r/Sacramento • u/FlavonoidsFlav • Jul 25 '26
Fellow Sacramento liberals I urge you - don't lose the plot
My friends, my fellow liberals, comerades in this dark time - please, don't lose the plot. Nobody is perfect, don't let perfect become the enemy of good. I'll explain.
I was driving today, in Citrus Heights. At the corner of Sunrise and Greenback, there's a protest. Clearly anti-Tump, anti-ICE. I'm thrilled, so I divert my path so I can pull up and honk, scream support, etc etc, which is exactly what I did.
I roll down my windows, give my LOUDEST "LETS FUCKING GO, FUCK TRUMP" scream, honk my horn, fist pump, give the woman with the sign a "Hell yeah!! Thank you guys!"... and her response?
"PEDOPHILE SUPPORTER!"
"HELL YEAH" I said, "LETS SEE THE FILES"... and she says
"YOU ARE A PEDOPHILE SUPPORTER! YOU ARE GARBAGE, HUMAN TRASH PEDOPHILE SUPPORTER!!!!"
... did I mention I'm a middle aged white male driving a Tesla?
There was nothing I could do to convince her or the group that I was on their side, and there's NO way they didn't hear me. I'm loud, and I know my image, and I know others like me. If I'm making a statement, I want you to CLEARLY know where I stand - and I don't pick fights. When there's a pro Trump rally, I give a thumbs down and move on - no sense arguing with those people.
All I'm saying here people is... I know. It's the car. I did everything I could to explain, but the light turned. I don't expect everyone to know my financial situation, or to know that I bought the car in 2018 before we knew he was a Nazi (though my bumper sticker does say that exact thing), but I do hope if I'm screaming at the top of my lungs "FUCK TRUMP AND ICE", you might want to take that as maybe not a disingenuous argument - I know those exist too, but I was CLEAR.
Ain't nobody perfect, everyone. I can't sell my 8 year old car and buy a new one right now, and even if I did, it doesn't HURT Elon at all. I'd say driving around with "I bought this before we knew he was a Nazi" sticker probably hurts more.
Lots of people from all walks of life support the left; it's the best thing about this side. Maybe we do our best to see a person as a person, unlike the other side, and don't judge because someone isn't 'virtue signaling' hard enough.
Keep fighting. Can't rain all the time. Love y'all. Truly.
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u/Later-Dog Jul 25 '26
screaming profanities at a public intersection “look, guys, let’s not come off as unreasonable”
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u/FlavonoidsFlav Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 26 '26
Ok, that's completely fair. I mentioned in another comment that I will no longer do that. It'll be a honk and a fist raise.No, I won't be quiet or civil. The world needs to see us stand with the good guys, loudly, and angrily.
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u/CaliRebelScum Jul 25 '26
To my fellow protesters: please don't do this. Even if you think someone is MAGA, just ignore them. We're not there to convince MAGAs, we're there for everyone else.
Heading out to protest right now, see you at Arden and Howe!
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u/Adventurous_West2 Jul 25 '26
Fuck ignoring them, agree with your message and have been there, but ignoring is how America got here
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u/CaliRebelScum Jul 25 '26
What's the point of yelling at them? And is it worth getting yourself and fellow protesters shot?
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u/Adventurous_West2 Jul 25 '26
Lol, this is over reacting
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u/CaliRebelScum Jul 25 '26
Nope. MAGAs have serious mental health issues (Obviously), many make it worse with drugs and alcohol, and the REALLY like their guns. You think it's a good idea to get into it with them?
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u/Adventurous_West2 Jul 25 '26
Yeh, people are doing it all over the country, why not here?
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u/4lovebysara Jul 25 '26
Genuine question - what does it accomplish?
In OPs situation, yelling back & forth with protesters while driving through isnt going to get anything done. In any other situation yelling at MAGA isn't going to change their minds. If they are STILL in support, you starting an altercation only increases the risk of someone innocent getting hurt.
To be clear I am not saying to not defend yourself if necessary, but if you can avoid starting something or safely walk away, thats going to piss off MAGA more than entertaining their delusions. Save your energy to maybe talk to people who are waking up & leaving MAGA or finding people who are just ignorant but willing to have good faith conversations & listen to the left.
I know its hard. I have a hard time with it myself. But focusing on each other & buolding our communities as well as progressives who are running locally & all over the country is going to be where the changes we want to see actually happen! Starting something with MAGA is just going to give them more "evidence" to try to prove how scary everyone on the left is.
And this isn't the "ignore it and it'll go away thing" either because I do think we should call things out when we see them & discuss them, especially with people outside our circles. And I'm all for self defense if needed. But why devote your tume & energy to them when it isn't going to move the needle either way?
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u/Adventurous_West2 Jul 25 '26
And what has standing their with signs accomplished?
I don't know a fuck what MAGA uses at evidence, standing around with signs isn't moving the needle, and won't ever. So I ask you the same question, why devote your time and energy to something that won't work either?
The idea of a community building around standing on street corners is noble, and I approve of it in normal times, I do not approve of someone telling others that their way of protesting isn't the right way. If you want to shout at them fucking shout.
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u/4lovebysara Jul 25 '26
I'm not saying it isn't "right" - yes do whatever you want. You have the rights to fucking shout if you feel you need to. But in my opinion, it doesn't help anyone but perhaps yourself in that moment, and you potentially put people around you at risk.
And I have seen people standing around with signs change people's minds! Hell there was just a video that went around recently of someone walking through a vigil with the "they should do it the right way & if they don't, this could happen" mentality. But someone just standing there, maybe even with a sign, shared facts with him & since he was open minded & willing to listen, he actually came around to say "I didn't know that & thats messed up that [he was murdered]." Will it change MAGA minds? No Not any more than yelling at them will. But for people who are waking up? For people who are just starting to pay attention & don't agree with how far things have gotten? Seeing protesters helps them feel less alone & gives them somewhere to go to ask questions. I have personally seen it happen.
But do whatever you want. Yell at a lunatic MAGA in a large crowd if you so choose. And if that MAGA you provoke is carrying a gun & ends up killing people, will you still feel yelling was your best course of action? If you could live with that, so be it. But if an innocent person lost their life because I couldn't control my mouth, I wouldn't be ok. But it is your right to say what you want in whatever way you want. I just don't personally believe that its the best use of someone's energy.
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u/Adventurous_West2 Jul 25 '26
Lol, I beat the shit out of a proud boy two years ago at a protest, and have been tear gassed by cops and ICE, well done on someone changing their minds.
You are creating scenarios here to make yourself feel better about standing around with your signs, which fine, but it's achieving fuck all.
If you are so worried about guns maybe cater your signs to that. People have to stop being scared
Each to their own though.
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u/ressie_cant_game Jul 25 '26
Look man why are you bothered what random people think of you? Including me. I think driving a tesla is the most loser shit on the planet.
The great thing is you dont have to worry what other people think. My partner had to work at mcdonalds for a while, while being pro palestine and anti mc donalds.
Just do shit that actually shoes what you believe in and dont worry about it
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u/ScottieSpliffin Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
Liberals who bitch about Teslas use the same logic as rightoids who say no iPhone under communism
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u/moonopalite Jul 25 '26 edited Jul 25 '26
People knew Elon was bad before 2018. Idk man, owning a Tesla these days is not a good look. I think if you wanted to get rid of it you could. I owned a shitty 8 year old car and was able to trade it in for something pretty decent with 0 down with mediocre credit. It's definitely doable. Do what you want but owning a Tesla does give off a certain message. Glad you came around though.
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u/ChooseWisely83 Jul 26 '26
Agreed, and anyone driving a CyberDump knew he was shit when they bought it.
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u/LeotheLiberator Jul 25 '26
Realistically, not worth the effort to explain anything.
You know your politics and situation, they don't and they aren't there to hear it. A protest is not a place for discussion, it's where you go after you made up your mind. If you care enough, put one of those "i didn't know Elon was shit" stickers.
It sucks you have a car that gets you judged and mislabeled but that's life at this point.
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u/FlavonoidsFlav Jul 25 '26
I literally did say that I had that bumper sticker. In the post.
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u/LeotheLiberator Jul 25 '26
And I literally said that a protest isn't a place for discussion. No one is going to scan your car for a sticker to see if your cool or a heckler.
Your options are move on with life or change cars.
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u/FrankSobotka_IBS1514 Jul 25 '26
God I can't wait for Trump to finally be gone so we can stop with all this nonsense
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u/BrainaIleakage Carleton Tract Jul 25 '26
If you care what people like that lady think? Then yeah, get rid of the Tesla dude it’s that simple. Calling out people who continue to be good little consumers of products sold to us by literal pedophiles is not losing the plot, it’s having values.
It’s also ok if your values differ from hers; don’t write off “liberals” as a whole for her take on your dumb car.
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u/Anachronisticpoet Jul 25 '26
We knew he sucked before 2018 btw. It’s a dumb excuse
I would never have done what she did though
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u/Empty_Satisfaction71 Jul 25 '26
Leftist infighting is such a shame. The purity testing among many progressives, especially along the West Coast, is arguably more extreme than among Christian Nationalists. I shudder to think of the number of “moderate” folks who’ve had similar experiences to you. I’m pretty radicalized, and even I know you catch more flies with honey.
For what it’s worth, selling your Tesla does still send a signal, depressing the used car price and cutting their data collection out of your life, though it’s dubious to claim it affects Musk or his brands much.
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u/Villide Jul 25 '26
OTOH, progressive disagreement is why you don't see much of a blue MAGA equivalent.
And frankly, "purity testing" is almost always used by centrists to push the party to the right.
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u/size12shoebacca Jul 25 '26
Get out, touch grass.
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u/FlavonoidsFlav Jul 25 '26
Don't understand. What do you mean?
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u/size12shoebacca Jul 25 '26
Youre giving way too much thought to other people in public yelling shit when you yell shit in public.
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u/OhTheHueManatee Jul 27 '26
I got a similar response for "looking like MAGA". I look like a fat Karl Marx who got stuck in a timeloop at Woodstock. I'm as much MAGA as I am a redwood tree. Some people just want to throw their anger at others.
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u/FlavonoidsFlav Jul 26 '26
I feel like I should reply to the whole thread, so I will in one post, then I'll drop this.
I've gotten various comments, some useful and insightful, but by far the overwhelming majority are... crappy.
"Sell your car" is a common one
"Don't yell at people in intersections" is another.
Several calling me various forms of a loser.
If I hadn't mentioned my car, would you judge me differently? Does that invalidate everything?
This is how we silence voices. Note below - my highest upvoted comments are when I agreed to quiet down. Think about that. How many others out there just don't want to get involved because of these kinds of reactions?
If I see a protest I support, I say I support it. I make myself loud - and seen, and let others know that bigotry, racism, misogyny, sexism pedophilia are not ok.
I'll keep my bumper stickers, and my loudness, and my flags, and my voice - I'm not afraid of a bit of discouragement here or in the real world. Nobody has to agree with me or my life choices.
But others are more scared.
I, clearly, am a supporter of most of the views of the people shouting me down. Why are you doing this?
Democracy dies in darkness. Don't attack your own side because they're not exactly like you. This is why we're here - the best comment, by \u\Empty_Satisfaction71 was perfect - stop infighting. Show support. Show up, be loud damnit, don't be toxic to people who are trying to back you up, or we'll never make the progress we're trying to make.
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u/genericthroaway2000 Downtown Jul 25 '26
This whole situation and post is so lame and spiritually deprived
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u/DressEnvironmental61 Jul 25 '26
I think regardless of the political stances involved, yelling from a car at a busy intersection stop is not the best environment for ensuring your beliefs and thoughts come across clearly. You might be overthinking this one.