It was heartening to see Americans turn out across the nation in their literal millions Saturday and in communities across the country. Raucously pushing back on Bonespurs Trump’s widening authoritarianism, attacks on immigrants and deep cuts to scores of federal programs. The assorted protests featured brilliant placards and amusing cartoon takedowns of the Clown in chief, as well as skewering his transactional and pompous nature. Some of the scenes from around the nation:
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It was especially delightful to see WSJ hack and harpy Kim Strassel forced to eat a heaping helping of humble pie. This after her column ('Diminishing Protest Returns', June 13, p. A 12) forecasting a paltry and ineffective "leftist " effort for Saturday's national No Kings protest. However, every major new outlet has revealed masses of citizens - not just "leftists" - expressing their opinions of wannabe king Donnie Dotard. Hence, Kim's weekend column has ended up as little more than yesterday's useless fishwrap.
“Leftists”? Citizens spanning every demographic and area - even red states – came out in their numbers. (11 million across the U.S. by 5051's count.) Couples came, families came, individuals who said they’d never before protested came. They carried hand-lettered signs focused on democracy, the rule of law and human rights. In LA immense crowds surged with a panoply of banners and signs showing every mutation of the Orange Fungus. In Atlanta, downtown streets - usually quiet and empty on a weekend- were packed early with people making their way to the Georgia Capitol building. “OMG GOP WTF, “ one sign read. “Have we LOST our senses?” another read. “Are we blind to the constitution?”
In Philadelphia, tens of thousands of people marched on
Benjamin Franklin Parkway in a demonstration that stretched from City Hall to
the Art Museum, a distance of nearly two miles. They ended their march at the
famous steps featured in the “Rocky” movie, chanting slogans such as “Let
freedom ring, all the way to D.C.” and “No kings, no tyrants.”
The scenes were a stark contrast to the fascist-tinged waste (of nearly $45m) planned hours later in the nation’s capital, where Trump would preside over a pathetic turnout for his ostentatious display of military tanks and soldiers:
From massive protests to a puny parade, America really let Donald Trump down | Opinion
Excerpt:
All he wanted was to celebrate his 79th birthday with a massive military parade that made him look powerful, scary and beloved. Instead, thanks to millions of Americans and their stupid First Amendment rights, he got a derpy, dull parade overshadowed by massive nationwide protests denouncing him.
Nice job, guys. Do you know how hurtful that was for a man who just wanted to have a cool birthday parade that would make him feel like a powerful dictator?
This was part of a celebration of the Army’s 250th birthday — on a day that also happened to be Captain Bonespur's 79th birthday. But as WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan wrote (June 14-15, p. A13, 'America Is Losing Sight Of Its Political Culture') of Trump's planned extravaganza- which turned out to be a fizzle)
"It all sounds showy, militaristic and braggadocious, the kind of thing the Soviet Union did in its May Day parades, and North Korea still does. We don't do that. We don't have big military parades with shiny, gleaming weapons driven through the streets. ....We are so confident, big and strong we don't have to show you. Swaggering threats, parading your strength, the other guys do that."
Organizers had said that they hoped the rallies in more than 2,000 cities — dubbed “No Kings Nationwide Day of Defiance” — would be peaceful and free of confrontation. But the day was marred by the news of a degenerate Trumper (Vance Boelter, 57) assassinating Minnesota state Rep Melissa Hortman and her husband. Both went down in a hail of bullets at their home, fired by the gunman (since captured) in a cop's uniform. Another couple was also shot but Gov. Tim Walz was “cautiously optimistic” about their recovery.
Gov. Walz called the assassination “politically motivated” and I have no reason to dispute it, given 'NO Kings' fliers were found in the assassin's abandoned car. Clearly showing the slimeball intended to wreak havoc and especially diminish the Minnesota protests. But it didn't work. Later videos emerging showed massive protests - despite the lunatic assassin still at large- like this one in St. Paul- which was duplicated in major cities all over the country:
Thousands marching in St. Paul for 'No Kings' protest
So I was totally wrong in my earlier edition of this post writing that "probably fewer Minnesotans turned out in some locations than expected. " Nope, they turned out in massive numbers to demonstrate their rage against the Orange child wannabe king.
Meanwhile, for the real MAGA downer we have Trump’s birthday tank parade, which is costing taxpayers an estimated $45 million. By most media accounts it was a relatively lackluster affair—especially considering the hefty price tag. The parade was forced to start early, with events kicking off approximately 30 minutes earlier than planned, in an attempt to beat the storms forecast for Saturday evening.
While only light rain fell on the parade, the drizzly forecast was likely one reason why so many people stayed home, resulting in a muted crowd for Trump’s "big, beautiful birthday extravaganza." It was so pathetic it had Dotard nearly in tears (see 4th link from top under 'See Also') and even had the Russkies trolling him:
The Wall Street Journal's weekend issue header: 'Nationwide Protests Aim To Rain On Trump's Parade' (p. A2)- turned out to be preternaturally prescient. As one Youtube commentator (Meidas Touch) put it: "While the No Kings protests were a smashing success, Trump's Dictator event was so pathetic by comparison it had him almost in tears."
Given that the WSJ's Strassel prematurely painted the protests in terms of "diminishing returns" i.e. "Democrats long ago hit zero output from their protests and continued digging a hole " with their No Kings Day plans - it was totally gratifying to see her pissing and moaning go up in flames. Even as Dotard's military shindig fashioned after Kim Jong Un's North Korea parades - got drenched out by the rainy weather.
As for 'no returns' that would aptly describe Trump's D.C. fizzled farce. But for this spectacular day of energized, nationwide 'No Kings' protests, we beheld a study in contrast, i.e. with monumental returns. Will Kim Strassel now learn her lesson about jumping to conclusions re: opposition to Trump? Not bloody likely!
The June 14 “No Kings Day” outpouring was truly historic. An estimated 5 million people (some estimates from organizers run closer to 10 million) flooded the streets in more than 2,100 cities and towns across the nation, peacefully expressing their outrage at President Donald Trump’s unrelenting assaults on immigrants, democracy, the Constitution, science, diversity, government services, and more.
To paraphrase the target of this uprising, we’ve rarely seen anything like this. “No Kings Day” protests, taking place in all 50 states, including massive crowds in Red states, may well be America’s biggest single day of protest against a U.S. president and his policies. (By some accounts, “No Kings Day” ranks third among all U.S. protests for a single-day turnout.)
Throughout the next day, the internet was wallpapered with photographs of huge red-state crowds, everywhere: Sugarland, Texas. Blount County, Tennessee. Omaha, Nebraska. Hot Springs, Arkansas. Jackson, Mississippi. Indianapolis, Indiana. Birmingham, Alabama. Everywhere.
And:
Stating
the obvious: Mass protests are not going to help Trump
Excerpt:
It’s understandable that media coverage of Saturday’s events
would focus on an obvious political contrast: While President Donald Trump
summoned Americans to Washington to celebrate the Army’s (and his own)
birthday, protesters against Trump’s authoritarian approach to his position
took to the streets around the country and around the world.
This comparison does a disservice to the difference in scale
between the two. Though estimating crowd size is tricky and subject to bias, it
seems clear that the anti-Trump “No Kings” protests drew millions
of attendees in the U.S. while the Army/Trump parade enticed
thousands. It was a demonstration of opposition that will be impossible for the
president to spin. But, then, he might not have to.
And:
A would-be king wants a coronation today—Saturday, June 14—a date already laden with meaning: Flag Day, the 250th anniversary of the founding of the U.S. Army, and, yes, Donald J. Trump’s 79th birthday. But this year, Americans are refusing to let the day be coopted. Across all 50 states, from big cities to small towns, more than 1,800 events are planned to mark what organizers are calling the “No Kings Day of Defiance.”
Driven by grassroots outrage and organized by Indivisible, Public Citizen, Social Security Works, Third Act, Commit to Democracy, and others, these decentralized protests share one audacious goal: to reclaim the flag from authoritarianism and reject the corrosive spectacle of a would-be despot. The theme? “Take back the flag on Flag Day.”
Trump’s military pageant—planned for the heart of Washington—is a grotesque parody of patriotism. The New York Times reported that theproposed display features 28 M1 Abrams tanks, 28 Stryker armored vehicles, a vintage WWII-era B-25 bomber, 6,700 troops, 50 helicopters, and more than 100 military vehicles, horses, even a dog. The projected cost will likely end up at nearly $50 million, footed by we the people. All in the service of one man’s fragile ego.
The huge decentralized turnout for No Kings Day has shown that grassroots power can be a major force against the momentum of the Trump regime. The protests were auspicious, with 5 million people participating in 2,100 gatherings nationwide. Activists are doing what the national Democratic Party leadership has failed to do – organize effectively and inspire mass action.
What we don’t need now is for newly activated people to catch a ride on plodding Democratic donkeys. The party’s top leadership and a large majority of its elected officials are just too conformist and traditional to creatively confront the magnitude of the unprecedented Trumpist threat to what remains of democracy in the United States.
Two key realities are contradictions that fully coexist in the real world: The Democratic Party, led by the likes of Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, is in well-earned disrepute, having scant credibility even with most people who detest Trump. And yet, Democratic Party candidates will be the only way possible to end Republican control of Congress via midterm elections next year.
This week President Donald Trump sent the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles to control what he preposterously called a “violent occupation.”
Sending U.S. troops to act against citizens exercising their right to free speech is a chilling betrayal of American democracy. The rebellion Trump claims to be fighting is simply nonexistent.
In fact, reporters and on-site observers have documented that the protests in Los Angeles—and those spreading now to other cities—are, for the most part, nonviolent. The violence that has occurred was likely intensified by the arrival of the military.
Late Thursday, a federal court ruled that Trump’s deployment of the National Guard in California was illegal and unconstitutional and ordered Trump to relinquish control of the California National Guard back to Governor Gavin Newsom. That ruling has been temporarily blocked by an Appeals Court and the deployment will be allowed to continue at least into next week.
— from Robert Reich's Substack
Friends,
Yesterday’s demonstrations across the nation in favor of democracy and against Trump’s dictatorship revealed the power of the people.
The energy, exuberance, and solidarity of those demonstrations stood in sharp contrast to Trump’s noxious display of tanks and military equipment on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C. While Trump continues to politicize the military, hundreds of thousands of us are saying no to his usurpation of power that belongs to the people.
We will not be intimidated by the violence he has stirred up — not by the shootings of state legislators and their spouses in Minnesota, nor by the death threats against federal judges, nor by the thuggish removal of a United States senator from a Trump official’s news conference, nor by the arrest of a judge who didn’t cooperate with ICE, nor by the abductions of people from our streets and places of work.
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