Sen. Thune, if you think the people who attended the ‘No Kings’ event were a ‘left-wing Marxist crowd’ you should resign now
Dear Sen. Thune,
“It’s going to be a very left-wing Marxist crowd here this weekend” is how you characterized the Oct. 18 ‘No Kings’ march in Sioux Falls in an interview with KELO TV on Oct. 17. If you truly believe that the 3,000 South Dakotans at the peaceful demonstration the next day, including my 77-year-old sister and members of her Bible study group, are “left-wing Marxists,” you should resign now.
This is what you wrote in 2009 in support of an Obama policy:
“While Americans are rightly proud of all the liberties we have secured through our Constitution and Bill of Rights, few freedoms are more cherished than that of free speech. We are all entitled to our opinions and I do not believe that the government should stand in the way of our right to express them …”
In demonizing and mischaracterizing patriotic Americans participating in No Kings rallies, you exercised that right. Too bad you used it to lie.
Today, I and most of my relatives raised in South Dakota are Democrats. Several are former Republicans who changed their party affiliation to either independent or Democrat. They did so because they love democracy and the rule of law, and they believe in the sacred American tenet of liberty and justice not just for some, but for all.
They and I are not Marxists, anarchists, or communists, as your devious colleagues suggest. We are, however, anti-fascists, as were my father and yours.
Your father, a war hero who almost died fighting against authoritarianism, was a history teacher after the war. Imagine him hearing his son describe South Dakotans exercising their First Amendment rights as “left-wing Marxists.”
Imagine his reaction to Republican leaders depicting a No Kings demonstration as a “Hate America” rally.
That you comply unquestionably as this president, his administration, and your party violate the Constitution on a daily basis is inexcusable. You attack the press, punish free speech, violate due process, engage in illegal search and seizure, and consider suspending the writ of habeas corpus, which you, unlike Kristi Noem, understand.
You attack birthright citizenship, which is how your and my forebears became American citizens. By the way, they didn’t speak English or have papers when they arrived.
Also, your evident indifference to the emoluments clause so this president and his cronies can enrich themselves is an affront to every poor, working-class, and middle-class American, regardless of party.
Those are examples of your disdain for the Constitution.
On Oct. 18, thousands of South Dakotans expressed their love of America peacefully. My husband and I were at the D.C. rally. We were surrounded by Americans representing multiple generations, ethnicities, economic circumstances and states.
Despite our differences, we were united in protecting the U.S. from an authoritarian, “grab ‘em by the pussy” and convicted felon president. The rally was peaceful, it was joyful, it was serious.
History shows that no one can become a dictator without the support of sycophants, toadies, lapdogs, lackeys, and minions willing to sell out anybody and betray any principle. People such as you and your Republican colleagues.
You were admired in 2020 for openly countering Trump's lies about the election being “stolen.” In 2024, you were called brave for refusing, initially, to endorse Trump. I guess, though, unlike our WWII veteran fathers, you had a very shallow well of courage that quickly ran dry.
If this administration’s attack on democracy had happened while our fathers were alive, I believe they would have been at a No Kings rally.
Why weren’t you?
Misti Snow, a Pierre native and 1971 graduate of Riggs High School, is a retired author, editor, and teacher. She wrote for the Minneapolis Star Tribune for 20 years and then taught writing to international students, refugees, and immigrants in Virginia, where she lives. Her newspaper work was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and she’s a former Bush Leadership Fellow. Her family's roots date back to 1868 in the Dakota Territory. The original homestead is still owned and farmed by her Snow cousins in Gayville.
Photo: ‘No Kings’ rally in Rapid City, John Tsitrian
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