'No Kings' Falls on Sword of Its Own Venomous Ignorance
For Patriotism in D.C., Look to the Reformed Kennedy Center Not to "No Kings!"
"This is what democracy looks like!" proclaimed innumerable leftist posts in the hours after a recent fleeting "No Kings!" protest.
No Kings, has no leadership, no program, no platform, no scheduled future events, no logical argument in a land that already has no monarchs, and no ideology beyond a shared disdain for democratically elected and reelected U.S. President Donald J. Trump.
The movement, at least at the time of this writing, has seemingly fizzled into nothingness after a preplanned two-hour rally.
Already forgotten amid a flurry of good foreign policy news and strong economic data, anyone who still cares about it is hard put to answer how it "looked like" democracy in a land that enjoys democracy in abundance.
How it was "peaceful" despite all the signs calling for the deaths of President Trump and his supporters, and how it was "patriotic" despite its objections to the democratically expressed will of the American people.
Let's not forget its brazen calls for the extralegal removal of our leaders, and its wide-ranging support from Democrats, some two-thirds of whom, according to recent surveys, do not consider themselves to be patriotic.
Washington, D.C., was the site of one of the larger demonstrations, but fortunately the nation's capital, newly cleaned up by President Trump's supplemental law enforcement and other measures, has truly patriotic elements that are palpable and will be with us for an appreciably long time.
Even as the No Kings protestors gathered what they imagined to be moxie in their suburban fastnesses, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is offering programming any true patriot would readily enjoy.
President Trump has made reforming the "KenCen," as locals call it, a centerpiece of his cultural policy. Shortly after his inauguration, he removed its leadership, appointed close supporters to its board, took over as chairman, and appointed former ambassador and special presidential envoy Ric Grenell as interim president and executive director.
What had been a tired, woke, and, it appears, nearly bankrupt institution less than a year ago has blossomed into a temple of American pride.
On the eve of No Kings, a sold-out performance by the Glenn Miller Orchestra — a 14-piece ensemble keeping alive the spirit of the legendary big band founded in 1938 — played an exceptional concert in the Kennedy Center's rooftop Terrace Theatre.
The rooftop space is now itself enlivened by a speak easy-style bar that takes over its restaurant, which used to close at a grimly early 8pm, until the nearly unheard of (in Washington, D.C.) hour of 11pm.
But the music had the crowd — which, unlike No Kings spanned all age groups — walking on air in a program sandwiched between opening and closing performances of Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade."
Halfway through, just before the band played "American Patrol," (also by Glenn Miller) the houselights went up with a request for all veterans and active-duty military servicemen in the audience to rise for recognition and a round of applause.
This moving and supremely tasteful moment was a far cry from the vulgar drag shows and boring, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion)-infused "Social Impact" programs which not all that long ago blighted the arts complex for so long under its previous president Deborah Rutter.
She was at one time paid nearly $1.4 million per year despite some highly dubious artistic choices, to say the least.
Just hours after the No Kings crowd dispersed into oblivion, a substantial audience assembled downstairs in the Concert Hall for the National Symphony (NSO), which hosted the brilliant young Austrian-Armenian conductor
Emmanuel Tjeknavorian leading a wonderful program of Beethoven.
Its highlights included an enthusiastic performance of Beethoven's "Egmont Overture," music the composer wrote to accompany a play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe celebrating a rebel who led an uprising against — guess what — an actual king!
After a moving interlude of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, with the solo part performed with exceptional grace by the German violinist Isabelle Faust, the concert concluded with the composer's Seventh Symphony.
Once described by Richard Wagner as "the Apotheosis of Dance," the program notes remind us that this work was yet another artistic reaction to tyranny.
Its premiere in 1813 was a benefit for Austrian soldiers just back from fighting Napoleon, one of the most repulsive "kings" of them all.
Last month, the NSO was itself the beneficiary of a grand gala held to open the Kennedy Center’s new season — its first under Trump and Grenell's leadership.
It raised a record $3.5 million, setting the tone for a new, patriotic culture while the opposition can do little more than hold up crude signs in the expectation of change before just going away.
Paul du Quenoy is President of the Palm Beach Freedom Institute. Read Paul du Quenoy's Reports — More Here.