Category: general

Like a high school pep band after practicing all week, the crowd had the optics down cold: waving signs, rehearsed chants, and flags snapping in the wind. “No Kings!” they shouted, filling city squares from Washington, D. C., to Chicago. On its face, it was a noble-sounding message, but the more you watched, the more it resembled a movie using the wrong genre tag less a protest against tyranny and more a well-produced commercial for the Democratic Party. With prices still high and a government shutdown stretching into a third week, the nation’s political theater troupe invaded the streets, with predictable corners providing glowing reviews. At the same time, the rest of the country wondered what it was really watching. The Left’s Framing: A Patriotic Uprising If you had the time and stomach to scan progressive outlets, Writers on the left called it a peaceful stand for democracy, a people’s rejection of authoritarianism. Labor unions trucked supporters in, celebu-tards posted solidarity selfies, and public officials, from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, made cameo appearances during major rallies. Boasting of thousands, organizers of local events declared “record-breaking” participation in Washington, D. C. It was a self-congratulatory tone, showing, they said, proof that America still had fight left in her. Chants about liberty mingled with pop-up art shows, drum circles, and costume parades. Organizers insisted it was democracy in motion, with families, veterans, clergy, and students linking arms in defense of the republic. This is how the left told the story: peaceful, inclusive, righteous, and even necessary; a warning to would-be strongmen that Americans hadn’t forgotten their founding creed. The Right’s Reaction: A Political Performance.