It might seem odd that people protesting against the duly elected President of the United States would call their protest “No Kings,” but here we are. Free speech is a fundamental part of the American Experiment and they have a right to protest about what they want and to call it what they want, however misleading.
But a look at the “Event Supporters” raises some further questions. One of the supporters of the “No Kings” event this Saturday is the Twin Cities Club of the Communist Party of the United States of America.
True enough, communists do not like kings. They prefer dictators. But, I would suggest, life under Charles III is infinitely preferable to life under Stalin, Mao, Kim Il Sung, or any of the other monsters who comprise the history of communism in government, with a total of 100 million deaths between them.
Keith Ellison will be addressing this gathering. Can you imagine the fuss if the American Nazi Party was listed as an “event supporter” at a shindig being addressed by a Republican Attorney General? One suspects it would have made a “What to know about the event” article written by, say, Fox 9 or Kare 11, at the very least.
The contemporary communist will, no doubt, tell you that they’re not like that anymore, that they are no more the party of the gulag than the Democrats are the party of slavery. Perhaps, but would you take a member of the American Nazi Party at face value if he said that they’ve left all that racism behind and now just want to make the trains run on time?
Not all of the supporters of the “No Kings” event are so extreme, but their embrace of the likes of the CPUSA does suggest a certain lack of discernment on the part of the organizers. At the very least, it shows that their objections is not a principled one to untrammeled executive power per se, but merely a partisan gripe with this particular executive.
“No enemies to the left” is as stupid a principle as “No enemies to the right.” If the “No Kings” protesters want to be taken seriously, they should not be hanging out with people who would choose dictators instead.
