“We love America,” said Jennifer Backo, 82, without hesitation.
So why then was she standing in the heat at the edge of a Houston highway❓ “We are afraid for our democracy,” she said. “I believe in the First Amendment. People are getting fired in the government for speaking their mind.”
Mike Faulkenberry, 48, attended the protest in an inflatable bald eagle outfit with a red-white-and-blue top hat.
So, we asked him, as well, do you hate America❓
“We love America❗” said Jennifer Backo, 82, without hesitation. So why then was she standing in the heat at the edge of a Houston highway❓
“We are afraid for our democracy,” she said. “I believe in the First Amendment. People are getting fired in the government for speaking their mind.”
Mike Faulkenberry, 48, attended the protest in an inflatable bald eagle outfit with a red-white-and-blue top hat. We asked him, as well, do you hate America?
“No, I love America❗” he said. “I’m prior service. I take the oath I took to protect my country from all enemies, foreign and domestic, especially domestic, very seriously.”
The threat to the country he loves, he believes, is a descent into fascist authoritarianism. That would explain the eagle getup, only Faulkenberry said he’d tried to order a frog outfit first but none were available.
“No, I love America,” he said. “I’m prior service. I take the oath I took to protect my country from all enemies, foreign and domestic, especially domestic, very seriously.”
The threat to the country he loves, he believes, is a descent into fascist authoritarianism. That would explain the eagle getup, only Faulkenberry said he’d tried to order a frog outfit first but none were available.
Perhaps the last one had been nabbed by the woman across the feeder road who insisted on being interviewed in frog character. We asked the bouncy green, giant amphibian whether it hates America?
“No, in fact, the reason everyone is out here is because we love America, and the idea of America, so much that we’re not willing to lose our democratic republic to a wannabe king,” the frog said.
But why the frog outfit?
“The frog has sort of become the symbol of the boogeyman antifa that Mike Johnson is afraid of, almost as much he is afraid of naked bike riders,” the frog said, adding that “antifa is normal, antifascism is normal and anti-fascists are everywhere.”
Is antifascism normal❓ In the northwest suburbs of Houston❓ The area is widely considered a ruby-red stronghold. The local Cy-Fair ISD school board has a six-to-one majority of trustees who were endorsed by the Republican party.
Three of those seats, however, are on the ballot with early voting starting on Monday. The slate of candidates backed by Democrats are all former educators focused on students and support for teachers rather than culture wars. They earned the endorsement of the editorial board.
Meanwhile, Republicans have splintered. The CFISD vice president, Natalie Blasingame, is challenging the board president, Scott Henry, after he did not support pay for chaplains in schools. He also changed his mind on cuts to bus routes after several children were hit by cars.
Another protest is planned Tuesday near an event where Governor Greg Abbott is expected to speak in the area.
“It seems he’s coming into our neck of the woods because he is worried,” said Jennifer Lorenz. She co-organized the Saturday rally for Cypress/Tomball Democrats, along with Indivisible Cypress. By her count, more than 1,500 people attended.
Among the protesters was 77-year-old retired Cy-Fair teacher Sam Loomis. Does he hate America, as House Speaker Johnson suggests?
“No,” he said, and suggested that Speaker Mike Johnson is “covering up the Epstein files.”
He, too, said he was focused on the Constitution: “I’ve taught history for 40 years. I’ve been teaching the First Amendment for a long time. This is what the First Amendment says: You are allowed to gather and peacefully protest.”
He said book banning by the Cy-Fair board was a “bad look” and that the “gay community is being picked on, brown people are being picked on. It’s got to stop.”
By noon, all the inflatable creatures — three frogs, the eagle, a purple dinosaur, a pink Axolotl and multiple unicorns — had gone home. So had the free speech defenders in wheelchairs.
The Starbucks in the adjacent strip mall filled up with worn-out retirees cooling off. One of the last folks to leave was Backo. She’ll be 83 on Monday, she said.
Across the country, in the downtowns of major cities, including Houston, far larger crowds gathered. No doubt, many of those protesters hold radical views out of step with many Americans.
But on FM 1960, deep in the heart of purple suburbia, we didn’t see or hear a hint of hatred for this great country.
We saw patriots waving American flags. We saw our elders out in the heat. And their message was clear: Now is the time to speak up for the Constitution of the United States.
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