Happy No Kings Day!
The Declaration of Independence echoes amid the Imperial Trump Presidency
The “Morning Read-In,” is a daily curation and conversation —exclusive to paid subscribers — on the most compelling stories in politics, communications, culture, and life. Today’s MRI is free in celebration of No Kings Day.
Item #1
The men who signed the Declaration of Independence in July 1776 were inspired and emboldened by a 47-page pamphlet published six months earlier by Thomas Paine. Writing in clear and compelling language, Paine advocated for American independence from Britain. “Common Sense” was read in taverns and meeting places, instantly becoming the best selling title in American history. It still is.
“Every thing that is right or natural pleads for separation,” Paine wrote. “The blood of the slain, the weeping voice of nature cries, ‘Tis time to part’.
Paine said a monarchy made no sense. He argued: No kings.
“There is something exceedingly ridiculous in the composition of monarchy. It first excludes a man from the means of information, yet empowers him to act in cases where the highest judgment is required. The state of a king shuts him [off] from the world, yet the business of a king requires him to know it thoroughly…”
Item #2
The Declaration of Independence was written in opposition to King George. But you don’t have to squint hard to hear echoes of our imperial Trump presidency.
“From undermining trade to denying justice, from deporting the defenseless to inciting insurrections—all under false pretext— King George sounds a lot like our country’s current hostile ruler,” historian
writes on Substack today. Then he quotes from the Declaration of Independence:“He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither…”
“He has obstructed the Administration of Justice…”
“He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices…”
“He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.”
“He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.”
“For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world.”
“For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury…”
“He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us…”
Sound familiar?
It’s still our republic, if we can keep it.
Item #3
Celebrate today. Fight tomorrow. That’s the Independence Day message from Washington Post columnist Anne Lamott, writing a modern day version of Common Sense.
[Today], my friends and I will celebrate the land that embraces political marches and rallies, the ones so far and those still to come. This is ‘We the people,’ and that is the ultimate and most profound aspect of America. We are going to keep showing up and talking about what needs to be done and what is possible right now. We give some money, if we can, to food banks, to a congressional candidate in a swing district, an immigrant rights organization, the ACLU and Project Hope. We steady ourselves for whatever the future might hold — left foot, right foot, left foot, breathe. Yes, things are god-awful in so many ways, maybe especially the dismantling of USAID, but we can’t go limp. This is what they want. I remember George Carlin as saying, ‘There are nights when the wolves are silent and only the moon howls.’ That night is now. We are the moon shining in the dark. We have begun to howl as one, as this new thing is getting itself born. I’ll see you on the Fourth. I’ll be smiling, overeating and celebrating this great land, the home of the brave.
Item #4
Alexandra Petri, the satirist with The Atlantic, imagines a conversation between the Founding Fathers over the budget bill Congress just sent to President Trump.
James Madison: “You’re the one who is always saying that the executive should be more like a king.”
Alexander Hamilton: “I take it back.”
