No one – certainly not the organizers – anticipated it. They were a motley collection coalescing for the occasion. The occasion was “No Kings Day” which even a few days before only a plugged-in few had even heard of. The day was a random Saturday in June. There was no program or agenda. And there was no single designated center or speaker. It was all rather loosey-goosey, slightly haphazard and lightly organized, more of an experiment in political movement than a political movement.
And yet. And yet it turned out to be some five million strong. It turned out either the largest political demonstration in American history ever or among them.
For all its anonymousness and amorphousness No Kings Day did have one central organizing principle. It was vigorously, decisively, and unambiguously against President Donald Trump. It was to put a stake in the ground – to demonstrate to the American people generally and this leader particularly that large numbers of his followers were as fiercely angry as deeply unhappy with most everything he was and most everything he did.
It took a while for dissenters in numbers to be seen or even heard. Moreover, where they, we, are headed from here is not clear. Still, for those among us who fret about the future of American democracy it was a splendid display and heartening day. It was a real-time reminder of how good followers can stand up to a bad leader.