October 16 Blog: No Kings 4 is Different

Dear Friends:

It’s exciting, and a little scary, to be so close to the midterms and clearly entering a new stage of the resistance to fascism in modern America. This Saturday October 17 is No Kings Early Vote, or No Kings 4 (NK4).

Experience shows that large demonstrations shortly before elections increase voter turnout, so the goal of NK4 is no longer just proving this appalling presidential administration is opposed by millions of people, but to actually do something about it and get millions to vote, and vote early.

But how? There is a lot of variability in early voting even within states. While there is early voting in Arlington this Saturday, there is not in Alexandria and Fairfax. So there are many different approaches to encouraging early voting for NK4. There will be a morning march led by Third Act DMV that you can join from 10:00 am to 12 Noon at Memorial Circle for a Voter Fest, Rally and March Across Memorial Bridge.

If you’d like to do the march, please note that Metro stops on that route will be closed for long scheduled maintenance work, so getting there for the march could be difficult. I am told that “If you get off the metro at the Reagan National Airport there will be people directing you to a free bus that will take you to Arlington Metro. They will help to make sure you get on the right bus. These buses are different from the local buses and are added just for the metro shut downs.”

For NK4, Rush Hour Resistance (RHR) plans to be on the Fairlington bridge tomorrow (Saturday October 17) afternoon from 2:30-4:00 pm with banners, music, rides to the polls, car window painting.  We’ll have a handout on reasons to vote early. If you’d like to use it, the link will give you a pdf to copy. I understand why many people prefer to vote on election day itself, but this year is different. It’s very important for us to bank as many votes as possible before November 3. Our RHR timing for Saturday allows folks to go downtown in the morning if they’d like and/or (for Arlington voters) to vote afterwards at Walter Reed Community Center, Langston-Brown or Courthouse that afternoon until 5:00 pm. If you’re in the area, come join us!

It’s hard to believe the midterms are so close; less than 2-1/2 weeks away. RHR has been regularly on the bridge for 20 months now, including No Kings 1, 2, and 3 and its precursor in April ‘25. Over that time we’ve had a constant window onto the mood of people in our area. We’ve gone from being one of a few bridge brigades with mostly puzzled reactions as people wondered what we thought we were doing standing out almost daily with our flags

and banners.... to being one of over 500 bridge brigades nationally as more and more people honked and waved in support. People now regularly thank us. Many people now understand the importance of demonstrating resistance. The number of rude and angry reactions has declined steadily as everyone’s lives are more and more affected by the corrupt fascist regime currently in power. Many people are, finally, “connecting the dots."

I do not expect things to get better immediately after November 3 even if we have an overwhelming Democratic win. In fact, the political situation will probably be more chaotic and difficult as the corrupt regime does everything it can to hold onto power.  We’re planning to be ready for that, which I’ll discuss in a later blog. Meanwhile….

We’re moving into my favorite time of year. I was lucky enough to be in New Hampshire last week. Fall was there in all its glory and will be here soon. I hope my readers can find time to both resist fascism and appreciate the extraordinary beauty around us.

Yours in peaceful resistance, 

Libby