Fools

She shouted. At six or eight of us. Standing outside the New York Metropolitan Republican Club. Protesting against Neo-Nazis.

She had a point. At home, we checked weather.com   Minus 2 degrees, felt like minus 14. Fahrenheit.

Fools

Last fall, the Metropolitan Republican Club, neighbors of ours, invited Gavin McInnis and the Proud Boys to put on a little play for them. The play recalled the murder of a Japanese socialist.

The play was an inspiration. Afterwards the Proud Boys chased and beat up protesters outside the club. Deflecting attention from bad publicity, Gavin McInnis resigned from the Proud Boys.

Fools

On a frigid evening in January, the Metropolitan Republican Club was choosing a new President. About fifty of them showed up to vote. Ian Reilly, the guy who invited Gavin McInnis and the Proud Boys was running. Robert Morgan opposed him.

Fools

The shouting woman could not figure out how to get past the wall. Not a metaphor. Not Trump’s wall. Barriers the police set up to control the crowds. There was a space for an entrance. The shouting woman could not find the space.

Fools

Other Republicans coming to vote could not get past the three foot high steel barriers. They could not find the way in. Cops directed them. Then the cops made it easier. They expanded the opening. Still, several Republicans could not find their way past that little wall.

Fools

Inside the barrier, on line, the Republicans waited to get in the Club. Twenty minutes. Minus 2 degrees, felt like minus 14. Three skinny guys standing there. Looking like gunslinger extras in a cowboy movie. Light jackets. Baseball caps. NRA logo. Smoking cigarettes.

Fools

No hats. No gloves. One guy wearing a light suit with a big scarf. No coat. No hat. No gloves. A woman with a red coat. No hat. No gloves. A few women with Easter bonnet hats. No gloves. Standing on line. Twenty minutes or so. Minus 2 degrees, felt like minus 14.

The inside Republicans. The warm Republicans. Carefully letting people in one or two at a time.

Fools

We were. Protesters. Our signs. Our shouts. We did not focus on the worst Republicans, on Reilly, the guy who invited the Proud Boys. My wife excepted. Her sign: “Say No to Nazis.”   She’s no fool.

Life is complicated

The Republicans were a little diverse. Of the fifty or so who entered the building: Three or four were Jews with kippas, with tzitzis. One of them leaned backwards to point out his kippa to us. Three or four were African Americans. Another demonstrated his fluency in Spanish. Loudly, to us. Another looked Asian. A dozen older men wore overcoats. They looked like businessmen or lawyers or Republicans. Two or three women wore fur coats. Diversity.

Life is complicated

One Republican came over and hugged the two among us who are active politically, active members of the East River Democratic Club. He’s for Morgan, he said. Against the guy who invited the Proud Boys.

Fools

Standing in the cold. Protesters. Voters. The Metropolitan Republican Club allows proxy votes. An easy way to get past the wall. No extra credit for standing in the cold.

Ian Reilly, the guy who invited the Proud Boys to reenact a murder. He was elected president of the New York Metropolitan Club 324-270. One more step in the descent of the Republican Party.