Showing posts with label "No Kings" day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label "No Kings" day. Show all posts

Sunday, October 19, 2025

QOTD -- "No Kings" And Trump's Vulnerability

 

"... [M]uch of Trump’s effort to extend his authority across the whole of American society depends on more or less voluntary compliance from civil society and various institutions outside of government. And that, in turn, rests on the idea that Trump is the authentic tribune of the people. Reject Trump, and you reject the people, who may then turn on your business or your university or, well, you.

"Nationwide protests comprised of millions of people are a direct rebuke to the president’s narrative. They send a signal to the most disconnected parts of the American public that the president is far from as popular as he says he is, and they send a clear warning to those institutions under pressure from the administration: Bend the knee and lose our business and support.

"To the degree that major protests could undermine the administration’s ability to exert political authority, it makes a whole lot of sense for Republicans and the White House to spend their energy attacking the No Kings movement.

"And this, I think, should serve as an important reminder to opponents of the administration that for all its boasts and bluster, it knows as well as anyone that the president is unpopular and that his administration is vulnerable." --  Jamelle Bouie, New York Times, on MAGAt Republican attacks on the "No Kings" movement (gift link).  You can always tell when the mob boss Malignant Fascist and his fellow cheap crooks are concerned about something like the burgeoning "No Kings" movement -- they furiously try intimidation, threats, and lies.  We can't help but relate it to the Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) line in "The Maltese Falcon" -- "The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter":

"No Kings" In Retrospect

 



Participating in yesterday's "No Kings" events was an exhilarating experience for us and members of our families.  It renewed our faith that there are millions upon millions of good Americans out there who are deeply angry and offended by the un-American policies and actions of the Malignant Fascist and who are taking a stand against them. You've seen the accounts of the massive crowds in cities across the Nation, and we can testify to the unprecedented crowds in non- urban areas, and anecdotal accounts indicate the crowds have been impressive in small towns and rural areas as well.  We stood with people of all ages, races, etc., in a truly "melting pot" American demonstration.  Even people not participating directly were driving past our location and honking their car (and truck) horns to indicate their support. *

We hope you had a chance to get out and let your voice be heard, too.

It appears from early estimates that the crowds exceeded the first "No Kings" protests back in June. Our anecdotal evidence is that roughly 3 to 4 times the number of people came out in our suburban Maryland neighborhoods to peacefully protest what's been going on in America since the MF and his goon regime took over in January.  The events got massive coverage (search for "No Kings" and be swamped by stories, pictures, and videos from the U.S. and around the world).  Here's USA Today:

Millions of people turned out nationwide on Oct. 18 to protest actions by the Trump administration and celebrate their Constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly.

The crowds at an estimated 2,700 rallies across the country included older Americans who protested Vietnam or never protested anything before, veterans who said they didn't fight for a country led by a dictator, and young people who are frustrated by the lack of opportunities available to them. Many said they were upset by the Trump administration's treatment of immigrants and other vulnerable populations.

If crowd estimates hold, the one-day "No Kings" event was the largest civil action in the United States since the first Earth Day, 55 years ago. No major incidents or arrests were reported during the day.  [snip]

In Cathedral City, California, protesters waved handmade signs and one carried a Trump-lookalike mannequin. In Fort Collins, Colorado, one man brought his horse to the protest. Several protesters in Fort Myers, Florida, were seen wearing inflatable costumes, as they lined the side of a highway.

U.S. Army veteran Brian Wofford, who was wounded while serving in Iraq, attended a rally in Oklahoma City in his green service coat emblazoned with the honors he had earned in the military.

"I was willing to die and lost a leg in a foreign country fighting for their rights," said Wofford, a lifelong Oklahoman who lives in Moore. "There’s no way I’m bending the only knee I have left for a king here in America. I can’t sit idly by while rights are trampled on and ignored, and people are pushed and treated like second-class citizens."

Annalise Smith, a 19-year-old New York University student, was attending a protest for the first time, she told USA TODAY.

"It’s nice to be out here to see that humanity in society is still alive and well," Smith said.  [snip]

No Kings organizers estimated that 7 million Americans turned out for one of the more than 2,700 protests.

The estimate, like most made the day of an event, is likely to change as it is examined by experts in the coming weeks.

It's difficult to get an accurate count immediately after a protest, said Jeremy Pressman, the co-founder of the Crowd Counting Consortium at Harvard University and the University of Connecticut, which publicly tracks crowd sizes at protests.

After the first "No Kings" rallies in June, It took several weeks for the Crowd Counting Consortium team to create its estimate using figures from media reports, photos and video of the events, and organizer accounts. That crowd was estimated at about 5 million people.

If the 7 million figure holds, if would place Saturday's action among the largest protests in the last 60 years...  (our emphasis)

"No Kings" day also showed that we have an impressive mobilizing network working for us, including League of Conservation Voters, American Federation of Teachers, SEIU, American Civil Liberties Union, Move On, and Indivisible.  Well done to all of them for their massive and highly successful efforts.  But, in the end, it was the people, the American people, who showed up and stood up.  So good on us.

____________

* One chud in a large white pickup truck revved his engine while he was stopped at the light near us, and a county police officer walked over and told him to cut it out. LOL.

BONUS: Reuters has assembled pics of 47 great signs from yesterday's protests here.

BONUS II:  King Hungry the Eighth responds like the puerile toddler he is, in an accurate depiction of what he's doing to America --

 

Trump posts AI video showing him literally dumping shit on America

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 18, 2025 at 10:36 PM

 

(Photo:  love the sign!  West Palm Beach, FL, yesterday / Chandan Khanna, AFP via Getty Images)


Saturday, October 18, 2025

Pics Of The Day

 

Crowd shots from our local "No Kings" event in suburban Maryland (approximately 4 times the turnout from the June "No Kings" event):



A few of our favorite posters from today.  First two are from our local "No Kings" event.  Last one from Chicago:

It was probably true everywhere, but the percentage of cars going by honking their approval was around 50% as well.  Never seen anything like it here.

More pictures from around the U.S. here.