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| No Kings rally, Des Plaines, June 14, 2025 |
Protest is as American as apple pie and baseball. Our nation began with colonists decrying an oppressive tyranny from across the sea. As soon as our Founding Fathers broke away and formed a government, they protected protest in the First Amendment. A nod to freedom of religion, speech and the press, then boom: Congress will make no law prohibiting "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
That doesn't mean our current leaders aren't blasting contempt at this most enshrined of American traditions.
Saturday, Oct. 18 is the second "No Kings" protest, which has been receiving volleys of condemnation. House Speaker Mike Johnson, doing his special mind-reading trick, looked into the hearts of millions of people, many who haven't yet decided whether to go or not, and called it a "hate America rally" sponsored by the hidden hand of terrorists.
"They have a 'hate America' rally that's scheduled for Oct. 18," Johnson told Fox News. "It's all the pro-Hamas wing and the Antifa people."
And he knows that ... how?
Oh right. He doesn't. He's just making stuff up. There's a lot of that going around.
"This will be a Soros paid-for protest where his professional protesters show up," said Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas).
George Soros is a 95-year-old Hungarian-American philanthropist whose name has become a dog whistle for "Jewish money."
The "No Kings" organizers deny they are in the grip of the flailing tentacles of octopoid globalists.
"I am a volunteer," said Kathy Tholin, on the board of Indivisible Chicago and an organizer of the local protest. "We are all volunteers. Every single individual; none of us are paid by anybody."
Why would people venture out for a "No Kings" protest?
"One of the clear goals of the Trump regime is to isolate and depress us," said Tholin [begin italicsMission accomplished!end italics I thought], "and make us think there is nothing we can do to make a difference. It is incredibly energizing to spend time with the many, many people who refuse to submit quietly and are willing to speak out. That kind of solidarity, that kind of working together with friends and neighbors, is what is going to save us from this authoritarian suppression."
While I haven't attended a protest, as a protester, since the Northwestern University anti-draft registration protest in the spring of 1979, I can vouch for the accuracy of that statement. Rather like Mike Johnson, I also tend to take a dim view of demonstrations. Maybe because, growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, there were so many of them. For civil rights. Against the war. Some of them were stupid — yippies trying to levitate the Pentagon.
And what did they accomplish? Really?
Sixty-two years after Dr. King's March on Washington, civil rights have been rebranded "wokeness" and are in full retreat.
But I blundered onto the first "No Kings" last June 14. We were driving through Des Plaines, saw hundreds of people gathered on street corners, and pulled over. I donned my figurative reporter's hat, grabbed a pen and notebook and went to investigate.
Maybe because it was in Des Plaines. Regular, open, salt-of-the-earth people. No pretense, no showing off. Des Plaines is home to the Choo Choo Restaurant. They bring your basket of a cheeseburger and fries aboard a little model train. How can you not love the community supporting that?
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Gotta pity our "current leaders"...the Rethugs. They have no imagination. Same old whines, just in new bottles, along with a few moldy hunks of "Jeeze!"
ReplyDeleteFor Saturday's "No Kings” protest, the best they can do is to label it a “hate America rally” sponsored by Hamas terrorists. Seriously? Do beter. Try harder..
They still rail at "Antifa people". Antifascism is an anti-authoritarian ideology, not an organization.or "people."
They're not even making stuff up...new stuff, anyway. Still playing the Soros card. The Jew card. How many years have they slapped down that one now? Will some shmuck from Kansas still rant about paid-for professional globalists (another word for "Jew") if George Soros makes it to 100? Probably. My first march was in college, Whom do I see about getting my Soros bucks, retroactive to 1967? Gotta be a lotta...moolah, that is. They owe me, big-time!
Isolation is insidious. It can lead to depression and despair. But being in a crowd of like-minded people is not only energizing, but hopeful. The same kind of tonic that a springlike day brings, after a long stretch of winter misery. Solidarity feels good, and it's contagious. But marching and protesting really don't do very much, in the grand scheme of things. Just helps the protesters and marchers to feel good about themselves and their cause. It can feel quite euphoric, but the high doesn't last.
What do they accomplish? Not all that much. Yes, massive protests stopped the Vietnam war. But racism is getting worse. Fascism is on the march. Xenophobia and homophobia and sexism are on the rise. Ageism is the last acceptable form of bigotry left. Hatred of Boomers by young people is rampant, especially online. Civil rights are being rolled back. Reproductive rights and bodily autonomy are disappearing like an ice cream cone in July.
Can't say more...I'm trying to make a sign for Saturday.
But hell, yeah...Des Plaines. Down-to-earth and no-bullshit town. My first wife was from Des Plaines. The first Ray Kroc McDonald's? Des Plaines. Mc Donald's Museum? Des Plaines. The Choo Choo first ran its trains in Skokie, on Oakton St. So where did they move to in the Fifties? Where else--Des Plaines.
Possibly pregnant woman? I know a baby bump when I see it. The on-camera meteorologists on all four of our local TV outlets have displayed theirs over the last few years. Seems like a new fad. Show it off on TV. One of our weather people even named her kid Noah.
Grizz I agree protests don't accomplish much. But what can we do? Our only power is to exercise our franchise and vote. In the last presidential election nearly 90 million eligible voters didn't.
DeleteVoting is our voice. The rest is whispering into a hurricane . Support voter registration efforts throughout the country. There is a certain amount of truth to the notion that billionaires using their money to attempt to sway voters one way or another hold an outsized power in our system . We need to work together to push back against big money. Donate to organizations working to register voters in blue states in hopes that they can be flipped. At least possibly a congressional seat or two could go the other way in some states. A senator or two nationwide could change the balance of power in congress.
This is what's truly important and would make a difference.
Its almost guaranteed that less people will vote in the midterms than did in the presidential election. This does not bode well for wresting some power away from maga. Rallies can be a tactic but winning elections must be the strategy.
Right now the strategy seems poorly formed and executed. I blame this on the DNC but individuals can take actions that make a difference . We're just not doing it. We are distracted by the notion that our voices are our literal voices and we are all screaming. Often at each other, sometimes at people who agree with us. Thats the road to nowhere.
While I agree, I think it's important to point out the major difference regarding the "same old whines."
DeleteFor nearly two centuries, the conservatives in the United States have been complaining about the same things. Anti Black, Anti Jew, Anti Immigrant. But today, they have the entire media landscape echoing their lies and vile vitriol.
It's no longer the same whines. Now it is a war cry.
We must march. We must be peaceful. But we also must know that the fascists will pull us into a physical fight that they will use as justification for totalitarianism. May the stoic, American, bravery, and non violent actions seen on "Bloody Sunday" march on March 7, 1965 be our guiding light as we march. peacefully.
If Speaker Johnson wanted to make sure I headed out Saturday and stood in the rain to protest, he couldn't have done a better job than accuse me of being a pro-Hamas hater of America.
ReplyDeleteThank you Neil. Protest is Patriotic. I’ll be adding my presence and voice Saturday in Butler Park across from Band Shell, come hell or high water. Everyone, just bring a cheap poncho and get out there!
ReplyDeleteI had some ideas to replace or augment the words on my previous sets of rally signs from eariler in the year. Then the quotes began flowing from the GOP that I'm a terrorist, I'll be paid, I'm a hater of America. Now I have to figure out how to roll all of it, plus some of the very clever wording from the signs in the pic accompanying your column today, into two double-sided signs - or else I'll have to grow more arms by tomorrow. I have work to do!!
ReplyDeleteSo many sad, maddening thoughts about the pathetic blechhhk coming out of the mouths of the president, his hench-people, GOP senators, Mikey Johnson and other GOP representatives. The most laughable - if we can laugh - is the antifa furor. If they are saying we're bad, bad, bad because we oppose fascism, are they admitting they are pro-fascism? It appears they are.
I believe we do have to try and do something - something! There are many small-ish, behind-the-scenes activities going on - I hope and believe - but a very visible gathering of people in 2,500 spots across the country gives us collective hope and helps us understand we are not alone in wishing we can get out of this current mess.
Unfortunately, I don't think these protests make one bit of difference to the people in power. They passed the dreaded big beautiful bill right after this protest in June.
ReplyDeleteNeil,
ReplyDeleteFirst, wonderful piece. I needed it.
Secondly, there are two points I would like to make regarding your piece.
In Robert McNamara's "The Fog of War" (Which is fantastic and I would recommend everyone watch it), Mr. McNamara notes how close the Anti War protests that encircled the pentagon came to actually shutting down the pentagon. If I recall correctly, McNamara says it would have taken only a few hours more to render the pentagon useless due to the protest. While there is no way the "Hippies" would have known this, it is incredibly important to remember that even when you think you are doing nothing, you are most likely having a very big impact. The key is not just the size, but how long people are willing to endure. There was a famous (disturbing) test done with rats that shows if you leave a rat in a tub filled with water that it cannot escape from, it will drown within 10 minutes; however if right before the rat drowns you pick it up, give it a minute to catch its breath before putting it back in the tub, it will swim for hours before dying of exhaustion. I don't know if that study holds water, but it makes me think that if we know there is a chance that holding on for just one more hour will make a difference between soldiers laying down their weapons or continued slaughter, we'd stand for another two hours.
And lastly, your second to last paragraph is hauntingly brilliant and terrifying. Seeing the truth written in pages of both a paper and it's accompanying blog brings a chilling comfort to my soul that perhaps, even if its only one paper, the truth is finally starting to be printed. It doesn't matter where you stand, if you stand with fascists and do nothing, you are still a fascist.
Don't eat much, we don't want the republicans to have much soap.
I'll be out there, carrying the big American flag that I got for the house earlier this year. I've never felt more patriotic than I do now. Husband will be there on his mobility scooter. Dog will be there because what's more American than a elderly straight white couple and their dog?
ReplyDeleteI also never comment on bumps, though I did make an exception recently when it seemed to be safe. Her response was "Twins. Next week."
I don't fully understand the assertion that center-left protests, are a symbolic meaningless waste of time. People forget that long before Project 2025 (and the many closed door church, and business financier meeting prior), the right-wingers have protested for school prayer and pledge of allegiance, against equality, workers rights, sex and gender issues... "our way or the highway" ad infinitum. Often violently throughout history. Shills for the church-banker-royalty status quo. Look where it's got them.
ReplyDeleteI think the real naivete lies in the belief substantive change is going to be a bloodless achievement. I'm old enough to have seen a lot of protest movements here and around the world. Can't name one, even the most peaceful, where skulls weren't cracked, people abused, lives not taken. Wish it weren't so, but can you?
I'll be out tomorrow, for the second time, 103rd and Western. A great group last time (600 estimated), and the cops were very professional. Met a lady who said she was out because her father had fought the Nazis in WW2. I told her "me too." Met another lady and her 15 year old dog, sweetest thing. We got so many honks from passers-by, including a giant truck horn. Very colorful hilarious signs. I wore my Obama 2028 hat, which was a hit I tell you. Looking forward to making new "friends of Democracy" tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteWill be out for second time, 103rd and Western. Great group last time, great signs, cops very professional. Wore my Obama 2028 hat, quite the hit. Estimated 600 attendees. So many cars honked in support, including a giant truck that emitted a 100 dB blast. Everyone accommodated this 75 yr old handicapped north side Irishman. Bring your phone, make new friends! Put your vids up on Bluesky!
ReplyDelete