So, like in June and October, my wife and I attended the Montgomery, AL No King Rally, which was held on the south lawn of the historic capitol building downtown (the legislature meets in another building across the road these days).
As I have noted before, I am not dispositionally a “protest” guy, but the Trump administration has now inspired me to participate in four such events (a Women’s Day march in January of 2018 and the three No Kings events in the second term). My desire to publicly express my discontent with Trump’s version of governance, as well as an interest in showing solidarity with other like-minded citizens, overcame personal and professional reticence.
Part of me, like James Joyner, wonders what all of this accomplishes. On the one hand, my appearance downtown yesterday didn’t change much of anything; on the other, it was a chance to publicly register my political opinion, which is an essential feature of democracy.
On the flip side, there is the question of what more should be coming about because of these events.
Local news reports that the crowd estimate was about 1,000. Each event has drawn more than the one before, which is at least one metric of growing discontent with the Trump administration. This was true nationally as well.
As per PBS:
U.S. organizers have estimated that the first two rounds of No Kings rallies drew more than 5 million people in June and 7 million in October. This week they told reporters they expected 9 million participants Saturday, though it was too early to tell whether those expectations were met.
This sends a signal to Trump, and to the broader public, about his growing unpopularity. None of this bodes well for Republicans this coming November.
It is also the exercise of a First Amendment right that is essential to democracy, the right to peaceably assemble. And while my personal participation is irrelevant, as is my singular vote, I would note that the cumulative effects are relevant to our broader politics. If none of this mattered, the White House and its political and media allies would not need to denigrate it.
At a minimum, I see no harm from these events and do think that mass communication of this type is better than apathy.
I noted a number of anti-war signs, a new grievance added since October. There also seemed to be more Epstein-related signs. Otherwise, the issues were pro-democracy and anti-authoritarianism. Like everything else in our politics, the event demonstrated the coalitional nature of the movement.
Here are a few images that I took (this time I took the real camera). All of the shots can be found in this album.
