Trump has already torn holes in the Constitution, today his tanks will rip holes in Constitution Avenue. By Hal M. Brown
Trump's big beautiful birthday bash on, of all places Constitution Avenues, will be covered on all networks. It should be broadcast split screen with all the No Kings demonstrations.
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It’s difficult not to feel a bit of cynicism when you realize that this particular president is holding his $40 million birthday parade on Constitution Avenue.
Trump said that he hadn’t heard about any planned protests, but “warned that 'any' protesters at military parade will be 'met with heavy force’.” (Reference)
Trump got what he wanted. Every TV station will be covering his big beautiful parade.
The question I have is whether they will broadcast it with a split screen showing the protests around the nation. They should, What’s more important, a parade of prodigious proportions or thousands of protests across the nation involving hundreds of thousands of people protesting what the parade represents.
Whoever came up with the theme of the protests couldn't have thought of anything better to call them. Two simple declarative words: No Kings. The suffix “in America” goes without saying.
There are too many ironies to point out regarding this parade to cover all of them. Suffice to say that the ostensible excuse, the raison d’être, for the parade is to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the US Army which during the Revolutionary War fought to free us from the rule of a king. In World War II they fought to save much of the world from Nazi domination.
If tragedy strikes at one or more demonstrations as is feared by many (see illustration I used for this Substack) what will happen to the television coverage of Trump’s parade is that this will no longer be a split screen. The news will have to break away to cover whatever act, or acts, of violence occur. The more horrific it is the less of the parade will be covered. In fact, if Trump wants to put on a show in Los Angeles this will be in competition with the self-glorifying extravaganza he wants everyone to watch.
Ultimately Trump may get what he has always wanted even though few eyes would have been on his parade. Unless it could be absolutely proved that whatever violence occurred was due to a member of a far right group who posed as a protester he’d have ample justification to declare martial law.
Even if it could be proved that there were deliberate acts to justify Trump’s calling the 99% of peaceful protests an insurrection Trump, being Trump, could simply claim that was fake news.
On a personal note, Ann and I will be going to the protest in Clackamas. This is the easiest to get to from where we live in a Portland, Oregon suburb. The way people will congregate there won’t represent a threat to anyone since it is along both sides of a busy thoroughfare,
We have friends who are going to the protest in downtown Portland. This will be where a large crowd will be packed together. You can see a photo of the most recent protest here,
This is the protest we are going to.
We fear that groups like the Proud Boys which have an affinity for Portland may turn up there to cause trouble. In 2019 they clashed with members Antifa at a "The End of Domestic Terrorism" rally. This happened again in 2021.
Addendum: Trump must be enjoying watching coverage of the tanks preparing for his parade. If he’s watching MSNBC he might not like the image on the bottom.
A few photos I took at the protest we went to:
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Here’s the part about No Kings Day protests and his parade:
We’ll see about that. Republicans in Congress may have lost their voices and their balls, but the American people haven’t. Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. defeated the Trump/Hegseths of their time by wielding nonviolent resistance as a strategic weapon. We will do the same.
On Saturday, June 14, millions of Americans will protest Trump on No Kings Day, as Trump enjoys his $45 million ego-fest military parade in DC. The protests will continue, and they will grow. As Justice Louis Brandeis said about civic engagement, “In a democracy, the most important office … is not the presidency, and it’s certainly not governor. The most important office is … citizen.”
My sister and I (both very senior citizens) just came from a No Kings protest in North Wales, PA. about 25 miles outside Philadelphia, a small town that has a lot of support for this president in the past. But there were many protesters, mostly older people who probably attended may demonstrations in the past, and many creative signs. It was very heartening.