No More Kings
“In America the law is king. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be king; and there ought to be no other.” -Thomas Paine
Independence Day is coming, and this 4th of July it is especially important for progressives and leftists to not cede patriotism to the forces of reaction. We tend to rightly be more willing to explore this nation’s many historical failings, but from time to time we need to throw on some red, white and blue and show the world that our critiques of this nation are grounded in our deep and abiding love for it. On this Independence Day there will be hordes of MAGA-ites waving the flag, blowing off fireworks, chomping hot dogs, and fancying themselves the “real Americans” the same week they praise our corrupt, unelected Supreme Court’s decision to give Donald Trump the powers of a king. Do not give them the satisfaction.
From every corner of this great nation the rest of us need to remember the legacy of 1776 and declare: NO MORE KINGS!
This is a flawed country with a complicated and bloody history, but we should be proud of what July 4th symbolizes. Our Declaration pronounced that all are created equal, and that a free people would no longer submit to living under an unelected tyranny. While this country has often failed to live up to these principles, this nation has accomplished a great deal when it has.
What we saw yesterday at the Supreme Court was a repudiation of the principles of 1776. Of the six Tories who voted to give Donald Trump the powers of a king, three of them were appointed to the peerage by the wannabe king himself. Another has been taking favors from reactionary billionaires and his spouse was involved in the scheme to overthrow the last election. Still another flew the flag of insurrection on his front lawn. The sixth may not be tainted so directly, but the Chief Justice is the most odious in his dishonesty, which belies his claims to probity. He had the gall to write a decision that talks in theoretical terms when he knew full well he was giving Donald Trump specifically the powers of a monarch.
Now is a good time to remember that the American Revolution was not just a matter of wealthy men in powdered wigs and silk stockings discussing Enlightenment philosophy. Common people saw it as an opportunity to challenge unearned privilege and demand a more equal society. They hounded Tory officials out of their towns, sometimes violently, taking direct action in ways that concerned more elite patriots.*
In that spirit when I proclaim No More Kings! I am speaking not just of the wannabe King Donald, but of billionaire union busters, wealthy media magnates, and the financial pirates of venture capital firms. They and their Tory enablers in the state houses and halls of Congress must understand that they will no longer be able to comfortably lord it over us peasants anymore. Never forget that the tea was dumped in Boston Harbor as a protest against a rapacious corporation’s special ties to the British Empire.
While the American Revolution had its limitations and failures, at its best it stood against the rule of the many by the rule of the unaccountable, privileged few. Tom Paine’s words in this regard still move me, and his spirit suffused those who followed that understood that freedom was not just an abstract, but meant deep changes to society and a leveling of hierarchies. I think here of FDR’s barn-burning 1936 nomination speech where he attacked his plutocratic opponents who viewed the government as “a mere appendage to their own affairs,” proof that “government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized mob.”
The reactionary Tories know they are in the minority, which is why they rely on the Senate filibuster, electoral college, and packing the courts with willing lackeys. They are so crass and craven that they aim to make a king out of Donald Trump to accomplish the things they know the people don’t want. These hypocrites will be waving the flag harder than ever on the 4th; it’s time to show them what real patriotism looks like.
NO MORE KINGS!
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*It’s important to note that the revolution put limits on who was to get freedom and even those who fought against independence did so in ways to ensure their own freedom, like the enslaved men who won their liberty by fighting for the British and the indigenous people who took the British side to maintain their lands.