Real quick audio recap of the rally this afternoon. The idea with these O.C. Dispatches: audio news reports in the public radio tradition, but here on this newsletter! Full weekly Worcester Sucks post tomorrow. Text below is more or less the same as the audio version. Cheers!

“I have faith and I have hope. I have faith and I have hope. I have faith and I have hope.”

Thousands chanted it in the rain, back at Etel Haxhiaj, who put the mantra in the cool air from the podium behind city hall. It took a life of its own, electric.

Riding the live wire Haxhiaj continued: “I have faith and I have hope that there are way more of those of us who act with love and courage than those whose starting point is hate, division, and bigotry. Thank you. Stay the fight.” She was screaming, more passion in her voice than I’d ever heard. The cheers were deafening.

Next to speak was State Sen. Robyn Kennedy. Same as Haxhiaj, I’d never heard her throw her voice like that, reach that register. She was hoarse by the time she said...

“Let me be crystal clear, Massachusetts is not backing down. We are going to continue to show up, continue to fight the fight.”

..and the cheers drowned out whatever she had to say next.

Then to Khrystian King, with the same energy: “Our movement cannot be contained. It cannot. It'll not, it cannot. It will not. We are being called to places we never thought we’d be.”

The Hands Off rally behind City Hall this afternoon was attended by thousands—one of the largest demonstrations I’ve seen in Worcester. It was one of hundreds of simultaneous Hands Off rallies across the country.

Marked by ponchos, umbrellas, soggy signs, the speakers who were ready to harness the energy in the crowd found the rain no inhibitor.

Chief among them was Rep. Jim McGovern, who spoke for a fiery 10 minutes.

“If Trump wants a fight, he's got one right here, right now. We'll give him a goddamn fight.”

Of course, not every speaker met the moment. A notable dud was Sean Rose, former and possibly future city councilor. His speech was... well... empty. Like so:

“This is not politics as usual. This is a battle for the soul of our nation. And here in Worcester, we were born to rise. We were built on grit and Grace, on hard work and heart. But we cannot rise divided. There is no progressive or moderate side today. There is only team democracy versus team chaos. And we know where we stand.

Let's not get lost in the weeds of what comes next. Let's continue to lock arms. Let's continue to draw lines, because while we're debating, they're dismantling, while we hesitate, they hijack.”

Thank god we’re locking arms and drawing lines because I’d just hate it if we got lost in the weeds of what comes next.

Reminds me of what Jonathan Cohn had to say about the statewide Democratic leadership recently. Read it in today’s Masster List.

Jonathan Cohn, policy director of Progressive Massachusetts, questioned why it took Senate Democrats until 10 weeks into Trump's term to announce they would consider unspecified action at an unspecified later date.

“Somehow, the Senate's announced response is more comical and more underwhelming than creating a new committee: they held a press conference to let the public know that an existing committee is going to do the work that it should have already been doing," he said.

McGovern, King, Kennedy, Haxhiaj—they showed us what a response would look like if progressives were in control of the party. Rose showed us what it is currently.

“Democrats need to do a hell of a lot better,” McGovern said in his speech. “I know this and you know this. We need to own our own mistakes and we need to do so much better for this country.”

Rose said there’s no progressive and no moderate side, but his speech made the opposite glaringly obvious. What use are you, as a politician in this moment, if you’re content to issue empty platitudes like that? Content to wine and dine with Mero-Carlson...

...no thanks, man. Hard pass. Stay home next time.

Anyway... the rally on the whole was a salve for a spiritual malaise of late that I know I’m not alone in feeling. Sometimes to see the people you most admire in this political backwater get up and scream their heads off—to be reminded that you do have faith and you do have hope...

You’re soaked through but no longer feel that certain chill in the air.

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Outro music: A re-arrangement by yours truly of “Roaming The Cosmic Winds” by Mystic Realm, Worcester-based dungeon synth project by Kevin Fitzgerald.

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