On the morning after the massive No Kings rallies, let’s take a moment to review the state of things: What we know, what we learned, what we were reminded of.
The opposition is real. And it is huge. Saturday saw one of the largest single-day nationwide demonstrations in U.S. history. It was an overwhelmingly peaceful expression of quintessentially American dissent. ‘No Kings’ protests pass in festival atmosphere as an estimated 7 million across US rally against Trump’s ‘authoritarianism’ | The Independent.
On a massive scale, the rallies refuted the MAGA fear-mongering about “Hate America” riots, exposing (once again) Mike Johnson, Karline Leavitt, and Ted Cruz as the retromingent assholes they are. Via the Wapo:
Demonstrators danced, held up punny protest signs and dressed in costumes that have become symbolic of anti-ICE protests in Portland, Oregon. Elected officials delivered addresses lambasting Trump.
A street carnival atmosphere took hold in many places and the mass gatherings remained largely peaceful through early Saturday evening. Republicans had sought in advance to portray the gatherings in darker terms, as “hate America” rallies, with some GOP congressional leaders suggesting the protests were meant to appease a “terrorist wing” of the Democratic Party….
The events amounted to a striking measure of the unhappiness with Trump’s second term, as polls show the president’s approval rating is in negative territory.
The massive protests also come amidst several signs of green shoots for the resistance:
More universities are flipping off the Administration.
For months, his campaign faced only sporadic resistance. But over the last week, Brown University, M.I.T., the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California and the University of Virginia have all rebuffed the White House’s push to give preferential funding treatment to schools that show fealty to Mr. Trump’s agenda….
“The compact itself just so egregiously and blatantly violated our ability to function as the institution that we are right now that it is very easy for people to get fired up about it,” said Raya Gupta, a Brown freshman who helped organize opposition to the proposal on the campus in Providence, R.I.
In a remarkable display of cross-ideological solidarity, news outlets defied the Trumpian “War Department’s” attempt to throttle press coverage.
Despite the serial groveling by favor-seeking industries, some elements of the business community are starting to push back. “Chamber of Commerce sues Trump to block $100,000 fee for H-1B visas.” Baby steps, but still.
More courts are calling bullshit on Trump’s attack on American cities. On Thursday, a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court extended the order blocking Trump from deploying troops in Chicago and rejected his rationale for the invasion:
A protest does not transform into a “rebellion” just because protesters are well-organized, advocate to overhaul the structure of government or use civil disobedience, Judges Ilana Rovner, David Hamilton and Amy St. Eve wrote. Nor do isolated incidents of criminality or violence convert a protest into a rebellion or generalized lawlessness, they added.
“We emphasize that the critical analysis of a ‘rebellion’ centers on the nature of the resistance to governmental authority,” the court wrote, adding that there must at least be deliberate, organized violence in opposition to government authority. “Political opposition is not rebellion.”
But, but, but… We were also reminded of other realities.
It’s Springtime for MAGA criminals. “Trump commutes former Rep. George Santos’ prison sentence.” For Trump’s friends, everything. For his enemies, the law.
Putin can still play Trump anytime he wants. That “pivot” toward Ukraine? Fuhgeddaboudit. On Friday, Trump bit on Putin’s suggestion they meet again in Budapest with their fellow autocrat, Viktor Orban, where Trump will be fluffed with Putinesque charm and dazzled with dangled business deals and opportunities for graft. “Putin’s Trump Strategy: Lots of Flattery, and Talk of Business Deals” - The New York Times
Even as Mr. Putin has pounded Ukrainian cities and waged grinding warfare in the country’s east, he has invested dozens of hours into flattering Mr. Trump, dangling the prospect of Russian-American business deals and sending the message that Russia is open to talks to end its invasion.
The tactic has helped Mr. Putin head off repeated deadlines and sanction threats by the American president without curtailing Russia’s war effort.
What could go wrong?
We were also reminded that the Vice President of the United States is a trollish man-child. After several days of defending Hitler-stanning bigots on a YR chat, Vance, honest to God, posted this:
And Trump? This is NOT A PARODY. On Saturday, the President of the United States posted a video on Truth Social.
In the video, “King Trump” appears to zoom over New York City, whereupon he drops a payload of brown sludge on the protesters in the streets below him. The video is set to “Danger Zone,” the Kenny Loggins hit song from “Top Gun.”
Are you not entertained? Happy Sunday.
A note to readers:
A quick reminder, you are not the crazy ones. But this is the fight of our lifetimes, and the challenge of our generation.
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Our weekend podcast
Tim O'Brien: Trump is a Chaos Agent in a Chaotic World
On the eve of ‘No Kings” Day, I sat down with Bloomberg Opinion’s Tim O’Brien to talk about the chaos and consequences of Donald Trump’s second term. From the “No Kings” rallies and the weaponization of the IRS to fears of a politicized military, we examine how America’s democratic institutions are holding up—or falling apart.
Subscribers can listen to an ad-free version right here… or you can watch on YouTube / Listen (and subscribe) on Apple/ Spotify / iHeart / RSS Feed.
Sunday dogs
I feel the need to repost this from yesterday, because the boys are quite proud of this:
He IS dropping shit on us every day in every way. From every orifice he has. 🤬
Great, thorough, hard work done here by Mr. Sykes and company. For the successes he reports on, Charlie merits a good bit of credit. Together we must continue to RESIST!