I postponed blogging about the "people's convoy", expecting it to turn into a significant story at some point-- but it looks like it came and went without anything more than a whimper.
Day one of the great Washington, D.C., trucker convoy went great … for regular drivers, that is. Motorists on the Capital Beltway hardly noticed that anything was happening. For the truckers (some of whom were actually SUV or minivan drivers), the whole affair was kind of embarrassing. After a day of confusion last Saturday, they changed things up and decided instead to go out on Sunday and circle the Beltway twice at 40 miles per hour, making a show of strength that would be a “huge pain” for regular traffic. At most, they managed to be a minor irritation in a region already accustomed to heavy traffic.
According to reports, the convoy was unable to stay together as soon as it encountered normal Beltway traffic. Some bailed after a single lap. And the whole group got so stretched out and broken up that Virginia State police were not even sure they could call it a convoy anymore, according to spokeswoman Corinne Geller.
Nevertheless, the rabid Trump supporters retreated once again to a raceway parking lot in the suburbs of Maryland and vowed to keep doing loops around the Capital Beltway every day until their “message” is heard—though it’s hard to tell exactly what that message is. During their downtime, the "truckers" have been getting each other all riled up and directing their frustrations at journalists who try to report on them, indulging their bigotry in the process. One reporter from an ABC News affiliate, a Black man, was heckled out by the crowd. An observer named Terry Bouton posted about the scene, telling about a worrisome moment when a crowd surrounded a black reporter for DC's ABC affiliate. They asked why the black reporter was sent. They demanded he say, "Truckers are heroes!" on air. When he refused, a man repeatedly shouted "LEAVE!" in his face. The reporter left, visibly shaken.
The whole thing started weeks ago when Fox news started reporting on similar protests in Canada (which were quickly put down without much effort). The American "people's convoy" was supposed to be all about doing away with COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and mandates. But the problem is that way before the convoy got under way, most of the restrictions had already been rescinded or blocked in the courts on the federal level, and on the local and state levels were already ending. So along the way to DC, the protesters changed their tune, saying what they’re really about is “taking back our freedom,” Maybe these privileged jerks should stay home and read a little bit about Ukrainians-- people who are actually losing their freedoms.
The reality is that nobody really knows what to expect from this unpredictable, nonsensical bunch of assholes. They say they’re protesting until their demands are met, but they don't really have any coherent demands. They say they’ve come to the nation’s capital to protest public health restrictions-- but they have fallen away all over the nation for weeks before they set out on their journey. Some of them are talking about high gas prices-- yet those prices don't seem to be high enough to prevent them from spending hundreds of dollars in gas in an attempt to disrupt other people’s lives. Some flew Confederate battle flags-- well, because they could get away with it. There doesn't seem to really be any rationale at this point, beyond the far right asserting its media-given right to attention.
Thousands of people have donated to the cause, but the Washington Post reported that the primary fundraising operation for the convoy
is run by a woman convicted in 2020 of felony fraud and exploitation. Uninformed media sources like to say that these folks represent the working class-- but I don't know anyone with a job that could afford to take off for weeks and weeks and spend thousands of dollars on something that isn't even grounded in reality and have a practical end goal in sight.
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