Snapshots from outside the Belmont debate hall.

 by Rod Williams- I try to walk at least a couple miles ever day for exercise. Today I decided to walk from my home near Wedgewood and 8th Ave to Belmont University to see what was going on prior to the debate. I donned a "Stand for the Anthem" tee shirt and a MAGA hat and went.  Ever since the start of the BLM insurgency and the increase in people effected by TDS, I have been hesitant to show my colors but thought I would live dangerously today.  I thought there would be a good police presence and it was probably safe to do so.  It was. There was no unpleasant encounters. In fact Trump people and Biden people mingled without incident and actually most people were of good cheer.

Me, Rod Williams

I actually had a blast.  It takes all kinds to make the world go round and there is nothing like politics to bring out society's diversity.  I got there about 3pm and stayed until about 5pm. I did not have conversation with any Biden supporters but engaged several Trump supporters.  There were a few people in BLM shirts and maybe half a dozen people wearing the black uniform of Antifa. Several were sporting the anarchy symbol. There were so few of them they were not threatening. 

The variety of people were interesting. Most people I talked to were local but I met two ladies from Maryland who came down for the event but one of them had a mother who lived here so they came to visit mom too but came at this time to see the event. I also met a couple from Texas.

I love this. He got lots of agreement

There were people flying the gay flag and someone caring a sign "Gays for Trump."  There were some Q-Anon people, people opposing for-profit prisons, people with large gruesome pictures of aborted babies, there were the-end-is-near environmentalist and there was a hellfire and brimstone preacher with amplification telling everyone they were going to hell. 

There were people driving by in pickup trucks sporting large Trump flags. There were people with dogs and people with kids and there was food truck. It was kind of a festive atmosphere. There was a mixture of pretty people and ugly people and all ages and races and sizes. I would say that within about a two block area there were several hundred people but spread out like that is hard to tell. The Biden supporters and the Trump supporters were about equally represented. 

I was interviewed by an attractive blonde with a foreign accent. I did not get which country she was from. Unfortunately, I walked out of my house without my hearing aids and talking through the mask and with an accent I could hardly understand her. Plus, I have a hard time understanding pretty blonds anyway. 

I at first was pleased. I felt special being interviewed.  After a while though I realized I did not need to feel so special.  There was about as many reporters covering the event as spectators and as I watched it seems like half the people there got interviewed by somebody. The reporter who interviewed me was not very informed. She asked if I was a registered Republican or a registered Democrat and I had to explain that in Tennessee we do not have party registration. Also when I said something about the electoral college it was clear she had no clue what I was talking about. 

Here are some pictures of the event. 

If you go to an event and someone offers you a flag to hold
please know what you are holding. The pretty young girl had 
no clue what Q-Anon was. The other women just asked her 
if she wanted to hold the flag. I talked the to older women in the 
"Q" hat.  She was a Q true believer but very pleasant. The young
girl gave her back her flag. 

This guy was interesting. He is 31 years old and is a Nashvillian
and a commodities trader. He described himself as a libertarian but
told me he was voting for Trump but it really didn't matter much 
because we are screwed no matter who is elected. I know enough 
economic theory to follow what he was saying but just barely. He 
was passionate about monetary policy and says current Federal
Reserve policy is setting the US up for an economic collapse.

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