by
RBL/Bauer-Griffin/GC
Images)
Last
week
I
happened
to
be
strolling
through
the
Upper
West
Side
when
I
found
myself
next
to
the
Trump
International
Hotel’s
Manhattan
location.
While
I
had
some
vague
idea
of
where
the
ones
in
my
vicinity
were,
a
Trump-branded
property
was
not
something
I’d
consciously
realized
I’d
be
encountering
before
I
set
out.
Without
really
thinking,
I
pulled
up
my
smartphone’s
camera
app,
focused
on
the
gaudy
facade
of
the
building,
inserted
my
extended
middle
finger
into
the
frame,
snapped
a
photo,
and
chuckled
a
little
at
my
own
childishness.
Waiting
at
the
next
stoplight,
I
sent
the
picture
to
a
couple
friends
who
I
thought
might
also
get
a
kick
out
of
it.
Some
time
later,
on
my
way
back,
I
started
to
ponder
my
experience.
I’d
hardly
invented
the
concept
of
flipping
the
bird
to
buildings
with
the
word
“Trump”
emblazoned
on
them.
Hell,
one
of
the
news
podcasts
I’m
familiar
with,
The
Daily
Beans,
encourages
listeners
to
send
in
their
own
photos
giving
Trump
properties
the
one-finger
salute.
It
felt
like
being
a
little
part
of
something
bigger.
So,
on
the
return
journey,
I
was
more
deliberate.
Trump
Tower,
in
Midtown
Manhattan,
was
a
bit
out
of
my
way.
Nonetheless,
I
made
a
stop
at
the
granddaddy
of
all
the
gold-lettered
monstrosities
that
now
bear
the
Trump
name.
I
got
a
shot,
rude
gesture
included.
Then,
unsatisfied
with
the
angle,
moved
a
few
feet
farther
along
the
sidewalk
for
another.
Unlike
outside
the
Trump
International
Hotel,
at
Trump
Tower
there
were
other
people
snapping
photos.
I
couldn’t
spot
anyone
else
giving
it
the
finger.
Some
just
seemed
to
want
an
unobscured
picture
of
the
building.
One
was
filming
himself
with
a
selfie
stick
as
he
wandered
precariously
through
the
street.
None
of
the
others
seemed
to
notice
my
existence,
though
it
occurred
to
me
that
I
no
doubt
faced
far
more
of
a
threat
from
any
nearby
reverent
Trump
supporters
than
I
did
from
the
lone,
sleepy-looking
NYPD
officer
posted
out
front.
In
the
United
States,
I
can
say
with
near
legal
certainty
that
you
could
not
be
legitimately
convicted
of
any
crime
for
flipping
off
a
Trump-branded
building.
In
only
the
latest
in
a
long
line
of
examples
of
why
this
sort
of
thing
would
be
constitutionally
protected
free
speech,
a
62-year-old
grandmother
was
acquitted
on
all
charges
stemming
from
wearing
a
7-foot
inflatable
penis
costume
along
with
a
sign
that
said
“No
Dick
Tator”
at
an
Alabama
“No
Kings”
protest.
Still,
the
“No
Dick
Tator”
grandma’s
prosecution
got
way
further
along
than
it
should
have.
She
had
to
endure
getting
roughed
up
by
an
overzealous
police
force
and
go
through
an
arduous
and
expensive
courtroom
process.
Any
lawyer
who’s
been
at
it
long
enough
can
tell
you
plenty
of
stories
about
how
“legal”
is
not
synonymous
with
“consequence-free.”
We
are
not
enough
of
a
“Dick
Tator-ship”
yet
for
you
to
face
a
criminal
penalty
for
flipping
the
bird
to
a
Trump
building.
Even
so,
you
might
get
abused
by
Trump-loving
cops
who
know
it’s
probably
going
to
be
too
much
trouble
for
you
to
effectively
hold
them
accountable
(although
in
the
places
Trump-branded
buildings
exist
in
the
U.S.
—
that
is,
not
places
like
Alabama
—
most
law
enforcement
officers
are
familiar
enough
with
the
roughly
half
of
the
Bill
of
Rights
specifically
aimed
at
restricting
them
from
doing
things
like
arresting
a
senior
citizen
for
wearing
a
penis
suit
at
a
protest
in
order
to
make
this
an
unlikely
problem
to
face).
Outside
of
the
U.S.,
you
might
want
to
tread
more
lightly.
There
are
a
lot
of
countries
where
you’d
be
just
fine
dishonoring
the
local
Trump-branded
buildings
however
you
saw
fit,
and
might
even
have
more
freedom
of
expression
than
you
do
at
home.
But
with
Trump
properties
now
existing
or
currently
in
development
in
stifling
places
like
Saudi
Arabia,
the
United
Arab
Emirates,
Oman,
and
Qatar,
you
certainly
cannot
take
your
free
speech
rights
for
granted
abroad.
Those
international
caveats
aside,
I
encourage
you
to
get
out
there
and
patriotically
flip
the
bird
to
a
Trump-branded
property
near
you.
You
won’t
get
in
any
legal
trouble
for
it,
and,
I
assure
you,
it’s
a
much
healthier
way
to
express
displeasure
with
this
presidential
administration
than
what
we’ve
seen
from
a
few
lone-wolf
types
lately.
Jonathan
Wolf
is
a
civil
litigator
and
author
of Your
Debt-Free
JD (affiliate
link).
He
has
taught
legal
writing,
written
for
a
wide
variety
of
publications,
and
made
it
both
his
business
and
his
pleasure
to
be
financially
and
scientifically
literate.
Any
views
he
expresses
are
probably
pure
gold,
but
are
nonetheless
solely
his
own
and
should
not
be
attributed
to
any
organization
with
which
he
is
affiliated.
He
wouldn’t
want
to
share
the
credit
anyway.
He
can
be
reached
at [email protected].