LET’S CELEBRATE “NO KINGS”—BUT AVOID THE 5 WHEN NECESSARY

THIS PAST WEEKEND EXHIBITED the legitimacy of the “No Kings” contingent, the puerility of Donald J. Trump, and the inanity of his cohorts. Let’s take these in reverse order. Indeed, for considerations of editorial space, let’s hold off on our country’s—and my—“No Kings” activities until tomorrow.

Trump Administration and Republicans Weigh In. Alana Wise, Chandelis Duster, and Emma Bowman offered “3 Takeaways from Saturday’s No Kings Nationwide Protests,” NPR, October 19, 2025. One was the Trump/Republican perspective.

NPR reporters noted, “House Speaker Mike Johnson slammed Saturday’s protests as a ‘hate America rally,’ and other Republicans have derided the event as anti-American. Responding to NPR’s questions about the protests, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said: ‘Who cares?’ ’’

My view: What with more than 7 million Americans “caring,”  Jackson’s may be the most asinine comment recorded concerning Saturday’s events. 

And, in counterpoint to Mike Johnson’s “hate America rally” theme, NPR reports, “Inspired by protesters in Portland, Ore., people in Los Angeles, Hartford, Conn., and elsewhere showed up to march in inflatable animal costumes. Song and dance broke out in Salt Lake City and other cities. In Macon, Ga., protesters belted ‘The Story of Tonight’ from the musical Hamilton about the importance of sacrifice and solidarity today for the sake of freedom tomorrow.”

Gee, Mike, this doesn’t sound all that “hateful” to me. On the other hand, what do you think of Trump’s posting from Mar-a-Lago? 

Trump’s New High of Puerility. Lauren Aratani reports, “Trump Reposts AI-generated Video of Plane Dropping Sludge on No Kings Protesters,” The Guardian, October 20, 2025: “In the video which the president posted on Saturday night, a sharply orange Trump is seen donning a gold crown and manning a plane monikered ‘King Trump.’ The video zooms away from Trump and shows the plane dumping bursts of brown matter on an AI-generated cityscape. A protester, taking a selfie video, captures the crowd being covered in the brown liquid. The last shot of the 19-second video is of protesters in what appears to be Times Square getting dumped on.”

How classy. (I refuse to sully my own website with this Queens Felon shit.)

“The video,” The Guardian continues, “includes a snippet from Kenny Loggins’s song ‘Danger Zone,’ notably used in the Tom Cruise classic Top Gun. On Monday, Loggins wrote in a statement that he didn’t authorize the use of his song for Trump’s video: ‘Nobody asked for my permission, which I would have denied, and I request that my recording on the video is removed immediately. I can’t imagine why anybody would want their music used or associated with something created with the sole purpose of dividing us.”

Of course, I concur with Kenny’s view. And again, Mike, who’s the hateful one here?

Hey, Pete: What’s With Your Collateral Damage to The 5? Rong-Gong Lin II and Melody Gutierrez report, “How Military’s ‘Safe’ Plan to Fire Munitions Over Interstate 5 Went Off the Rails with CHP Cruiser Hit,” Los Angeles Times, October 20, 2025: “It was supposed to be a boisterous event at Camp Pendleton celebrating 250 years of the U.S. Marine Corps that included a live simulation of a beach assault by sea and air. The plan involved Marines firing high explosive rounds from M777 Howitzers—artillery used to launch shells in wars in Afghanistan and Ukraine—into designated ranges. Federal officials last week insisted it would be done with ‘all safety precautions in place’ and said no public highways would be closed.”

Geez, what could possibly go wrong?

The Los Angeles Times continues, “But California officials expressed fears about those live rounds being fired over Interstate 5, which runs between the beach where the ‘landing’ was taking place and the rest of the sprawling military installation.” 

“Then,” the story evolves, “on Friday evening, the Marines did a test run without notifying state officials, firing artillery rounds over the I-5, according to the governor’s office—all while motorists drove on the freeway. The California Department of Transportation captured the live fire on video. Early Saturday morning, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the closure that day of a 17-mile stretch of the interstate—from just south of San Clemente to just north of Oceanside—during the event, which an estimated 15,000 attended and included a speech by Vice President JD Vance.”

A shrapnel chunk on the hood of a California Highway Patrol vehicle parked on an I-5 onramp amid a live-fire demonstration at Camp Pendleton. Image by CHP via the Los Angeles Times. The newspaper article includes a brief video. 

“Now,” reports the Los Angeles Times, “the California Highway Patrol is reporting that a cruiser parked on an onramp of Interstate 5 was hit by falling shrapnel after an artillery round exploded midair, far earlier than intended, forcing an early end to the artillery demonstration. Although no one was hurt, the revelations raised new questions about safety issues and whether it was wise to fire live munitions over a freeway during the ceremony.”

And, while we’re at it, whether it is wise to have an over-coiffed discredited-Fox jackass in charge of the military? Just askin’ theoretically.…

Meanwhile, at “No Kings”….  “The protests were largely peaceful,” reported NPR. “Police in New York City and Washington, D.C., where rallies drew some of the day’s biggest crowds, said no protest-related arrests were made.”

Times Square, New York City. Image by Olga Fedorova/AP via NPR.

But wouldn’t you guess, NPR observes, “Republican Govs. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia and Greg Abbott of Texas mobilized their states’ National Guards in preparation for the protests.” Abbot stressed, “Violence and destruction will never be tolerated in Texas.”

NPR noted, “Saturday’s rally was peaceful and there were no arrests, according to the Austin Police Department.“

What? Even with misfiring Texan “Permitless Carry” howitzers? ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025