#and biden is NOT the closest thing we have even in this shithole of an election

[corbinite]

it's mindnumbing to me that everyone has already decided that they're gonna let Biden win the primaries and aren't even considering a possibility where he doesn't win even after his approval ratings have fallen to some of the lowest levels for any president in history. We're all having these debates about whether we should vote for him in the general to keep trump out or if we should abstain but like why are we even jumping to that??? Vote Williamson in the primaries. We're all doing that way right? RIGHT??? You wanna talk about lesser of two evils but aren't even considering the candidate that at least supports SOME sort of ceasefire? (yes even though it is severely lacking) Stop playing the same strategy the democratic party has been playing for decades. Stop just assuming that the centrist borderline republican is the only electable candidate in the democratic party, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[beauty-grace-outer-space]

Have I got a story for ya'll.

I was driving home from work today when I found myself driving through a small Trump rally. Folks with Trump flags, police support flags, blue lives matter signs, the whole shebang.

So I ran home and got my BLM sign. When I made it back to the area, another person who had the same idea was already their with their BLM sign. More and more folks organically joined in, and we wound up driving off the Trump folks and turning it into a 4 hour Black Lives Matter peaceful protest at a 4 way intersection. People with signs on all four corners.

Some of the more outrageous things that happened:

Someone fully drove up onto the curb and tried to hit us with their car.

At least three folks flashed white power signs.

One man outright yelled "White Power! They aren't even your people, why are you fighting for them, fight for your own race!" (horrifying)

A "reporter" showed up and asked if he could interview us. Most folks said they were under 18. Two of us weren't, me and the other person who was there originally with her sign. He asked if he could speak to us, and I said, "About what?" He said, "About what you're doing out here." I asked him what publication he was with, and he said it was a local podcast and gave us the name. At this point, another person came over and asked what he was doing and he said, “I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to these two ladies who have already agreed to speak with me.”  We never technically agreed to speak with him. He just started voice recording and asking questions. He said that legally to use the audio in his podcast, he needed to state his full name and then we would state ours. My sketch-o-meter was off the charts, so I gave a fake name. Thankfully, I was also fully masked and wearing large, dark sunglasses. He asked why we were out there. I said, "There was a Trump rally happening across the street, and I wanted to provide a counterpoint." He asked why, and the other girl chimed in saying how Trump is racist, etc. and he said, "Racist is one of the worst things you can call someone, don't you agree?" We both said no. He asked what could be worse. I said, "Lots of things.” He started speaking over me, but I was going to say, “The N word is just one example." He then asked why we believe Trump is racist. I start rattling stuff off. The list goes on and on, but just a few quick bullet points: “He's been sued several times for racial discrimination in his housing complexes. He's called third world countries 'shitholes'. He calls the Coronavirus 'kung flu' and 'China virus'. He has said he 'doesn't want black people counting his money, only the little white guys in yamikas'. He's--" Mind you basically the entire time he's talking over me, and he finally blurts out, "What would you say if I told you another politician said, 'poor kids are just as bright a white kids'?" And I said, "I know what you are doing, and I won't engage with you on that." He said, "What am I doing?!!" I said, "You are quoting Joe Biden. I know exactly what narrative you are trying to create. And I am not excusing what he said, but it is not comparable to the years upon years of Trump actively working against people of color, rewriting his speeches to include hate speech against the advice of his advisory committee--" He's still talking over me. I say something along the lines of, "Politics are broken. But progress won't come from Trump. I would like you to take me off your record. Thank you for your time. You are not interested in a discussion, you are trying to spin a certain narrative and I am not interested in it. We are out here because Black Americans-- per a recent Harvard study analyzing 4 years of data-- are three times more likely to be killed by police. Three times. And there were people standing across the street defending their murderers and advocating for a racist politician. I will engage with you anymore. Thank you for your time. You need to go." This whole time, he's talking over me. Other protesters are screaming "Let her talk! If you want to talk to her, let her speak!!" I keep repeating, "Take me off your record, a dialogue has two sides, if you wanted to have a discussion you'd listen to me speak instead of talking over me. Thank you, you need to leave." So he starts crossing the street to some of the other protesters, all minors. And starts filming them and yelling at them that he has a right to do so. So I call out, "Can all the corners hear me? Do not speak to him. he has a right to film, we are in public. Do not engage with him" etc. etc. and a brief outline of what happened. And the a kid started filming him back and he fully pushed his chest up against the kid, shoving his phone into the kid’s face. So I ran over, put my BLM sign up in front of his camera and said again, "Sir , we have asked you several times not to engage with us. I understand we are in public, you have a right to film, you don't have permission to speak to these minors. Please leave. You are trying to instigate something, you are trying to create the narrative you want, please leave." And then he stormed off. But anyway uh... broke up a Trump rally. And then talked to some of the younger folks there about voting and something I read earlier this week: politicians aren’t marriages, they’re public transport. You don’t need a soul mate, you just need whoever is going to get you closest to where you want to go.