Joan and I attended the No Kings demonstration on Oct. 18 right here on Victory Boulevard. The one in Manhattan looked jam packed and neither of us was feeling our best, both suffering from leg injuries that would need care the next week. So, we figured, keep it local.

We saw a lot of friends from all parts of our life on this Island. Doctors, musicians, a lot of theatre folk. A lot of people were our age, but there were also younger folks in attendance. It was as mixed an affair as one could expect on Staten Island, and quite sizable, too. Our local paper counted 600 folks but those of us who arrived a bit later counted closer to 1,000. In any case, it was bigger than the previous demonstration, held on a rainy day in June. Total attendance of all the demonstrations jumped from five to seven million. My guess as to why is that, in the intervening months, the current administration has done so much more to anger and insult the citizens of this country, including many who voted for them.

Quite predictably, the pundits were out in front of this one, calling it a “Hate America Rally.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Everybody in attendance at these demonstrations loves their country and wants it to do better. There were warnings of Antifa presences and violence. Antifa, by the way, means anti-fascist and all of us really do not like Nazis. Violence? There wasn’t a single demonstration-related arrest the entire day. However, a few days later, when ICE showed up in Manhattan, pushing and shoving young women and cursing at them, one brave woman, obviously on her way home from work, nearly hit an ICE agent with her handbag and gave them the traditional two-fingered salute as they filed the scene with a total of nine vendors they arrested for being illegal.

Their scenario thwarted, pundits turned to the “look at these old hippies” talking point. We went from being a systemic threat to being a punchline in 24 hours.

The fact is all of the demonstrations were peaceful and focused on just one issue: this administration’s abuse of its power. Of course, it didn’t help that, a day later, the Commander In Chief released an obviously AI created video of himself piloting a jet to the tune of “Danger Zone” from the movie “Top Gun,” (whose author, Kenny Loggins, demanded it be taken down for unsanctioned use of his song, a situation repeated at almost every MAGA rally and event), the end of which showed the jet releasing what appeared to be feces on the protestors below.

What a classy response to protest guaranteed by the First Amendment! I swear…I think some folks think there’s only one amendment and it has to do with their damn guns!

A staple of this administration is its complete disregard of formal procedure and the rulings of judges. Judges, who, for the most part, were put in place by this administration. It’s telling when folks in your own party think you’re on the wrong side of history or the Constitution.

That’s what these protests are about…abuse of power. I’ll quote the tune “Badlands” once again…

“Poor man wanna be rich/ rich man wanna be king/ and a king ain’t satisfied /‘till he rules everything.”

A man who seeks to rule with unstoppable power is, by his actions, a king. A man who thinks he cannot be stopped, his wishes and desires cannot be halted, acts like a royal monarch who has taken control of a country and needs not heed the will of the people. A man who says things like, “When you’re a star, they’ll let you do it. You can do anything.”

Other presidents have understood that they serve at the will of the people, that they are there to support and care for the people of this country, that their major role is, according to the oath they take when they assume office to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

This administration seems intent on not only ignoring the rights granted to all by the Constitution but shredding it to prevent it being used to halt their march of terrorism on our nation. Yes, I know how that sounds and I’m not ringing any bells that need not be rung. We are in deep here, with a group of people that will seize power and threaten others and refuse to relinquish that power when their term of office is completed. One pundit has started yammering about a third term, blithely ignorant of the first section of the twenty-second amendment to the Constitution, which states a person may only serve two terms.

Which reminds me of something President Obama once said about the phrase “In order to form a more perfect union: that we’re not there yet. That we’re still trying to reach that perfection. it may take the rest of our lives, or we may never see it at all. That doesn’t mean we should abandon the cause.

So, yes, the demonstrations were peaceful and focused, and well-attended here on our Island. Which means more and more people are waking up to the fact that we’re in danger of losing our rights.

I hope you remembered to vote in our local elections, because the propositions on the back are far reaching. I hope you stay engaged in the politics of our nation. And I hope to see the day when we can put rancor and fear mongering behind us and move closer to that “more perfect Union.”

Hold those magnificent grey heads high!

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