Tuesday, March 31, 2026

The theater kids again

Really good article from the Federalist: "The Latest ‘No Kings’ Protest Is The Sound Of A Tired Old Thing Trying To Not Die."
The American political left as a cultural formation, and the Democratic Party as an institution, have sunk into a style of oppositionalism that contains no opposition. They speak in a vernacular of protest because they speak in a vernacular of protest, out of habit and as a cultural identity, but they have no idea what they’re protesting. They’re very angry about the, you know, stuff. Something something Trump something something. 
At three o’clock, the nurse brings pudding. Comfortable and wealthy people, many decades into their experience of affluence and safety, are putting their bodies on the line to oppose fascism for a couple hours before the driver takes them back to their mansions.
This was a theme picked up by Sasha Stone: while the citizens of Iran and Venezuela are trying to throw off actual dictatorships, Grandma is cosplaying as a freedom fighter against a fascist regime.
Imagine being in Iran, knowing how many brave citizens attempted to protest their government, only to be mowed down just for standing there, seeing all of these idiots in America marching in their No Kings parade. It would be like someone dying of hunger watching the line form at the Golden Coral all-you-can-eat buffet.
There was a video of a mother-daughter pair at a "No Kings" protest and they were asked by a local news reporter about their protest.  It was unintentionally hilarious because it was instantly clear that even they didn't know why they were protesting.  It was all self-esteem boosterism about protesting.

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