Frogs, palm trees, and humor as resistance

Emily Mills

22 Oct 2025 — 5 min read

Demonstrators hold inflatable palm trees outside the Wisconsin State Capitol in 2011.

Vol. 77

In This Issue: ESSAY | NOW READ THIS | FINAL FRAME

I’m sure you’ve seen it by now: People showing up to protests against ICE and Trump wearing big, silly, inflatable animal costumes. It began when one person in Portland faced off with federal goons in a blow-up frog outfit, an image that helped to clearly show the lie of Trump Co’s insistence that the city was a violent hellscape in need of National Guard intervention.

Since then, it’s become common to see people in those inflatable duds, often dancing in front of and and mocking the presence of militarized law enforcement.

I’ve read/seen a wide variety of takes on the efficacy of the tactic. Some on the left think it’s too silly and doesn’t move the needle in a meaningful way on the ultimate goal of stopping the authoritarian violence unfolding across the country. Others see it as valuable theater, absurdist comedy doing what it does best and making it painfully obvious that the authoritarians are lying about what’s happening in those cities.

I’d also argue that anything that makes fascists look exactly like the absurd fools they are is worthwhile. Yes, there’s also the real violence to contend with and stop–something that people in inflatable costumes aren’t exactly going to help with. But I think my takeaway is that we have to throw everything we have at the problem. There is no one right tactic for stopping or even slowing authoritarian takeover. It takes all kinds. Comedy, in particular that which highlights how outnumbered and frankly pathetic Trump and his sycophants truly are, is and always will be a valuable tool in the fight against fascism.

I’m reminded of another instance of using the regime’s propaganda and lies against them, right here in Wisconsin. During the massive uprising against Gov. Scott Walker’s attack on public unions in 2011, Fox News broadcast footage it claimed showed how “violent” it all was. The scenes showed people engaged in street brawls, cars on fire, and so forth. The only problem was, it also showed palm trees.

In case you’re not aware, there are no palm trees in Wisconsin.

In response, many protesters began showing up with inflatable palm trees instead. If some of the mainstream media was going to lie about what was actually happening, why not shine a spotlight on the ridiculousness of those lies?

Actions like that alone don’t win the day, but they’re a needed bit of levity and a pointed message that definitely helps drive the good fight.

Another positive side effect of the costumes and puppets and dancing that some folks malign (I certainly used to)? They make rallies and protests look more approachable to normies. And the fact of the matter is that, if there’s any real hope of toppling this regime, we need normies to join in.

I agree with the criticisms of the No Kings Day rallies that point out the lack of clear goals or demands, or even follow-up actions. This wasn’t true in every place that held one, but the national No Kings Day organizing absolutely lacked the kind of clear call to action, beyond just showing up for the event itself, that would better help turn the clearly enormous interest from a wide swath of Americans into the kind of sustained, targeted action needed to genuinely fight this country’s collapse into dictatorship.

What it did do, however, was make it extremely clear to people who are appalled by and angry with this regime and its tactics that they are not alone, nor in the minority, despite the regime’s claims (or the pointed silence or obfuscation from many mainstream media outlets). When over 8 million people show up, in large cities and tiny towns like, you can’t avoid the conclusion that most people oppose what’s happening. That’s a good thing.

And when there are dancing frogs and unicorns and axolotls at the protests, a lot more people from a much more diverse demographic spectrum are likely to deem it at least safe enough to show up and join in on these very necessary public displays of opposition. And that’s not nothing.

One of the biggest and hardest lessons I learned during my time reporting on and participating in the Act 10 uprising in 2011 was that even media outlets that I generally respected were prone to getting it wrong about the actual facts on the ground. They’d either fail to actually talk to the regular folks who turned out for the protests, parachuting in from the coasts and never really connecting with the people making it all happen–or they’d fully make shit up, as with the Fox News palm tree footage.

Anything local folks can do to reclaim and/or redirect the narrative, or at least to make it painfully obvious that our leaders are lying through their teeth about us, we should do. Frogs and all.

Now Read This.

“Each of Us Imperfect Comrades” [Margaret Killjoy]

We don’t have to like each other to stand in solidarity, because the state has no problem standing us side by side on the gallows.

“They Came for Our Neighbors. We Showed Up.” [Kelly Hayes]

Despite the risks, people on the ground are making autonomous decisions about how to confront the violence in their communities as it occurs, and even though these actions are not bound by a unified directive, they are all committed in the interest of solidarity and community safety.

“The Shutdown Shitshow” [Don Moynihan]

During shutdowns, both parties try to blame the other. This is entirely understandable. Yet historically, there were some limits. One is that Presidents did not convert government resources, including public employees, into partisan mouthpieces. Another is that politicians might have had their own narrative, but they typically did not tell outright lies about how shutdowns work. Finally, Presidents did not use the shutdown to try to target their political enemies. The Trump administration is doing all three.

“Sharm El-Sheikh Shows That the US Has Learned Nothing From Gaza” [Spencer Ackerman for The Nation]

In pursuing the Abraham Accords, both Trump and Joe Biden confused the quiet of the Palestinians with their quiescence. When Israel’s supporters claimed there was peace on October 6, they succumbed to the same delusion. It led only to October 7 and genocide. The horrors of the past two years should have taught Israel and its declining-superpower patron that the only path to peace runs through a free Palestine. Instead, it chose the image of an illusory stability over the lives of at least 67,869 Palestinians, and likely tens if not hundreds of thousands more buried in the ruins of Gaza. Unless they learn the real lessons of the genocide and what preceded it, another October 7 is an inevitability.

“Will bipartisan agreement on Wisconsin election law changes survive court order?” [Isthmus]

A Waukesha County judge’s order requiring proof of citizenship to vote threatens to upstage fragile Capitol negotiations between Republican and Democrat legislators over potential changes in election laws.

Final Frame.

Grand Central’s main gallery is filled with people, many of whom are standing watching musicians perform at a piano in the center. On the marble columns, the projected image of a Black father holding his daughter is paired with the words, “She shares me with the revolution." — Projected photo and caption during “Dear New York” exhibit at Grand Central.

I had the good fortune to be in New York at the same time as the massive public art exhibit, “Dear New York,” that was up in Grand Central Station. Dreamed up and curated by Brandon Stanton, the creator of Humans of New York, thousands of local artists were tapped to contribute to a complete take over of the storied transportation hub.

I walked through to catch a train at a time when Julliard students were holding free jazz performances in the bustling main gallery and made time to sit and listen and take in the sights and sounds. I love public art, most especially when it’s this thoughtful, inclusive, and approachable. More like this!