If you ventured to downtown Wakefield last Saturday morning, you may have thought you’d stumbled upon an open-air AARP meeting. In reality, it was a couple of dozen Woodstock alumni holding handmade (or is it handmaid?) signs proclaiming their disapproval of the current administration in Washington.

It was advertised as a gathering “to protest current government policies.” If it wasn’t immediately clear to you whether federal, state or local government policies were being assailed, then you definitely were not the target audience.

But the in-crowd? They were hip to it.

Similar protests have been happening in Melrose for several weeks. And monkey see, monkey do, as Melrose goes, so goes Wakefield – usually a month or so later.

The signs the aging activists were holding at the corner of Main and Water streets looked like they were created by art school dropouts. There were placards saying “STOP THE COUP,” “FIRE MUSK!” and “HANDS OFF MEDICAID.” I didn’t see any ping-pong paddles, but I’m sure those are in the works as we speak.

There were a couple of signs proclaiming “WE ARE THE 99%” that appeared to be left over from the 2011 Occupy Wall Street movement. (You just knew those signs would come in handy again!)

But this groovy group appeared to be reliving their glory days from a much earlier time. And they haven’t been this angry since Dylan went electric.

A sign that read “NO KINGS IN AMERICA!” might have made some sense in 1776, but this is what happens when you don’t teach history.

Another sign declared, “ELON HAS YOUR BANK ACCOUNT# AND SOCIAL SECURITY#.” Other signs sported cliched slogans like “RESIST!” and “NO OLIGARCHY!” Signs declaring “HANDS OFF OUR SOCIAL SECURITY” were de rigueur, given the average age of the protestors.

Beyond conspicuous virtue signaling, it’s not clear what purpose protests like these serve in a town and state that voted overwhelmingly for Kamala Harris. Whom, exactly, are they trying to convince?

The protest was scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 12 noon, and like clockwork, as soon as the hour ended, the resistance fighters climbed into their gas-powered cars and split for their cozy suburban homes.

But rest assured, they’ll be back again this Saturday. The Oligarchy isn’t going to fight itself, after all.
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[This column originally appeared in the March 20, 2025 Wakefield Daily Item.]
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