The Absurdity of the ‘No Kings’ Protests

“No Kings” protests of various sizes broke in mostly blue cities on Saturday.

The defining feature of these rather tame demonstrations—that appeared to be mostly octogenarian boomers who just finished their shopping trip at Whole Foods—was that there was, well, no defining feature other than that they don’t like the duly elected President Donald Trump. The sanctuary cities are in fact sanctimony cities. That’s the whole point.

As one X user pointed out, the messages being sent at the protests were all over the map. It was more a “progressive grievance buffet” than a focused protest.

If you didn’t see any of the protests, this screed by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, captured the overall feel.

The name of the movement may be “No Kings,” but monarchy didn’t really seem to be its chief concern. Several of the demonstrations had to be renamed because they took place in Canada and in other countries where they technically have a king.

Monarchy and even arbitrary rule clearly weren’t their primary issues.

Just a few months ago, the same type of people allegedly mad about kings were only too happy to celebrate King Charles’ visit to Canada. He didn’t disappoint. The king began his speech in Canada’s Parliament with a “land acknowledgment” to satisfy his subjects’ desire to recognize that while the entire history of their nation is illegitimate, they don’t actually have to do anything about it other than feel good about the self-flagellation.

For the American protesters I find it hard to believe they just really hate royal symbolism. After all, at one point in our country’s distant past—when most of this weekend’s protests were young and “anti-establishment”—there was all kinds of media praise for “Camelot,” the Kennedy political dynasty. I’m guessing many of these protesters cast a vote for a Kennedy or two.

The anti-monarchy or even executive power message just doesn’t make sense. They didn’t care when President Barack Obama, the “pen and phone” president, was tearing up immigration laws to enact amnesty by executive fiat.

When President Joe Biden was acting like a typical king of old, spending his days taking naps and eating ice cream while his advisers did authoritarian things like randomly declare new constitutional amendments official on social media, they were nowhere to be found.

When Vice President Kamala Harris was simply made the Democrat presidential nominee without any primary or decision by voters it seemed more like a coronation than democracy. Again, we didn’t see a “No Kings” protest then. Only now that Democrats are out of power and unaccountable institutions are being held to account are they taking to the streets.

And that’s what I think is the deeper message of these protests, though I am really stretching the word “deep” here.

The supporters of the old institutional order are raging at their sudden impotence in the face of a political counterrevolution.

They are enraged by the unraveling of that old order that insisted we “believe in science,” while science institutions embraced ideology over truth.

They were for COVID-19 lockdowns when it was clear they were actually hurting children and destroying lives.

They embraced the Great Awokening that aimed at casting all American history, including that whole “no kings” 1776 thing into the fire.

Their flag is not the American flag of the republic, not really. It’s the transgender, “woke” flag of intersectionality.

They are the dwindling demographic that still listens to legacy media and insists they are fair and objective as most Americans tune out.

What they are actually for is the unelected bureaucracy that has over time crowded out and has been slowly supplanting our federal republic.

They are an alternate universe version of the tea party movement that exploded in 2009. Only this movement isn’t protesting on behalf of the Constitution or any issue in particular. It is protesting in favor of the progressive constitutional order represented by our corrupted institutions.

They are desperate for the country to embrace the litany of deeply unpopular issues fully embraced by the elite institutional regime but largely loathed by most Americans.

This was an aging, middle-class white liberal primal scream.

America doesn’t have a king, so mission accomplished. It also doesn’t need to be controlled by unaccountable, deep state bureaucrats who think they have a right to rule and not the American people.

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