No Kings. No Crowns. No Parade for Tyrants.
June 14 – I Protest Because I Love This Country.
Dear Friends of the Republic,
Today, June 14th, I stand—not in line to praise a wannabe tyrant, not waving flags at a birthday party for a man-child—but in protest.
Because I believe in democracy.
Because I believe in liberty.
Because I believe that America should never bow to a self-obsessed blowhard draped in gold leaf and grievance.
Today, while I and thousands of others are marching in the #NoKings protest—a peaceful uprising of Americans who still believe in the Constitution—Donald Trump will be hosting his very own military-themed birthday vanity project in Washington, D.C. Not just a celebration of the Army’s 250th anniversary but a tacky event to commemorate the one thing he truly cherishes: himself.
They’re calling it a “celebration of strength.” But let’s be clear: it’s a celebration of power, obedience, and fear—the holy trinity of every authoritarian regime from ancient Rome to modern Russia. Except this one has reality-TV lighting and an off-key rendition of the national anthem.
No Kings. That’s the whole idea.
That was the radical, risky, world-changing promise made by the founders—flawed as they were—that no man in this country would ever be above the law. No monarchs. No divine right to rule. No golden thrones, just folding chairs and ballots.
But Donald Trump and his MAGA Court Jesters are desperate to crown him King. Not metaphorically. Literally.
They want to eliminate checks and balances.
They want to purge career civil servants.
They want to replace science with conspiracy.
They want to rewrite the rules until only one voice—his—counts.
June 14 isn’t just his birthday. It’s also Flag Day. How fitting that the man who once hugged the American flag like it was a prop in a hostage video is now using it as camouflage for tyranny.
But I haven’t forgotten what that flag actually stands for.
Not Trump’s fragile ego.
Not his pay-to-pardon scams.
Not his draft-dodging tough-guy cosplay.
It stands for us—the people.
Today is also a reminder: We’ve been here before.
We’ve had egotists and crooks and demagogues.
But what we’ve never had—until now—is a political cult willing to dismantle democracy just to feed one man’s appetite for revenge.
So I protest.
Not because I hate America.
But because I love it too much to let it become a monarchy for a bitter, bloated narcissist who thinks laws are for “the little people.”
Let’s be honest: Trump’s not holding a military parade to honor the troops. He’s holding it because dictators have parades. It’s cosplay for authoritarians who never served a day in uniform but want to play five-star general on their birthday.
He wants tanks. He wants salutes. He wants obedience.
He wants to strut down Pennsylvania Avenue like a dime-store Napoleon with a spray tan.
What he doesn’t want?
Accountability.
Democracy.
You and me showing up to say: HELL NO.
So if you’re protesting today—online, in the streets, in spirit—you’re not alone.
You’re part of a movement that’s bigger than one man and louder than his parade of sycophants.
We’re Americans.
We don’t do kings.
We don’t bow.
We vote.
We rise.
We resist.
This is still our country. And we’re not giving it up without a fight.
In defiance and hope,
Julie Bolejack
Patriot. Protester. No King’s subject.
