Today is Monday, February 10, 2025. It’s late here, owing to my attending my very first meeting of my so-called group called the “anti-Trump patriots,” with the subheading “Defenders of Democracy,” held at a local restaurant in Rego Park, Diner Bar. I scheduled this meeting at the behest of a member with the name of “Paul,” who suggested I arrange meetings later in the day to meet the needs of those interested parties who work. Thus I scheduled this meeting at 7 p.m. instead of in the height of the afternoon. What excuse did I have not to have the meeting at 7? The only thing I was involved with on this cold day was driving to a new breakfast place called Florence Prime Diner with our new car, the Subaru Forrester Sport. I surely regretted my decision to drive to this new site since I had to put the GPS on in the car and when I finally got to the diner, I unfortunately discovered there were no parking spots. I should have called ahead to ask if there was a parking lot next to the diner. I didn’t.

Elliot and I separated early in the day, as he went to see a new foreign film called Rose at the Kew Gardens Cinema, while I went on a wild goose chase, as they say, for this new diner. After I passed the place in Elmhurst, I drove back to Forest Hills and stopped at a Rego Park coffee shop located in my former neighborhood. It was close to 12 when I was able to sip my first cup of coffee.

For the meeting later, I took the subway to 63rd Street in Rego Park and walked to Diner Bar. I believe I got there around 6:30, so I sat inside for close to an hour or so, before I met Paul who did text me that he was indeed coming. I was going to wait until about 8 before calling it quits. I met him around 7:40 when he texted me that he was sitting at the bar.

When I walked to the bar area, I saw a dark-complexioned, youngish man with a gray woolen hat having a drink. I extended my hand in greeting and I introduced myself as the organizer of this new group. I offered him the booth where I was sitting drinking cup after cup of coffee and partaking in onion rings as a side dish.

We immediately connected and we engaged in a lively discussion of the sorry state of affairs under the Orange Turd. One thing we both agreed on was that this sitting president truly represented an existential threat to the preservation of democracy and that ordinary Americans better get off their asses and stop scrolling on their fucking iPhones to launch the resistance against this lawless avatar of awfulness before it’s too late. Germany fell to Nazi rule in just 53 days, I’ve learned. It could happen here in even less time, given what Chump is doing right now in only three weeks. Paul impressed me with his knowledge of current affairs and his ties to many friends who expressed interest in my little group. He gave me hope that the group could finally pick up steam. Paul did suggest that I hold meetings not only during the week but on weekends, preferably on a Sunday. I did not rule that out considering I have all the time in the world. Manhattan was also suggested as the venue for the group since many of his friends hail from that borough. I didn’t rule this out either. I said I could definitely consider Manhattan as the venue to hold group meetings there. Another suggestion that Paul offered was to rename the group – he suggested something simple, not the “anti-Trump patriots” or “Defenders of Democracy,” which is what it is also called. The second name conjures up something of a far-right nature, not what it is supposed to represent, so I agreed with him.

We spoke animately until 9:15 or so, until I noted the late hour, and said it was time to call it a night. He said he lived in Harlem, which is about an hour away, and mentioned he might have to take three trains home. To me, this alone tells me he’s committed to this organization. Look how far he came to a meeting dedicated to commiserating about the results of the election. At the end of the evening, I left the restaurant with some hope that the group could take off when we come back from Argentina at the end of February. So let’s see what could be afoot in March.

And so it went!