up at a rally organized by Democratic Representative Lloyd Doggett at his patch in Austin, Texas, and over 3,000 people showed up.

(Screenshot from Warren’s BlueSky)

Will all of this change anything? Optimists point to the likelihood of a blue wave in the 2026 elections. Pessimists look at the degree of vote suppression tactics escalating in many states (which is a subject for another time). As for those holding out hope for the legal system—do we really want to depend on THIS Supreme Court to act as a constitutional bulwark?

But at the end of the day, there are no wrong tactics or wrong protests. The more the merrier.

There’s a Canadian response rapidly gaining traction on social media, apparently based on a very effective hockey playing tactic. Time to do like the Canadians. #ElbowsUp