thousands of anti-trump protesters marched up new york<u+2019>s fifth avenue on saturday afternoon, completing a two-mile journey from union square to trump tower. the march followed days of similar rallies in los angeles, portland, chicago and elsewhere. donald trump has tweeted that he loves the demonstrators<u+2019> passion, while accusing many of being professional protesters. but why protest at all, given the unambiguous results of tuesday<u+2019>s election? the demonstrators<u+2019> signs offered a few clues. the <u+201c>f<u+201d> word was ever-present: as in <u+201c>f---<u+201d><u+2014>take your pick<u+2014>trump, giuliani, the police, family values, that guy, the electoral system, newt, arpaio, trump<u+2019>s amerikkka, and even <u+201c>you.<u+201d> one woman carried a sign pledging that she would pay taxes only when mr. trump does. other placards derided <u+201c>adolf trump<u+201d> and the new <u+201c>groper in chief,<u+201d> warning <u+201c>tiny hands off.<u+201d> enlightened college students carried apologetic messages: <u+201c>sorry for the inconvenience, we<u+2019>re trying to change the world<u+201d> or <u+201c>i<u+2019>m sorry my country is racist.<u+201d> and <u+201c>not my president,<u+201d> was a fan favorite, though many went with <u+201c>never my president.<u+201d> other slogans didn<u+2019>t really add up, such as <u+201c>you can<u+2019>t drink oil<u+201d> or one calling for vice president-elect mike pence to be thrown over a fence. it was difficult to find a unifying theme, since there was something for almost everybody: pows are heroes, black lives matter, family mds for obamacare, steve bannon must go. the crowd<u+2019>s chants were equally confused. many simply expressed strong disagreement with mr. trump<u+2019>s policy pronouncements and personal style. <u+201c>say it loud / say it clear / refugees are welcome here,<u+201d> they shouted. men declared, <u+201c>your body, your choice,<u+201d> and women responded, <u+201c>my body, my choice.<u+201d> the policy-oriented crowd wasn<u+2019>t entirely humorless: <u+201c>hands too small. he can<u+2019>t build a wall.<u+201d> flags<u+2014>rainbow, puerto rican, anarchist, socialist alternative, mexican, u.s. (sometimes desecrated, sometimes not)<u+2014>were all present. but what unified banner were the protesters marching under? it wasn<u+2019>t a rally in support of mrs. clinton. yes, her supporters made their presence known by holding up <u+201c>#imstillwithher<u+201d> signs. referencing mr. trump<u+2019>s <u+201c>nasty woman<u+201d> insult at the third presidential debate, many women affirmed that <u+201c>we are nasty, yes we are.<u+201d> they also chanted <u+201c>we<u+2019>re with her,<u+201d> though that one died down quickly. any criticism of mrs. clinton<u+2019>s role in losing to mr. trump was absent. the crowd was happy to chant, rather than ponder how mrs. clinton cleared the field in her primary or why the democrats lost to one of the most disliked presidential candidates in u.s. history. it slowly dawned on me that this protest wasn<u+2019>t much more than a collection of angry people. a graying radical with an sds button chatted up younger revolutionaries. a man wearing a planned parenthood button pushed children in a stroller. teenage girls stopped to take selfies, while members of the revolutionary communist party handed out fliers. a group of middle-aged women warned me to enjoy my freedoms as a journalist while i still could. with such disparate messages, the march seemed to function mainly as a primal scream. the protesters i spoke with agreed. claire beach, a 23-year-old building-code consultant, told me, <u+201c>it<u+2019>s just like a cathartic thing. . . . the one thing you can do is protest.<u+201d> a recurring theme: the protest was more about the protesters (or people they say they speak for) than any big idea. ms. beach admitted, <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t have a lot of hope of it changing much, but i think it<u+2019>d be sad to have this happen and not be someone who came out and supported it.<u+201d> the only policy that appeared to have uniform support was abolishing the electoral college. <u+201c>we got the popular vote<u+201d> was a common chant, and the until-recently arcane rules were derided on signs. yet everyone i spoke with recognized that it isn<u+2019>t going away. eduardo esteva, a 21-year-old new york university student, expressed his frustration with the system. <u+201c>it gave us bush. it gave us trump.<u+201d> but mr. esteva acknowledged that any concrete change was <u+201c>most likely not<u+201d> going to happen because of the demonstrations, no matter how big they grew to be. tens of millions of americans are unhappy with the election<u+2019>s outcome, and many have legitimate concerns about the tenor of mr. trump<u+2019>s campaign. but catharsis doesn<u+2019>t build movements. it only entertains tourists and attracts reporters. where do these protests go from here? they<u+2019>ll likely continue for some time<u+2014>people really are angry<u+2014>and mr. trump<u+2019>s january inauguration won<u+2019>t be pretty. but it<u+2019>s hard to see them doing anything other than burning out. the election for democratic national committee chairman will tell you much more about the future of mr. trump<u+2019>s opposition than any protest. but maybe it isn<u+2019>t all hopeless. as one protester confided to a friend, <u+201c>at least i can still be the first female president.<u+201d> mr. o<u+2019>neal is an assistant editorial features editor at the journal.
among the trump protesters - wsj
adam o<u+2019>neal