The January 20th “Women’s March on Washington” looks to be an important symbolic moment in the nascent anti-Trump movement. But problems are already emerging regarding the protest, with the Washington Post reporting that the National Parks Service has not yet decided how municipal land will be set aside for this contentious weekend. “Federal regulations essentially give priority to the inaugural committee, setting aside prime land, including the entire Mall…for its use. Land around the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument is also included… The permits are doled out on a first-come, first-served basis. Trump’s Presidential Inaugural Committee hasn’t technically been issued any permits yet, but it’s at the front of the line to receive them.”
Permits or not, the Parks Service is in for a rude awakening if it thinks that hundreds of thousands of activists already committed to attending the march will be deterred at this incredibly important historic moment. Not since Abraham Lincoln have mass protests emerged prior to and coinciding with a presidential inauguration, signaling just how controversial the Trump presidency has become.
Available data suggest that, contrary to Trump’s pronouncements of a public mandate and a “record” electoral college victory, the incoming President is already the least popular in modern history, before even spending a single day in office. First off, his electoral mandate is the weakest we’ve seen in modern times….