No Kings

Mike Olson

13 Jun 2025

Tomorrow, Saturday June 14, President Trump is planning a massive parade of military hardware to celebrate his birthday and that of the US Army. It's an embarrassing display worthy of the Soviet Union and North Korea. It demeans the institutions and the soldiers it claims to celebrate by suggesting their loyalty is to Donald Trump, and not to the Constitution.

Around the country, people are planning to protest the parade and the administration in "No Kings" events. You can find one near you.

I encourage you to show up and to speak out. Above all, though, protest peacefully. Violence is precisely the spectacle that MAGA wants to justify its illegal deployment of the military to suppress dissent.

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What the IRS is for

Over a series of posts here, I've laid out my pretty simple philosophy on taxes. After World War II, and mostly up until Reagan entered office, taxes on large incomes and substantial wealth were high. That reflected the economic and social philosophy of an exceptional era in America:

Don't get distracted

Lots of hyenas-eating-each-other energy in the Trump White House just at the moment. It's important not to lose focus. It was, after all, inevitable that the coalition that put the President in office would fall apart eventually. His MAGA base is nativist, populist and reactionary. His tech-bro enablers

Budget busted

I'm on the road at the far end of a skinny internet pipe, so will be quieter and more sporadic than normal for a bit. I want to lay down this marker, though. The Republican "Big Beautiful Bill" is taking final form. Tax cuts for plutocrats

MAGA!

The "G" stands for "grifty," not "great." I mostly try not to write about stuff covered extensively elsewhere. The avalanche of Trump grift in the past months is so epic and so galling, though, that I have to speak up. I'll keep