October 23, 2025
"Now in their fury and impotence, Democrats hit the streets—projecting onto their hated nemesis, Donald Trump, their own past preferences for kingly methods."
Concludes Victor Davis Hanson, laying out the evidence, in "Who Are the Real Kings? Democrats cry 'No Kings' while wielding royal power—raiding rivals, silencing dissent, and crowning heirs without a single vote" (American Greatness).
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94 comments:
"...wielding royal power—raiding rivals, silencing dissent, and crowning heirs without a single vote."
It's been said plenty of times by plenty of people, but these are the fruits of 50 years of elite overproduction.
This No Kings bullshit has gone nowhere. Besides, Monarchism isn’t as bad as Communism. The movement should be called No Kings, Comrades
Hanson gives the perfect rebuttal, based on facts, to Brooks and EJ Diaone.
That's right - No Czars, Tovarich
The “No Kings” movement is all the serfs responding obediently to their royal mast to protest a democratically (under a republican form of government) elected president, who, if he was a king would have tossed their butts into the tower of London. Most incompetent king ever.
If you want to understand how societies can founder under a King, look no further than our stalward ally, the United Kingdom, where it has become customary for young British girls to be groomed and raped with impunity by Asian immigrant gangs, while British citizens are arrested and imprisoned for saying mean-but-truthful things about it, online.
Or even closer to home, in Canada, under the same King - where citizens have accepted debanking, deplatforming, arrest, and house arrest by edict, all as a result of exercising their right of free peaceful public protest.
In all of these cases, incidentally, the King ain't the problem.
When the real hard Right finally shows up, these idiots are going to miss Donald Trump's moderation.
"Monarchism isn’t as bad as Communism."
Paraphrasing Lewis, “Of all tyrannies, socialism sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under monarchy than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The king's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but communists who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”
They miss 'Nam is all.
Well, truth be told, the Left isn't really ambitious enough to actually foist a king on us. They'd just settle for having an aristocracy shoehorned in to the mix, but only if they're the aristocrats.
He ain’t lyin’!
Hanson gives the perfect rebuttal, based on facts, to Brooks and EJ Diaone.
Yes, Hanson articulates specifics while the left is all feels.
Oooh, RSM, I like your paraphrase of C.C. Lewis. Is that your original work?
When the real hard Right finally shows up, these idiots are going to miss Donald Trump's moderation.
Yep. As always since the days of Thomas Dewey, the new Hitler Reincarnate will replace the old Hitler Reincarnate as the chief boogieman of the media elite, who will publish chin-strokers about the "elder statesman" winning "strange new respect". It's as lazy and clichéd as "Republicans pounce!"
It's been said plenty of times by plenty of people, but these are the fruits of 50 years of elite overproduction.
We'd be better off if 50% of the people now in college would have become machinists or top notch plumbers instead...
Grok:
Saul Alinsky emphasizes psychological warfare and manipulating perceptions to weaken political opponents, which could include accusing them of behaviors or motives similar to your own to deflect criticism or sow confusion."
This is standard Democrat Party operating procedure.
"This No Kings bullshit has gone nowhere."
On the contrary, it was flawlessly executed.
The Democrats need to constantly update their database of idiots who they can fleece for donations.
That's what these so-called "protests" do. This is how they get new recruits and how they convince their existing sheep to produce more wool.
They have a fresh new updated database of people they will now milk for donations.
Ah if only they had not repealed irony we could cite these as excellent examples.
@Hassayamper, 90% of my work is 100% my original work...just like Sex Panther (it's got real pieces of me in it so you know it's good).
To your last comment: It was practically axiomatic prior to the democratizing effect of the GI Bill on higher education that the demographic Σ of IQ within the American population capable of extracting utility and producing logarithmic value from an undergrad education was ≥115...in other words 15-16% of the population. The demographic Σ for a post-graduate education was an order of magnitude smaller, roughly between 2-5% (or ≥130...).
Not only has America's demographic Σ been artificially diluted by uncontrolled immigration, but the number of those holding a degree is somewhere between 25-30% of the population and could be approaching as high as 1/3rd. In other words, America has not only been getting dumber, but our idiots are certifiably pedigreed.
Idiocracy was prescient. By 2050 a CostCo Baccalaureate will be more valuable than degree from Wharton.
"The Democrats need to constantly update their database of idiots who they can fleece for donations."
Look at their own statements on their finances, and small donations barely keep the break rooms in coffee.
"Hanson articulates specifics while the left is all feels."
You mean like when a poster says that he "feels" that he answered my points?
"Asian immigrant gangs". They're Muslims. Period, end of story. Refuse to use the leftist euphemisms, Aggie, because they only serve to subvert the Truth. There are no Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese rape gangs in the UK. There are no Catholics, Hindus, or Buddhists from India, Pakistan, or Afghanistan forming rape and grooming gangs. These "Asians", or as sometimes referred to as "Southeast Asians", are Muslims. Asians aren't the issue, Muslims are.
Donald J Trump ran on a platform in an election.
The majority of voters in the US voted for him because of what he promised to do.
He is, in my opinion, enacting his platform too slowly. Everything he is doing we, the majority of Americans, wish he would do faster.
He should have fired 2/3s of Washington DC by now.
Donald Trump is the opposite of a King. Democrats are just retarded children who lost an election.
Most disgusting thing is that it is all media/leftist generated. If Clinton had won and done everything exactly the same as Trump, she would be glorified as best president ever.
"Now in their fury and impotence
Sound and fury, signifying nothing.
There are very few great political writers today. Hanson is one of them.
Hassayamper said...
It's been said plenty of times by plenty of people, but these are the fruits of 50 years of elite overproduction.
We'd be better off if 50% of the people now in college would have become machinists or top notch plumbers instead...
This is impossible. ~60% of people in college are women who would never in their life do a job that requires actual work with actual standards and consequences for substandard work.
Only a fairly small percentage of women could actually do the jobs you listed.
What they did instead was create a set of bullshit air conditioning chair jobs that produce nothing but pay dumbass Karen’s 6 figures to sit on their thumbs and sneer down at the men that make their lives possible. HR, education, DEI, government bureaucracy, journalism.
The same retards can’t explain where inflation comes from either.
No kings, huh? Does that apply to Congress? Dick Durbin: 40 years a king in the Senate. Nancy Pelosi: 38 years a king in the congress. Congress gave the president so much power. Now they complain the president has too much power.
"Elite Overproduction"
There are schools where the bright won't find you
Passing grads while the standards crumble down
When they do, more fools are right behind you
So glad they're told they've made it
Not sad they'll have to fake it
♫Every dummy wants to rule the world♫
’America has not only been getting dumber, but our idiots are certifiably pedigreed.’
This country is littered with credentialed morons, most with a ‘_________ Studies’ degree or two.
We'd be better off if 50% of the people now in college would have become machinists or top notch plumbers instead.
@Hassayamper, almost 60% of the college students in the US are female. That complicates things. A better approach might be to limit the number of non-STEM undergraduates, though no doubt the faculty would find a way to abuse that, e.g., by insisting that “women’s studies” is in STEM.
Trump and his GOP minions’ death panel have become Dickensian. From "A Christmas Carol," Scrooge said:
“If they would rather die, …they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”
Where is Inspector Bucket when we need him?
Trump had warned: “We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them. Like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.”
“You all know Russell Vought; he’s become very popular recently because he can trim the budget to a level that you couldn’t do any other way. So, they’re taking a risk by having a shutdown. Because of the shutdown, we can do things medically and other ways, including benefits, and we can cut large numbers of people out. We don’t want to do that, but we don’t want fraud, waste, and abuse,” Trump said.
"No Kings" is an easy, lazy coping mechanism. Projection and denial are the most primitive ways of dealing with logical incongruences and half-conscious guilt:
1. Deny that your flaws exist at all so you stay in a happy place.
2. Project your negatives onto others so everything you do remains good and pure.
No Kings follows the Democrats electing king FDR four times, turning the clumsy cheater JFK into a saint, and placing Obama in Soviet-style iconography. Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009...for no accomplishments other than being black.
The Democrats desperately want kings and dictators, but they also want to be in control. This is why they installed sleepy puppet Joe. "We demand to be kings (but we suck and can't pull it off)."
’Like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.’
I’m already a Trump supporter, you don’t have to sell past the close.
Its a very stupid paradigm
Let them rant and rage. It keeps them from fixing what's wrong with their party.
Sadfly says:
"Trump and his GOP minions’ death panel have become Dickensian. From "A Christmas Carol," Scrooge said:
“If they would rather die, …they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”
Our survey says:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/senate-democrats-tank-shutdown-vote-on-pay-for-federal-workers/ar-AA1P3HxX?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=68fa74cdd11a406f91f4a091851a912f&ei=59
https://www.dailywire.com/news/schumer-slammed-for-shutdown-comments-he-said-the-quiet-part-out-loud
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/democratic-whip-under-fire-for-dismissing-families-that-are-going-to-suffer-amid-shutdown/ar-AA1OZL3C?ocid=BingNewsSerp
Sadfly is such a disingenuous Democrat Party libtard dipshit.
@Enigma, We live in the 'Age of Narcissists', and what do narcissists fear and loathe more than anything else? The mirror of self-examination.
It appeals to those ridden by the classic vices, especially sloth and envy and its manifestations such as "projection and denial" and "fury" among many others. Their lack of character is no longer the cause of their lack of accomplishment and their self-ascribed status as victims leads to wrath at all who are more accomplished...the classical behavior of the petulant child.
And like a petulant, the "No Kings" narcissists have been simultaneously coddled and failed by those entrusted to mature them their entire lives. Very few - if any - have ever told them the truth about the world or themselves and it makes them very angry, you can tell.
---- "The Democrats need to constantly update their database of idiots who they can fleece for donations."
The Buffett Foundation stands out in a crowd of stupidos.
Well, Ann, if “American Greatness” says so…..
I read Hanson’s “evidence,” but most of it amounts to metaphor and grievance—no sourcing, no data, just a list of actions he dislikes reframed as “royal decrees.” Calling that “laying out the evidence” feels generous.
I read Hanson’s “evidence,” but most of it amounts to metaphor and grievance
Is your memory as bad as Biden's? The things he lists were reported in the news. Look them up if you can't remember them, or if your news sources didn't cover them.
---- Well, Ann, if “American Greatness” says so…..
Thanks RJWard, u r so rite. Nails it. But is this AA's first citation from the site?
Not quite. Four this year to cite VDH, then you have to go back five years for more VDH. It is meet and rite for the site to be cited; it is meet, rite, and our bounden duty to give thanks for that citation.
P.S. Meet & Right is also a Christian dating site, rite?
American greatness has handled sugnificant journalistic exercise
Same with american thinker the gasbags that bezos and carlos slims huff into not so much
Hanson is a classicist by profession so he has seen these patterns before
Chuck simply claims the opposite of what is true. He will say no one provides evidence when others provide links and citations. Then he will claim he provided evidence without anything beyond an opinion. Jaq rhetorically spanked him in last nights open thread, and DFC just reposted his same nonsense.
I dubbed him raymond luxury yacht because hes such a ridiculous character
Reminds me of a character from another blog who pops up from the uk
I first read dionne in the 90s
Beasts of England said, "This country is littered with credentialed morons, most with a ‘_________ Studies’ degree or two."
Occasionally - in response to "those holding a degree is somewhere between 25-30%..." - you'll still hear people (mostly women) declare that this is a good thing because that means there are more 'educated' people.
Witchcraft is not real. Calling a thing the thing does not the thing make, no matter how religiously repetitive you chant the mantra. The demographic Σ is entropic, in other words, if it ever changes, it almost always changes for the worse.
The demographic Σ of geniuses is highly static.
The demographic Σ of successful business ventures is highly static.
The demographic Σ of Navy Seals that pass BUDS is highly static.
The demographic Σ of those better suited to be plumbers than PhDs is highly static.
A % is a stupid fucking number. That's all it is. It does not mean your population got smarter you daft twits.
Obama used OUR money to make his improvments at the White House.
Trump is building a new space for large and safe gatherings of dignitaries - so they don't have to be outside under stupid tents. and we the tax payer -= are not paying for it.
The Soviet Hive LEFT(D) melt down in rage.
Agree with the crowning of heirs part of the analysis. The anointing of Kamala without a primary was the most unAmerican political act ever.
The left's corrupt judges - do the bidding of the D-Kings.
They might as well he 'blank pages' from they live
Of course its real its the intrusion of the Old Godz
chickelit said...
Agree with the crowning of heirs part of the analysis. The anointing of Kamala without a primary was the most unAmerican political act ever.
So, if a candidate that has been appointed through state primaries and caucuses should up and die or choose to step down with an impossible time to re-primary a candidate before the Nov election, I’m taking it you’re suggesting the opposition party should concede and simply seat their candidate?
VDH is a natural resource. He needs Secret Service protection.
He was autopenned thanks to conyers
An open convention was an option, but that wouldn’t allow the Democrat oligarchs to choose their candidate.
The Republican who do not daily remind themselves of the excesses of this president that has NO precedent with the Democrats will be eating their words. David is a parody of his prior self. The all-or-nothing defense of Rump is disgusting. And, no, I am not a Democrat.
It would have revealed how weak their bench was
We know this was a travesty of a mockery of a sham
The mass proscription incarceration and empoverishmenr attempted made the point clearly
So, if a candidate that has been appointed through state primaries and caucuses should up and die or choose to step down with an impossible time to re-primary a candidate before the Nov election...
This hardly fits the case of Biden, who was only allowed to primary in 2024 due to the deceit of his partisans. The time to re-primary was impossible because of the dishonesty of all those who insisted Biden was fit for the office.
As usual, Marillion had this pegged almost 10 years ago:
We are the new Kings
Sailing our seas of diamonds and gold
We are the new Kings
Seldom seen, elsewhere and unknown
We are the new Kings
Buying up London from Monaco
We do as we please
While you do as you're told
***
Well, do you remember a time when you thought you belonged to something more than you?
A country that cared for you
A national anthem you could sing without feeling used or ashamed
You poor sods have only yourselves to blame
On your knees, peasant
You’re living for the New King
CC, JSM
David is a parody of his prior self.
Who's David?
’The Republican who do not daily remind themselves of the excesses of this president that has NO precedent with the Democrats will be eating their words.’
Any particular ‘excesses’ in mind?
tcrosse @ 5:25, so, and this is the part I’m trying to rationalize this argument, so, at the point Biden said “I’m out”, this is the point Republican say; “that means we win”?
Ronald J. Ward said...
tcrosse @ 5:25, so, and this is the part I’m trying to rationalize this argument, so, at the point Biden said “I’m out”, this is the point Republican say; “that means we win”?
10/23/25, 5:38 PM
You should be the one who wanted a primary, bootlicker. Even a one-day 50-state affair, assembled inside three weeks, would have produced a candidate better than Kamala Harris. The better time for a primary would have been at the start of 2024- you had ample warning that Joe Biden was manifestly unfit.
Now the food stamps will run out in November, I'm going to savor the screams.
Victor Davis Hanson is a national treasure.
There was plenty of people who claimed before the primary and many more joined in after the election saying Biden should have never run. But the first set of people were ignored by their betters and the second set are chicken shit.
He's overthinking this. Soros has some European minions who have the notion that the US was founded on opposition to monarchy and that the No Kings slogan will resonate here. They're confused. The Americans with whom that slogan might resonate are not the droids they're looking for. But at $200 for a couple hours waving signs in the sunshine, there are plenty of idiots who were happy to do whatever the e-mails said to do.
Hey, serial killer.* Name one thing that Hanson cited which is untrue.
You can't, obviously. Yet you claim that it's "just a list of actions he dislikes reframed as "royal decrees.""
No shit, Sherlock. That is precisely Hanson's point. That is what the "No Kings" Democrats are claiming regarding Trump's legal and constitutional actions. Except that, as Hanson so eloquently shows, the Democrats are the abusers of the Constitution and the "democratic process."
*AKA Chuck
RJW, are you naturally a duma$$ or do you just play one on TV? Your hypothetical bears no resemblance to the reality of 2024, unless you Democrats had deployed one of your stooge assassins against Biden rather than Trump.
’Hey, serial killer.’
Rather an odd choice for his new moniker.
Oops: Democrats Use Picture of the East Wing of Buckingham Palace to Mourn – Twitchy https://share.google/2qFXD8Ae7AGjCSXAJ
Based upon the clown circus Sat photos of leftists dressing up in cosplays, I would say they have reached "Furries and impotence."
https://share.google/jivm4MM9TIUCH2pZd
Almost 45% of the voting population will vote Democrat regardless of how the Democrat pols act. The only sin they cannot forgive is the Party not fighting back against the evil Republicans.
That pretty much explains why the Democrat pols and influencers are acting they way they do.
Ronald J. Ward said...
chickelit said...
Agree with the crowning of heirs part of the analysis. The anointing of Kamala without a primary was the most unAmerican political act ever.
So, if a candidate that has been appointed through state primaries and caucuses should up and die or choose to step down with an impossible time to re-primary a candidate before the Nov election, I’m taking it you’re suggesting the opposition party should concede and simply seat their candidate?
Notice how you can only come up with the dumbest possible answer.
You are just a stupid person.
A party not run by insider oligarchs supported by retarded voters who will suck up anything their masters give them would have had an open primary.
Those cue cards are very badly done
“Donald Trump, in 2020, did not sic his Department of Justice on his rival, Joe Biden.”
Yes, let’s forget the Dunham and Weiss investigations, as well as the 75 million people who voted for Kamala Harris.
Likely 1000+ comments on the No Kings protests in the last week here.
Yep, they have no power. Neither side is spending their days discussing Saturday ... days later.
Election rules are supposed to apply to everyone, but over my life, have been ignored whenever necessary to aid Democrats.
Let's take the 2002 NJ Senate election. The Democrats elected in their primary to vote for someone facing indictment, who was, indeed, indicted, and withdrew AFTER the date it was too late to withdraw. The Democrats were allowed to parachute in Frank Lautenberg as a candidate because the judge said, "NJ Needs A Choice!" Screw the laws. Screw the primaries where someone else was selected. And whose name would still appear on the ballot though he withdrew. NJ NEEDED A CHOICE! They had one. Well, several. In addition to the disgraced indicted candidate staying on the ballot, there were 4 other minor party candidates, any one of which the party could have thrown their support to. Lautenberg, on the ballot because of a judge, not the written law, won.
Missouri senate election 2000. Mel Carnahan died 3 weeks before the election He won the election in a sympathy vote. Missouri election law is quite clear. The ELIGIBLE candidate with the most votes wins, quite clearly implying there can be ineligible candidates. Like, for example- a dead person. Under that rule- John Ashcroft was the winner. As he likely would have been if Mel hadn't died. The governor (illegally) appointed his widow to the seat. And RINO John Ashcroft, playing the Republican gentleman loser, didn't fight it- being replaced in an election he won according to the law. And the ever grateful Jean Carnahan voted against his confirmation as AG.
Aa for president- well, we don't actually elect the president, we elect electors. The Democrat party could easily have thrown the election open to be decided by the electors. But if they didn't all vote enough electors to gain a majority- well, the election would have been thrown to the House and Senate.
Yep, they have no power. Neither side is spending their days discussing Saturday ... days later.
Mocking silly costumes and deranged q-tips isn't the flex you think it is. Besides, the latest outrage is the President spending private dollars to build the Trump Ballroom or something ....
But that aside - if you're wielding so much power - just what was accomplished by your tantrum? What policies were advanced? What gains were made in the polls? Is the government still shut down?
Do tell.
The only people I see acting like kings are wearing black robes.
It's not beyond the realm of possibilities that someone spiked Biden's daily med cocktail before the debate. Remember Obama led him off the stage at the fundraiser and the murmuring had begun. After the Biden clown show during the debate, it doesn't take a genius to conclude they had already decided on Kamala, all the posturing was just window dressing.
I listen to VDH on YouTube almost daily. I have enjoyed his books also. He is, indeed, "a national treasure".
Etc. @ 5:18
You gave the game away with "Rump". You're an unserious person. Now run along.
Kings and oligarchies often are in conflict. Aristocrats and oligarchs try to weaken the power of kings. Kings try to weaken the power of oligarchs and aristocrats. "Monarchical" presidents -- Jackson, the Roosevelts, maybe Nixon -- were the ones opposed to the powerholders of their era. "Building an autocracy" and imposing an oligarchy weren't the same thing. In some ways the processes were opposed to each other. Taking down the king doesn't mean that the power of government over the citizenry is lessened. Fighting the existing oligarchy may at least mean that its grip over the public is loosened.
Kings and oligarchies often are in conflict.
That encapsulates the entire 2000 year story of the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic, Roman Empire, and Byzantine Empire in one brief sentence.
This is also the reason that those in power are always so eager to replace their domestic enemies with foreign friends and allies, who typically end up devouring the powerful and powerless alike. Tacitus and Suetonius had lots to say about this, in regard to emperors like Nero and Domitian, but I am sure it goes back much farther.
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