Yesterday was Earth Day. Happy belated Earth Day, mother Earth!

A Not So Silent Spring

by Molly Regan
April 2025

A Not So Silent Spring was held in Davenport, Iowa USA. “Hands Off” was the real name of the rally here and in over 2,000 locations across America. But I feel this Saturday 5 April 2025’s protests across our beloved hurting country can also be known as A Not So Silent Spring.

The reason: U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. He stood for over 25 hours and filibustered the dome off the U.S. Senate.

The grit, patriotism, perseverance, hutzpah, and sheer knowledge this man displayed deserves a medal. Sen. Cory Booker deserves an Oscar. He deserves an Emmy. He deserves a Tony. Let’s throw in a statue in the National Statuary Hall Collection. How about a lifetime of free car washes somebody?

Sen. Cory Booker is now the new record holder for filibustering the U.S. senate. Those who have not yet re-engaged in saving our Democracy, certainly were given the boost needed to get back out there by Sen. Booker’s actions. He gave a more than proportional response to the current state of our bruised Democracy. Those kicking our Constitution will soon realise how many people despise them. They’ll find their attempts at destroying our beloved United States Of America won’t work.

At our Davenport “Hands Off!” rally , between 2,000-3,000 people came out. It was tremendous! We were at the new Friends Of MLK Park. Lots of signs like Hands Off Libraries, Honor our Veterans, Empathy Matters, Hands Off Housing, No Kings In America 5051, Hands Off Free Speech, Are We Great Yet?, Hands Off Social Security, Honor Our Constitution, Make Good Trouble Remember John Lewis, Everybody Is Welcome, This Is Some nazi Bullshit, and one of my favorites: OMG GOP WTF Wake Up! Plus hundreds more. On and on.

There were a dozen uplifting speakers. Followed by nearly continuous cheers only interrupted by a train next to the park. Several trains. One blared a long-held whistle we took as a sign of concurrence. Surely, a Union member conductor. We were giddy with pride-filled optimism much like a campaign rally before the Iowa caucus.

It was a thing of national beauty and a patriotic joy forever.