Doug McIntyre: A Republic, if we can keep it

I’m 67. I have a mortgage and a 401k. I drive a 2014 Chevy Impala and never heard of any of the musical guests on SNL. I have pasty skin and need SPF 50 to fetch the paper out of the driveway. Standing in the sun for hours with a placard is not my natural habitat. Until January 6, 2021, I was a Republican. 

Clearly, I do not fit the profile of a radical leftist. Yet, I found myself last Saturday marching alongside people who do. Scattered among the multitudes gathered at Topanga Canyon and Victory Boulevards at the “No Kings Day” protest were a smattering of folks carrying Palestinian flags, “Abolish ICE” posters and even a giant “Socialism Now!” banner in front of a Crate & Barrel. I crossed the street to avoid that one. 

Still, I did not feel out of place because the vast majority of “No Kings Day” protesters were not radicals, but rather suburbanites who felt as I did the need to take a stand against the un-American direction the current administration has taken us. 

I ran into friends, neighbors and acquaintances, none of whom are in Antifa, wore face masks, or threw rocks at ICE or LAPD. In fact, several LAPD patrol cars were greeted warmly with the officers waving and smiling in return. The Villages Mall in Woodland Hills will never be confused with Berkley in ’68. Neither will Boise, Idaho, where thousands showed up at the state capital, as well as millions more from Key West to Anchorage. There was even a “No Kings” protest in Tillamook, Oregon, where cows outnumber people two to one. The great American middle class is taking to the streets. This is rare.  

I have been engaged over the years in more than my share of conversations (mostly civil) with Trump fans who believe I have “switched sides” or am suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” neither of which is true. 

I still believe in every position I advocated on KABC radio and in this column: border enforcement (long before Donald Trump co-opted the issue), fiscal responsibility, a strong national defense, regarding Russia as the Evil Empire and most important of all, three separate co-equal branches of government, checks and balances, due process, the Bill of Rights, and the United States Constitution. 

The Republican Party once believed in the slow evolution of change. Today’s party supports and defends the daily whiplash away from American political norms, including centuries of traditions and respect for fundamental law. Literally everything President Trump says and does is rubber stamped by his followers. Talk about derangement syndrome. 

I carried a protest sign because I do not trust a president who is not only ignorant of history but is aggressively disinterested. How can you be a conservative if you don’t know what you’re conserving? Something as seemingly trivial as the president’s garish aesthetic, his gold fetish, has turned the People’s House into a tacky whorehouse crammed with gold picture frames and gilded tchotchkes on every mantel and shelf. 

The simple elegance of the White House was a deliberate break from the over-the-top extravagance of European, Middle Eastern and Asian Imperial palaces. Combined with the mandatory fawning sycophancy required of everyone in his orbit, the President fits the profile of an emotionally insecure man whose bluster collapses when push comes to shove. Hence, TACO, “Trump Always Chickens Out.” A leader who requires constant validation is not a leader. Our enemies know this.

Millions went to the streets last week, alarmed by the abdication of congressional responsibilities, including declaring war. We now have government by executive order rather than legislation, the abuse of which did not begin with President Trump, but has run-a-muck on his watch. If DOGE is serious about cutting spending, they should go after the President’s Sharpie budget.

And then there is the graft. 

From crypto currencies to gold-plated cell phones to autographed guitars and even bibles, Trump’s avarice makes Hunter Biden’s art sales look like a lemonade stand. Two billion from Saudi Arabia to Jared Kushner? $400 million airplanes from Qatar? Remember when Richard Nixon had to go on TV to explain why he and Pat were keeping a free dog?

Many driving-by us on Topanga Canyon honked their horns and flashed thumbs up in support. A few flipped the bird. But most striking were the folks who passed as if none of this involves them. It does. Profoundly.

People vote the way they vote for many reasons. It’s above my paygrade to explain why other people do what they do. But it is my job as a citizen to stand up and defend my country when she is under siege. 

Does protesting accomplish anything, or is it just therapy? Street theater? Social media click bait? The jury is out on that. But as a student of history, a patriotic American who flies the flag at my house every day, who keeps a large portrait of George Washington in my living room, I am obligated to do something rather than passively sit by while the unacceptable becomes normalized. 

At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government had been formed. “A Republic”, said Franklin. “If you can keep it.” 

Can we?

Doug McIntyre’s column appears on Sundays. Doug@DougMcIntyre.com.