28 March—Today is another big No Kings rally day. Wow! The Litchfield Monitor’s Editorial Bored (note the capitalization) fully supports No Kings in principle. But, as we’ve written here, there, and everywhere, it goes without saying but must nevertheless be said, rallies, marches, demonstrations, protests, and the like are pretty much a waste of time and energy, serving merely and mostly—close to entirely, in fact—as a means of venting usually negative, hostile steam.

Demonstrations, rallies, and marches venting positive, friendly steam in support of rather than opposition to or defiance of whatever or whomever it may be are less common but equally ineffective. But, again, they make you feel good.

Pro and anti events thus are like letters to the editor and ego-gratification blogs like the Litchfield Enquirer that don’t have paid subscribers or advertisers.

Back to No Kings, did you know that the movement has a website? No surprise that it’s nokings.org. And it’s easier to negotiate than most commercial websites. For all the good it does.

To digress, and apropos nothing, if you’re interested in starting up your own anti-monarchy website, the “nokings” so-called second-level domain name is still available with over 400 so-called top-level domain file extensions (the “org” part), like nokings.llc at $45 a year, nokings.bz at $22 a year, and nokings.fyi at $7.00 a year. Why not have a go? All you’ll need then is a web host and a content manager. Web host deals come and go and can be inexpensive; and DIY content managers like WordPress.org are free. If you have the patience and fortitude to DIY.

Back on topic, then, when you get to the No Kings website, you’re hit with:

“In America, we have No Kings.

“Masked secret police terrorizing our communities. An illegal, catastrophic war putting us in danger and driving up our costs. Attacks on our freedom of speech, our civil rights, our freedom to vote. Costs pushing families to the brink. Trump wants to rule over us as a tyrant. But this is America, and power belongs to the people—not to wannabe kings or their billionaire cronies.

“On March 28, we show up together, and we say, loud and clear: No Kings.”

Right on! we say, even though the power to the people bit sounds—but really isn’t—straight out of Karl Marx; it’s actually from the Black Panthers in the 1960s and John Lennon in 1971. And in all events, it’s what democracy is all about.

So then you scroll past the usual suspects—Jane Fonda, Tim Walz, Bernie Sanders, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, et al.—and get to a map to “Find an Event Near You,” which will indicate events in places like Ecuador, Iceland, and Mexico in addition to the United States and associated real estate.

Right on! we say again.

Further scrolling takes you to the footer:

“A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action. We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events. Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events.

“For inquiries, please contact info@nokings.org.”

So even though participating in a No Kings event is a civilized way to vent hostility but otherwise just a futile gesture, a visit to the website is none the less worth the effort. And you don’t have to lift your ass to do it and you won’t risk being intimidated or maimed by MAGA stormtroopers. Probably.

On the other hand, you don’t have to be a king to be a tyrant . . .