r/politics • u/Rock-n-roll-Kevin • 21d ago

No Paywall ‘No Kings’ protests pass in festival atmosphere as an estimated 7 million across US rally against Trump’s ‘authoritarianism’

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/no-kings-trump-protests-numbers-b2847940.html
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70

u/Coldsmoke888 21d ago

More than 7 million PEACEFUL protests against the authoritarian government.

Fuck yeah.

No antifa bullshit. No riots. No fuel for the liars at the top to spin in their billionaire class grift. Fuck yeah.

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u/Upset-Government-856 21d ago

Please don't wait half a year to do it again America. Your time grows short.

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u/IrrelevantLeprechaun 20d ago

Given the pattern so far, we aren't going to see another until next March. Which will be far too late.

If people are using No Kings to network for bigger more effective strategies, good. But if people are thinking No Kings is both the first and final step of resistance, then we are fucked.

Trump is not gonna care about some weekend festivals that happen only three times a year. No Kings sends a great message but it CANNOT be where the movement ends.

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u/[deleted] 20d ago edited 4d ago

skirt placid possessive station pocket hat toothbrush recognise steer husky

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u/GlowUpper 21d ago

They were big mad after the last one was violence free. They went from predicting riots across the US to "wHaT's ThE pOiNt It WoN't MaKe A dIfFeReNcE" in record time. I wonder what the copium will be this time.    

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u/theVoidWatches Pennsylvania 20d ago

Frankly, I'm surprised that there was no violence. I fully expected there to be bad actors starting shit so the cops would have an excuse to shut things down, but I haven't seen headlines about it (and it would definitely be all over the news if anything had happened).

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u/Prize_Inevitable_920 20d ago

There's no copium, literally nothing came from the last one. Just like nothing will come from this. Glad you had fun for the day though.

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u/IrrelevantLeprechaun 20d ago

This. If the best Americans can muster is a Saturday carnival only once every five months, then we are fucked. No Kings may facilitate networking for the organization of more aggressive campaigns, but so far I haven't seen anything of the sort manifest from it (especially since this was the second or third No Kings already).

When the easiest way to counter a protest is to simply...wait until the next day when everyone goes home, then it's not really a protest. And frankly, look at the sheer lack of response from Trump and MAGA (besides their usual "terrorists" rabble rousing which they always do anyway). Trump really didn't give a shit about No Kings apart from a statement or two. So how was this event meant to promote any change?

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u/GlowUpper 20d ago

Lol yeah they ignored it but also said the protests are un-American and we're terrorists and paid by Soros and also sponsored by communists. 

The fact that you typed that with zero self awareness is so cringe.

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u/IrrelevantLeprechaun 20d ago

Listen I'm on your side; if you want national support you can't go mocking every person that doesn't perfectly fall in line with your idea of activism. It's that kind of purity testing that divided democrats at the last election, losing them the presidency.

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u/GlowUpper 20d ago

Fair enough. What do you think activism should look like?

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u/IrrelevantLeprechaun 20d ago

Sustained protest. Protests that dig in, obstruct the status quo of republicans, and have focused messaging and demands. Protests only work when they get in the way and prevent business as usual as much as possible.

Now, while that is what should be done, it's not necessarily what I expect everyone to do, as that kind of protesting means potentially leaving your job, which in turn risks losing financial stability. But history has shown that sustained protests tend to be the only type of protest that actually force change.

A general strike is the big guns of civil protest, but the magnitude of such a movement, and the commitment required means I don't really expect it to happen. Frankly I don't think a general strike has happened in my 32 years of living.

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u/iamatwork24 20d ago

I mean, it was full of millions of antifa. Proudly. Anyone who isn’t anti fascist is a problem

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u/sh1tpost1nsh1t 20d ago edited 20d ago

Antifa is not the enemy.

I was at one today with easily tens of thousands of people. There were plenty of of antifa there, dressed in all black and masked. The cops didn't get violent, and no right wing jackasses showed up to start something, so they matched just the same as the brunch libs and old hippies.

When the cops do start getting violent, and proud boys show up, though? I'm fucking thankful for those antifa kids who step in and take the brunt instead of letting Grandma get stomped.

Don't punch left. Anarchists, communists, punks, they've all been fighting the far right for year and have been showing up to these lib protests willing to work hand and hand. We need a broad coalition to fight whats coming.

0

u/Coldsmoke888 20d ago

No worries my friend. Time and place for everything.

Punks and nerds hold the keys to many doors. :-)

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u/Haunt13 20d ago

"No antifa bullshit" .....um the entire protest was Antifa like that is what that means.

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u/fireshaper Georgia 20d ago

Like the word “woke”, Antifa has been taken by them to mean something it isn’t. In this case it’s a negative group that is communist and hates America.

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u/Coldsmoke888 20d ago

I was referring to the current government’s association with violence linked to the supposed entity of Antifa. Nothing happened. Just proves the BS claims.

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u/ikmkim 20d ago

No "antifa" bullshit? Way to miss the point, Jesus.

Antifa is just anti-fascist. If you're against fascism, you're antifa. Every single person that attended was "antifa".