Earl Ofari Hutchinson
The two words heard ad nauseum in describing the latest round of No Kings Rallies nationally was “festive air.” There is good reason for the near universal slap of those words on the rallies. They were just that–festive. The problem, really problems, with the rallies is how can you dethrone a king with a festival?
The brutal reality is the rallies are a jumbled, unfocused mix of carnival, feel-goodism, and sound and fury. But that mix like a festival won’t topple a king.
The proof: In the months since the first, second and third round of rallies the King has ordered the military to go anywhere and everywhere he says go with no questions asked.
The King has ordered corporations and universities to dump in the trash bin any and all DEI programs. The King has ordered the SCOTUS and much of the federal judiciary to torpedo any challenge to his rule. The King has ordered Congress to play hard ball on government spending if that means shutting things down until he gets what he wants so be it. They have like faithful subjects followed the King’s orders to the letter,
The No Kings Rallies have not put even a hint of pause to their questioning servility for these reasons. They are spread out all over the map with no coherent, defined program. They have no identifiable, media and politically savvy leadership. They rely almost exclusively on energy, passion, and loathing of Trump. But that doesn’t translate into tactics and strategy to score public policy or legislative wins. They have no central public issue focus.
There is much talk within and without the rallies that it’s absolutely necessary for the Democrats to take back the House in 2026. But are there voter sign up tables en masse at the rallies? Are there phone, email, text, and social media banks and networks to lobby federal and state elected officials at the rallies?
Are there petitions and petition sign collector volunteers en masse at the rallies to collect signatures and see that they are posted online? Are the names, phone numbers, email addresses, and office addresses of officials within and without Congress and the administration posted en masse at the rallies? Are there prewritten emails and letters and texts distributed en masse to the protesters and then imploring them to flood officials with them?
It may sound trite. But does anyone at the rallies ask themselves OK now that I’ve showed up and showed out with millions more, what do I do now?
Putting pause to the King’s rule will require sustained in the trenches, down and dirty, yes, tedious organizing. It’s not chic. There will be no TV cameras. However, it’s the only way to make real policy change. Anything less is just, well, a festival. Meanwhile, the King continues to sit comfortably on his throne.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His latest book is Trump for Sale (Middle Passage Press) He is the publisher of thehutchinsonreport.net.