In America, the people reign supreme
In 30 days, a massive, nationwide protest will remind our leaders who's the boss
In 30 days, America celebrates Flag Day. It’s also the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army. And it’s Donald Trump’s birthday.
Trump has commandeered a military parade planned for June 14 as his own. It’s something autocrats around the world do. Mussolini did it in Italy. Stalin, too, in the Soviet Union. Putin does it now in Russia. Kim Jon Un does it, as his father and grandfather before him did in North Korea.
(In America, kings are for playing dressup, not for ruling the country. Photo by Valario Davis on Unsplash)
America’s president thinks being a dictator is a step up from ordinary president. After all, presidents have to answer to others, from the people who elected them to the members of Congress who hold the power to fund his activities, to the courts who get to determine whether his plans are lawful.
Our president wants to be a king.
Also on June 14, organizations around the nation like Indivisible and 50501 are planning a day of protest from coast to coast, from neighborhoods to major cities — everywhere but Washington, D.C., in an effort to starve the president and his vanity birthdayt celebration of the attention he craves. It’s called, simply, No Kings.
The Labor Party, in solidarity with those organizations and that sentiment, will spend the next 30 days talking about all the ways and all the reasons that America has No Kings. Our leaders and our members will create content on TikTok and Instagram and Facebook and Bluesky and here on Substack and our website votelabor.org. We’ll post podcasts and graphics and longform articles and blog posts. You’ll see videos and images and memes and more.
America has spent the last 248 years enjoying a king-free existence. Trump and his regime of authoritarian wannabes might want to hijack the government and the American experiment, but the odds are stacked against them. Let us count the ways …
You’ll find all our No Kings content by searching #NoKingsLaborParty on your favorite social media platform. Let us know how we’re doing, and if we’ve missed any examples of how America and kings (or dictators, rulers, sovereigns, emperors, princes, potentates, overlords, monarchs, royalty, czars, poo-bahs, magnates, oligarchs, lords, gods, or barons) just don’t go together.
The Labor Party, like America, bows to no king. In America, the people are sovereign, and we are committed to that ideal and to the American dream.
So for the first day’s message, we return to the words that started it all: our Declaration of Independence.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The authors of this document put down on paper a radical statement: That no man has the God-given right to rule over another. The very idea of government existing only by the consent of ordinary men (and someday, women), was unheard of. And yet, they continued:
“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, (and) that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
This idea, that government has a responsibility — a duty — to the people it governs is the groundbreaking, norm-shattering idea that underpins American government.
This nation exists because a king, namely George III of Britain, failed to act in the best interests of the colonists who paid taxes to the crown.
The Declaration of Independence, with all its flowerly language and idealistic prose, is really a list of grievances. A breakup letter, if you will.
Among the king’s transgressions (the full list numbers more than 25 separate complaints):
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good. … and … He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. (Hmmm, much like Trump’s executive orders, right?)
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands. (Sounds a lot like Trump’s suspension of most foreign nationals’ right to seek asylum here.)
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. … and … He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. (Calls to mind the arrest and recent indictment of Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, doesn’t it?)
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. (Very DOGE-like, no?)
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. (Americans are living in fear of masked ICE agents on the streets from coast to coast.)
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation (Much like the El Salvadoran CECOT gulag where immigrants were sent without due process; where administration officials claim they have no authority.)
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world (Tariffs up, tariffs down, tariffs up, empty shipping containers coming from China, trade wars with Mexico and Canada.)
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent (See above. Tariffs are a tax on Americans.)
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury (See above, people are being deported or removed from the country with no due process.)
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. (Is that not what House Speaker Mike Johnson announced when he said the “gift” from Qatar to Trump was “not in my lane”?)
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us … (How else to describe Jan. 6?)
If this were 1776 instead of 2025, we would be within our rights to declare our independence. Trump is acting like a distant king who believes he has no need to care for or answer to the people who have given him limited power to lead.
(GreenWolf is the pen name of a Labor Party member. The Labor Party is built by and for working people. We fight for policies that put people over profits. Ours is a grassroots movement fighting for real change. For inquiries, contact Labor Party Media Secretary Neel Sawicky at media@votelabor.org.)