You gave the man your eyes
so you could sleep at night
but you still hear their cries
you can't outrun this shame.
this land was yours and mine
until they bled it dry
history won't be kind
to those who turned the other way
~ Earth to Eve, "Have you heard the news" (addressing MAGA cult members)
Millions of Americans -- and people the world
over -- have not turned the other way. Indeed, as the
Trump regime doubles and triples down on its horrendous
overreach, fascist policies and actions,
and shameless attempts to destroy civil rights and shred the
Constitution, the resistance seems to be hitting its stride at last -- that is, if the massive turnout for the October 18, 2025 No Kings
protests is any indication.
Here is a link on the Talking Points Memo site to a few photos and videos from just some of the
demonstrations. You can find much, much
more online with even a casual search.
And, just like the previous No Kings events on June 14, 2025, the
October 18 demonstrations stretched far beyond the borders of the US.
Our wonderful but worried neighbors (or neighbours) to the North showed up by the thousands,
from Vancouver to Toronto to Montreal. The tone across Canada has
been one of firm support and shared purpose. Canadians are
clearly watching developments in the U.S. closely — and
they’re not staying silent. They're really, really worried
about us. (And I am too.)
Several major cities in Europe and the UK also participated in demonstrations.
Reportedly even Australia rallied to the cause as well, from
Sidney to Melbourne to Brisbane. While turnout was reported to be modest in
comparison to No Kings events elsewhere, it's good to know the
Aussies have our backs. I'll add a good link as soon as I can
find one; the link I'd intended to use has been 404'd. But I know
from communicating with my friends in Oz, and from reading posts
by Australian participants on social media, that they do indeed
have our backs.
I have also seen unverified reports of a small demonstration in Seoul, South
Korea, and there's a video circulating on BlueSky of what looks like a pretty significant march that the
person sharing the video, with the hashtag NoKings, claimed took place in South Korea and was in
support of US democracy. I watched the video but couldn't
understand what was being shouted, and I couldn't read the marchers'
signs, so I can't verify. There's a lot going on there, and South
Koreans have held other political demonstrations recently. I'll update if I
find out any more specifics about a protest or demonstration in
South Korea in support of the No Kings events in America.
But clearly, South Korea is paying attention to what's going on
within the borders of their increasingly unreliable (thanks to
Trump) ally. Other parts of Asia, as well as Latin America, have
apparently been paying attention as well, and I have seen scattered
reports that they're showing early signs of engagement in the
larger movement against authoritarianism. I think we can expect
more as the movement grows. For now, the verified and well-sourced reports of
participation by other countries is immensely gratifying.
The pearl clutchers were
ludicrously wrong
Contrary to the alarmist rants and warnings and outrageous lies from
the Trump regime, the protests showed that the millions of participants in the No Kings
demonstrations have an abiding love for America. Here's just one
dispatch from a northwest suburb of my beloved former hometown of Houston. I'm friends in real life with the person in the frog
costume, who explained to the reporter that the demonstrators
were out in the wilting Texas heat because they love
their country.
Moreover the No Kings events on October 18 were overwhelmingly
peaceful, with no major disturbances reported. There was
significant law enforcement and in several areas National Guard
presence at demonstrations across the US, but while visible, they were by and large non-confrontational. In fact police
departments in some areas coordinated with the organizers of the
No Kings events to help ensure peaceful demonstrations.
A few incidents and arrests occurred in some locations, mostly
involving counter-protesters, presumably Trump supporters. Other
reported incidents either involved ICE and were separate from the
main No Kings events, or happened late at night with stragglers
hours after the main events had concluded.
- In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, 59-year-old woman who was wearing a Trump T-shirt was arrested for brandishing a firearm from her vehicle near the No Kings protest at Chapin Memorial Park. She expressed regret and claimed that the gun was unloaded, but she was charged with two counts of pointing and presenting a firearm. According to the article I linked to, public records indicate that she isn't even legally allowed to possess a firearm or deadly weapons. On Sunday a judge set her bond at $100,000, which she posted later that day, after which she was released.
- In Detroit, Michigan, a counter-protester supporting President Trump was arrested for scuffling with demonstrators who were peacefully marching on Michigan Avenue.
- In Portland, Oregon, three arrests were made following late-night clashes between protesters and federal agents outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility. Law enforcement used tear gas and crowd control measures. But this was separate from the No Kings protests in the area. It was just ICE doing more of what ICE has been doing in Portland and other cities for months now.
- In Broadview, Illinois, several people were arrested near a local ICE facility, with some charges related to disorderly conduct and disobeying police orders. These incidents were reportedly separate from the main "No Kings" march in Chicago, which was peaceful.
- In LA, while the main protest was peaceful in Los Angeles that day, late-night dispersal orders led to arrests after some smaller groups refused to leave the downtown area.
- And in a few cities, such as Ocala, Florida, there were verbal confrontations between MAGA counter-protesters and No Kings participants, but no arrests or violence were confirmed.
But in most of the large blue cities that Trump
and his goons and supporters love to hate... nada. And across the
country, there wasn't a single riot or terrorist attack or
attempt to overthrow the government. Sorry, pearl clutchers.
Mango man-baby is in deep
denial
And what did Trump, the man-baby who would be king, think about
the overwhelming displays of resistance against His Mango Majesty?
Well, there's the now-infamous Donald Dump video, which as far as
I'm concerned should be declared the official video of the Turd
Reich: an AI-generated vid of MAGA's big hero wearing a crown
while flying a fighter jet over the Big Apple (the city that
rejected him), and dumping poop over a
huge crowd of protesters. It was posted to his Truth Social
account -- here's a direct link -- and
the Internet can't stop buzzing about it.
There have been contradictory reports about just when this
video was originally posted. Some accounts say it was posted on
Friday by his communications team, ahead of the demonstrations,
and was amplified by his campaign team. (That's what I originally
reported here.) But most sources are saying that Trump posted the
vid on Saturday after the events had begun, in reaction to all of
the buzz about the protests.
On the Truth Social site there's no date/time indicator on the
post that I can see, but maybe that's just because I'm not a
member of Truth Social. I'm not going to join just to see if I
can find out when the video was originally posted. I suppose it
doesn't really matter; what seems clear is that Trump hasn't
disavowed it, and the MAGAs are absolutely giddy about what they
see as clever trolling. Talk about owning the
libs/Democrats/"radical left"/Trump critics! King
Donald sure showed them, didn't he?
By and large the criticism of the poop vid focuses on how unprecedented and unpresidential and just
generally unhinged it is. On the other hand, some critics
have also pointed out that this video is actually far more
accurate than most of what spews from the Trump propaganda
machine. It's an apt metaphor not only for how he sees himself but also for what
he's doing to the nation. Notwithstanding his repeated claims
that "I am not a king!", he acts like a king wannabe,
and he is in so many ways dumping on the American people.
And he's not just dumping on the libs. The problem for the MAGAs
who are so busy cheering the ca-ca king is that most of them
simply don't realize yet that they're getting shat on as well.
One of my favorite responses so far to the poop-shooting video is
from political commentator, comedian, and social media influencer
Maggie Reed, aka Mermaidmamamaggie, whom I
adore. I just love that woman's smirk. She smirks better than
just about anyone I have ever seen. In a short reel posted on October 18, Reed manages to communicate, with her facial
expressions and a few pertinent visuals, that there's a yuuuuge
difference between childish trolling for the base and
acknowledging the harsh reality that most Americans despise Trump
and what his regime is doing to our beloved country.
Meanwhile Trump continues to protest-too-much that he's "not
a king," and he dismisses the October 18 protests as NBD.
During a brief press interaction aboard his plane on Sunday,
October 19, he had this to say when a reporter asked him for his
response to the No Kings protests
(thanks to Bryan
Tyler Cohen for the reel):
I think it's a joke. I looked at the people, they're not representative of this country. And I looked at all the brand new signs paid for -- I guess it was paid for by Soros and other radical left lunatics. It looks like it was, we're checking it out. The demonstrations were very small, very ineffective, and the people were whacked-out. When you look at those people, those are not representative of the people of our country.
Then he added, "By the way I'm not a king.
I'm not a king. I work my ass off to make our country
great. That's all it is. I'm not a king at all."
I'm no expert on abnormal psychology, but offhand I'd say that
Trump's dismissal of the mass protest is the declaration of a man
who is in deep denial and who, despite his arrogance, is
scared... well, sh-tless.
* * * * *
Due to a combination of personal circumstances,
I was unable to attend a No Kings event in my area. But I
was with all of them in spirit. And seeing some of the photos and
videos of the massive crowds actually brought tears to my
eyes as I realized that there still seems to be hope in the fight
against tyranny.
I'll leave you with a couple of videos that do not involve
poop-dumping, and a link to a post by one of my favorite foul-mouthed
commentators.
First, if you haven't done so already, check out the song linked
to at the head of this post, by an amazing young talent going by
the name Earth to Eve. She actually composed a song specifically
for No Kings 2, but I don't yet have a link to a full version.
For now, "Have you heard the news" (here's
a direct link) sums up the state of
affairs under Trump very powerfully and eloquently.
And then there's Jasmyne A. Cannick, who, unlike our esteemed
leaders, said what needed to be said in
response to Trump press puppet Karolyin' Leavitt's declaration
that the Democratic Party's main constituency is "Hamas
terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals." Forget
"when they go low, we go high." I am a big fan of
Michelle Obama, but unfortunately that strategy, which she
famously suggested in her speech in support of Hillary Clinton at the 2016 Democratic National
Convention, never worked. Cannick
shows that she is willing to meet Leavitt in the basement.
"You wanna find America's terrorists? Check your own damn
Christmas card list!"
And finally, one of my favorite potty-mouthed pundits, Jeff
Tiedrich, weighed in on Sunday with a celebratory post and plenty
of photos and links. Here he is.
Stay strong, stay peaceful, stay safe, my friends, and do stay in
touch with the No Kings movement, which
has more events planned for the future.
This post has been updated and amended since its
original publication, most notably, to correct and update
information about isolated incidents during the protests, as well
as to correct and clarify information about the responses (from
Trump and others) to the No Kings events on October 18.
~ CC
Before you leave...
While money cannot make some
nightmares go away, be they political or personal, it can make
them far easier to bear. With my husband Ron's passing in
February 2025, I have experienced significant income loss and am
scrambling to find more work, but in an industry increasingly
being taken over by AI, it has been a challenge. And now that I
am making a major move, which is never cheap, donations are
urgently needed and profoundly appreciated. Here are some ways to
do it:
- New: Venmo -- username @Connie-Schmidt-42. Here is a direct link to the Venmo page.
- New: PayPal -- Here is a direct link to my PayPal page.
- Old but still good: You can click on the "Donate" icon that currently appears on the right-hand side of every page of this blog on the Web version. There's also a donation link at the end of many of my older blog posts. In the case of both the icon and the links on the older posts, as well as the link in this sentence, this is also a PayPal link, but it references the email account RevRon -- which is cool, because it all ultimately goes to the same place.
NOTE: If you are donating by PayPal, please
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Whether you can donate or not, thank you for visiting this
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