U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, speaks during the No Kings protest in the portico of the City-County Building on Oct. 18, in Downtown. (Photo by Quinn Glabicki/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)
Far and away, Trump and his multi-billionaire cronies are the major beneficiaries of the post-1945 international status quo that Trump is now doing his level-best to bring down. And he is being met with a rising tide of astounding resistance across the United States. The October 18 Pittsburgh No Kings rally is one example.
Trump is attacking the FBI, the major US domestic police institution to protect Trump and his peers. He is attacking the CIA, the major US intelligence agency to protect Pax-Americana around the world.
Germany and Japan are former major military enemies of the United States. A major goal of NATO is to discourage Germany from rearming. A major goal of SEATO is to discourage Japan from rearming. That is a (the) primary reason why the United States has been willing to largely underwrite NATO and SEATO.
Trump has been bad-mouthing NATO and SEATO. Thanks to Trump’s politics and his personality, Germany and Japan are now seriously considering rearming.
FRED LOGAN
Trump is building a brick-and-mortar wall at the Mexican border. He is building an economic and political wall at the Canadian border. He is waging military and economic warfare with countries in Central and South America, Trump’s asinine Monroe Doctrine.
The United States’ respect and influence at the United Nations, where the United States has Security Council veto power, must now be at an all-time low; again, thanks to Trump.
It is estimated that some eight trillion dollars of US capital is invested in foreign countries. It is estimated it produces billions and billions of dollars in profits for Trump’s peers. Who else has that kind of money to invest? How does Trump’s tariff warfare affect this money?
The media recently reported Trump’s tariff warfare is devastating the large-scale agricultural industry the base of many hardcore Trump supporters. Trump is mocking US ranchers’ concern over their plight. Trump is killing the goose that laid his golden egg.
Trump is also savagely attacking the major post-1945 social service programs that assist most Americans outside of Trump and his billionaire cronies in health care, in education, in voting rights, in food nutrition, in environmental programs, in gender equality. These gains have been won through ongoing social struggles.
In direct resistance to Trump, an estimated 7 million people in at least 2,700 US locations and representing an astounding assembly of diverse interests participated in the October 18 “No Kings” mass protest rallies across the United States.
The media reported that well over 7,000 people rallied in downtown Pittsburgh. In the east end of Pittsburgh hundreds and hundreds of people rallied along the intersection of 5th and Shady Avenues.
The diversity of the October 18 “No Kings” protest was unprecedented. It was astounding.
Banners and posters along 5th and Shady Avenue read loud and clear for everyone to see, denouncing Trump’s threats to US civil liberties, to the environment, to voting rights, to health care, to immigrants’ rights, to women’s rights, to American education.
The motorists traveling up and down 5th and Shady honked their horns and waved to show support. I saw no one give the finger to the rally. Pittsburgh city police officers drove past and tacitly nodded.
By comparison, during the early stages of the anti-Iraq war protests a lot of Pittsburgh motorists gave support to the US war against “weapons of mass destruction.” White males were the most visible pro-war in that group. White male police officers glared at the anti-war protestors, initially. But over time as the war and the protest continued, popular support for the protests grew to the point where even White male police officers would ride by and give a nod in approval.
The No Kings protesters in both Shadyside and downtown were overwhelmingly White. And this was very good. White supremacy is the bed-foundation of Trump’s support. Trump would shrug off No Kings if it was largely nonWhite. Bold posters and banners at Fifth and Shady rally read loud and clear “Trump is a Racist.” And the rally shouted “Trump is a Racist.”
We must keep in mind that the cities with African American mayors where Trump has called out the National Guard are also cities where the largest No Kings rallies occurred, Chicago, Washington, DC, New York City. Trump’s National Guard can immediately swirl around from assaulting immigrants to assault No Kings protests!
At Fifth and Shady, life long, unrepentant Pittsburgh political activists, and first timers, white collar professionals, and blue collar professionals, educators, elected officials, university professors, religious leaders from various faiths and denominations, social service providers, and lay people galore were all in mix.
In the “No Kings” mix were veterans from the Pittsburgh Anti-Apartheid protests and the March Against Racist Violence of the 1980s, the Johnny Gammage protest of 1990s, and the 2017 Women’s March carrying large bold posters and banners, and chanting loud and clear for the whole wide world to hear, “No Kings!” “Dump Trump!’’……
