It's Our Flag too, Dammit

Protests must have an objective. If people are called out, why are they there? Contemporary protests are too often unconnected to any plan and are more therapy than social change. No Kings Day is laudable—getting folks organized and trained to protest what Trump is doing—but these events are primarily for the perennially anti-Trump base to assuage anxieties rather than effect much else useful. Conveniently held on weekends and around the corner—even in red states and congressional districts—all designed to provide an illusion of national progress.

Meaningful Protests

Meaningful protests are those that, for instance, rise up when a community member is abducted by ICE. Often these are set up by contingency plan, so folks become Liberty's First Responders, dropping everything at a text to literally stop the transport of a specific person, to keep them local and then facilitate release from detention. Very specific reasons guiding protest make them effective.

So, why are there protesters (as few as they are) in Los Angeles? On one hand, this parses as an absurd question. Trump has the National Guard and Marines running around to create conflict to then use any conflict as support for deployment. His actions are cynical, fascistic, and dangerous—meant to distract from the horrors of his big beautiful kill-people bill and convince his base Trump is fighting chaos for them.

So this is a decision for every protest: Is it to make a poin or is it to win? Get cars to honk as they pass your No Kings protest, or keep innocent people out of detention? Assert one's pride and agency to educate Americans, or cut Trump off at his knees and get him out of town as quickly as possible? As I explored in Defund the Secret Police, understanding who is behind these raids—and that they lie about who they are—makes this question even more urgent.