It was the 250th birthday of the US Army on Saturday, June 14. You would hardly have known it at the No Kings protest, except for those who displayed signs commemorating the day outside the protest rally in Jamestown. June 14 was Flag Day too, but for No Kings, it was billed as a “Day of Defiance.”

Rally protestors had a lot of democracy signs, but our constitution gave us a republic, the difference being the rule of law (republic) vs. the rule of the majority (democracy). So seeing a sign held by a rally goer saying, “Democracy, rule of law” was a head scratcher.

Speaking of signs, placards F-bombing Trump, “Trump is a fascist” and “MAGA are the new NAZIS” popped up among the mix of fair and foul free-speech expressions. Nothing caught my eye more than the sign that said “86/47” with the words “No faux-King Way.” The assassination symbol of 86/47 repudiated the peaceful-advertised protest.

Signs like “No kings in America since 1776” appeared, but not seen was a slogan from the American Revolution which said, “No king, but King Jesus.” So I held a sign with that slogan for all to see that our history of no kings has the exception of King Jesus.

A couple stood on the side of the road where I was and began to shout repeatedly, “No Kings.” Unbeknownst to them, every time they said it, I held my sign “No kings, but King Jesus” high above them for all who gathered across the street to see.

To his credit, a guy for the rally agreed with what he saw on my sign. Despite opposing views, King Jesus transcends national politics.

Standing quietly with my sign on the side of Sixth Street, a woman taking no sides stopping at the intersection for a red light rolled down her car window and seeing everything around her looked at my sign and said that my sign was the sign she could agree with.

Compared to the days of COVID, I saw more evidence of “monarchs” issuing edicts (particularly in blue states and cities) then than now. When you were ordered to stay inside, forced to get the shot, cajoled to get boosted and rejected when requesting exemptions, wasn’t it more king-like then?

Shutting down church services, schools, small businesses, gyms and other “non-essential” public places, but keeping liquor stores open, the king of big-government arbitrarily manhandled us citizens.

Coerced to wear “face diapers,” compelled to “social distance,” and indoctrinated with Fauci’s “follow the science” mantra as other scientists challenging him were gagged, the “no kings” crowd seem to be seeing a speck now when a plank existed then. I have a hunch that many of them sided with Fauci and the Feds.

On the day before the No Kings rally, a prayer alert sent across America asked the Church to pray for peace, civility and calm. Unseen were three people praying at Dow Park the day before the rally making requests to God for peacefulness, a civil atmosphere, and no violence. They don’t want a king either, except for King Jesus to have His way. Do you want this King or not?

That said, No Kings was a redundant rally. Like a meme said, “Every July Fourth we celebrate no kings.” Also, a person tongue-in-cheek texted a nationally televised show saying, “The No Kings rally is working. I woke up this morning and we still have no king.”

Lastly, given who our governor is, we don’t want queens either. Are No Kings supporters on board with that?

Mel McGinnis is a Frewsburg resident.