Appalled by our rush toward autocracy? Join millions in one of many No Kings protests on Saturday Oct. 18
If you are discouraged and frightened by America’s current plunge into autocracy, you should put the nationwide No Kings protests on Saturday, Oct. 18, on your calendar.
For what it’s worth, Indivisible predicts that this will be the “largest peaceful protest in modern American history.” I am old enough to remember massive protests against the war in Vietnam, as well as the original Earth Day mobilization in 1970. If Oct. 18 attracts more participation than the gatherings from that period, it will be a memorable day.
Of course, we are used to extravagant claims these days. In his lawsuit against the New York Times, Donald Trump’s attorneys declare that “with the overwhelming victory (in the 2024 election), President Trump secured the greatest personal and political achievement in American history.”
Apparently Abraham Lincoln’s victory in the Civil War, Franklin D. Roosevelt’s victories against Hitler’s Germany, and the passage of landmark Civil Rights legislation in the 1960s all pale compared to Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris by a margin of 49.8% to 48.3%. After all, this was the first time that a convicted felon had won a presidential election.
So what are we being asked to protest on Oct. 18? There is a pretty long list of atrocities, abuses of power and disastrous policies, and one wonders just where to begin. Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communication Commission, demanded that Jimmy Kimmel be removed from the air, not long after pressure from the administration apparently led to the decision to end “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”
Federal prosecutors have been forced to launch what appears to be a frivolous prosecution of former FBI Director James Comey, and other Trump enemies including New York Attorney General Letitia James and California Sen. Adam Schiff are also in the crosshairs.
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, Attorney General Pam Bondi is threatening to prosecute “hate speech” (essentially, any speech that she hates) in the federal courts. Trump has sued the Wall Street Journal, which is generally considered a fairly conservative publication, for $10 billion because it had the temerity to publicize his sexually “suggestive” letter commemorating the late predator Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th. birthday. An executive order back in May ceased federal funding for NPR and PBS, which have reliably provided news to millions of Americans for decades.
Trump is pursuing a war against public lands, wilderness areas and ecosystems. Having proclaimed climate change a hoax, he seeks to open protected lands to coal mining, oil and natural gas drilling, and suburban development. National forests are to be clear-cut, with Alaska’s Tongass (one of the largest unspoiled temperate rain forests in the world) especially in the crosshairs. National monuments that were created in the Biden and Obama administrations, some of which protect sites which are sacred to Native tribes, are to be scaled back or abolished.
There has been unprecedented pressure on Red states, starting with Texas and including Indiana and Missouri, to gerrymander their U.S. House districts in the middle of the decade, in an effort to retain Speaker Mike Johnson’s extremely narrow Republican majority in the 2026 elections.
Meanwhile, Congress seems incapable of passing a budget, agreeing on a Farm Bill, or exercising any checks and balances against the excesses of the executive branch.
Unfortunately, this is not an exhaustive list. There are plenty of issues that cry out for peaceful protest. It can be rejuvenating to gather with like-minded citizens and express our concerns and alarms.
When I have joined Indivisible gatherings in recent months, I’ve been struck by the generally favorable response from passing motorists. Contacting the offices of Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds and Rep. Dusty Johnson and imploring them to do the right thing generally seems like an exercise in futility.
So let’s head to the streets and sidewalks on Oct. 18! Yes, please mark your calendar.
Jay Davis of Rapid City is a retired lawyer and regular contributor to The South Dakota Standard.
Photo: public domain, wikimedia commons
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