No Kings?

I can’t remember why I missed the October 18th No Kings protest in Hamilton, Montana. It would have made good copy for BBR and this Substack. I could have approached the mob, no doubt consisting mostly of TDS-addled angry libs, and a small group on the other side consisting of those ‘traditional’ Republicans that never liked Trump to begin with, and asked them questions.

For the Democrats, maybe some questions along the lines of…

• How is Trump acting like a King? (more on this below)

• With No Kings you allude to Trump flouting/ignoring the law. Do you liberals care when laws are ignored by a Democrat administration?

  

• Is it OK when entire cities and states ignore not only the law by opposing the Federal Government in areas where they definitely have legal authority, like immigration enforcement, but discriminate against entire populations of legacy Americans for the benefit of people who are here illegally? (see sanctuary cities or entire states like uber-dem California and their policy toward illegals regarding education, medical, welfare etc.)

  Or to put it all another way, How much do you really care about the law, or are you just here to vent against hated Orange Man?

Here’s a short list of some unlawful Dem stuff if you need a refresher:

• Clinton- illegal bombings in Sudan and Yugoslavia. Murderous sanctions on Iraq. Extrajudicial rendition violating the UN Convention against torture, etc. ad infinitum (and I wouldn’t mention Mena, AR, or OKC or Waco, lest a normie head explode)

• Obama- Thousands of illegal searches with unlawful sharing use of docs by Brennan and Clapper. Spygate; fast and furious; Benghazi; illegal drone assassination of US citizens; Operation Choke Point: Financial Censorship; Sanctuary City Collusion;

• Obama/Biden era use of IRS audits as political retaliation.

• Biden- Big tech censorship; Election Interference; Unlawful Immigration Policies; Censorship and First Amendment Violations; Corruption and Foreign Influence (Hunter Biden); Violations of International Law, shielding Israel from accountability for potential war crimes in Gaza, opposing ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant despite evidence of starvation tactics against Palestinians, etc.

And the question I might have asked the Republicans who found Trump icky from the start, at that No Kings protest: Why all the hubbub now? Do you think the Republican presidents that you voted for ever stood up for your interests?

What things do Bush 41 & 43 and Reagan have in common with Trump?

• Expansion of Executive Power and the Surveillance State

• Unnecessary and Unconstitutional Wars -I can hear it, but not Trump!! see: continued Middle East interventions; escalating drone strikes (civilian deaths rose 330% under Trump) and failing to fully withdraw from Afghanistan until Biden’s botched exit. His assassination of Qasem Soleimani violated international law, mirroring Bush Jr.’s extrajudicial killings. Massive expansion of military budget. 7 nations bombed in 2025 alone, etc.

• Complicity with the Deep State and Globalist Agendas

• Economic Policies Favoring Oligarchs

• Failure to Drain the Swamp

So what would be the purpose of my interrogation of No Kings Rally participants? Simple- to try and shake people out of their TDS (Trump Derangement for left/Trump delusion for right) and help them see that it’s not red vs. blue, it’s US AGAINST THEM, but your factional bickering is a road block to progress, and both your hatred of Trump over here and your Love/Idolatry of Trump over there is holding us back.

Enough of this Trump mind f#%! confusion and Enough lesser of two evils!

After the No Kings rally, I was surprised to hear that my friend Elaine Mack had attended. Five and a half years ago, Elaine flew two giant flags that fluttered majestically from the bed of her pickup. One was an American flag and the other a Trump 2020 flag. Four years of the Trump presidency had soured me and I pointed out some of his more obvious failings.

“But Dan, what else have we got?!” cried Elaine.

She’s come to her senses on Trump, and good for her. I use her as an example to show that even a rabid Trumpster can be ushered into the light. We still have work to do; there are still tons of Ravalli County Republicans on the Trump Train.

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Incidentally, I have friends who still support Trump wholeheartedly, and more friends who are a bit skeptical of Trump but still think he’s against the establishment and working to take down the evil system. All of these friends see my anti-Trump ravings and none has disowned me. In fact they’re more than willing to listen. One friend has proposed that I interview the leaders of an organization called Promethean Action. Specifically he suggested I debate Barbara Boyd or Susan Kokinda, the mouthpieces for this organization, which consists largely of former high level Larouchians. Look at their YouTube videos over the last month. This stuff is heroin-level catnip for the MAGA crowd:

I watched a few videos. Trump is going to save America and it’s the end of the line for all the baddies in our country and around the world. I’m grateful for them putting my mind at ease for that, but they do have to get a better AI for their videos and thumbnails. Here’s a cross section of hard working Americans from Detroit. Unfortunately they all suffer from either Reptile Eye, Glass Eye, or standard pupil dilation due to brain tumors (does this explain their backing of Trump?):

-Hey Shumway, if your Trumper friends are willing to listen to your side, maybe you should do the same, and not be flippant with these goofy images.

You’re right and I’m ready to talk to these people. At first, when my pal Fred suggested a debate, I thought, “Me? Debate. No way José!” Barbara and Susan seem pretty sharp; I get excited in political debate and stumble all over my words. And usually I interview people I already agree with. Haven’t played Hardball yet.

-Well, maybe it’s time you do.

You’re right, but with these folks I’m going to just start with questions, not a debate. I’m actually very keen to hear them address my complaints about Trump. But here’s the deal- I already sent an inquiry to Barbara and Susan four days ago. I’ll give them another week to respond, and if I don’t hear from them I’ll assume either

• they don’t want to be bothered by the little people.

• they fear being questioned on their stance.

and then you know what I’ll do? I’ll go right to their arch nemesis and see if she’s willing to talk.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche was married to Lyndon LaRouche for 42 years, up until his death. I wonder what Fred will think if she’ll agree to engage but the Promethean LaRouchies won’t.

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Finally, to return to the essential point and title of this stack, I propose we all call a spade a spade. Do the lefties and aging garden-club Republicans, and finally-awake conservative patriots like Elaine who are all against Trump have a point in calling him a King or Wannabe King?

Mind you I’m not debating here whether invading Venezuela, busting legal, law-abiding immigrants and sending them home, building new Fema-style detention centers, and taking over Cuba, Canada and Greenland are a good thing or not. And I’m not making an argument about autocratic power and it’s merits or lack of. Heck, if we can’t fix this thing with democracy and constitutional rule of law, maybe a dictator or leader of some sort is in order, for a while anyway. But that’s not the point here. It’s simply this, Is Trump acting like a king? You tell me:

• 225 executive orders in one year (last ten presidents averaged 35 per year. All time average is 67)

• bombing a record 7 nations in a single year

• mandating the national-surveillance-card Real ID for travel on May 7, 25

• $1 billion payout to Palantir to create comprehensive profiles on American citizens

• his recent executive order which says certain companies “are not permitted in any way, shape, or form to pay dividends or buy back stock, until such time as they are able to produce a superior product, on time and on budget.”

• The position taken by Vice President JD Vance, who declared that ICE agents had absolute immunity from local prosecution for murder or any other sort of crime they might commit.

• His intent to take Greenland. under what law? and would it be with the consent of Greenland and Denmark and of the citizens of the US, for that matter?

• completely ignoring international law and state sovereignty with operation Absolute Resolve and Trump’s announcement that the US would be running Venezuela (Freudian finger slip- I first accidentally typed ‘ruining Venezuela’)

• Trump’s most powerful advisor, Stephen Miller, said, “Well, what the President said is true. The United States of America is running Venezuela. By definition, that’s true. Jake, we live in a law, I’m sorry, we live in a world in which you can talk all you want about international niceties and everything else, but we live in a world, in the real world, Jake, that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world that have existed since the beginning of time…But what I’m saying is just one level above that, which is that, by definition, we are in charge because we have the United States military stationed outside the country. We set the terms and conditions. We have a complete embargo on all of their oil and their ability to do commerce.

  So for them to do commerce, they need our permission. For them to be able to run an economy, they need our permission. So the United States is in charge.” There’s nothing to indicate Trump disagrees with any of this- quite the contrary.

• Asked if there were any limits on his ability to use American military might, he said: “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

If these aren’t the actions and words of an autocrat, what are?