The Resistance Is Growing What happens next? Dan Rather and Team Steady Oct 20 Credit: Getty Images Being a part of the Steady community is about having a voice. It’s about independent journalism holding the powerful accountable and telling it like it is. We hope it’s also something more. We want it to be about trying to understand this crazy time we live in, and figuring out a way to survive it. It’s about your voice, too. Maybe it’s cathartic to read something that affirms, ‘Yes, I knew that was insane.’ Being a member of the Steady community means you’re not alone. The camaraderie we share helps us collectively to keep our heads and hearts together. Now, about that voice… We asked you to tell us about your experience at the “No Kings” rallies, and wow, did you deliver! We’ve never had so many comments or such a high level of engagement. We’re not surprised. After all, we are not a community of wallflowers. We especially enjoy the comments on the comments. It is so encouraging to see the support from all of you for all of you. We could write about some norm-shattering Trump nonsense every day, when every hour feels like “unprecedented times.” But I think we need to take a beat and analyze what just happened. On Saturday, millions of Americans did what Americans have done for generations. They gathered for the greater good to protest injustice and protect our democracy. Multitudes of like-minded people rallied at 2,700 protests in big cities and small towns across all 50 states to oppose the second presidency of Donald Trump. The turnout of approximately seven million exceeded organizers’ expectations, becoming one of the largest single-day marches in American history. Because Trump cares so much about crowd size, we will put it another way. Collectively, the “No Kings” protests had 14 times the turnout of his two inaugurations combined. Trump’s authoritarian play, to convince the electorate that his support is universal and any opposition minute and dangerous, fell flat in the face of so many millions rallying against his dismantling of our democracy and its institutions. The peaceful, even joyful, protests offered indisputable visual evidence that huge numbers of people across the country oppose his many abuses of power. That’s important. The more people see these protests all across the country, the more likely they are to question Trump’s illegal and immoral actions, and the safer they feel joining in. Republicans’ seething hostility toward half the electorate was on full display ahead of Saturday, as they tried to delegitimize the protests and the protesters. But their smear campaign failed. Their claims of “hate America” rallies flew in the face of reality. The marches did not devolve into violence. They kindled patriotism, unity and empowerment with speeches, music and community. The protests brought “together multigenerational groups and the playfulness can help create enthusiasm for big tent politics against the monoculture of fascism,” Lisa Corrigan, a professor of communications at the University of Arkansas, explained on social media, and “expand the threshold of acceptable risk.” Public protests are an effective political strategy because they require action. Millions more have recently become action-takers, not just sideline watchers. And the next march may well attract even more people. The White House attempted to squash any engendered optimism or momentum. When asked about the rallies a spokesperson’s only response was, “Who cares?” She may claim indifference, but you know Trump’s fragile ego required more than a shrug. Speaker of the House and Trump lapdog Mike Johnson was on hand to give the president props. “We congratulate them on an apparently violent-free speech exercise, but if President Trump was a king, the government would be open right now. By the way, the Mall was open because President Trump hasn’t closed it,” Johnson said on ABC’s “This Week.” Apparently, Johnson’s nonsensical response wasn’t enough to appease the petulant president. Trump took matters to his own social media feed, where he posted several vulgar AI-generated videos. One included a crown-wearing Trump flying a fighter jet emblazoned with the words “King Trump,” which dumped excrement on protesters in New York City. It must be hard being a Republican in Trump’s thin-skinned universe — with Trump insisting he isn’t a king and then flooding social media with videos depicting him as one. For a dose of reality and sanity, we turn to you instead, the Steady community. Here are a few of the thousands of comments we received about your experiences at the protests. “I’m 72 and participated in my first-ever protest. My son and I went to the No Kings rally in Arlington, TX. My son estimated the crowd to be around 2,000, which is good for our part of blood red Texas. I was surprised at how it affected me emotionally. I fought back tears seeing this many like-minded people all in one place,” one subscriber wrote. A reader from Florida said, “Yes, one of the best ‘side-effects’ of attending these protests is realizing how not alone one is.” “I’ve never seen anything like it in Chattanooga, Tennessee …cars honking, people cheering, waving flags. Huge turnout! Democracy felt alive today,” cheered another. “No Kings Day must be a turning point — not a commercial, not a sound bite, but a real, enduring resistance.” But how? Many of you asked what happens next? How do organizers harness the momentum and hope generated by the rallies? All good questions. The “No Kings” organizers are hosting a call on Tuesday evening about what comes next. Click here to learn more. But what’s important in the wake of such events is not only the immediate capitalization on momentum, but the long-tailed effects they can produce. Political scientists Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan are scholars of civil resistance. They have studied the success rates of every major peaceful protest since 1900 and coined “the 3.5% rule.” They deduced that when 3.5% of a population protest nonviolently against it’s government, that government is likely to fall from power. While the “No Kings” protests have not reached the 3.5% threshold yet, the growing movement has shown a bright light on Trump’s unpopularity. When a would-be authoritarian loses popular legitimacy, it can cause a downward spiral. He is more likely to lash out, to exhibit erratic and unpopular behavior. Sound familiar? While the only thing that can truly change our political reality will happen in the voting booth, expanding and sustaining a national resistance to Trump’s tyrannical reign is an imperative piece of saving our constitutional republic based on the principles of freedom and democracy. Steady is free, but we’d appreciate it if you would consider joining as a paid subscriber. That will help to maintain Steady and continue to make it available for everyone. No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading. Stay Steady, Dan