Washington DC braces for an American version of the Freedom Convoy

 

The Canadian truck convoy. Fox News.

Washington DC is beginning to prepare for an American version of the Freedom Convoy. Fox News. Thousands of trucks are expected to descend on the capital, with a convoy from Scranton Pennsylvania expected as soon as Wednesday. The National Guard has already been requested to assist with traffic control. The truck convoy was inspired by the protests in Canada. 

My Comment:

I've got mixed feelings about this. I absolutely believe that these people have the right to protest and that the Biden administration deserves to be protested. The fact that there are still any federal restrictions due to the Coronavirus is absolutely insane. The pandemic is basically over and the current strains of the Coronavirus are at the same level of threat as a bad flu year. 

Biden in general deserves to be protested. He's been a terrible president and just about every policy decision he has made has been damaging. The fact that there hasn't been major protests against him since January 6th, even though his approval rating is in the toilet. 

I do have some concern about the protest again. The first problem is that I don't expect it to do much. The Canadian version failed after a violent crackdown. The main problem that I saw is that the Canadians gave up on the border protests. The protests in Ottawa were nothing more than an annoyance to the powers that be, but the border protests? That put a lot of pressure on the Canadian government and when they gave it up they ended up losing everything. 

The other problem is that Washington DC is well prepared for the convoy. The Ottawa protest was partially successful because the Canadian government discounted it and did not have any plan for when people showed up. That's not the case now in DC, everyone knows this is coming and the government there is already deploying the National Guard and fencing. 

One thing I don't know is how passionate the protesters will be. I know in my case the remaining Coronavirus restrictions are almost completely irrelevant to me as they don't affect me at all. The only place I go where facemasks are required is at work, and that mandate is hardly enforced. There is no vaccine mandate and my state, Wisconsin, had largely returned to normal last summer. Indeed, outside of work the only time I had to wear a mask is when I went to the doctor's office when I was sick with hand foot and mouth. And to be honest, since I was infected with a contagious disease, I didn't mind wearing a mask there. With that being said, I do think that any and all remaining Coronavirus should be lifted due to them being utterly pointless. 

I know that my state isn't the same as every other state, but even states with restrictions are largely removing them. People are still angry but not as much as the Canadians were. Anger is needed to keep a protest movement going and I don't see the issue of Coronavirus restrictions are enough right now. There is a lot of general anger over the Biden administration, but having a wide unfocused movement is ripe for distraction. 

With that being said, I do appreciate the effort. If there is anything the Biden administration needs to hear right now, along with other Western leaders, it's this. We aren't afraid of them and we don't consider them to be legitimate. This protest will, if nothing else, accomplish that, assuming it comes together.