Dear Friends,
My wife has fall break this week, so we will be traveling to visit our new grand twins. I will be holding them instead of writing, but I’ll be back in the saddle next Monday. In the meantime, enjoy this essay about participating in the No Kings Rally this past weekend.
Please don’t hesitate to share it on your social media platforms, so we can generate support for our efforts to save democracy. Thank you.
Phil
I had an unexpected bill this week, so you can imagine my relief after being paid to attend the No-Kings March in Plainfield, Indiana this past weekend. To be clear, I haven’t been paid yet, but I have it on good authority (Donald Trump, Fox News, and Alex Jones) that George Soros will be sending me a check any day now. I was only able to parade for an hour, because I had an afternoon wedding to conduct (Congratulations, Josh and Meg!), so I won’t be receiving as much money as the 20 people from our Quaker meeting who marched the whole two hours, but every little bit helps. Mr. Soros, thank you in advance for your generosity. And thank you, Donald Trump, Fox News, and Alex Jones, for telling me about this job opportunity. It was a lot of fun, and I met some fantastic people of all ages.
There were a few folks protesting the protesters; two men holding a cardboard box that read “Trump 2028.” A teacher at heart, I stopped to tell them about the 22nd Amendment, which reads, in part, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice...” They told me Donald Trump had been elected in 2020 but cheated out of a term because of a rigged election. If that were true, I explained, then Donald Trump has been elected three times to the Presidency─2016, 2020, and 2024─and is therefore in violation of the Constitution and should be removed from office. I told them not to be discouraged because John F. Kennedy, Jr. would be taking his place, which seemed to mollify them. When I mentioned Elvis Presley would become the next Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, they were positively giddy.
I didn’t count how many people attended the Plainfield rally but have since heard the numbers 750-900 bandied about. I don’t think that included the lady carrying an inflatable penguin, holding a sign that read, “The only king we want is the emperor penguin.” (Great costume, Linda!) The No Kings folks estimate 7,000,000 people marched nationwide. The political scientist, Erica Chenoweth, says it has historically taken 3.5% percent of a nation’s population to peacefully overthrow an oppressive regime, which means we’re well on our way to showing Donald Trump the door. A tattletale in the White House ratted out Trump, saying he watched the marches on television and was shaking with anger and fear, which means Trump is starting to realize what the rest of us know in our hearts, that the tipping point is drawing near.
If the Republicans were to counter the No Kings March with one of their own, it would look like the Shriners had come to town─a handful of fat, old, white guys zipping up and down Main Street on minibikes, occasionally crashing into one another, an apt metaphor for Republican leadership. Say what you will about Antifa, we sure know how to draw a crowd.
Meanwhile, Trump’s rural support has struck an iceberg and is sinking fast. Rural hospitals are closing because of Medicaid cuts and health insurance rates are threatening to double because of the Republican’s refusal to fund the Affordable Healthcare Act. With farmers underwater from the tariff war, unable to sell their soybeans, a shuttered Department of Agriculture will be unable to process farm subsidies, if and when they’re approved. With the farmers stroking out from financial worries, they’ll be two hours from the nearest hospital, thanks to Donald Trump. Come 2026, Republican losses in rural and red states will be staggering.
Then there’s the little matter of the Epstein files. We have a Republican Speaker of the House refusing to swear-in a duly elected representative, knowing the Democrats will vote to release the files the moment she assumes office. The Republican’s reluctance to be forthcoming indicates Trump’s complicity in the most heinous crime an adult can commit—the sexual assault of a child. To be fair, the Democrat’s refusal to do the same when they had the chance might also mean high-placed Democrat officials appear on Epstein’s list. But justice demands the list be opened, the names be named, the accused charged, tried, and if found guilty, imprisoned, no matter their status or power. If Bill Clinton and Donald Trump are found guilty, let them share a cell.
Though we are poles apart politically, I have more in common with those two Trump supporters holding the cardboard sign than I do with the oligarchs running the show. Like those men, I am frustrated with preening leaders who’ve monetized their positions. Like those men, I am tired of watching the rich eat cake while everyone else fights for crumbs. For far too long, far too many of those entrusted to serve our nation have served themselves instead. Why those two men think a billionaire grifter is the solution to this problem is beyond me. I do know they are not my enemies. They are men who love our nation as much as me, though we wield the tools of democracy differently. What they don’t realize yet will soon occur to them, that when Donald Trump pictures himself dressed as a king flying an airplane, releasing bags of s**t on American marchers, the s**t will hit them too.
My father was too young to fight in World War II, my grandfather too old. But I’ve pastored dozens of veterans from that horrible war, all of whom knew they were fighting fascism. When Republicans call people like me Antifa, as if that were a bad thing, they do not realize they are paying me the highest kind of compliment. They are placing me in the same camp with men whose sacrifice and bravery I deeply admire. Were they still alive, I know on whose side they would march.
Philip Gulley is the author ofthe popularHarmony seriesandUnlearning God: How Unbelieving Helped Me Believe.
Discover my books, stories, and more by visiting Books by Philip Gulley
Contact Philip directly at philiphgulley@gmail.com
JOIN PHILIP FOR SUNDAY WORSHIP
You’re invited to join Philip and Fairfield Friends Meeting online for our worship services (Sundays 10:30-11:30 a.m. EDT) via Zoom.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83152822906?pwd=UDkzR3NPNlB5N29QY0svelRkNkUwdz09
Meeting ID: 831 5282 2906
