“Just because you’ve seen TikToks doesn’t mean you know what it is like to live here. This is such a complex country with such rich diversity.”

"Our Supreme Court has become just another political tool. Our two-party system essentially guarantees limited choices and tribalism. Our campaign financing system ensures that the corporate shills are most likely to win. Congress has no sense of urgency when it comes to anything but being re-elected. We should have upper age limits for office."

"I'm not going to ignore the fallacies in logic some posters keep presenting.

Either-or thinking, hasty generalization, circular reasoning, over-simplification, and other fallacies are inaccurate and insulting to those of us who are actively trying to bring about the changes you want. Stop putting all of us in the same boat of willful ignorance and inactivity. Stop blaming all of us for bad choices made by the uneducated, the hoodwinked, and the greedy manipulators who worked so hard to bring about this shit show."

"What are you doing to insist that your leaders fight fascism and authoritarian extremism at home and abroad. Since it’s obvious that hitting the pocketbook hurts, how are you boycotting US goods and technologies to help us, and subsequently the world? Don’t criticize what you don’t know or understand, because that makes you just as bad as those who enable this mess!"

"Has the world already forgotten about Alex Pretti, the ER nurse who was murdered by law enforcement as he stood up for immigrants in America? How about Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, the young man who was murdered in Portland for speaking up to a white supremacist for harassing a Muslim woman? They were courageous Americans and should be remembered as such."

7-10 million Americans, along with myself, will participate in the 'No Kings' protest this weekend. We will do so knowing the risks involved. This is America. A coin with two uniquely different sides."

"I would never let my kid serve under him, and I do feel bad for those who signed up for the military thinking they were doing something honorable. Losing your life in combat to promote his agenda is not what they signed up for. America is SO much less safe with Trump in charge. I have several retired military officers in the family, and it bothers me to know that had they died in the line of duty, Trump, who has never done anything good for anyone but himself, would have degraded them as losers. He is a coward. BTW, THANK YOU to all the countries that refused his call for help in the Hormuz Strait. After saying that none of you have ever helped us, he deserves to stand alone, and so many of us back your stance."

"But it’s completely unreasonable to expect Americans to act in unison (when have Americans agreed on literally anything??), and it’s silly to think that you have a good sense of what we are doing to protest what’s happening and protect ourselves and others.

Just a reminder that what is being shown on social media and the news is a small sample of what Americans are thinking and experiencing. 

Just because you’ve seen TikToks doesn’t mean you know what it is like to live here. This is such a complex country with such rich diversity in terms of race/ethnicity, religion, political ideology and party, socioeconomic status, social views, gender identity and sexual orientation, education levels, etc. 

We aren’t unified in what we want to happen at all. Democrats don’t all agree, Christians don’t all agree, and immigrants don’t all agree. It is difficult to move forward with so many differences in opinion and visions for the future. Unfortunately, there are a zillion pressing needs, and not all of us can focus 100% of our time, energy, and money 24/7 on protesting everything. There are a lot of us who are protesting, boycotting, contacting representatives, having conversations, and voting, but remember that there are over 349 million of us. I’m sorry our efforts aren’t making enough of a difference, but I promise we are more disappointed and angry than you are."

Note: Responses have been edited for length/clarity.