What Did The "No King" Protests Accomplish?

So, what did we accomplish?

Several Trumpists mockingly brayed that Trump was still the president.

Well...yeah...did they think we were attempting a coup? 

No, we were exercising our First Amendment rights

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

At least while we still can. 

I have seen criticism, including from one of the speakers at our gathering here in Lincoln, that we should be doing more, that in order to affect real change we need to make the regime uncomfortable, and we need to make ourselves uncomfortable. The individual who led the invocation at our rally noted the paucity of Black and Brown faces—and suggested that White faces were absent during Black Lives Matter protests—and thought the atmosphere seemed more like a party than a protest. He opined that Black, Brown and Native people put their lives on the line for protests like Black Lives Matter, and that Native people were suffering oppression even under Democratic administrations. Many leftists thought the protests were unfocussed and lacked specific demands. One day of protest every few months isn't going to fix anything. 

True enough.  

There is always more that can be done. There is no shortage of things to be outraged about. 

This is the problem I see with progressive/liberal/leftist voices in this country. We're enthralled with the idea of ideological purity. We excoriate Democrats who aren't completely on board with whatever our corner of liberalism has decided is important. Institutional Democrats undermine left-leaning office seekers; leftist activists inveigh against moderate Democrats. Voters stay home or vote third party because a Democratic candidate falls short of fully supporting their favorite cause. We eschew coming together against a common foe, preferring instead to huddle in our nice warm nest of political spotlessness. 

How about we celebrate the No Kings rallies for what they are, instead of booing them for what they aren't? Millions of people stood up and expressed their opposition to authoritarianism, to dictators, to fascism...to kings. Thousands in medium sized cities, hundreds and dozens in tiny municipalities in Trumpist strongholds. Millions of people who recognize that what's happening isn't simply political differences, but an assault on the Constitution and a betrayal of our founding principles. 

We all have to do what we can, which is going to vary from person to person. Some people can run for office, others can organize locally. Those with means can contribute financially. I, like others with blogs, podcasts, or media platforms, use our words. Keep up the pressure, and don't forget to vote.