No Kings Day: How the Democrats Passed the Crown to Trump.

   

   This Saturday, across the United States, "No Kings" protests against the rising fascistic power of the Trump Administration have filled the streets. Rightfully so, these protests are calling out Trump and his plethora of christo-fascist goons for their dismantling of democratic norms. However, the general mood of these protests, especially among the organizers, is missing a key element that can unite the many coalitions of people who want and need change. Trump is not the problem. Trump and his lackeys did not spawn out of thin air. As another commentator put it, Trump is America's shadow made flesh. 

   It is all well to criticize Trump and his policies. But to not recognize that he is not only a product of long standing American domestic and foreign policy, but also the result of the Democratic party's betrayal of working class Americans, is a deadly trap. Obama, the darling of the Democratic party establishment, directly contributed to the malaise in this country that gave us Trump. Obama, and by extension Bill Clinton, pushed the disastrous trade deals such as NAFTA that hollowed out the rust belt working class and put them on the path toward Trump. Obama and his predecessors, Republican and Democrat, waged illegal wars on innocent populations so that the pockets of military contractors were overflowing. Obama bailed out the banks with American tax dollars and effectively pardoned the criminals who caused the 2008 crash whilst regular Americans lost their homes in droves. 

   The Democrats are not here to save America. The Democrats are the same side of the corporate controlled coin that the Republicans are apart of too. ICE, who Trump uses as his secret police, was created by George Bush in 2003. Multiple democratic administrations could have dismantled it, but instead they increased its funding and reach. Trump has assisted Israel in its genocide of Gaza, but lest we forget the genocide started under the Biden administration with it's unqualified support. Trump has illegally bombed Venezuela and looks as though he wants to start another illegal war with them. But in Trump's first term, when the internationally unrecognized puppet president Juan Guaido visited Congress, Democrats and Republicans rose to honor him. 

   It is great that Americans are taking to the streets and making their voices heard. But it seems as though these No Kings protests are more of a feel good team sport parade than a working class coalition focused on a litany of issues that both the Democrats and Republicans have caused. The telling sign for me was the gross amount of American flags present at these protests. Protestors sport these flags, calling for a return to a Democratic society that never existed. As much as the impetus for these marches is hatred for Trump, it is ironic that the sea of American flags and calls for a return to a more fair, Democratic, and ultimately fictional America is no different than Trump's fantasy of "Making America Great Again."

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