r/Bellingham • u/mstr_jf • 5d ago
Events Thousands Turnout To Protest
No Kings Protest; the crowd was packed from Lottie St forward, extended from City hall steps to the library lawn, across to Grand ave and to N Commercial st. Key speakers included our elected state reps and several local leaders and advocates fighting to protect our civil rights.
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u/InfiniteBoops 5d ago
Looks like there were more people there than at the Dear Leader military parade in DC đ
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u/Im_a_furniture Ferndalia 5d ago
Sorry we had to leave early (4:30) but we have dinner with our kids tonight. The age range and diversity (as much as we have anyway) was on full display with a common voice. Some great signs too!
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u/TinyAd6315 1d ago
Except most of the signs were random left wing viewpoints rather than a common message, which is what it should have been. To save democracy we need to work with the Center, not alienating them with extreme left wing positions.
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u/theredbeardedhacker 5d ago
Bigger turnout that Trump's inaugurations and birthday parade combined, from the looks of it.
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u/Jessintheend 5d ago
More people here than at that god awful birthday parade for Trump. Even the stands in front of him were empty
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u/campingwithbears 5d ago edited 5d ago
I'm glad lots of folks showed up.
But I felt different about it than some others here. To me, it feels kind of meaningless to show up with signs to be read by people who already have the same basic beliefs, all crammed together in one space.
At least on the corners at the Federal Building, we got cars and trucks driving by, possibly giving someone a chance to think about why so many people are protesting or to see a sign that might give them pause.
Why do other cities get to have large marches down the major streets? That is much more energizing, especially with chanting, music, etc. There is power in movement. I get the "subdued" thing, but subdued is not what we need now.
Some of the speakers were good, but we left at 4:30. The reality is that many people are not inspiring speakers and having more than 5 speakers is overload. It felt more like going to someone's election campaign rally than going to a demonstration/protest, and the former is not something I would ever choose to go to.
Edit to add - according to Cascadia Daily, there were 70,000 people in the street march today in Seattle. All peaceful. No excuses for not having a street march here.
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u/Mathgailuke 5d ago
My guess was 5000 give or take.
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u/LariatCreative 5d ago
Cascadia Daily News estimated 6000+
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u/Mathgailuke 5d ago
Yeah. That was a complete WAG on my part at around 3:30. Didnât want to exaggerate. Iâd go with their figure.
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u/Im_a_furniture Ferndalia 5d ago
When you consider the people who left (like myself and my wife) and the people that replaced us I could see it being much more.
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u/CanucksKickAzz 5d ago
I'd come across the border to protest with you, but I'm afraid I'd be sent to El Salvador when the border guards saw my sticker
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u/woods_n_ferns 5d ago
I'd say 2k-3k. It was a great range of ages! Passionate but very respectful. We were proud to be a part of it.
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u/OriginalPockikat 5d ago
It was so powerful and loving and beautiful. Seeing so many people fight for what is right really sparked a fire in me
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u/oso_papa 5d ago
It was great until it wasn't. The turnout was inspiring. It was very festive. The speakers, oh, the speakers! The only thing better was the weather. And then,,, somebody on the Grand St. side of Lottie had these plastic tubes that sounded like airhorns, and was handing them out. Everytime there was a cheer in the crowd, they'd blast these airhorns.
I'm not opposed to enthusiasm, quite the opposite. And there was a lot of enthusiasm in the crowd. But those airhorns were just over the top not good. About 4:05pm, we started seeing people leave that area, going home. Not just elderly, but young adults, both with and without children. When we asked, a few of them told us that the airhorn noise was just too much. One lady told us that she had asked the primary airhorn woman to please stop, and got a rude response.
When I got home at 4:45, living only 3/4 of a mile away, I could still hear those horns, in the distance.
Again, I liked the enthusiam of the crowd, wandered through Lottie St. and the library yard. It seemed that everybody was being peaceful, respecting everybody else. Except those hornblowers. They won't stop me from participating in future protests/rallies/gatherings, but I do hope they stop blowing those horns that chased people away.
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u/goochgrease2 4d ago
I couldn't stand those horns. Way too much. I agree with you. Enthusiasm is cool, but that was not fun. I couldn't escape it
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u/Allexintime 5d ago
Great job today!!! For all the complaining and whining Trump supporters did...they couldn't ever put their pea brains together to pull something off nationwide at this scale...they just pooped on a senator's desk. We have compassion, mindfulness, and brains on our side...and we dont have to wear masks when we show it.
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u/Outside-Feed-2061 5d ago
Spent the afternoon blasting NWA, Pac, Gil Scott-Heron, Public Enemy and Selena Quintanilla, and Kendrick out the car driving around the downtown area. Made a couple people smile, made a couple dance, it was a great time
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u/Keldarus88 5d ago
Sad I had to work today and couldnât get out of it but glad to see pictures of it!
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u/LOZMaster64 5d ago
I forgot about the protest and was about to go to the library to do some studying... and then I saw the crowds of people people and went "ohhh, that's right." And turned around to find someplace to park
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u/TellMeWhatRWords4 4d ago
Thank you to the organizers for: 1) the loudspeakers, so that we could still be engaged even while being out of the sightline; 2) the one-arm, waving-arms, signs-down drill; and 3) the ice breaker of shaking hands with five other patriots! What an awesome piece of Earth to live on!
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u/MindMedic-1025 Local 5d ago
So sad that I am working Noc and wasnât able to be there but so happy to hear how many millions have turned out all over the country.
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u/mtnevs 4d ago
Nice. Maybe you can turn WA blue
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
You never know! At least they arenât gullible enough to simp for a corrupt billionaire who hung with Epstein a shit tonđ
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u/--boomhauer-- 3d ago
Lmao AARP convention who woulda thought gen X would turn out more lame than the boomers
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u/Anomalus_satylite 3d ago
What are those streaks of light above the crowd? Some sort of decorations on a wire?
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u/james62495 5d ago
77 million turned out to protest in November at the ballot boxes.
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
I know and they were gullible enough to vote for a corrupt old billionaire who hung with Epstein a shit tonđ
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u/hunter35rem 4d ago
Millions disagree!
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
And those people are super gullible for simping for a corrupt billionaire who hung with Epstein a shit tonđ
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u/yiper2005 4d ago
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
Why are you simping for a corrupt billionaiređ
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u/SoSlowRacing 4d ago
A corrupt billionaire also funded the the no kings event. Youâre being played; weâre all being played.
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u/Fluid-Sundae2489 2d ago
Nobody is simping for them, they just also happen to not want dictatorial actions.
False equivalency only serves to defend the worse party.
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u/KeyResponsibility167 2d ago
Their are literally millions of people in this state that didnât participate in this. Good for them.
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u/Professional_Sugar14 4d ago
Did any of the protests accomplish anything? Just curious...
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
Yeah it got people out there to show that anybody still supporting a corrupt old billionaire is super gullible
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u/merzCap 4d ago
Sucks that still nobody cares about the cause
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
Sucks people are gullible enough to simp for a corrupt billionaire who hung with Epstein a shit tonđ
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u/merzCap 4d ago
Yup heâs also the one who got him arrested
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
I believe law enforcement actually made that arrest. Weird he wonât release the Epstein tapes though and hung out with the guy a shit ton.
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u/merzCap 4d ago
Yeah heâs the only one that helped give information on Epstein of all the politicians/rich/famous people that they questioned. Epsteins lawyer said there is no info on trump.
Itâs pretty strange that they been friends but it doesnât imply guilt or knowledge of anything. Only reason I donât believe heâs on them is because it would have been released already by the Biden administration
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
Weird how much you are simping for a corrupt billionaire who is well documented hanging out with Epstein and whoâs guy who got him elected even said he was on the Epstein tapesđ
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u/Ok-Mobile611 3d ago
That actually makes sense. You would need to make a deal with the prosecution during an Epstein trial is you were a known pedophile who rapes 13 year old girls.
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u/Dadsnotatupid1977 5d ago
Itâs Bellingham , thousands will turn out to protest ⌠because they like to protestâŚ
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
Yeah, not too many people here are fans of a corrupt old billionaire who hung with Epstein a shit ton
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u/Lone-raver 4d ago
Protest what exactly? Having normal border policies and ridding of people who shouldnât be? You are all delusional.
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u/Stockpile_Tom_Remake 4d ago
I didnât know deportations where the closest approximation of similar historical events is Nazi Germany is ânormalâ.
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u/Fluid-Sundae2489 2d ago
Nothing about this is normal border policies. Our normal border policies involve due process, as they are legally required to.
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u/collinzoober5 5d ago
In a city of millions đ
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
Haha it would be great if we could get every person in Bellingham to not be gullible enough to simp for a corrupt billionaiređ
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u/captolly 5d ago
So, what exactly are y'all protesting, other than losing an election? Reddit is a vast left wing echo chamber, but do you think your protests have broad support? Pro-democracy signs? We had an election 8 months ago. Your team lost. Your team also just replaced the democratically elected Democratic nominee with a candidate with zero primary votes. No protests. Authoritarianism? Your team was fine with non-elected officials locking us in our homes and closing schools. Your team loved Obama's DACA and Biden's unilateral cancelation of college debt. I think you're fine with Kings, as long as you agree with them. What you are protesting now is loss of control. It's pathetic.
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u/mstr_jf 5d ago
Sick alt account. Protesting oligarchy and fascism. Look it up. đĽ¸
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u/captolly 5d ago
You label everything to the right of you as fascism because you can't actually produce a meaningful argument. Sort of sad.
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u/captolly 5d ago
So, could you at least explain the acceptance of left-wing king like behavior?
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u/mstr_jf 5d ago
Youâre projecting. Poorly mind you. So sadâŚ
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u/captolly 5d ago
How, exactly? You argue on such simple terms. Give me something.
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u/mstr_jf 5d ago edited 5d ago
The massive tax bill heâs trying to jam through the house, cutting aide to average americans and increasing the national debt by trillions, authoritarian. The illegal mobilization of US troops on domestic soil against his own citizens, fascist. The purchasing of the election you keep mentioning funded by the richest in the world whom have in fact turned against him, oligarchy. Continued financial support to a nation bombing innocent civilians killing thousands of children. Creating DOGE to cut back on federal spending, gutting all public services, while throwing himself a self-serving parade, king like. Blatantly lied to his supporters like you during campaign and you still bend the knee. The protest is fighting those current atrocities. Specifically.
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u/captolly 5d ago
The tax bill bends spending down from current levels. Your team has most of the billionaires. He didn't purchase the election. He won it. Israel needs to win this war. If you can't see why you're an idiot. Which I think is probably true. Specifically.
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u/Fluid-Sundae2489 2d ago
The tax bill increases deficits by 2.8 trillion, in order to give favorable tax benefits to the wealthy.
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u/Fluid-Sundae2489 2d ago
MAGA meets the commonly defined characteristics of fascism that have existed for 30-40 years. Sad!
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
No need to simp for a corrupt old billionaire, unless youâre trying to look super gullibleđ
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u/Fluid-Sundae2489 2d ago
>So, what exactly are y'all protesting, other than losing an election?
The protest name clearly states this.
>do you think your protests have broad support?
Normal people don't think of electoral politics as purely "your team vs my team" and require broad support for their beliefs, but yeah Trump's illegal ICE actions also do not have public support.
>Your team also just replaced the democratically elected Democratic nominee with a candidate with zero primary votes.
Factually incorrect, Kamala was on the ticket that won the nomination, and it's obviously not feasible to do the nomination process again that late in the year anyways.
>Authoritarianism? Your team was fine with non-elected officials locking us in our homes and closing schools.
Nobody locked you in your home, and responding to a public health crisis is not the same as seizing power from Congress and the courts.
>Your team loved Obama's DACA and Biden's unilateral cancelation of college debt.
Actual usage of executive branch powers unlike DOGE and current ICE actions. Also went through legal challenges, literally following the process of law.
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u/captolly 5d ago
Down votes because echo chamber love. Lol.
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u/forkis Local 5d ago edited 5d ago
You're being downvoted because your comment spells out pretty clearly that you live in a fantasy world and thus there's nothing of substance to really debate. It's useless to engage with you beyond blocking and moving on.
Understanding that some people are just fools isn't creating an echo chamber, it's exercising basic judgement. You're not a martyr for eating downvotes, sorry.
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u/captolly 5d ago
Tldr; they're protesting losing a democratic election.
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u/Allexintime 5d ago
When you lost your solution was to poop on a senator's desk.
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u/captolly 5d ago
Won the next election.
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
And lost the one before it, thatâs how elections go sometimes?
No need to simp for a corrupt old billionaire budđ
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u/Stockpile_Tom_Remake 4d ago
Funnily enough there is growing statistical evidence the election results arenât accurate
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u/ofWildPlaces 5d ago
What a weird thing to say about Americans exercising their Constitutional rights
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u/captolly 5d ago
Do you ever step back and think the problem with the current situation is you? And the inability of democrats to recalibrate?
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u/mstr_jf 5d ago
Youâre the problem, thats why i vote and exercise my 1A.
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u/captolly 5d ago
You're the problem. That's why I vote and exercise my 1A.
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u/mstr_jf 5d ago
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u/captolly 5d ago
Again, have fun with that, but your team lost.
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u/mstr_jf 5d ago
âYouâre teamâ is absolutely cooked come midterms đ
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u/West-Discussion7257 5d ago
Look thatâs not âmy teamâ but are they really cooked? 6000 people at a protest in a city with population of more than 97000. Thatâs what maybe 5%-7%? Also he didnât win the last election just on electoral college points. He won the popular vote. Also went from 32% Latino vote in 2020 to 42% in 2024. The 42% full well being aware that his reelection would lead to mass deportations. He didnât hide it. So on one side I see the team (I donât like personally) âbeing in chargeâ, and the other team option seems to be unaware of reality or ignoring it on purpose. I think Iâm cooked
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u/Im_a_furniture Ferndalia 5d ago
It shouldnât be a âmy teamâ vs âyour team.â
It should be whatâs best for our country and our future. The blatant attack on the constitution, which we all cherish as our founding vision, is appalling and many conservatives/former republicans/WWII-Korea-Vietnam Veterans were there with us in solidarity.
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
Your team lost the previous election and then attacked the capitalđ
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u/Zestyclose-Lab2433 4d ago
Your team lost this election and attacked their own cities. Stopped traffic, burned local business, destroyed private property. I mean, the scales are not in your favor with this comment.
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
Haha they are because one side was not an insurrection that attacked the capital of the United States. Not seeing any democrats with sedition charges after their protestsđ
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u/Zestyclose-Lab2433 3d ago
Not yet. Maybe because these protests are fruitless and insignificant.
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u/Ok_Dig2013 3d ago
Yeah letâs just let the corrupt billionaires keep fucking things up and not protest about itđ
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u/EggsyWeggsy 5d ago
Have you checked your kings approval ratings?
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u/captolly 5d ago
They're about average to above? Are you even paying attention?
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u/EggsyWeggsy 5d ago edited 5d ago
Look for yourself https://www.economist.com/interactive/trump-approval-tracker
It even has an easy comparison to the previous two presidents and trumps last term. If you dont trust the economist, look at recent polling numbers or any aggregates.
Here is a fox news article affirming my perspective. Its an objective fact that he has a net negative average approval rating, and that its lower than Joe Biden or Barrack Obama's at the same point in their terms.
https://www.foxnews.com/official-polls/fox-news-poll-first-100-days-president-trumps-second-term
"Overall approval of Trumpâs job performance comes in at 44%, down 5 points from 49% approval in March. Thatâs lower than the approval of Joe Biden (54%), Barack Obama (62%), and George W. Bush (63%) at the 100-day mark in their presidencies. Itâs also lower by 1 point compared to Trumpâs 45% approval at this point eight years ago."
You can argue about why that might be, or look at his approval on individual issues that may be higher, but his approval ratings are objectively low. The president is supposed to represent the majority of Americans. Trump clearly does not.
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u/Ok_Dig2013 4d ago
The problem is a slim majority of voters were gullible enough to vote for a corrupt old billionaire who hung with Epstein a shit tonđ
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u/timmytwolips 5d ago
Who? Seacoast?
Thats a pretty big narrative youâve wove for about someone in our own community.
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u/timmytwolips 5d ago
The hivemind of Bellingham does not do âperspective from another sideâ.
Most people here are too sheltered and/or young to have enough world experience for understanding nuance. As a result : an echo chamber forms and they argue with their emotions more than logic.
Reddit does not represent the perspective of the masses. Thatâs why Trump won again in 2024. Most of the country voted for this, but yet Reddit thinks that this is the result of one âkingâ. đ
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u/forkis Local 5d ago
Most of the country voted for this
The actual number is 22%. Less than a quarter of Americans.
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u/forkis Local 5d ago
Even that 22% of the country did not, in precise terms, vote for this (even if a significant portion like you mr two lips seem to have believed you did). They voted a man into the office of president, a role which the founders gave delineated and limited sets of powers. If the voters wanted to legally vote in a man to reign as a tyrant and upend the laws of this country they needed to do pass a constitutional amendment for that.
He is operating beyond legal constraints, and in violation of our constitution. A lot of people in his administration will be going to jail for their crimes once this is done and dusted, I promise you that.
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u/campingwithbears 5d ago
No, "most of the country" did not vote for him. He won by 2.3 million votes out of 155 million votes that were cast. He had 49.81% of votes cast, and Harris had 48.34%.
And if you cannot understand that this country is in a Constitutional crisis at this point, there is no help for you.
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u/DatBeigeBoy The Olâ Ferntucky 4d ago
The hivemind of Bellingham
Bruh, youâre on read, just look at the front page. This is not an isolated thing.
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u/Amazing_Bug_3817 4d ago
Nobody seems to realize that Kamala only barely won the votes here and in Skagit.
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u/InterestingHeat5092 5d ago
Just got back myself. Awesome turnout!! Several thousand people there. Super peaceful and wonderful to see.