I heard that "Les Miz" was returning to Broadway in November as part of its national tour, and tried to get tickets, but it was already sold out!

Adapted from Victor Hugo’s classic novel, "Les Misérables" is about love, sacrifice and justice, and always gets standing ovations; the musical’s score and performers are part of the reason it’s a perennial hit. However, the eternal tale of mankind’s downtrodden struggling to free itself from the oppression of the powers that be — the core of this powerful story — is also a universal message that resonates.

This eternal struggle is playing out In America today, as many with wealth and power seek to dominate and subjugate ordinary Americans. The tools they are employing are not weapons of war; they are racism, misogyny, antisemitism, Islamophobia and other evil ideologies that engender hatred and fear and divide us. If we’re busy fighting each other, we won’t notice as these oligarchs destroy our institutions, transfer wealth upward to themselves and attack our Constitution and our rights.

Who will you stand with today — those seeking to preserve our nation and the ideals our flag represents, or those seeking to oppress us? Do you remember the Pledge of Allegiance, and the words "liberty and justice for all" that we recited daily in school?

June 14 is Flag Day. Let’s also make it a day when We the People stand united and declare, in unison, that there will be "no kings" in America.