If you’re reading this column at lunchtime or earlier on June 14, there’s still time to join the NO KINGS gathering on the Putnam County courthouse square.
Today is Flag Day, which commemorates the adoption of the U.S. flag in 1777 by resolution of the second Continental Congress. It’s also Donald Trump’s 79th Birthday, an event he’s chosen to celebrate by throwing a 45-million-dollar grand military parade for himself. Millions of Americans around the country, including me, who find the notion of such a parade outrageous are planning to peacefully protest the president’s blatant oligarchical ambitions.
For the past several years on the Fourth of July, I’ve posted a funny meme on Facebook. It pictures the famous Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington, the same one that’s on the dollar bill. The caption on the meme reads “I’ve Got 99 Problems but a King Ain’t One.”
Hilarious, right?
Not anymore. Not since this nation elected—not once, but twice—a corrupt, failed businessman with no interest in hiding the fact that he really, really wants to be king. I recently read a short but powerful little book entitled “On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century” by Timothy Snyder. My plan was to write about the book in my July 5 “Independence Day” column. DJT’s birthday parade persuaded me to bump that column up to today instead.
“On Tyranny” is a guide for resisting America’s frightening turn toward authoritarianism. Not long after DJT began his first term in 2017, everyone who was paying attention quickly realized that not only was he grossly incompetent, he also cared nothing for playing by the rules. (Exhibit A: His continuing support of the insurrectionists who, on January 6, 2021, stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 Presidential election). Things have gone from bad to unimaginably worse since he took office again last January.
Clearly, Trump has ambitions to be a dictator.
In his book, Snyder—who is a Professor of History at Yale—offers twenty “lessons” for resisting tyranny. Because of space limitations, I can’t list them all here. What I’ve chosen to do instead is to summarize the advice I think most important.
Starting with refusing to obey in advance. Heedless acts of conformity can seldom be reversed. We must defend our sacred institutions— laws, courts, newspapers and so forth—from attack. We must vote. We must fight voter suppression in all its forms, including gerrymandering. We must defend election rules and election outcomes. We must not look away from swastikas and other symbols of hate. We must never give in to the idea of “Just Following Orders.” We must be aware and suspicious of paramilitaries.
We must also model compassionate behavior. Believe in and defend the truth. Support ethical journalism. Learn to make eye contact with others. Learn who we can and cannot trust. Guard our online presence. Contribute money and time to good causes. Be active in organizations that affirm our values. Have a current passport and know where it is.
Now for the really hard part. We must be genuine patriots. This means not being a bystander to tyranny. Not being willing to trade real freedom for fake safety. Being courageous enough to take resistance to the streets. That’s what millions of Americans will do on Flag Day, which this year is also being called NO KINGS Day.
I plan to be on the Putnam County courthouse square at noon today, rain or shine. I’ll be wearing a red t-shirt that says 1776 in big white letters and carrying a sign that says NO KINGS. Because what was at stake way back in 1776 is still at stake. We’re in a mess that we must own, whether or not we helped create it.
It’s up to all of us to clean it up before it’s too late.
(July 14, 2025)