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Saturday, October 18, 2025

The threat of an American king

Reception of the Grand Condé at Versailles by Jean-Léon Gérôme (Musée d'Orsay)

     A regular reader in Norway writes:
     "I’m trying to understand the phrase 'no kings' in modern discourse. Given that constitutional monarchs in Europe today hold no real political power and function largely as symbolic figures within democratic systems, it’s unclear to me why monarchy is still viewed as a threat. Could you clarify this perspective?"


     It is not monarchy itself that is a threat — nobody is worried that Donald Trump will start wearing a crown and an ermine robe; though, at this point, I wouldn't put anything past him. Nor are we talking about quaint modern European royalty. We aren't worried about Queen Beatrix on a bicycle. Rather it is the absolute power, unquestioned obedience, mandatory worship and grotesque abuses once associated with kings that are a growing concern for many Americans.
     Better late than never.
     We are used to a government that tries to address the needs of its citizens. Or at least pretends to. Remember why our nation was created. If we read the Declaration of Independence, the very first thing it declares — with considerable hypocrisy, given that slavery would be legal for most of the next century — that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
     Respecting those rights is the purpose of having a government in the first place.
     "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men," it continues, "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." 
     Kings don't derive their power from the consent of the governed — it is given by God. It cannot be taken away, in their own estimation. 
     Sound familiar?
     Look at the actions of the second Trump administration. Immediately stripping away the government, diverting money that once went to help citizens to his rich pals. Elon Musk basically bought unfettered access to the United State government for a $278 million bribe to the Trump campaign, and his minions raged through the government, firing workers and mining our data.
     Trump's central values seem to be revenge — the Justice Department, purged of its ethical employees, now pursues sham cases among all who opposed Trump. Who tried and — alas — failed to bring him to account for his continual crimes. Democratic states get budget cuts and masked thugs plucking brown people off the street. Red states get factories spurred by Trump's random and autocratic tariffs.
     This is where the "No Kings" phrase comes from. There is no government anymore, just Trump. He makes the decisions, or his handpicked lackeys and lick-splittles. We were a nation founded on division of power — Congress had an important role, passing laws, approving budgets, a role it has abandoned. It took an extended summer recess and, with the government shut down, barely functions and when it did was busy salaaming before Trump, treating the bare Republican majority as a mandate from God.
     The courts, meanwhile, are a funnel up to the Supreme Court, which Trump managed to pack with three partisan toadies during his first term, and now has a solid MAGA majority whose primary function is to clap like seals at whatever he does.
      Thus we find ourselves with a king, in all practical terms, if not in name. Trump has turned the Oval Office into a gilded horror, reflecting his own tin-plated superficiality and lack of substance. He has unveiled plans to deform the White House with an enormous ballroom, and to construct an enormous imperial triumphal Roman arch worthy of Hadrian to mark the 250th birthday of the United States and its transition into an oligarchy. 
     But it feels trivial to focus on aesthetic lapses when the structural, fundamental damage he does is so great. The hornet's nest of conspiracy theories, lies and calumnies buzzing in his brain has become national policy. Truly, had the Russians conquered us militarily, and set out to dismantle and cripple the country, they could hardly have struck upon a campaign as destructive as the one we've seen over the past nine months.
     The public who aren't dancing around the Golden Calf of Trump have few options at this point. We can pine for the 2026 election to restore a Democratic majority in Congress, but Republican gerrymandering has decreased the odds of that, and the election might not happen anyway or, if it does, the government might not respect the results. Kings don't have to, and Trump has been very clear that the only elections he recognizes are those that go his way.
     Thus the "No Kings" protests, the desperate act of desperate people who see the country they love slipping away or, more accurately, being handed on a platter to a would-be tyrant who encompasses literally every negative quality that can be found in a person. It's a very sad, dangerous state of affairs.
     Does that answer your question?

23 comments:

  1. Typo - "All mean are created equal...." Should be "men". Flying fingers.....

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  2. A very sad, dangerous state of affairs, indeed. 😣

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  3. I wonder if I would mind less if the king-to-be wasn't such an utterly repulsive criminal flim-flammer

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  4. in the spirit of "hey kids lets put on a show" would solve a serious financial problem, the opposition as we call ourselves here in America come up with symbolic theater to protest the actions of our government. remember pussy hats? cute but ineffectual. now no kings. where we'll chant- hey ho Donald Trump has got to go and imagine this with cause things to change.

    Those of us that are taking this matter seriously are preparing for the midterms, they damn well better take place or there will be blood! and are in court every god damn day contesting and blocking the actions of this government . come in out of the rain and grow the fuck up people . There is important work to be done. NOW . Enough with this silliness

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    1. It is not silliness. It is a public way to bear witness - to show Trump and the rest of the world we are paying attention and won't bow to his pathology. Of course we have to focus on winning the mid terms - but in the meantime we can utilize the concept of theatricality - that you cynically mock - to draw a line in the sand. Trump is obsessed with numbers. Today will give him some numbers to obsess over.

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    2. Amen Dennis. There is no reason both can't be done — thunderous public protest, and all the political, legal and logistical work possible to ensure, and win, the vote.

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    3. Yes there is no reason that both can't be done but it isn't being done. We opt for theatricality and don't do the hard work of winning elections

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    4. Trump is counting on cynics to sit at home and keep their disapproval of him in quiet check. This fits into his showman /conman agenda, which the current administration controls, even to the point of staging fake riots in FL which they air on their propaganda news stations as reality on the streets of Chicago. Image and crowd size are important to the would-be king. You may question whether large, peaceful protests "help", but passivity plays right into the current fascist agenda.

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  5. One correction: That will not be a ball room, it's going to be his throne room, if he lives that long to see it completed!
    I'm sure at one end will be a raised platform, with steps going up to it at least ten feet of them, will be be his gold plated throne, where he can gaze down at those who will worship his alleged greatness, after they've gifted him even more crypto coins. Which all sane people know are just a ridiculous bubble, with no backing of any kind & will collapse worse than the tulip bubble did for the Dutch in the year 1637!

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  6. That about sums it up.

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  7. Well done, Neil! Thanks! I will be at the rally today and I continue to have faith in the power of the masses gathering peacefully to exercise our rights!

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  8. I think better language for those of us opposed to Trump’s behavior would be “no dictators.”

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    1. Yah, but 'dictators' is three syllables, and 'kings' is one.

      Fits better on a sign, makes an easier chant.

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  9. You've got it all wrong, Neil. The demonstrators at the rallies today hate America. I heard Speaker Mike Johnson say so with my very own ears. In fact, we are pro-Hamas terrorists. Who knew?

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  10. Most concerning to me is the apparent permanent loss of ANY sense of a balance of power. His stacking of SCOTUS with personal stooges. THAT is exactly where all of this went off the rails. No checks, no balances. None left. He can literally do ANYTHING he likes and there is no way to counter him.

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  11. The final turning point will occur when the military is (protecting” Federal property or some such) and the crowds of protesters are getting frisky, not necessarily violent but agitated. At some point someone somewhere is either going to be afraid and give an order to open fire. The turning point will be if they do. If they do, game over as it will become easier the next time. If they don’t there is still a chance. And bringing in outside troops that are not local helps this happen. Remember in China in 1989 the local troops wouldn’t kill protesters so they moved them out and bought in outsiders from another province who didn’t give a damn. And at least hundreds dead. And history rewritten. .

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  12. Remember what the Chinese leader said about the protests in tiananmen square.
    In China 1 million people is not many.

    Those protests changed nothing and just reinforced the power of the government

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  13. Yes, the Norwegian may not have known it's the likes of George III and no representation in Parliament that was a problem, with the Redcoats violating our rights.

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  14. “King” has the advantage of being a nice short word, but the people that Trump is emulating aren’t contemporary kings, but the autocrat dictators like those in Russia and North Korea, and coming right along in Hungary and Turkey. “No More Dear Leaders” doesn’t have the same snap, but that’s what we’re really talking about.

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