No Kings! (No dictators, either!) (#1372)

Topics/tags: Miscellaneous

I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling somewhat hopeless these days. It feels like all norms of government are gone. Civility? Hah! Balance of powers? Nope, that’s become the hierarchy of powers. The rule of law? Whatever it is, it’s no longer apply laws equally or even apply laws. Perhaps it’s never been. Perhaps law means something new, The will of the President, it seems. The Hatch act? That’s about hatching schemes, right? The Emoluments clauses? That’s too complicated a word. And English evolves. I think it now means that the President can leverage his power for income in any way in which he chooses [1]. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses? I think the next line has become So that I can deport them. Lady Liberty weeps. Independence of the Justice Department? Hah! It’s another tool for the President. Promises and agreements? Those are for chumps. Of course, I’m pretty sure the President has always felt they were for chumps.

I’m pretty sure that even Nixon wouldn’t have wanted to go this far.

As I said, I’m feeling hopeless. I’m fortunate (at least I think I’m fortunate) because much of this doesn’t affect me directly. But I love our country. Or I love the myth of our Democracy. Or even the myth of our Republic. All three!

And this? This isn’t what America is supposed to be.

I also care about my fellow human beings. I may not be a Christian, but I share traditional Christian values about how one treats the other. Sometimes I wonder whether those are no longer Christian values. Were they ever fully American values? Jim Crow laws suggest otherwise. The John Birch Society suggests otherwise. The treatment of so many kinds of immigrants suggests otherwise.

Nonetheless, I’d like to pretend.

Maybe someday.

For much of my adult life, it’s felt like we’ve been moving somewhat in the right direction. Now? We’ve rewound. It’s not a version of great I understand.

Hope? It’s hard to find. Most days, I can’t conceive of what difference I might make. I suppose I can make minor differences. I try. But the big picture? How does one change the world?

I hadn’t meant to write such a long introduction. My Creative Nonfiction teacher would tell me that I need to edit. Too bad. I’m not just hopeless. I’m also lazy.

In any case, the state of America and the state of the world leave me feeling hopeless. What can I do?

This past weekend, I did one thing. Along with many other people, I participated in a No Kings rally. Others participated, too: I saw three inflatable dinosaurs, two inflatable frogs, a green alien, a personification of Lady Liberty, someone who looked remarkably like Chuck Grassly. More importantly, the people represented a great cross-section of our community. I worried that it would just be College people. But the rally had people from the retirement community, medical staff, folks who work as baristas and pizza makers and more, librarians, Veterans, children, too many varieties to enumerate. It’s good to see people come together. And hope.

The signs make sense. I’d love to see American be great again. Kings didn’t make us great. Dictators won’t make us great. At least we haven’t had one before now. Hence, if we were great before (as great again implies), we shouldn’t need one now.

No, what makes us great are our people, our laws, our tripartite form of government, checks and balances, keeping our word, caring for others.

Seeing so many people who feel similarly gives me hope.

At least a little.

Postscript: I was fortunate to be able to protest in Grinnell. While we had some counter-protestors and drive-by-screamers who have a different vision of America the Beautiful, we didn’t have to worry about ICE, the military, or militarized police doing us harm.

Would I have had the courage to protest in such a situation? I don’t know. I hope so. I’m glad others do.

Postscript: I generally try to avoid overly political musings [2]. Why? I’d like all students to feel at least somewhat comfortable in my class. And some kinds of strong political speech can make people feel unwelcome.

So why this musing? Most importantly, I participated in the rally. It seems reasonable to discuss the rally and to explain why I participated.

While I’ve written about some of my concerns and the emotions they evoke, I’ve not dismissed other viewpoints. I hope students know that their perspectives should not affect their grade. And if they feel differently, whether more conservative or more liberal, perhaps we could learn from each other. After all, that’s what education should be about.

[1] I’m using male pronouns for the President because our current president presents as male and all of our Presidents to date have been male.

[2] DEI is not a political stance; it’s a moral one.

Version 1.0 of 2025-10-18.