Does the radical left believe in anything beyond its own thirst for power? That's the question worth asking after watching the latest chapter in its ongoing identity crisis unfold. Are its positions ever rooted in genuine ideological conviction, or are they just convenient talking points, tailor-made for winning over various demographics and consolidating control?
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Take the "No Kings" protests over the weekend. On the surface, it was a theatrical display of left-wing outrage against so-called authoritarianism. But scratch the surface, and the hypocrisy is overwhelming. These are the same activists who spent years applauding the most aggressive federal overreach in modern American history, simply because it was coming from their side.
It's hard to take seriously a movement screaming about tyranny when they stood silent — or worse, approving — while Joe Biden weaponized the government, trampled religious liberty, and tried to jail his political opponent. These people didn't object when Biden used the Department of Justice as a political tool. They didn't protest when he ignored the courts, forced unconstitutional mandates, or targeted pro-life activists.
The truth is, they want a king.
Back in 2012, Dean Obeidallah made this observation in an op-ed for CNN. The piece makes a startlingly honest observation about how the left was disappointed with Obama's presidency at the time: "What's clear is that the liberals speaking out don't want a president, they want a king."
Obeidallah was trying to defend Obama's lackluster presidency, but what he stumbled into was a rare admission of how the modern left sees power. They don't respect the separation of powers or the constitutional limits on executive authority when it hamstrings a Democrat. They want someone who can rule by decree, so long as he shares their politics.
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Obeidallah mocked liberals at the time for whining that Obama didn't fulfill every promise with the "wave of a pen." But a decade later, leftists don't just fantasize about that kind of executive rule — they expect it. Under Biden, they got exactly what they wanted: unilateral mandates, brazen defiance of the courts, and an administration that acted like Congress didn't exist. The irony is that when Trump uses the same legal authority Biden relied on, suddenly it's fascism.
Let's not forget the scenes from 2020 and 2021. People were arrested for attending church or going to the beach. Kids were masked and locked out of school while drag shows got a pass. Biden defied court rulings on eviction bans and student loans. The Justice Department went after parents at school board meetings, labeling them threats. And liberals applauded it all. Where were the "No Kings" signs then?
Obeidallah claimed that Obama wasn't a king and had to deal with compromise, which isn't entirely true. He definitely abused power. A week after Obeidallah's article, Obama signed the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order, which he knew was unconstitutional.
In 2015, desperate to secure a nuclear deal with Iran — the world's top state sponsor of terrorism — Obama bypassed the Senate and unilaterally declared it ratified by executive action, which gave Iran a clear path to nuclear weapons. He did the same in 2016 with the Paris Climate Agreement. Both clearly met the constitutional definition of a treaty under Article II, Section 2, yet Obama labeled them "executive actions" to avoid Senate rejection. He knew he didn't have the votes, so he simply acted like a king and ignored the Constitution.
These protesters don't actually fear kings. They just fear someone who doesn't serve their ideology occupying the throne. The problem isn't that they hate authoritarianism — it's that they want to be the ones wielding it.
The problem isn't just Obama, or Biden, or whichever Democrat the left rallies behind next to govern without limits. The deeper problem — then and now — is the left itself.
