A bike ride around Washington, DC, illustrates the state of the city, and the nation, in our dystopian year of 2025.
People who bike are close observers. Since we’re not encased in a rolling living room, we notice things that driverists miss.
This is what I saw on a cold Saturday bike ride around DC.
The GW Fence
On my way to get a bagel, I saw that the University Yard at George Washington University now has a black mesh fence around it.
This was the site of protests against the war on Gaza last year. Students occupied the Yard for weeks, sleeping in tents, holding rallies and conducting teach-ins on the conflict.
Until they were expelled by the Metropolitan Police Department in an early-morning action. A temporary fence was put up around the Yard.
Now, there is a very sturdy permanent one with gates that can be locked, to prevent future First Amendment activities by university students.
It is part of a fortification of the city, as access to public spaces gets restricted by the authorities to keep troublesome citizenry away. Anyone who has been around the Capitol or White House recently can register the parks, sidewalks and green spaces taken from us.
Rally for Ukraine
After seeing that, I biked to the Lincoln Memorial, where several thousand people gathered to support Ukraine.
True Americans support our friends in the face of Russian aggression. Never did I imagine that the Republicans would bow before a KGB agent, but that is what has happened as they rush to surrender Ukraine to Putin.
For decades, the GOP warned about the dangers of appeasement, of repeating another Munich, and now they intend to do their own version of the Munich deal, hoping that giving Ukraine to Putin will satisfy him.
And they are operating not out of naïveté, but of deliberate betrayal.
Stabbing our allies in the back, cutting off food aid to starving orphans in Africa, firing government employees devoted to protecting consumers – the cruelty is the point for the MAGA party.
The Chuds are Unhappy
Yet, they are still angry.
A few miles away, Anarchy Princess was at CPAC, the fascist (they’re doing Hitler salutes now) conference in National Harbor. It’s not DC, not matter what they claim, but far down the river in Maryland next to a freeway.
Anarchy Princess was there just to observe, not to protest, yet this still earned the ire of the chuds of Freedom Corner. A pair of them tried to get her thrown out of the hotel bar, claiming that she was antifa, one of them with a beer in her hand, cross around her neck and a mouth full of obscenities. Doesn’t get more MAGA than that.
I just wanna say, I spent the last 8 hours roaming round the hotel where CPAC is happening, and even though a few crazy women screamed at me, I still did not get kicked out. pic.twitter.com/T6wccGpyuO
— Anarchy princess (@SatireAP) February 22, 2025
This toxic stew of hate and cruelty can be overwhelming.
The US Botanic Garden
Thank god for the Botanic Garden. Located across from the Capitol, this living plant museum was filled with an exhibit of orchids in every color and variation imaginable.
But I like the Tropics. Located under a 93-foot dome, this is a steamy tropical forest that is green and warm year-around. It even rains in there, with misters spraying water every few minutes. The heat and humidity make it a great place to defrost after biking in the cold.
Things are going to get worse. With layoffs, tariffs and cuts in federal aid for the states, we are heading into a recession. And there’s no guarantee that it will get better – unless we act.
We’re not alone. We outnumber them – Trump didn’t even get 50% of the popular vote. There is no mandate.
Speak Your Fucking Mind
The resistance continues, with new heroes emerging all the time. I lived with Colin Pearsall in college. I’m sure neither one of us imagined that we would one day do anything political, but the times call for it.
Or, as he put it, “What are you bowing down to, speak your fucking mind.”
