The Real "No Kings" Day
- 6 hours ago
- 2 min read
Yesterday, as the Sound Beach Community Band played behind Greenwich Town Hall and the thirteen Colonial flags were raised, our community gathered for a generation-spanning tradition. We ate birthday cake, watched the flags fly, and celebrated the birth of our nation.
But this July 4th weekend feels different. Lately, across Connecticut and right here in Greenwich, a new political slogan has emerged: "No Kings."
A Misunderstood Slogan
Over the past year, thousands of Connecticut residents have joined progressive-funded "No Kings" rallies from Hartford to Stamford. These demonstrations have become a partisan rallying cry aimed at restricting executive power.
The deepest irony? The protestors are missing the core meaning of their own slogan.
They treat "No Kings" as a modern resistance tactic, ignoring that our founders already built the antidote into the Constitution. The Framers designed co-equal branches of government specifically to ensure an American presidency could never morph into a monarchy. The concept of a president—not a king—is the very foundation of the republic.
The Original Greenwich Rebels
During the American Revolution, Greenwich wasn't a peaceful suburb; it was a dangerous "No Man's Land" between British-controlled New York and Patriot Connecticut. Local citizens had to make a definitive choice: bow to the Crown or fight for self-governance.
The Greenwich patriots of 1776 weren't just protesting taxes. They were declaring that no single individual should hold absolute, unchecked power.
Every year at our Town Hall ceremony, we read aloud the names of the Greenwich citizens who died for that cause. They didn't die for a modern political trend. They died for a timeless truth: In America, the law is king—not a person.
Between the Lines: "No Kings" shouldn't be weaponized as a partisan slogan. Instead, we should use it to honor the actual promise of our founding: that our leaders answer to the citizens, take oaths to a document rather than an individual, and operate under the rule of law.