Trump was not prepared for this.
But neither was I.
After spending five days on my back, sick as a dog, I landed in Los Angeles, the land of winter heat and thick air, and...
There was no limo driver.
I'm busy b.s.'ing with Tempkins, who's planning to go to the Westin, lord only knows how that turned out, and Felice is getting frustrated. But I tell her we landed forty five minutes early, that's why the driver wasn't there.
That's not why the driver was absent. He couldn't get anywhere near the airport. Because, you see, they were protesting Trump's immigration policy at the Bradley Terminal.
Thank god we didn't take the driver's advice, when he called in and told us to get a cab to where he was on 98th Street... Not because I'm afraid of the neighborhood, to which a degree I am, but because there were no cabs!
I pulled out my phone.
Used to be in times of crisis you turned on the television.
On the news apps?
Nothing.
I had to go to Twitter, where the feed was blowing up, #LAX, it was all there to see, frustration, gas being poured on fire, and I was catching up as the sirens started to scream, the gumballs swirled, and suddenly I felt like I was in Europe during the last century, when workers went on strike and brought cities to a crawl.
They brought LAX to a crawl.
But I wasn't frustrated, I didn't care how long it took to get out, made me proud to be an American, made me feel we can beat this jerk, because we've got the majority on our side. And just like we found out every family has a gay member, however closeted, it turns out every family has a foreign relative or has been here relatively briefly and who knew there would be such a spontaneous reaction to the ban?
And spontaneous is the key. Trump could brush aside the Women's March, it was planned and foreseen. But shutting down airports? I don't think anybody in the Cabinet pictured that. Then again, when was the last time these people flew commercial anyway?
So what to do?
After waiting forever for our bags, it is LAX, after all, like hillbillies we started strolling for the exits. And it was so crowded on the sidewalks that we realized we might as well walk in the street, there were no cars at all. Nobody at LAX could be picked up!
And nobody could be dropped off!
In the other direction were the huddled masses walking in, having abandoned their rides, not wanting to miss their flights.
But it was not pandemonium, everybody was cool, this is how you give the middle finger to the powers-that-be.
Turns out Trump didn't think his policy through. And when he says how few people were actually denied entrance who's gonna believe him, after the inauguration fiasco, everything he says, especially when it comes to statistics, is false.
But the public was mad as hell, and they couldn't take it anymore. And you may not have been at the airport but soon you're gonna be inconvenienced too. Because as President Dodo institutes his policies the public is gonna rise up again and again and again.
We haven't had this spirit here since 1969. When the public had enough of the Vietnam War. You may not have been alive back then, but a great majority was for the war before it was against it. Unlike politicians, the public can change its mind. And on Twitter you're seeing the regret, the people who voted for Trump and are now reconsidering.
That's what's great about history. You cannot see what is coming. We thought Trump would be toppled by truth in newspapers, but really it's gonna be you and me, standing up to the man.
So we're walking out of the airport. The lines for the taxis look like you'll get out by Tuesday. As for Uber... Not such a great solution when you can't get in. And what Uber driver would attempt to anyway. Made me glad that in this instance we had a car.
Which we eventually met two terminals away. And after being picked up we started to see...
Traffic. Empty roads on the way out, gridlock on the way in. Funny how so few can impact the lives of so many. Which is kind of how we got into this mess in the first place, Trump believing he could run herd with his minority over the majority.
Call it people power. Pushback that was not anticipated. We kept hearing the Republicans control Congress as well as the White House, soon the Supreme Court too. And that's very depressing.
But tonight I'm optimistic.
Because it's you and me, baby. United we stand, Delta and Southwest too, and when we're together there's no stopping us.
It's democracy in action.
You can't keep the will of the people down.
And the people have spoken and are continuing to speak.
Just because you squeaked to a victory by playing to a slice of America's public inciting their biases and fears, that does not mean you have a mandate to trample our rights.
There was no plan folks. This bad businessman who has been kept alive by banks as he raped and pillaged in Atlantic City and around the world has been shooting from the hip. Whereas great leaders weigh and plan and...
Do everything Trump won't do.
Johnny came marching home tonight.
And he's gonna keep on marching until truth, justice and the American way are restored!
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