The No Kings protests are truly huge. All 50 states are participating, and the protests have spread globally. That’s quite possibly a world first.
The world really doesn’t like Trump. That alone is unifying the West like nothing since World War 2. America’s global image has nosedived spectacularly from day one of this administration.
This Pew Research poll shows some interesting anomalies. Canada has an overwhelmingly anti-Trump response with 77% disapproval. Well, OK, they’ve got good reason. Germany, however, is even more negative on the subject of Trump, with an 81% disapproval rating. In Sweden, disapproval is 85%.
America obviously isn’t too thrilled about the constant utter chaos, either. Nor should it be.
As the US Army celebrates its 250th anniversary, the parade is now somehow about Trump. It isn’t. He’s simply taken credit for the entire history of the US Army. Not one single member of the Trump family has worn an American uniform since they stepped off the boat.
Live coverage of the parade includes negative commentary on Trump. “How embarrassing” was one of the chat comments on FOX 4 along with “Where’s the crowd”.
I notice DEI doesn’t apply to the many black soldiers or other ethnicities in the parade.
The parade itself is a sort of “gruntathon” with sales pitches for new weapons. Not much of a crowd, in various clusters around the road. It’s quite likely the No Kings marches are actually a lot bigger.
Meh. It’s probably more informative than anything else likely to come out of it.
Many commentators have noted that the idea of a presidential parade looks too much like old Cold War parades in healthy places like Soviet and modern Russia and North Korea. It’s not really an American thing unless you’ve just won a major war. This administration can’t even beat its own press releases.
While all this is going on, a few other indicators are in play:
Polarized America doesn’t work at all. It never has The constant polarized hate campaigns against practically everyone are reaping a hideous image. In Minnesota, two Democrat politicians and their spouses were victims of a shooting. Minnesota cancelled No Kings marches largely because the perpetrator hadn’t been caught.
Threats against the No Kings marches were already thick before the marches began. Some solid citizen drove his SUV into a No Kings march in Virginia.
Simultaneously, the LA protests against ICE have been mainly peaceful and largely uneventful. A few cars going up in flames could be described as a pretty basic night on the streets anywhere in the US. Several media outlets have stated that the National Guard and troops in LA didn’t really seem to have anything to do.
US Marines detained one man who turned out to be an Army veteran on his way to an appointment at Veterans Affairs. The protests were peaceful, and the “riots” were magnified out of all proportion to the realities on the ground.
If June 14 2025 is any indication of the way the scales are tipping in America, look forward to 2026.
Update: Swiss No Kings protesters have achieved a milestone in protest garb. They have huge hats with a middle finger extended. Well done, Switzerland. The export market should be huge.
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Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this Op-Ed are those of the author. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Digital Journal or its members.
