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| "No Kings" protests in St. Louis, MO (See more below.) |
Our Legal Schnauzer family had a Saturday unlike anything we had ever experienced. We got stuck in a traffic jam and wound up having a blast.
How did that happen? It started with a late-morning lunch at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. Our route home takes us by one of the major shopping malls in the region, but that doesn't normally cause a bottleneck on a lazy Saturday. But as we approached the mall this time, traffic started slowing down and eventually came to a halt.
As impatient drivers started cutting through side streets, we couldn't figure out what was happening. Finally, we could see that the traffic light ahead was changing, but nobody was moving. As devoted liberals, we knew it was No Kings Day, but in this conservative part of conservative Missouri, we figured that would be a pretty sleepy event. We were delighted to be proved wrong about that.
Why were our expectations low for a day that was all about protesting the policies and incompetence of the Donald Trump administration? Missouri has voted solidly for Trump all three times he has been on a presidential ballot -- 56.8 % to 38.1 % over Hillary Clinton in 2016, 56.8 % to 41.4 % over Joe Biden in 2020, and 58.5 % to 40.1 % percent over Kamala Harris in 2024. In other words, national elections here are as uninteresting as they are in Alabama and most of the Deep South -- with the occasional exception of Georgia or Florida.
You might say Missouri comes by its conservatism honestly. Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh grew up in Cape Girardeau in the southeast corner of the state, and upon his death in 2021, his home state moved to establish an annual Rush Limbaugh Day. The legislation passed the Missouri House, but in a sign that state Democrats still have a spine, was removed during negotiations.
In my post about the Limbaugh Day issue, I noted the state also produced a couple of other notorious conservatives -- the outlaw pair of Frank and Jesse James. Heck, I wrote, why not honor them as products of the state's "Little Dixie" region. This is from my post that essentially drew comparisons between Rush Limbaugh and the James brothers:
Based on the words of [Limbaugh Day supporters], there seem to be two primary reasons for honoring Limbaugh: He gained a certain level of notoriety in his field, and he was conservative. Is that really the standard for statewide celebrations in Missouri?
If so, why not honor Jesse James? The bank robber and outlaw is from Missouri, and he was good at what he did, earning him notoriety. If he were alive today, he almost certainly would be a Republican; he might be on Trump's cabinet. Let's consider this background info about Jesse James, from his Wikipedia entry:
Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847 – April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla, and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie" area of western Missouri, James and his family maintained strong Southern sympathies. He and his brother Frank James joined pro-Confederate guerrillas known as "bushwhackers" operating in Missouri and Kansas during the American Civil War. As followers of William Quantrill and "Bloody Bill" Anderson, they were accused of committing atrocities against Union soldiers and civilian abolitionists, including the Centralia Massacre in 1864.
After the war, as members of various gangs of outlaws, Jesse and Frank robbed banks, stagecoaches, and trains across the Midwest, gaining national fame and often popular sympathy despite the brutality of their crimes. The James brothers were most active as members of their own gang from about 1866 until 1876, when as a result of their attempted robbery of a bank in Northfield, Minnesota, several members of the gang were captured or killed. They continued in crime for several years afterward, recruiting new members, but came under increasing pressure from law enforcement seeking to bring them to justice. On April 3, 1882, Jesse James was shot and killed by Robert Ford, a new recruit to the gang who hoped to collect a reward on James' head and a promised amnesty for his previous crimes. Already a celebrity in life, James became a legendary figure of the Wild West after his death.
Today, we would call Jesse James a "domestic terrorist." But he was "a celebrity in life and a legendary figure in death." And as a Confederate sympathizer and product of "little Dixie," he almost certainly was a conservative -- likely a racist. Heck, sounds like he needs to be honored in his home state.
If Jesse Jesse and Frank James were alive today, Trump probably would make them honorary members of ICE. We saw firsthand evidence on "No Kings Day" that Trump's presidency is not going over so well in Missouri these days.
As we approached the mall on Saturday, my wife Carol (in the passenger seat) could see groups of people holding signs on the sidewalk. Then, she saw people driving pickups with pro-Trump signs in the back. This appeared to be an attempt to harass peaceful protesters, exercising their First Amendment rights -- just what you would expect from Trumpers.
As we passed through the intersection, we could see that sidewalks on both sides of the street were packed with protesters as far as our eyes could see. As we drove slowly ahead, we got a laugh out of numerous signs -- especially those that noted Republican support for pedophiles. As I tried to keep my eyes on the road, Carol waved and spoke with several protesters, including a veteran in uniform. She wanted to make sure they knew we were on their side and appreciated their efforts to stand against glorified fascism. I tried to do my part by letting out a few shouts of "Down with Pedos!"
According to multiple news reports, perhaps the No. 1 theme of "No Kings Day" 2026 was that it crossed ideological boundaries, with almost half of events held in conservative strongholds, such as this area of Missouri. Based on the throngs we saw packing sidewalks in what has been a Trump-supporting state, it seems unlikely that all of those folks were liberals. We suspect the libs were joined by a sizable number of Republicans who have grown dissatisfied with the chaos and corruption of Trump 2.0.
Might that spell disaster for the GOP in the 2026 midterms, assuming Trump is unable to rig the elections? We certainly hope so.
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"No Kings" protests in Springfield, MO
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