It's the position I'd like to take, but let's see if A.I. can sketch it out for me. Go to the links for the full elaboration of the bullet points.
First, both the Army parade and No Kings protests were vibrant displays of American identity, rooted in the celebration of freedom and self-determination....
Second, the tone of both events was unapologetically bold and assertive, reflecting America’s spirit of standing firm in its convictions....
Third, both events drew on America’s historical narrative to stake their claims....
Finally, despite their political differences, both events were inclusive in their appeal to broad swaths of Americans....
The Army parade and No Kings protests, held on Flag Day and the Army’s 250th birthday, were not just parallel events but complementary expressions of America’s soul: a country that honors its defenders while empowering its dissenters, all under the banner of freedom. Their shared tone—defiant, proud, and deeply patriotic—underscores a unified spirit, even in division.The ChatGPT answer:
1. Both Were Public Rituals of Patriotism....
2. Both Emphasized Freedom and Individual Agency....
3. Both Reflected Deeply American Traditions....
4. Both Shared a Spirit of Hope and Determination...
5. Both Spoke in the Language of Symbols...
The Army parade and No Kings demonstration, seemingly at odds, coexist in the American landscape precisely because freedom allows both. Their very presence, side by side in the same country on the same day, is evidence of a robust civic culture. That is the American spirit: unified not by conformity, but by the freedom to differ—loudly, visibly, and passionately.
I like the argument. I know I need to go back and prompt it with "Now, make the best argument against all that."
Posts
80 comments:
Both illustrate sheep-like behavior. Watch the sheep dogs, not the sheep.
The ones in Southern California looked a lot more like the tone and spirit of Mexico. These people did far more to interfere with the governing of the USA (enforcing the law) than the J-6ers ever dreamed of. How many will be put in jail "indefinitely"?
The smart money is on NONE.
Did anyone attending the parade break the law? Not the same crowds at all.
At the No Kings there were crowds of people looking for their Joe Rogan.
I'm curious what sheep dog herded the people to the parade. I suspect most came to express support and thanks to those who have proven willing to give their lives for our country.
If people are looking for "Kings" in the USA, look only at the people in black robes.
You're watching the dramatics and interacting artificially, but look see/mira reality? People are praying the Israeli civilians taste war so they can understand weapons don't solve problems; you can't kill your way to mutual understanding...
Assassinating politicians, scientists and police (even professors!) is never the answer. You can't overthrow or kill stupid and evil. You have to work within the system, using human brains behind "rule of law" and stop depending on technology to do our thinking for us. Humans will clean up society you boomers leave us, and we'll raise your children up right in time too. Keep entertaining yourself with technology toys, though. It will keep you off the streets and making "containable" trouble... We've got your number now. You've hurt the world enough, it's time for others to step up and show you how it's done... for the good of all of us.
The side not controlling the war machine is throwing a tantrum at the side that does.
"you'd argue with a stump, and throw rocks at it if it didn't argue back..." - mezzrow's mom
We have a "no kings day" already. It's celebrated on July 4th. Yesterday's petulant displays were of and by leftists seeking to undo last November's democratically elected administration which is headed by a chief executive who is doing exactly what he promised to do throughout his campaign. Democrats can't deal with democracy. Eff em!
Well, the good news about this exercise is that it shows how easy it would be for the publishers to get rid of such costly editorial deadweight as Ed Luce, EJ Dionne, David French, Tom Friedman, and about a dozen others.
Well, here's one argument for them being quite different.
Also illustrated by this X post
a country that honors its defenders while empowering its dissenters
…not bad for a machine but it won’t beat jaydub, for or again…
My post above is a direct refutation of Grok's claim that the "No Kings" protests were inclusive in their appeal to broad swaths of Americans.
Also illustrated by this X post
…that poor woman really isn’t cut out for democracy bit she’ll never learn that. Either that or she got up too early to make it to the rally and forgot her venti thorazine…
Prof: "I know I need to go back and prompt it with "Now, make the best argument against all that.""
It just hit me: Grok satisfies your need to Socratize, doesn't it? And you weren't even that hardcore of a Socratic when you were still teaching, IIRC.
Is Grok a better or worse interlocutor than your average student was?
JSM
No kings, no queens, no dictators, no judges, no democracies,, no Dreams of Herr Mengele, no abortions, too. No DEIsts. A diversity of individuals, minority of one, reconciled in Nature.
MI extracts its knowledge from the prevailing models in content, consensus, and, ironically, consent of kings and queens.
That’s not an argument, it’s just a list of assertions that may or may not be true.
The No King’s protests seem to have been non-violent, which is an extraordinary accomplishment for the left. It’s nice to know they’re capable of not breaking things.
I ran Althouse’s counter argument by Grok. Answer: Trump bad, authoritarian strongman. Protesters good, shining example democracy in action.
...
So the country didn't descend into chaos. How disappointing for those mental patients on both sides whom pray for/dream of civil war. The truth is that there are very fine people on both sides 😉 and they are the new silent majority.
Both represented a movement against Kings. One that fought an actual King 250 years ago, and one that fights a fictional King today.
Both the Army parade and the "no king" rallies were paid for by the American taxpayer.
Kurt's sobbing woman video says it all.
Utter nonsense. The "No Kings" event I watched had literally hundreds of signs calling me and anyone else who voted for Trump Nazis and racists. The speakers urged people to break our laws and use violence if necessary. They urged violence against police and ICE officers. They screamed and chanted slurs, and many wore Keffiyeh, including one woman speaker who claimed to be a rabbi. Most of the organizers wore masks to conceal their identities. Many people carried American flags upside down, some smeared with red paint. Others proudly waved Mexican flags. It was a hate-fest populated largely by prosperous-looking white retirees. Of course they want to keep their slave-classes around to mow their lawns and clean their houses, while we pay to support these freeloaders' families with our hard-earned taxes. In other cities, protesters rioted, firebombed police, attacked ambulances, and blocked public roads. They prevented the employees of all the businesses on that square from earning a day's honest wages. The only "vibrant displays of American identity" was violent loathing for fellow citizens and for America itself. This "exercise" with AI is the opposite of searching for commonalities -- or facts.
Tina nailed it.
With 37 political assassinations, I'd have to say those Mexican flags at the anti-Ice have their own very troubling message.
@Christopher B, your comment recalled to my mind the book The Emerging Democratic Majority by Ruy Texeira and John Judi’s back in 2002. The “No Kings” rallies apparently drew on a very limited demographic — elderly white women in their 60s and 70s — that will surely shrink as the years pass. Meanwhile the people attending the parade appear to be young, ethnically diverse, families. Their numbers will grow. The Democrats seem ready to consign themselves to the trash can of history, along with Mussolini’s fasces, Hitler’s swastika, and the hammer and sickle.
The Army parade was a celebration in appreciation of the sacrifices made by others.
"No Kings" was a mislabeled and petulant demand for power in contravention of 'Democracy.' "I don't understand how people voted for this person."
We should all thank our King and Savior Donald Trump for getting Democrats to the point where they are now assassinating one another on No Kings Day.
Here's a short summary to show that the Army parade and the No Kings protest represent elements which were both present right at the beginning of American history - one embodied in Massachusetts, the other in Roger Williams. the Massachusetts colony founded a strong representative government which in turn organized a university and an effective militia within six years of the foundation of the colony. That government represented the group which was called :Dissenters while its members were in England and Congregationalists here in America. It excluded Catholics, Anglicans, Quakers, Anabaptists, Levellers, Brownists, Separatists, atheists and it excluded Roger Williams for saying government should not investigate consciences. Roger Williams then founded Rhode Island, a place for those who would not inquire into each other's consciences. It was disorganized and had no university nor an effective militia and several times tried to secede from itself. These two trends are still alive in this country in the Army parade and the No Kings protest.
[And also at the founding, the enemies of any form of representative government - the kings of England, France, and Spain - had colonies and armies nearby ready to take advantage of any weakness and and they had infiltrated their agents just as we now have China, Russia, Iran and their infiltrated agents.]
Make the best argument that yesterday's Army parade and yesterday's No Kings demonstrations were very similar and shared the same tone and spirit of America.
It's the position I'd like to take, but let's see if A.I. can sketch it out for me.
They were both definitely attempting to achieve a similar goal.
They were an opportunity for both sides to go out and celebrate the kind of country that we want to be a part of and the people in the country we want to honor.
Democrats and their globalist funders want to honor illegal invaders.
MAGA supporters want to honor the troops that protect the country and the shared values we have.
The protestors at both events were on opposite ends of the same spectrum.
Obviously the No Kings protestors are all committing sedition and need to fuck right off. We just had a nationwide election 8 months ago and the candidate they are calling a "King" won the popular vote and every swing state. They are just proving the whole "J6 Insurrection" hoax was all something they do all the time.
sounds like One Similarity between the two is:
The participants in the Army Parade were paid.
The participants in the KILL THE PRESIDENT rallies were paid.
So, in THAT sense; they both WERE similar, and both DID express America's soul (money! Money!! MONEY!!! )
Tina Trent said...
Utter nonsense. The "No Kings" event I watched had literally hundreds of signs calling me and anyone else who voted for Trump Nazis and racists. The speakers urged people to break our laws and use violence if necessary. They urged violence against police and ICE officers. They screamed and chanted slurs, and many wore Keffiyeh, including one woman speaker who claimed to be a rabbi. Most of the organizers wore masks to conceal their identities. Many people carried American flags upside down, some smeared with red paint. Others proudly waved Mexican flags. It was a hate-fest populated largely by prosperous-looking white retirees. Of course they want to keep their slave-classes around to mow their lawns and clean their houses, while we pay to support these freeloaders' families with our hard-earned taxes. In other cities, protesters rioted, firebombed police, attacked ambulances, and blocked public roads. They prevented the employees of all the businesses on that square from earning a day's honest wages. The only "vibrant displays of American identity" was violent loathing for fellow citizens and for America itself. This "exercise" with AI is the opposite of searching for commonalities -- or facts.
Posted again because it needs to be said.
The Democrats are trying their best to do away with Democracy because they didn't win.
When Democrats win again we can be a democracy again according to them.
Really they just all need to be shipped to China where they belong.
One was a protest against something that already doesn't exist and the other was a celebration of something which has existed for 250 years. One of these seems grounded in fantasy and the other in reality.
RoseAnne said...
Both the Army parade and the "no king" rallies were paid for by the American taxpayer.
But only one side can be honest about where the money came from.
No Kings is a movement without a leader. It is funded but not led. They have hit the street because they have no political power. The Democratic party is on the ash-heap of history, so there's a huge opportunity for some demagogue to take the helm. Heaven help us.
NKP - 4:41 - you got it.
The left's never ending grievance theater - that comes out their mouths - or is spilled into the streets - is nothing like normal American patriotism.
This is why AI sucks. The answer is easy: One was positive; the other negative. Duh!
Grok's response to the second prompt:
"... First, the Army parade was a state-orchestrated spectacle of military might, while the No Kings protests were a decentralized, grassroots uprising.... Second, the tone of the events was starkly different, reflecting incompatible emotional and cultural undercurrents. The Army parade was festive and reverential... The No Kings protests, however, were marked by urgency and defiance, often teetering on confrontation... Third, the historical narratives invoked by each event were not complementary but antagonistic.... Finally, the inclusivity of the events was superficial at best, masking polarized audiences and purposes....."
That's all pretty obvious. That's why I didn't put it in the post.
Masking is polarizing
Personally, I want to thank all the "No Kings" protests for proving definitively that President Trump is no king nor a dictator. Seriously, are they that stupid that they don't see that their very actions invalidate their false assertion? Would Henry VIII have tolerated such public displays? Would Stalin? Or Judge Boasberg?
Dummies.
Estimates of 15k attended his birthday and 11 million marched against him.
Grok blows it in the very first sentence Althouse quotes @7:44am -- no, No Kings was anything but a "decentralized, grassroots uprising".
Also, I'm sure that a lot of No Kings Events also included Credence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son" in their playlists. What no "Born in the USA" at Trump's birthday bash? I guess playing that would be a step too far considering Trump's recent rants against Springsteen.
I would really like to see the rally Tina Trent watched. Was it real or did the monkeys flying out of her butt tell her about it?
When even the A$$holes at M$NBC(D) - cave to their own BS narratives.
Freder - Your side is gross dudes with their asses hanging out of cowboy outfits... hate-mongers and whiney victims - whining about imagined BS. America is sick of the left. But you have each other's dedicated cancer-like mind-misery to celebrate.
"Both Reflected Deeply American Traditions" Hallucination alert! Sure, we had some "No King" "rallies" back in the 1700s, but none since--so what tradition is AI talking about? Plus, the point of the rallies was to ally with illegals and resist enforcement of immigration law--any "tradition" of that? ChatGPT must be mindlessly extrapolating from The Invention of Tradition.
Which raises a meta question: if on certain contested issues large-language models are trained on systematically biased "scholarship," what do we do with the output? How to judge? (Not saying all the historical work on tradition(s) is bad.)
they need professional help, but are there enough strait jackets,
Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers out there!
Maybe Althouse should consider changing the name of the blog to Althouse & Grok. Seems like Grok is doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
King Leonardo and Itchy Brother.
Yas King!
Fuck a buncha lefties, Fredos, and such…
Grok: Estimates suggest over 6,600 soldiers and only 3,000–5,000 civilians attended the U.S. Army 250th Anniversary Parade in D.C. on June 14, 2025. So, yes, soldiers likely outnumbered civilians. Competing "No Kings" protests nationwide, drawing hundreds of thousands, may have reduced civilian turnout at the parade.
And screw the sheepdogs. Amirite, hardin?
Get it on and Bang a Gong, all you daddies out there!
Tina Trent nails it again.
Frankly, I turned on the military parade and shockingly, was enjoying it so much I kept it on for most of the evening, while I worked on some other things in the room. It was joyful, historic, pride-filled, optimistic. It honored those who should be remembered. All of those who have fought, throughout our history.
But more than that, it reminded me of what we used to feel regularly, as a community, as a nation. The pride we all used to have in our country.
Half our country today- progressives- are miserable people. Period. You need only talk to one for a half a minute to know. They are unhappy people who want change. But they don't exactly know what that change is, or they cannot agree on it. Some of them want the complete destruction of the US. Some of them just want half of us gone. Some of them just want open borders. They all live in fear. Media created fear.
What I saw in the military parade was people who do not live in fear, but live with pride, optimism, hope. I saw builders vs destructors.
It made me proud to be an American. It was good to feel that again. I know it in my soul, but we forget that feeling when it's been forbade for so long by so many.
yeah watching msnbc is a good way to induce seppuku, I guess their increasingly more selective audience just instills more delusion, and psychopathic behavior see washington and harrisburg
it was a wonderful parade,
I saw builders vs destructors.
You do realize that the entire purpose of the military is destruction? Or at least the threat of destruction.
"The No King’s protests seem to have been non-violent, which is an extraordinary accomplishment for the left. It’s nice to know they’re capable of not breaking things."
Are old white people typical of the leftists who riot and break things?
they were aggressively 'mostly peaceful' in LA
"You do realize that the entire purpose of the military is destruction?"
The closest analogy would be cancer treatments: chemo, radiation, resection. All destructive, but it's the tactic not the purpose. I wish cancer was susceptible to deterrence.
The proof of the purpose of the military is what happens when you don't have one. You still get destruction.
Why does a military parade have a corporate sponsor?
Kak: "Estimates of 15k attended his birthday and 11 million marched against him."
And 77 million voted for him. So, democracy...still no kings.
@planetgo: I think it is fair to say the Birthday Parade Bash really tanked! 🤣 Meanwhile the No Kings protests drew 10 million or more across the country, surely a record?
If Trump is so popular, with a huge mandate, and spent $50M on a huge parade, why did no one show up? They planned for 200K people...
#Empty! 🤣
Top signs from No Kings Protest
'Big Parade Today -- Because Therapy Was Too Hard 💔'
'Somebody Please Blend His Bronzer!'
'If Melania Doesn't Have To Live With Him Why Do We?'
I am rolling because of the last one.
Does Grok know you're two-timing him with Chat GPT?
"Althouse & Grok" sounds like a law firm -- or cop show -- from the future.
Massachusetts Bay shared the ambiguous legacy of the English Civil War's Parliamentarians. It was given to both rebelliousness and authoritarianism. In 1775 rebelliousness had the upper hand.
It was the 250th anniversary of Washington taking command of the rebels and forming the Continental Army. And where did this happen? If I remember correctly ... across the street from Harvard.
I'm reading 'Paul Revere's Ride' now, by David Hackett Fischer, and its a cracker-jack read. Highly recommend it at this particular time, this year.
Meh. I couldn't care much less about what either has to say, on this topic or pretty much any other.
I am told that my share of the U.S. Army parade is $0.12, so I guess I’d better find somewhere to cut back.
Oh, and #kakiswack
Not many people with jobs can afford to fly to DC for a parade they can watch on tv. Not many protesters appear to have 9-5 jobs.
What no "Born in the USA" at Trump's birthday bash? I guess playing that would be a step too far considering Trump's recent rants against Springsteen.
No. Because if you ever bothered to pull your head out of your ass, you'd know that song is a rant against America.
It belongs at your rallies.
"Estimates of 15k attended his birthday and 11 million marched against him."
So 11 million people freely protested that Trump is an intolerable authoritarian? I see.
Frankly, I turned on the military parade and shockingly, was enjoying it so much I kept it on for most of the evening, while I worked on some other things in the room.
Was there any goose-stepping by the troops? Because some conservatives suggested there was a distinct possibility of goose-stepping.
"So 11 million people freely protested that Trump is an intolerable authoritarian?"
I don't know about "authoritarian", but he did turn me into a newt.
No. Because if you ever bothered to pull your head out of your ass, you'd know that song is a rant against America.
I think you missed my point completely. Go to Youtube, play "Fortunate Son" by Credence Clearwater Revival, and get back to me
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