No kings!

The 250^th anniversary of our nation’s founding (coming up in 2026) is an appropriate time to reflect on our history, celebrate our accomplishments, and count our blessings. But all of that feels far more fraught than it should be. We’re not in a good place as a country, and we can’t even agree on what the issues are.

In these contentious times, it’s important to remember the original rationale for our separation from England way back then. The leaders of the colonists laid out their grievances in no uncertain terms. King George III was called out for – among other things (paraphrased):

• Interfering in the establishment and execution of laws
• Attempting to control elections
• Obstructing immigration
• Keeping standing armies in peacetime without the consent of legislators
• Putting military above civilian power
• Cutting off trade with other parts of the world
• Suspending the legislature and taking all power to himself

In the Declaration of Independence, then, our forefathers firmly established that we would have no king and we would “mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.”

That’s why on Saturday, October 18, I plan to stand alongside millions of my fellow citizens in the No Kings demonstration to reiterate that we will not tolerate kingly behavior. Our grievances against Donald Trump and his administration are many and some are eerily like those of our 1776 founders. For my part, this is what I am most objecting to when I wave my “no kings” flag.

• First and foremost, the behavior of the president acting as a dictator, ignoring laws, the constitution, the separation of power in government, and common decency
• The cancellation of important green energy investments and interference with all attempts to limit environmental impacts on climate change; in whole, the refusal even to consider that climate change is an issue worth addressing at exactly the time when action is critically needed
• The unnecessarily brutal and clearly indiscriminate rounding up of people of color – including children – locking them away with no access to their families or legal advice, and summary deportation to random countries without any hearing on the facts or circumstances, all in the name of immigration control
• The attempts to control our education and museum system at all levels, aiming to erase history, inject lies into the record, and control teaching
• The placement of federalized troops in cities that neither need or want support in managing their immigrant populations or their supposed levels of crime; those troops carrying no badges, often holding no warrants, hiding behind masks, and acting in ways that are deliberately provocative and increasingly violent
• The scorning of science and expertise in favor of conspiracy theories and fabrications, along with the defunding of important scientific research that would be of great benefit to our citizenry
• The wholesale and illegal dismissal of government employees, disbanding of government agencies, and abandonment of government priorities that have been established and funded by the congress
• The random and retaliatory setting of tariffs that are causing havoc with business planning and are increasing the cost of goods
• The abuse of power in seeking investigations and arrests of perceived personal enemies
• The lack of support for Medicare, Medicaid, and Affordable Care Act subsidies, as well as lack of support for any efforts to stabilize people’s access to health care and financial security
• The uncritical support of unregulated social media, artificial intelligence, and cryptocurrency without regard for impacts and consequences
• The abandonment of our allies and cozying up with dictators, and the support and preferential treatment of oligarchs

Our country’s 250^th birthday is no time to give up on rule of law, support for the weakest among us, and common cause with our human community. It is most certainly not a time for us to welcome the sovereignty of a wanna-be king or modern dictator/authoritarian. No.

Governments “derive their just powers from the consent of the governed.” But “a long train of abuses and usurpations” must prompt us to action. The power of the people is in non-violent resistance and in unimpeded voting.

No kings!