I read a conservative piece characterizing the “no kings” protests as “Democrats whining because they didn’t win the election.” Man, talk about a complete lack of self awareness.

The article took some pot shots at Dems for their acceptance of all forms of difference be it race, gender, whatever, but I’d always rather err on the side of “polite” than on the side of harsh judgmental discrimination, or, as it’s often called by the GOP, “common sense.”

Let’s look at some of the issues they are protesting and consider whether they’re in fact “unimportant”.

ICE Cruelty

I remember as a kid being very proud to learn about the USA’s “give us your tired, poor, etc.” But now we’ve got a bunch of folks all revved up about “kicking them illegals outta the country.” I’ve written at length before about the process (or lack thereof) to come here legally. So we won’t get into that. But is our treatment of undocumented (they prefer that term) folks even remotely humane? There are plenty of nice ways we could begin enforcement other than goon squads with masks and no warrants kidnapping people on their way to/from work or school and without any kind of legal process.

So no, I wouldn’t qualify this as “unimportant.”

Tariffs

Trump has crowed about how much money tariffs are bringing in but that money has to come from somewhere. Either we’re hitting poorer countries or we’re hitting our own citizens. In any case, there’s been nothing concrete about how that’s benefitting us other than it’s apparently helping (just helping, not fully funding) the even greater tax breaks for rich folks. Explain how upending the global economy is making us great again? Again, the phrase “global economy” makes it sound like this might be a significant issue.

Qatar

So Trump took a $400 million dollar bribe vis a vis that airplane. And how he’s quietly granting Qatar the right to build a “facility” for training pilots in Idaho. They’re not calling it an “airbase” per se but if it has pilots and jets, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck? I think we have a right to question what’s going on here. Sure looks dubious. Is it a significant issue? When there is the appearance of an American president taking bribes, that seems pretty significant.

Fox News

Trump has gotten rid of a lot of experienced, qualified people in the upper echelons of government and replaced them with Fox News personnel who have no qualifications whatsoever for the jobs but who apparently pass some sort of “loyalty” test. Are we overreacting about having unqualified folks in these top government jobs? Not when it comes to the top level security and defense of the country. What with all the Signalgate stuff and now letting Qatar have a slot here, it just doesn’t seem like we’re taking things seriously. Maybe if he was just giving internships to friends, yes, it might be justified to call us paranoid or “whining.” But this is the entirety of the government we’re looking at.

Prices, Wars, and other Campaign Promises

Trump stated that he won the election on grocery prices but then he’s done nothing of substance to attempt to lower those prices. In fact, attacking undocumented workers will have a very negative affect on the economics of the food chain. And ending wars? He’s claimed he’s ended multiple wars but there’s been no mention of what they were, and the two he pledged to end “on day one” drag on. Well, there’s a cease fire in Gaza, but we’re apparently a ways from formally ending the war. Considering this was the stuff that got him elected I don’t think it’s out of line to expect at least some attempt to fulfill the pledges. Not whining, just holding him to his promises.

Global Respect

Trump is viewed globally mostly as a buffoon. A caricature of the pushy, entitled American. Trump is only viewed positively in a very small handful of countries, for instance Israel and Nigeria. That’s not opinion, that’s fact. The rest of the world wonders how the US could have elected a known criminal. And now he’s upsetting global trade and tanking the opinion of the US for the entire planet. Unimportant? I dunno, that phrase “entire planet” seems like there’s some scope to the issue too.