Round 3

Well, Kim and I did it again.

For the third time within a year's span (going back to last June), we participated in a No Kings protest rally. We joined about 200 other protestors on the Square in Lexington Saturday morning, braving the breezy 45-degree temperatures to display our homemade signs.

Employing the 1st Amendment.

 We figured the turnout wasn't bad for ruby-red Davidson County, especially when you consider far larger protests were being held nearby in Charlotte, Salisbury, Winston-Salem or Greensboro which could have lured otherwise local protestors to those locations.

But it felt good to take part in what was another national movement. Early estimates indicate that this was the largest of the three demonstrations so far with somewhere between eight and nine million participants. That would be about 2.3 percent of the nation's total population sending a message to the stumbling Trump administration of would-be autocrats. That's not an insignificant number and it represents one of the largest demonstrations in American political history.

Based on the two previous demonstrations here in town, I'm sensing a subtle shift in momentum. There seemed to be more horns honking in support of our protest from passing vehicles this time than from people flipping us the bird, which might be their most eloquent way of showing their disagreement from the seat of a gas-guzzling pick-up truck ($3.79 per gallon. How's that additional $35 per tank per week working for you?). 

To me, the social media detractors are amusing. Try as they might, there's a seemingly desperate effort to downplay the significance of the No Kings movement. Some have called it cute. Some say it's sheer idiocy and why waste your time? Others have glibly tried to point out that we have no kings in America and have not had any since 1776. (To be technical, the Treaty of Paris of 1783 formally ended the Revolutionary War and thus ended the reign of King George III in this country). This totally misses the point.

As protestors, we know there are no kings in America. What we are protesting is the deterioration of our rights to an ever increasing authoritarian regime.

Let me ask:

• Are you OK with the current war in Iran? Trump started the war without Congressional approval. He ignored the Constitution.

• Are you OK with an illegal war that is costing this country $1 billion per day? Where's the money for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)?

• Are you OK with Trump raising tariffs? The added high costs passed on the consumers have raised food prices, car prices, all prices. His actions are closing down some small businesses and hurting farmers. He raised tariffs without Congressional approval. He ignored he Constitution.

• Are you OK with the suspension of due process? ICE agents are breaking into private homes and businesses without warrants. That's unconstitutional. 

• Are you OK with dismantling federal agencies like USAID without congressional approval? That's unconstitutional.

• Are you OK with his attempt to end birthright citizenship for children of non-citizens? That's in violation of the 14th Amendment. That's unconstitutional.

• Are you OK with war crimes? Dropping a Tomahawk missile on an elementary school in Iran might constitute a war crime. The same with blowing up civilian motorboats in the Caribbean, especially without due process, especially when you make a second attack on survivors in the water.

Many of Trump's actions have been implemented by executive order without regard to the Constitution, and thus can be challenged by the courts.

Trump is a convicted felon. Trump is an adjudicated rapist. Trump is all over the Epstein files. Trump is a compulsive liar. 

We are either a country of laws, or we are not. 

The current administration's agenda is choking us. 

And that is why we protest.