No Kings, No Traitors

NO KINGS PROTEST #3
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

"Readers should treat the “traitor” label
as a charged political and rhetorical claim in many sources
rather than as a uniformly substantiated legal fact. . . . "

That being said . . . you can buy this flag on amazon!

Ever one to shout out "Treason!" and call the kettle black,
Trump himself has been identified as a traitor many times.

For example,
as early as 2020 in this book by David Rothkopf

What would Cicero say?
NO KINGS!
On Traitors:"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly. But the traitor moves among those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the galleys, heard in the very hall of government itself.

"For the traitor appears not a traitor — he speaks in the accents familiar to his victims, and wears their face and their garment, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men.

"He rots the soul of a nation — he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city — he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared." ~Cicero in 42 B.C.E.

What would Supreme Court Justice
William O. Douglas say?
NO KINGS!
On Authority: “Since when have we Americans been expected to bow submissively to authority and speak with awe and reverence to those who represent us? The constitutional theory is that we the people are the sovereigns, the state and federal officials only our agents. We who have the final word can speak softly or angrily. We can seek to challenge and annoy, as we need not stay docile and quiet… [A]t the constitutional level, speech need not be a sedative; it can be disruptive… [A] function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger.” ~Douglas in 1972

What would Tom Robbins say?
NO KINGS!
On Autonomy: "The only advice I have for you tonight is not to actively resist or fight the system, because active protest and resistance merely entangles you in the system. Instead, ignore it, walk away from it. Turn your backs on it, laugh at it.Don’t be outraged, be outrageous! Never be stupid enough to respect authority unless that authority proves itself respectable. So be your own authority, lead yourselves." ~ Robbins in 1974

What would John Adams say?
NO KINGS!
On the White House: "I Pray Heaven To Bestow The Best Of Blessings On This House And All that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof." ~Adams in 1800

Building the First White House
by N. C. Wyeth (1882 – 1945)
"The Case of the Missing White House"

"God said, I am tired of kings,
I suffer them no more . . . "
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

PREVIOUS NO KINGS POSTS
2026
February 16 for Presidents Day
QK: Presidents Not Kings

2025
October 18: 2nd NO KINGS PROTEST
QK: Factbase Roll Call
Facebook: In Chicago

July 3 for Indpendence Day
QK: Freedom Capital

July 14 & 15
FN: America, Give Me Strength
QK: America, Vast Confused Beauty

June 28 & 30
FN: Living With Dementia
QK:Living With Dementia

June 14: 1st NO KINGS PROTEST
FN: Fighting Fantasy
QK: No Kings Day

May 28
FN: The Gulf of Mexico and Beyond
QK: "A Very Much Different Country"

May 14
FN: "I Didn't Even Know Anything"
QK: "I Didn't Even Know Anything"

Next Fortnightly Post
Tuesday, April 14th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blogs
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com

Ease Into the Conversation

CAROLYN'S TEAPOT
~ ACCUSTOMED, CEREMONIOUS ~

"The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink . . ."
~ David Whyte ~

Painting above & more by
~ Carolyn Rathbun George ~

Here's to re-connections!
With old friends and old poems!
Way back in the Philadelphia era, Carolyn was our neighbor, less than a block away! We shared dinners, parties, walks around the neighborhood, choir events and fundraisers on behalf of my kids, similar tastes in music, art, and historical architecture.

Influencing our vibe for years to come, it was Carolyn who introduced our family to the work of artist / poet Brian Andreas. I still remember going into Carolyn's little powder room on Pine Street and seeing the beautiful original wooden StoryPerson hanging on the wall! It was also thanks to Carolyn that we discovered Primal Elements soap, especially the Christmas Tree Light design, which I have loved ever since! That was certainly an iconic visit to the Powder Room! You just never know where treasures may lurk! And that includes old friends themselves, for it turns out that after all these years, Carolyn is once again our neighbor! Okay, across town instead of just down the block, but that's alright.

As for poetic re-connections, I owe the remainder of this post [see previous comment] to my friend Katie, who put me in touch with yet another perception - shattering poem from David Whyte.

Kitti: In my "notes to self" after our call last night, I had hastily scribbled down "Irish poem." Now, this morning, I can’t recall what I meant by that! Any ideas?

Katie: I was supposed to send you a link to an Irish poem that I remembered hearing and reading a couple of years ago, but I can’t find it! If I find it, I’ll send it over. It’s in the spirit of Hirschman, Merwin, and Pastan.

A few days later . . .

Katie: Here is the poem by the Irish poet I was trying to remember last week! It was just quoted in a little essay in today’s print edition of The New York Times! Can you believe it?!

After our conversation, I tried googling "Irish Poet" with some of the images I remembered from the poem, and of course there are hundreds of Irish poets, maybe thousands!

But now, the Monday before Thanksgiving, his poem appeared in a lovely little essay, "Tuning In: put down the headphones, and tune back in" (part of "the morning" newsletter).

Maybe you already know this poet? If you don’t, enjoy! And if you do, enjoy rereading!

Kitti: Amazing! I’ve read a few things by Whyte before, but never this one! And how incredible — your unexpected path towards rediscovering it!

Katie: I’m so glad you enjoyed the poem, and I’m so glad I found my way back to that poem again, or it found its way back to me.

It was waiting for us!

Everything is Waiting for You

After Derek Mahon

Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice. You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the
conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.
[emphasis added]

by David Whyte (b 1955)

Untitled Tea Scene
by Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
Additional Matisse paintings: QK & FN

Next Fortnightly Post
Saturday, March 28th

Between now and then, read
THE QUOTIDIAN KIT
my shorter, almost daily blogs
www.dailykitticarriker.blogspot.com

Looking for a good book? Try
KITTI'S LIST
my running list of recent reading
www.kittislist.blogsppot.com