This last Saturday on the Boston Common there was a rally for free speech. Organized by right leaning people who were going to meet there from noon to five. A pal and I went to check it out. We thought it might be interesting. My pal voted for Trump and I voted for Hillary. It was a bust. But here is one account.

When I arrived around noon the free speech side was gathering near the Rotunda. Not that many people maybe a hundred. Not very organized yet. But it was still early. Many on this side had American Flags and a couple of Kakastan flags. Had to ask them what the flag was and had the concept explained to me. Various signs about free speech and not a single sign endorsing Trump. Not many women came out to join this group. One sign read “Patton should have finished the job” with a hammer and sickle. Lots of body armor and gear as they knew the type of opposition that would be there. I did not do a lot of research on this group before going. But I assumed they would all be pro-Trump but I didn’t see a lot of that. I was surprised to see that it was mostly about free speech, patriotism, and not Trump. As time passed more showed up, and at the height there were maybe two or three hundred total.

The Antifa (anti-fascist) folks were there on the opposing hill. Many dressed in all black with sticks and helmets and covered faces. A couple of Soviet Union flags. Numerous signs against the current administration. This side was vocal and chanting various phrases and slogans. Most knew the words. When you wandered among them they were vocal about not filming or taking pictures as they thought we were going to expose their identity. This group had equal gender, were very young, and were all heart and emotion. Am sure you have heard the saying “If you aren’t a liberal in your twenties you have no heart, if you aren’t a conservative in your forties you have no brain.” This came to mind frequently as I observed. Their speakers had some far-out poems that reminded me of Ashley Judd’s ridiculous rant a few months ago. But some of the points and speeches were more moderate. But they were there to fight and nudge the free speech group. That’s it. Calling them the “KKK” and racists and misogynists.

The police were in the middle. A couple of dozen but they would not really be needed. You could tell immediately that this scene was protest light and that nothing was going to occur. We witnessed a couple of moments were a few from each side would come to the middle and scream at each other for a bit until the police shooed them away. A couple of arrests but it was mostly the police having a zero-tolerance policy and making it clear they would allow protesting all day but no physical contact. There was never any threat that there would be a clash or any real unrest.

So, what was the point and outcome for both sides? There was no point. Nothing was accomplished or inched forward and no next steps. They both just came dug-in with their current viewpoints. Yelled at each other a bit, had some fun with their side, and went home. Neither side was very organized. What a bust. Neither side had a lot of people. The women’s march had a huge number of people. This was just a mild and amusing sideshow.

But there is a point. Both sides want the same thing. The anti-fascist side is fed up with corporate America and the class system they see as enslaving the public and creating a false reality which we call a free society. You see they know better. Or at least that is their identity. We are all domesticated-zombies that just accept the status quo and the fascist system put in place. Disguised as democracy. The ruling class get rich and the rest of us are on our own and everything we do is choreographed by this ruling class. The free speech side is sick of big government. To them it is all government, not just democrats or just republicans, bringing us down. Elite republicans are just as bad in their minds as snowflakes. They want change and voted for Trump because they had hope he was a true outsider that could be a disruptor. The media is a huge issue for this fringe a well. Because they pick and choose what stories and angles to promote. The anti-fascist crowd probably agrees with this. The media is the state-run propaganda channels that promote and feed the corporate fascist state.

My view of all this? The groups represented at the rally account for maybe 3 out of every 10 Americans. They are the loud fringe groups that never get anything done. Loud because they are vocal on the #MAGA side or the #TheResistance side. We hear from them on Twitter, and in the media. But they only represent maybe 30% of the people. Lots of high energy talk with no results or plan. Let’s go fringing!