Malibu, CA (and Everywhere, USA)

This blog’s primary purpose is to be a journal of our travels. We aim to be light and occasionally irreverent, although from time to time, we sneak in a somber and reflective post. That we may at the same time inform or entertain our loyal readers (or a random stranger on some obscure google quest) has been a welcome bonus.

This will be probably be one of the posts that is a little more serious, a little less irreverent. The post outlines some of our thoughts about politics and the current state of our country. If you choose to read it, please read all the way to the end – it’s not very long. And there are pictures!

You likely know or may have guessed that on the political spectrum, we lean left. As it happens, we do have quite a few friends and relatives who lean right. Our friends and family who hail from outside of the northeast (the ones we seek out as we travel about) are, politically speaking, a diverse group – considerably more so than our friends ‘back home.’ We’ve been wandering all around the US for the past 10 years, starting just before the 2016 election, and those travels have made clear to us the diversity of opinion that exists across the US. Our travels have also increased our awareness of the uniformity of opinions within the urban northeast and helped us to understand the prevalence of radically different, often opposing views in other regions.

On October 18, 2025 we attended one of the latest round of ‘No Kings’ protests in Malibu, CA, where we were visiting with friends. It was one of the more than 2,700 rallies held across the US on that day. Initial estimates are that 7-8 million people attended these rallies. Despite the current administration referring to No Kings as ‘hate America rallies’ and the protests as ‘war zones’ potentially requiring National Guard presence, they were overwhelmingly peaceful. In the week following the rally, the tally of people arrested at protests across the country is reported to be 27*. If you heard anything to the contrary, please try a different news source.

We believe protest rallies such as these and the resistance groups coordinating and facilitating them are critically needed at this time. Even though we lean left, our views are not uniformly or exclusively that way, and a few are even in accord with positions espoused by the current administration. We can follow the logic and understand the arguments in favor of many conservative positions, including those with which we disagree. However, these differences of opinion are expected and understandable, and we as Americans should expect to work through them together as we have done for so long. These differences of opinion are not the reason we feel a need to to rise up in protest against our government and work so hard for change.

We (and our 8 million and growing friends) protest because we disagree strongly with approaches being taken by our president and his administration in the pursuit of their goals. The unconstitutional and illegal actions our president is pushing (and taking) are far more destructive to our country than the goals, themselves. We believe the issues being addressed can and should be addressed in accordance with the Constitution of the United States. That’s how our democracy has worked (for the most part) for almost 250 years, and hopefully can continue to work in the future. Taking advantage of the convenience and expedience that is possible if one ignores rules, conventions, requirements and laws that would inhibit or delay executive action will result in irreversible damage to our system of government and to our country.

We also disagree with efforts by extreme right- and left-leaning media (including social media ‘influencers’) to selectively present our differences as black and white issues, either for or against, yes or no, right or wrong. This only inflames disagreements, keeping our country polarized and driving us even further apart. We believe the issues that need to be addressed in the US right now are nuanced – the issues and solutions are complex and it will not be possible to solve these problems or settle these issues by unilateral decree. Our country needs leadership that understands and accepts responsibility for acting on behalf of ALL of us Americans, even the ones who didn’t vote their way, and representation by legislators who are willing to work toward the benefit of their (and our) country ahead of their allegiance to their own party.

What we’ve found is that Americans on both sides of the divide in the US right now – left and right – want the same things. As we chat with, and really listen to, our red-leaning friends and family, we learn we have far more in common that what sets us apart.

We spent a week in Parker with musician friends of all political colors. We enjoyed every moment and the opportunity to connect live and make music. None of us are fascists or Hamas lovers, haters of America, Nazis, or… pick your favorite slur. None of us are bad people. We are friends and musicians. We can all be friends, we can all talk to each other, we can work together to resolve issues. The mud-slinging and misinformation is coming from extremists at the poles of the political continuum. Let’s please stay aware of that, and continue to talk to each other and try to work together.

Here’s an album of some of the sights and signs from Malibu.

Ok, back to light and irreverent…