By Ketzel Levine
I had a date in Nehalem at noon on the 4th. I threw my stuff in the car and left the house at 11:50. Much to my surprise, I was anxious about getting together. Would I feel safe? How tensemight this be? What if there was violence?
These thoughts had never before influenced my Saturday commitment to stand with others in Nehalem to protest the cruelty and deceit of the Trump administration. I had been doing it for months; others had been protesting since Feb ’25. Our numbers have varied with the weather and the week’s level of outrage but the response from passing drivers was never worse than foul language and choking exhaust (look up “rolling coal.”)
So I was surprised as I drove to the Independence Day protest that I pondered getting shot. I’m hesitant to dwell on that because I find the thought, forgive me, indulgent. I’m not judging others; I appreciate that we are each triggered by different fears, that life is scary and people are nuts. But the stories I star in are way more about my failures as a person than as a victim of violence. My dark places are one-woman shows.
Getting shot is likely low on the list of reasons that people appalled by this administration don’t protest in Nehalem. Self-consciousness has got to score high (check!). Then there’s doubt that holding a sign, however clever, makes the remotest difference (check!). Of course there’s always something else to do on a Saturday (check!), or it’s raining/too cold/too hot (triple check!) and the always distinct possibility that even though YOU are cool you’re surrounded by weirdos and likely to be thought a fool (file under self-consciousness. Check!)
The list is interminable, I know, because I grapple weekly with reasons not to go. But the “Getting Shot on the 4th of July” was something altogether different. I wanted very much to go was acutely aware that the holiday might trigger a level of toxic nationalism I couldn’t stomach.
A funny thing happened on the 4th of July. The passing traffic was indeed triggered, – wildly! to displays of jubilance and noise-making this particular weirdo had never before seen on 101.
Studying the faces in all those cars, I repeatedly saw looks of recognition, relief and a glimmer of giddiness that said, “Wow, they’re here! In this nowhere little town! Our people!”
In fact, I’d say 70% of passersby support our weekly, anti-Trump administration protests. But there’s nothing like a big EF YOU delivered with hatred to leave me feeling that Might Is Right and we’re all screwed.
But no bad news is going to take away what I saw on the 4th. While Confederate flag-wavers in white masks paraded in DC shouting white supremacists slogans, at the blinking light in Nehalem along 101 N the party was on. Were we celebrating? I think so, yes. Not the greatness of our country, not even the longevity of our democracy, but the chance to defend it toting so much baggage and with it, so much joy.
Here’s our weekly video from North Coast Pinball of the North County Resistance weekly protest rally – every Saturday (since February 2025) from Noon to 2 pm – from 20 or 30 folks to hundreds – they’re in downtown Nehalem on Hwy. 101, every Saturday. The NC Resistance has inspired other local groups and now regular protests are occuring in Tillamook and Pacific City.
