Despite efforts to denigrate it, ridicule it, mischaracterize it and reframe it, the “No Kings” march was peaceful, broad-based and huge. Whether it was 7,000,000 people as estimated can’t be said with certainty, but there were marches all over the country and they were well attended by a vast array of patriotic Americans who love their country as well as the occasional inflatable frog.
Contrary to the efforts of Republicans, it was neither hateful nor communist nor antifa and paid Soros agitators. It was as American as apple pie.
They were teachers and lawyers, military veterans and fired government employees. Children and grandmothers, students and retirees.
Arriving in droves across the country in major cities and small towns, they appeared in costumes, blared music, brandished signs, hoisted American flags and cheered at the honks of passing cars.
The vibe in most places was irreverent but peaceful and family-friendly. The purpose, however, was focused. Each crowd, everywhere, shared the same mantra: No kings.
In a display of presidential dignity, Trump’s response was . . . Trumpian.
But what did this massive display of disapproval accomplish? It’s argued that it galvanized people opposed to Trump’s actions, ranging from ICE’s violent and unlawful seizures of anyone who either looked foreign or pissed them off to putting National Guard troops on the ground where the governors and mayors didn’t want them.
Republicans claimed they didn’t care, that the huge protest meant nothing to them.
The rallies came even as Mr. Trump’s approval ratings at the polls have not changed significantly. Republican leaders denounced the protests, blaming them for prolonging the government shutdown and calling the event the “hate America rally.”Mr. Trump’s political team trolled protesters on social media with AI-generated images of the president wearing a crown. When asked if the president had a comment on the demonstrations, Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, gave a brief response in an email.
“Who cares?” she said.
Trump’s approval rating is already hovering below 40%, although Trump claims it’s 65% based on his survey of his cabinet, and there is no issue other than closing the southern border where he enjoys the support of a majority of Americans. Even on the issue of economics, his tariffs have lost the faith of the people as they came to realize that it was us, not other countries, that pay the price.
What use is protest, however, when there is no viable alternative? It’s fine that Americans felt the need to get out, to do something, to oppose the array of Trump’s overreach. Will that translate to a landslide for the Democrats in the midterms? Will House Speaker Mike Johnson call the House back into session so that an end to the government shut down can be negotiated rather than leave it at “Trump’s way or nothing”? Will Johnson swear in Democratic Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva, who will be the 218th name on the House discharge petition to force a vote on the release of the still-secret Epstein files?
Then again, even if the Democrats have yet to figure out what they stand for and who they represent, normie liberals or purple-haired trans-nationals, is it better to do something, anything, to reflect widespread opposition to Trump than do nothing?
*Tuesday Talk rules apply.
Discover more from Simple Justice
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The most significant impact of these protests may simply be to prick Trump’s obscene ego. The man does not enjoy being hammered like this by people he can’t fire.
There is something about characterizing Trump as a “king” that feels wrong. He’s such a small man, fragile and puny, that he seems unworthy of such a grand characterization. I get that it refers more to the power he’s abusing, but it still irks me that someone so personally insignificant could be politically so powerful.
I went to the one in my area, and posted pictures on my blog from it. What struck me was that it was mostly older people. No, make that OLD people. Very few young people showed up at the Mineola one.
So many people that I spoke with there said they were there for their grandchildren.
But where were older grandchildren, and where were the parents of the younger ones?
I am concerned that too many young people are so busy on their phones and social media that they are not paying enough attention to what is going on and the destruction of cherished values and protections. It is their future, and we need to engage them in standing up for– and voting for — a better one.
I think the protests are bringing out more older folks are because we are the ones that recognize how bizzaro world wrong all this is. This is not the country we grew up in. These are not the ideals and values we were taught in school of what America is. We know/knew people who were the original antifa in north Africa and the beaches of Normandy. I don’t believe GenZ or whatever the next one is called have any real sense of history. They think this sh!t is may be normal.
What strikes me, is that there was so little violence and so few arrests made. I’d been profoundly uneasy about the prospect of violence, by or against protesters, and moving us closer to civil war. That this didn’t happen is an enormous relief and gives me a modicum of hope for the future.
When coping with an on-going problem, doing something feels better than doing nothing. Feeling good generates more action then feeling defeated.
About 3% of the population, when everybody (including Trump) already knows that a far larger percentage opposed him at the polls. So of course it’s ineffective and a complete waste of time.
What did it accomplish? That remains to be seen. These protests were indeed peaceful, well attended and powerful expressions of First Amendment freedom. But what now? Will they translate into concrete political change? What policy alternatives do the Democrats offer other than “no Trump”? Of course Our Augustus,(Hail Caesar!), couldn’t resist the urge to post his vulgar video dumping manure on Americans exercising their fundamental right to peacefully assemble and protest. Ironically proving their point that he is a crass narcissist. But this was already well known.
I attended the one near my house. Probably 700-1000 people in a very red county in PA.
It was nice being a crowd of like minded people. It did leave a good feeling, like there might be some hope. While the crowd skewed more my age (middle 50s) there were a fair amount of young people as well as retirees. I saw about 6 counter protestors who tried to stir up some shit but mostly just got ignored or called traitors. No violence.
There was, what looked to me like unmarked police types taking video and pictures of the crowd. You could see some imprinting under their shirts and a random rental truck with two clearly law enforcement looking types riding down the street taking video, but whatever.
Will it change things in the long run? Not sure. I don’t think this situation we are, whatever it is, will end well.
I don’t personally know the math but I assume there is a range of formulas that if X people are motivated enough to come out and protest there are really X * Y number of people that are dissatisfied with the political leadership. Perhaps those numbers are weightier to politicians than general polling numbers. Alternatively, maybe the politicians are more scared of pissing Trump off and being primaries than answering to voters.
If nothing else, these gatherings represented an essential (if incremental step)—Americans must each build up a large store of steely resolve. We’ve witnessed any number of previously unimaginable aberrations, and there’s surely more to come. Those determined not to be broken need the reassurance that they’re not alone in all of this. Thank you for all the great writing over the years, Scott.
Nailed it.
Via Keith
I adore Phil Ochs, but that song didn’t come to mind this weekend for me. With all the National Guard in cities, what came to mind was “Four Dead in Ohio”.
I wonder how many young people in the National Guard even know what happened at Kent State on May 4, 1970.
My biggest concern with marches, demonstrations, movements, etc. is: what is the goal, and is it reasonably possibly achievable (e.g. civil rights movement).
And if it is achievable, will people accept a modest achievement, or abandon it because it’s not perfect? I’m reminded of your years-ago post about how qualified immunity federally was fixable, but because it wasn’t perfect it wasn’t supported by activists (or something like that, paraphrased).
Here, it seems to be a bunch of people who dislike Trump and his cronies demonstrating. Fine, I feel the same. But so what? Will there be pushes to vote in primaries for moderate democrats or (in states where republicans will win in general election) republicans who haven’t drank the koolaid? Or will there be either a mix of sometimes-contradictory messages, people not voting in upcoming midterms because it’s the system and less active than demonstrating, and those who do vote in primaries choosing impractical candidates to send a message, when those candidates have no chance to win?
From what I’ve seen it was traffic jams and people in funny costumes. Locally it was held in a park, unlike the previous attempt which blocked some streets.
The Democrats are selling the same crap as 2024 so I’m still not buying
Probably because you can’t afford it
Do you prefer the crap that King Trump dumped on NYC in the video he posted?
Taking advantage of Tuesday Talk rules, I’ll share this story about protests in Berlin/ East Germany leading to the wall coming down;
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/why-trump-turned-sewer-194047131.html
Hoping history will repeat…