No Kings Rallies This Weekend

King George III was the last monarch to rule the US colonies. When the British army, under his leadership, surrendered in Yorktown in 1781, we became a free nation.

Our founding fathers, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Hamilton, Jay and Madison set forth a group of rules that established the function of the federal government and guaranteed the basic rights of each citizen. This document is known as our constitution. It established three branches of government: legislative (congress which is the house of representatives & the senate), executive (president) and judicial (our court system). They did this to ensure that one person would not have too much power, a system of checks and balances.

King George was plagued by medical issues and labeled: mad. He placed unfair taxes and restrictions on the colonies which led to protests, the most common one being the Boston Tea Party, where barrels of tea were thrown into the harbor. The Revolutionary War followed, beginning in August of 1775.

Today we unfortunately find ourselves in a similar situation. Our sitting president, Donald J Trump, who has been convicted of 34 felonies, has to date signed 209 executive orders since being sworn into office in January. To put this in perspective, Biden signed 162 during his 4 year term. Many of Trump’s executive orders are facing legal challenges, for example:

• 1-Attempting to end birthright citizenship. A right that is guaranteed in the 14th amendment which was ratified in 1868.
• 2-Targeting of Law Firms for alleged misconduct. The orders revoked security and ended gov contracts for these firms and their employees. This action is being argued as unconstitutional under the first amendment.
• 3-Imposition of tariffs on Trump’s imposing tariffs on nearly all imported goods. A lawsuit states that the president does not have the right to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economics Power Act, IEEPA.
• 4-Deploying the National Guard in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago. These deployments used the military for civilian law enforcement, which violates the Posse Comitatus Act, a law from 1878 which prohibits the use of military to enforce domestic and civilian laws.

All these examples, whether you support them or not, are actions that challenge our democracy and cause cracks in the foundation of the rules that have been the basis of our government for 249 years.

And it may be a joke, a threat or a distraction but Republican party members and Trump supporters memeing Trump 2028, is a frightening tell tale sign that the GOP may not only consider another Trump run but welcome it. It should be noted, however, that a key provision to the 22nd amendment states that a president shall not serve more than 2 terms.

It shouldn’t be an option to twist and ignore the constitution as well as the rulings of many judges simply to appease the beliefs and wants of one man. That in itself is the definition of king, dictator, or even a president with unlimited power. It’s all the same thing and our country wasn’t built to become a monarchy, a dictatorship or a fascist nation.

Four examples of King George’s deplorable actions against the colonies listed in the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson:

“He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.”

These actions from 250 years ago, hit far too close to home.

No Kings. No Dictators. No Fascists.

In the words of Thomas Paine, one of the less talked about founding fathers, but one of the most important:

“In America the Law is King! No King! No Tyranny!”