A second installment of “No Kings” rallies earlier this month spread across some 2,700 locations, attracting 6-7 million participants by some estimations, including one here in Florence attended by several hundred.
Sure, it creates a story for the news media to eat up, and it creates a memorable time of celebration for people taking part in the peaceful public protests.
They even came out to a No Kings event outside the American Embassy in the UK. Were they protesting the existence of their king? Are they wanting to do away with Charles, or are they too just looking for a chance to party and show of some questionable costumes?
Overwhelmingly white Boomer ex-hippies and gender-confused Gen Z’ers seemed to dominate most of the crowds.
Tyranny, Fascism, Dictator, Zionism and Democracy were still the popular terms, what we have been hearing for the last 8-9 months.
However, I can understand utilizing the “No Kings” theme. It’s catchy, easy to remember, and makes for quick signage,
Yet, nothing about either event reflected kings, dictatorships, or democracy. They were outward tantrums from the group want a return of their political power.
And I can certainly understand some of the angst and frustration.
Donald Trump hit the ground running, accomplishing a month’s worth of work on day before Joe Biden got up from his nap. And he has been a whirlwind since, not always making the right moves, but keeping his foot on the gas. It’s why he was voted in.
Trump is far from the dictator or furor that many want to portray him. However, his aggressive use of presidential edict in many cases to avoid the government red tape is past being humorous.
Blowing up boats off the coast of Venezuela because they are suspected drug traffickers? That is a long way from the U.S. shore. The intelligence and accusations may be accurate, but in what U.S. (or international maritime) realm do people arbitrarily get blown into next week?
Even though Venezuelan cartels are not among the major players in US drug concerns, those actions may act as a deterrent when others see what can happen. In a year’s time, it may put a large dent in the drug importation figures that would otherwise take 20 years, cost $billions in manpower, and take hundreds of law enforcement lives stateside. That said, how are those types of gangster cyber-actions remotely acceptable?
What would we think if another country blew up a boat of Americans speeding away from our shores because they were suspected of doing something illegal? That would be an act of war.
The often aggressive “clear a building, ask questions later” tactics by ICE agents that impact legal immigrants and other Americans is also out of hand. It’s obvious that crime in many major U.S. cities is escalating, and many of those are considered “sanctuary cities,” where illegal and undocumented but productive migrants are protected by local officials from being hassled/arrested because of their immigration status. The federal government/law enforcement is immune to those limitations and is aggressively looking for criminals. It is one thing to aggressively looks for legal and illegal criminals who are a scourge to society. It’s another to rachet up the police state to where injuries are sustained and private property is destroyed which happens too often when they get overzealous. Ransacking homes, damaging private property, and manhandling of law-abiding citizens who sometimes get caught-up in the stings is unacceptable and violates several constitutional boundaries. As mentioned previously in this space, folks on the right who have the president’s ear need to find the gumption to rail on him together about these examples of recklessness.
That said, placing the moniker of “King” on Trump like he just wrested the presidency away from someone else is a little awkward since he legally won every single swing state, the electoral college and popular vote in a fair democratic election.
That can’t be said for those on the other side who tried to have Trump incarcerated for the better part of eight years, then tried to have him erased from primary ballots in many states while their side backed an incumbent who barely had a pulse, then arbitrarily decided to bypass the party’s primary election, instantly crowning a party nominee who had never earned a single primary vote in two election cycles.
A lot of underlying communistic subterfuge has to be undone in four years, but there is still the US Constitution to which we are supposedly aligned. Considering he was having to play defense for most of his first term and could get very little straightened out from Obama’s first two terms, President Trump is showing that he can abuse Constitutional principles with transparency even quicker than democrats were artfully doing it with stealth for 16 years.
Neither bodes well for America’s future.