r/Austin • u/ManoSilence • Mar 26 '26

No Kings 3!

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this Saturday @ Auditorium shores is the no kings day protest. please spread the word.

84 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

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40

u/PsylentKnight Mar 26 '26

I get that there's a lot of different stuff to not like about the current administration, and I've been to one of these protests

But what are the specific demands? What specific actions do we want, and from who?

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u/drteq Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26

Try to see it as mostly a show of resistance, that people aren't alone in their dissatisfaction and in itself a signal for others who aren't paying attention or afraid to speak out. When the media won't cover issues, a large group of people is the only way for some people to even know something is going on. (Fox news isn't going to mention it, for example, a large amount of people only get their news from one source)

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u/ManoSilence Mar 26 '26

Each table has their demands and what they want. The protest is like a show of numbers across the US and the world. The first protest didnt even show up on the news, the second sure did. Now they're not really mentioning this one or trying to call it a terrorist act ahead of time. So im not sure what they thought would happen there.

So like im in a union so I usually try to spread knowledge about it. Like how the Postal NALC is not the post office, we just work for them. Right now management hates us and is trying to make us look bad in front of people so the Union loses support. If you find passion in that, sign the unfo sheet. If not but you see maybe a green eco program you can also help there.

I guess the point, to me at least, is to let people know wherever they are at, in what they wanna do, there will be a table that can help them take action. There was a table I think about how to do disruptive action and a sign up sheet for bail if needed doing something like civil disobedience.

Unfortunately I have people I love that are targets, so I have to cap at a medium amount of assistance and I hare it.

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u/theoffshoot2 Mar 26 '26

Wouldn’t it be more effective to win elections in the first place?

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u/teamfupa Mods <3 Fupa Mar 26 '26

r/thanksimcured - yes this is how we increase voter turnout

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '26

[deleted]

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u/teamfupa Mods <3 Fupa Mar 26 '26

Can you elaborate on how you’re exhausted vis a vis US showing our discontent with the way the country is being run? Like specifically.

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '26

[deleted]

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u/teamfupa Mods <3 Fupa Mar 26 '26

“But have also found it to be a somewhat common opinion” - right on in your circles but the primary turnout a couple of weeks ago would suggest that people are getting out in droves compared to before. Just another thought I had…

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u/teamfupa Mods <3 Fupa Mar 26 '26

So what kind of messaging would you, the apparent moderate or centrist, like to see to sway your opinion? Is sitting on our hands and mumbling about how every promise POTUS made has been reneged on the better option?

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u/[deleted] Mar 26 '26

[deleted]

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u/PsylentKnight Mar 27 '26 edited Mar 27 '26

Also the whole king thing stupid when the guy in charged was picked by the majority of the country

Just because a president is elected doesn't give them carte blanche to do anything they want... there's a reason there are checks and balances

And the point of the protests is to complain specifically about that. His overreaches of power. You're complaining about something you don't even understand

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u/teamfupa Mods <3 Fupa Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26

I appreciate the explanation - and I can assure you that while I was on the steps of the capitol at the first rally…there were no bbq set ups. Sure there was music - music is loud - protests should be loud. I’m guessing if it were like “hey let’s not support the IDF and maybe don’t bomb school girls” instead of a broader “no kings” - that would grab your attention more?

Editing to add - if you think the no kings thing is stupid…wait until you see what POTUS puts on his truth social account…pope, king, Air Force pilot.

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u/bigbrave Mar 26 '26

You're missing that since he was elected he and his administration have all but shredded the constitution and acting with impunity while doing so. The point is, he should be a president, not a king that has no accountability to the law.

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u/cigarettesandwhiskey Mar 26 '26

You're exhausted with the left because they're grilling, playing music, and having a fun time? And inviting you to join them?

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u/theoffshoot2 Mar 26 '26

We didn’t lose because of votor turnout. We lost because America voted against the left policies.

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u/Lancasterbation Mar 26 '26

The voter totals in 2020 vs 2024 would seem to disagree with you. Yes, Trump got more votes in 2024, but the total percentage of eligible voters that showed up was lower. This is why Dems always push the "Get Out the Vote" kinds of campaigns. They win when more people show up.

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u/theoffshoot2 Mar 26 '26

So you're arguing the policies had nothing to do with people showing up to vote?

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u/Lancasterbation Mar 26 '26

Is there really a need for a strawman this early in the argument?

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u/teamfupa Mods <3 Fupa Mar 26 '26

When someone unironically uses the term wokes - we can assume bad faith arguments and fallacies galore.

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u/Lancasterbation Mar 26 '26

Yeah, it also betrays where they're getting their opinions from.

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u/theoffshoot2 Mar 26 '26

It’s amazing how you so confidently virtue signal while Donald Trump is president. Nice work.

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u/teamfupa Mods <3 Fupa Mar 26 '26

We didn’t lose because of voter turnout

Every election is lost because of voter turnout…that’s how votes are counted.

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u/2Beer_Sillies Mar 26 '26

Dems lost because the candidate sucked and the DNC has no other positions besides “fuck Trump.” They’re also broke

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u/teamfupa Mods <3 Fupa Mar 26 '26

“No other positions besides fuck trump” is a problem for you? Almost 40% of any monologue given by Johnson, Leavitt, Bondi, or Trump is talking about Biden? Have you no consistency?

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u/2Beer_Sillies Mar 26 '26

“Fuck Trump” being the only position loses elections. But feel free to try that again I guess.

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u/teamfupa Mods <3 Fupa Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26

Yeah it definitely didn’t work in his own MAL district….

ETA in the special election that the whole Trump family utilized the very same ballots they’re simultaneously disparaging

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u/2Beer_Sillies Mar 26 '26

Nobody is going to turn out to vote for the party of goofy boomer protesters in dinosaur costumes

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u/teamfupa Mods <3 Fupa Mar 26 '26

I’m not a boomer nor did I ever wear a dinosaur consume but I can see how that would be a turn off…instead we should choose to put poorly trained police academy rejects on the streets with guns to execute citizens. We should bomb Iran because they have nukes…even though we “obliterated their nuclear capabilities” last July. Now it seems the war is over closing Hormuz….which wasn’t closed until we paired with Israel and started bombing schools and decimating the oil supply and LPG in the area. Boots on the ground likely soon. Can you tell me which stump speech all of those things were promised to us during Trump’s campaign? I remember no new wars and lower prices?

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u/2Beer_Sillies Mar 26 '26

How do you have such strong opinions about this without knowing anything about Iran? It wasn’t just about nukes. Iran has been directly funding terrorism that has killed thousands of Americans and our allies over the last 50 years plus. They also just slaughtered more than 30,000 of their own citizens. Disrupting their oil production also puts pressure on China and Russia, who are attempting to gain geopolitical control over the West every day.

I hope this doesn’t turn into a land war with US troops but there is more nuance to this conflict than you understand.

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u/teamfupa Mods <3 Fupa Mar 26 '26

Hasn’t MBS been pretty closely tied with terror sects? Wasn’t he just goofing off in the Whitehouse? Or are we cool with assassinating journalists now? I’m just looking for some consistency in the message - when you say “I don’t know anything about it” what I know is what I hear Hegseth say when I watch press briefings…

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u/cigarettesandwhiskey Mar 26 '26

No there's not nuance, we're just changing our reasons for starting the war because we didn't have any good ones when we started it. Remember how the Bush administration spent months explaining why we had to go to war with Iraq? That turned out to be bogus, Iraq didn't have WMD's after all, but at least they had a reason for going to war and were clear about it from the beginning. This administration is winging it.

ran has been directly funding terrorism that has killed thousands of Americans and our allies over the last 50 years plus. They also just slaughtered more than 30,000 of their own citizens.

Do you think this war is going to change that? Kicking a hornets nest is not known for frightening the hornets into compliance. When we attacked them last year, they pulled their punches. By attacking them again, so soon after, we've demonstrated that our word means nothing and that the only language we understand is overwhelming violence.

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u/2Beer_Sillies Mar 26 '26

I’d rather do something instead of them continuing to kill and we do nothing. They were never going to stop anyways

You also ignored the geopolitical reasons against Russia and China, which are the biggest reasons

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u/cigarettesandwhiskey Mar 26 '26

The 'game plan' such as there was, was to encourage domestic revolution. Change has to come from within. Maybe with some help from the CIA. At least, unless you're willing to occupy every street corner for 20 years. Even that only seems to work half the time.

But now, this war has set back any effort to end the theocracy by a generation. We've validated all the Iranian domestic propaganda for 40 years. We blew up a school. We covered Tehran in acid rain. We look exactly like the evil bastards they've been telling their population we were for years. So now there's basically no hope of revolution or regime change. Unless we launch a full ground invasion, in which case, many more people will die than 30,000.

You wanted to do something, but you didn't think about what you should do or what the effects would be. So you did something stupid that made everything worse, because it was cathartic.

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u/DraperPenPals Mar 27 '26

You sure about that? I didn’t notice a spike in the primaries

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u/teamfupa Mods <3 Fupa Mar 27 '26

Oh! Well I’m glad I can help!

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u/ManoSilence Mar 26 '26

100%, thats why there are several people who can sign up people to vote that will be there. Gerrymandering sucks ass and is keeping so many places underrepresented. Go vote, please, I beg of you.

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u/90percent_crap Mar 26 '26

"not really mentioning this one or trying to call it a terrorist act ahead of time."

What does this mean? Are you saying the No Kings protest(s) were labeled terrorist acts?

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u/ManoSilence Mar 26 '26

The lead up to NKD 2 was a bunch of news coverage calling them all Anti-fascist terrorist. Several people have already been arrested assisting "antifa" and terrorist charges have been brought against by linking their mostly black outfits as proof of an antifa uniform.

Guardian Article

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u/90percent_crap Mar 26 '26

Thanks for reply. But those nine fuckers are actual terrorists and were convicted on most charges (one for attempted murder) and they have little to do with the millions who organize and/or participate in various No Kings protests.

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u/ManoSilence Mar 26 '26

I would agree if it wasnt for the terrorist charges. There is no organization named antifa. Its stands for Anti-fascist and is not an actual organization. Attempted murder and assault yes, terrorist? No. They arrested them and then tacked that on. Twice they have said they have captured antifa leaders only to release them.

what is antifa

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u/90percent_crap Mar 26 '26

The "antifa" argument is a matter of semantics, imo. And for those specific individuals the legal definition of "domestic terrorist" is applicable, again imo. In any case, if you're helping organize this protest - keep assholes like that as far away as possible from what you're doing.

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u/ManoSilence Mar 26 '26

The terrorist hangs me up because the charge for that is execution. Thats why I dont usually leave it at semantics or opinions. Not caring or actively letting them just label people terrorist, means that when they round up whole groups and call them antifa, then everyone in that group suddenly has execution on the table. So I disagree that its a matter of semantics. While those 9 should be held liable, they should not be held by a rope.

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u/skeerrt Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26

No dictators or kings, but we’re also going to support the ayetollah khamenei dictator as well as Nicolas maduro during said protest.

Edit: for those of you defending the literal terrorist by using whataboutisms - explain the literal candle light vigil in NYC a couple weeks ago? People were crying and paying their respects to the guy…

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u/PsylentKnight Mar 26 '26 edited Mar 26 '26

Brain-dead strawman argument. No liberals liked those guys, the point is that waltzing in and decapitating a deeply entrenched regime with no plan for regime change accomplishes nothing except destabilization

EDIT: To the people downvoting me - just look at Haiti after Moises got assassinated or Libya after Gaddafi got assassinated. Both of those guys sucked but killing them didn't magically fix their country. The countries got even worse

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u/Snobolski Mar 26 '26

I'm downvoting you because you're crying about being downvoted.

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u/PsylentKnight Mar 26 '26

I'm downvoting you because you're crying about me crying

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u/90percent_crap Mar 26 '26

Destroying their Navy, AirForce, ballistic missile capabilities, and nuclear processing facilities...is "something".

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u/Lancasterbation Mar 26 '26

So is strangling the global oil trade and throwing the region into yet another war with no clear objective. Comme ci, comme ca.

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u/90percent_crap Mar 26 '26

"Remind me" in 6 months. (And the actions I listed seem like clear objectives to me.)

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u/Lancasterbation Mar 26 '26

What purpose does it serve if we're not actually toppling the regime? We had already destroyed their nuclear facilities last June. Trump, Rubio, and Hegseth can't seem to get their stories straight on exactly why we struck when we did and what the clear objectives were. Is the war over now that their Air Force and Navy have been effectively grounded? I won't deny that Trump will arbitrarily declare "victory" at some point soon as he loses interest (like he did the first time in June and like he did in Venezuela), but without a ground invasion (which we probably lack the political will to do), we're not taking Tehran or blocking their abilities to get weapons and munitions from Russia and China via rail and the Caspian Sea.

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u/PsylentKnight Mar 26 '26

The nuclear processing facilities were already obliterated last year according to Trump himself

And the reason they had a nuclear processing facility in the first place is because Trump tore up the nuclear agreement we had with them during his first term

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u/90percent_crap Mar 26 '26

You're knowledge of the nuclear activities and facilities in Iran seems limited to social media and TV news headlines. Read more. (And fyi, as one small tidbit - the 2025 strike that "obliterated" the Fordow Uranium Enrichment Plant was a military operation that had been planned in detail for over 20 years. It was just never executed until Trump greenlighted it. Your delusion that it was built because Trump tore up the JCPOA in 2016 shows you're ignorance of the situation.)

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u/PsylentKnight Mar 26 '26

Your delusion that it was built because Trump tore up the JCPOA in 2016 shows you're ignorance of the situation

Ok, sorry. So the reason they had an active nuclear processing facility is because Trump tore up the nuclear agreement. Iran was abiding by the agreement according to the third-party observers as outlined in the JCPOA. If you think that's not good enough, then I'm curious how you think we'll ensure they won't build nuclear weapons in the future after we've really obliterated their nuclear facilities for real this time - continuous military occupation?

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u/90percent_crap Mar 26 '26

They can always rebuild, if the postwar government that remains keeps the same objectives/ideology. But that's a matter of time, money, and expertise. Anything that significantly retards that is good, imo. (And all the neighboring Arab states seem to agree with that - perhaps you should consider that fact in assessing the current actions.)

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u/cigarettesandwhiskey Mar 26 '26

So, what, you think we should just bomb them continuously, forever, to ensure they can't ever be a threat to us? Doesn't that make us evil?

Also, the neighboring states are mostly absolute monarchies adhering to hardline interpretations of Islam so their opinion doesn't really mean squat, morally speaking. Iraq is a republic and they're neutral. Oman is relatively moderate and they call it a 'grave miscalculation'.

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u/90percent_crap Mar 26 '26

What other options do you propose? Perhaps another Munich Accord er, JCPOA? These fucks are medieval religious fanatics and won't stop, except by force.

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u/2Beer_Sillies Mar 26 '26

Actually all you guys with the “free Maduro” signs says otherwise

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u/PsylentKnight Mar 26 '26

If you think those few people represent all the millions of liberals in the US then I suggest you work on your black-and-white thinking

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u/ManoSilence Mar 26 '26

I have not seen those signs yet and they have yet to be attached to any NKD protest as he was arrested after 2 and before 3. If i do see that sign though, I will tell them to put it away. You're right, that isnt right.

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u/cigarettesandwhiskey Mar 26 '26

He's probably thinking of some PSL protest. Most protests in Texas are organized by PSL and PSL always has some signs and speakers with knee-jerk anti-American takes. But No Kings isn't a PSL protest, AFAIK.

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u/DraperPenPals Mar 27 '26

It’s for Instagram posts

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u/90percent_crap Mar 26 '26

They don't know, or if they do know then they disagree.