I plan to attend the No Kings protest in Orlando on Saturday (June 14th, which happens to be Flag Day).

I happened to share that on Facebook. And old ex-coworker who is openly MAGA asked on that share:

“What exactly is being done that is ‘illegal’ and outside of presidential power?”

I replied, “Glad you asked” and then offered a list of actual court orders issued to block Trump’s illegal acts, with citations.

His response? “All of this is subject to interpretation of law. It’s not illegal.” Thus, we went into a back-and-forth. I shared the link with him to another post I made in which I was disappointed with both Republicans and Democrats, but instead of being the upholders of law and order and being the adults in the room that they used to represent long ago and setting a better example, many Republicans have joined the bandwagon of excusing corruption and joining the race to the bottom.

His final comment to me was, “Dear Lord! That post is an obvious description of your disdain towards the American people that voted for Trump! Lmao! You disguise it as some sort of ‘democrats we should’ve done better’ but in no way is that post an objective criticism of ‘both’ sides. It’s a long rant about how you’re disappointed that Republicans took back office regardless of you dropping in the ‘both sides guilty’ rhetoric. I think we’re done here.”

This exchange with him in the comments section of my post about planning to attend the protest ended with me stating the following, and I wanted to highlight it for others to take note:

“First off, the original post about attending the No Kings protest was certainly not for you, for obvious reasons, yet here you are.

“Calling me a Democrat over and over doesn’t make it true - it just makes it easier for you to ignore what I actually said. I’m a left-libertarian. I’ve criticized Democrats loudly and repeatedly, especially on foreign policy and surveillance. But sure, keep pretending this is just ‘partisan rage’ if that helps you avoid the real substance.

“That post wasn’t about Trump voters in general. It was about people who defend illegal or unethical behavior just because it’s coming from their side. If you read that and saw yourself in it - that’s not on me.

“You openly admit you’re biased toward whoever shares your label, no matter what they do. That’s your prerogative. But don’t confuse that with principle - and don’t expect others to co-sign authoritarian power grabs just because they’re ‘on your team.’ This is not a football game. We're not playing.

“So yes, we’re done here - but not because I somehow got ‘owned.’

“We’re done because I deal in discourse. You’re stuck in denial.”

If you’re interested in the entire comments exchange: facebook.com/share/1FqV…

I think Heather Cox Richardson has been a great influence on me this year. Please read her. I hope to see you all out at the protests. I will be there. \m/,

#nokings