June 16, 2025
Political optics, the way things look from just enough distance to allow you to both focus and see the big picture, are on my mind after the weekend.
Without rehashing the details everyone knows:
Trump’s birthday tanked.
The weekend was so bad for him that he had his scary-looking PR guy Steven Cheung, formerly of the WWE, tweet this pathetic nonsense:
“Amazing. Despite the threat of rain, over 250,000 patriots showed up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the @USArmy. God Bless the USA!”
And:
“The so-called No Kings protests have been a complete and utter failure with minuscule attendance.”
One can only wonder what sort of desperate craving compels a man to occupy a job in which he is tasked to utter such slavish, mindless lies. That is a secondary question to this moment, but not an irrelevant one regarding Trump and the minions he employs.
You may have already seen this map where the five million-plus people showed up:
The big question now is what its lasting significance might be.
Another scary-looking fellow on Twitter, Jack Hopkins, who is self-described as a “former Republican / Fighting for democracy” and has 243,400 followers, posted on Monday:
“Just talked to a trusted insider—Trump’s inner circle is rattled by the No Kings protests nationwide. They didn’t mention Trump directly, but it’s clear they know just how toxic his brand has become.” https://x.com/thejackhopkins/status/1934661506206933207
There’s that, and also these observations and thoughts:
● The estimated five million-plus participants matched or exceeded all the biggest public demonstrations in U.S. history other than the original Earth Day in 1970. That fact alone carries meaning.
● The demonstrations were a collective expression of widespread frustration with Democratic politicians.
However, that dissatisfaction with Democratic leaders strikes me as nothing more than a snapshot of this historical moment. The fact is that they are doing just about everything the Constitution allows the minority party to do. No one who is complaining seems to have a good idea as to what else they’re supposed to do (I’ve asked repeatedy on social media).
Should they “Take up arms against a sea of troubles and, by opposing, end them,” to cite Shakespeare? Given that the executive branch controls the military, federal police, and the array of masked thugs marauding through the populace, I think not.
● In a social media comment I wrote and deleted months ago, I said that what is needed now is people getting out into the streets peacefully in large numbers. The politicians can’t do that for you. No Kings was exactly what to do – and do again. The sheer size of the protests will sink into the consciousness of policymakers and create pressure on Congress. Given how small the Republican majority is, defections on key votes that could defeat the worst of Trump’s plans are possible, if not likely.
● The fact that No Kings was put together in a matter of weeks, by a reported 200+ groups coalescing and agreeing on a theme, date, and logistics, and its size, is impressive and a harbinger of things to come.
● The protests are likely to have the opposite effect on Trump, stirring him to bigger acts of rage. He has already signaled so.
● However, his rage will drag down some Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections. One fact of recent history that is important to remember is that it was not so much Joe Biden, but the constant national anxieties Trump created in his first term, that caused him to lose in 2020. People voted for relief from the turmoil. And it’s much worse now.
So keep protesting. That is the thing to do. And, as a high school classmate of mine used to say, “Main-tain your cool.”
Allow me, in closing, to offer these words of comfort to Donald Trump: