Trump's phony kingdom

Let’s cut right to the chase: yesterday was devastating for the country (and the world!) and marked a grave turning point for the United States. A man utterly bereft of character who has consistently shown complete disregard for truth, elections, the Constitution, and the very fabric of American democracy was sworn back into office, right at the scene of his seditious crime four years ago.

Shortly before flashing a Nazi salute, Elon Musk marked the occasion with this tweet:

I don’t care how MAGA someone may be; this should thoroughly disgust any American worth their patriotic salt. We don’t have kings in America! Read the Declaration of Independence, that radical document whose signing we celebrate every July 4th, if you have any doubts. Our kickass Founders rebelled against a king and established a system designed to prevent one from coming to power here.

So when Americans are cheering the idea of a king (and many are), we know something has gone terribly wrong. The denialism and half measures of the past four years have only succeeded at putting Donald Trump back in the White House—and putting us the closest we’ve been to having a king since George III. We lost our way, and Trump is the ugly byproduct. If we’re going to find our way back, we have to look beyond him. It’s on us. #NOKINGS

BOOKMARK THIS. Before we dig in, a quick reminder that under Joe Biden, America has thrived in a lot of ways.

For the record:

• Employment is way up.

• Unemployment is way down.

• Wages are way up.

• Inflation is down (peaked 2 years ago).

• Stock market and personal spending are way up.

• Border crossings are way down.

• Deportations are way up.

• Crime is way down.

• Domestic energy production is at its best level ever.

Trump’s messianic inaugural speech shouldn’t fool anyone. He is inheriting a very strong America.

THE TIKTOK TACTIC. I say all of this not only because it’s true, but because we all know what Trump will do going forward. He’ll take credit for Biden’s accomplishments. He’ll create problems that don’t exist so he can “solve” them (don’t be surprised if he tries to repeal Obamacare again just so he can repackage it as “Trumpcare”). And he’ll pull more stunts like he did with TikTok.

Recall that in 2020, it was Trump who demanded that the U.S. ban TikTok. So Republicans heeded dear leader and voted to ban TikTok—and the conservative Supreme Court upheld it. But now Trump sees a chance to personally benefit from the Chinese-owned platform, so voila! Now he wants to save TikTok. He’s even suggesting that the U.S. government—not just a U.S.-based buyer—get a piece of it. State ownership of a media platform…what could go wrong? Thank goodness we didn’t elect a communist, right? Lol.

EXECUTIVE DISORDER. Trump is already pushing the envelope on immigration, ending birthright citizenship with the stroke of a pen (14th Amendment be damned) and suspending refugee settlement, among a flurry of executive actions. And just because he’s an asshole who can’t help himself, he even yanked an app called CBP One that processes appointments for migrants legally seeking entry. Migrants who waited months to cross the U.S. border because they did it the right way learned that their appointments had been canceled just moments after Trump was sworn in. Legal immigration is good; we need more of it. Our new (old?) president disagrees. Probably because he’s the most un-American president we’ve ever had.

PARDONS VS. PARDONS. Anyone can have a change of heart, and I had one yesterday. At first, I’ll admit, I wasn’t happy when Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons to his family members. But then I realized that I can’t in good conscience call Trump the extraordinary threat to the constitutional order that I know he is and judge Biden for taking extraordinary precautions. Hell, if it was my family, I probably would too. So fuck it. We have to fight back in this new world however we can within the bounds of the law.

I was even more at peace with Biden’s decision after Trump predictably pardoned 1,500 Jan. 6th “hostages” (read: violent felons who attacked police), including the racist punks from the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. A despicable and traitorous move, but thoroughly consistent.

ONE MORE THING. Anyone who knows me knows I support Israel, full stop, because I support liberal democracies everywhere. And I hate Hamas, full stop, because I hate terrorists everywhere. Trump calling the Jan. 6th felons “hostages” is particularly galling in light of the real suffering the innocent Israeli hostages have endured since October 7, 2023. God bless them.

So what can you do?

The trend couldn’t be more painfully obvious. Floating state media, enriching oneself through the office, tossing aside the Constitution, overriding justice for one’s own felonious supporters. He wants to be a king, and our social contract in the U.S. was established on the premise that none of us are. How do we even begin to fight back? We have a long way to go, but here are three things you can do right now:

1. Put the hashtag #NOKINGS on your social media accounts on every platform.

2. Join the One Flag Initiative. Learn more about it and the #NOKINGS movement here.

3. Watch the exclusive video below from me. (Can’t see it? Then join our community and help me keep a fact-checker employed by upgrading to a paid subscription!)...