…has been attempted.

This is not my strong suit. My apologies for the elementary nature of the video.

Here’s the first attempt at a ROD Intro Video:

WE MUST DO IT.

I don’t know what genius guerilla mastermind came up with this form of assault on the Toddler-in-Chief.

My hat (I don’t wear – so a flip of my ponytail, I guess) goes off to you!

This was good. This was clever. It’s absolute deviousness and will hit him in his pride bone, which needs to be chipped down to a nub.

You did good. I want to work with you. Just putting that out there.

Confirmed with authorities. We’re peaceful and serious.

Spoke with the Iowa State Troopers and we are a GO! May the 4th Protest is confirmed to happen!

Given the volume of unique impressions in the 2 weeks of physical flyers being located throughout the Des Moines metro, I don’t think I will be standing alone on this, thank you for your support!

Hope to see you there!

If you want to talk to me or find me, do get in touch with me prior to arrange a time and meet at the protest, thank you!

If any other Iowa towns/cities would like to hold their own version of this, please reach out today so we can get you a copy of this with your location information!

If any other areas wish to do this, please do the same!

We got you!

🎉 Welcome to the Official RescueOurDemocracy Shop! 🛍️
Where passion meets print, and your wardrobe gets a side of activism.

Here, every shirt tells a story — of protest, of purpose, of power. Whether you’re marching the streets or making your voice heard online, our original designs speak loudly (so you don’t always have to).

🧾 Why the price tag?
We’ve marked up items just 30%, which helps us:

• Cover branding inserts (because presentation matters 🎁)
• Handle the minimum tax threshold Printify suggests — 24% (yep, even activism has fine print)
• Keep this mission alive, independent, and growing 💪
• Admittedly, we cannot afford Printify Premium for their discounted products

This isn’t about fast fashion — it’s about fast action, bold statements, and building a community that looks as fearless as it feels.

Thanks for supporting indie resistance gear made with purpose. Rock it loud. Rock it proud. And remember…

🌀 Style is temporary. Democracy is forever.

Why Hands Off:2 was canceled and May 4th had to stop promoting (temporarily)

In launching RescueOurDemocracy.com, I set out to offer something simple and needed: a way to support and coordinate protest efforts in Iowa and nationally. “Give me your event info, I’ll promote it! You don’t even have to log in to do it, just post it somewhere it’s visible, I got the rest!” was the initial idea. As someone disabled and working alone, I wasn’t looking to lead an event other than the May 4th idea—just to make sure Iowa had a voice. When I couldn’t find any protest listed for our state, I created a placeholder. It wasn’t elaborate yet—as seen by the poster placeholder used, and it was never about taking the spotlight. It was about making sure we showed up.

My original post for April 19, simply said I hadn’t had success finding local events and invited them to share any upcoming events so I could amplify them. That offer proof remains, visible in my uneditable posts on Bluesky and my website. All calls for rescueourdemocracy.com’s protest on April 19th, after finding this out, were deleted to not cause confusion and replaced with a pinned apology and directing people to the 50501 supported protest.

From the beginning, I publicly stated that if another group had something planned, I would take mine down. I even attempted to confirm with others, leaving voicemails and messages—which weren’t returned. I didn’t say that, I just said my attempts weren’t successful yet, in a reply to a comment, figuring that we all were just missing each other. Instead, I was publicly accused of trying to cause “division” or mislead, both online and in Signal chat groups connected to Iowa organizing coalitions.

I prefer talking in-person or phone/voice. In those forms of communication, you can hear tones and inflections that can completely change the meaning of text communication. If there’s a phone # listed, I am calling it first. I am not going to badger them. I will call, wait a day, try again…was going to wait until after the April 19th protest to start with the emails. I was going to try to find them at the protest instead, to try and talk in person.

Comment in Question

The Responses

Let’s be honest: saying someone “isn’t telling the truth” is calling them a liar. That’s a strong accusation—especially against someone you haven’t spoken to. It was not only inaccurate, it was avoidable. One call—one returned voicemail—could’ve solved everything. And when I finally did get a call from a representative from the 50501 protest, within five-minutes that phone call cleared up everything. She immediately understood I wasn’t trying to interfere—I was trying to help.

It was thought I was possibly a MAGA agitator. Which I most definitely am not.

The moment I confirmed their event existed, I removed everything I had posted publicly when I got home from out of town—flyers, banners, announcements—and promoted their official protest instead.

Then, ironically, the very next day, Newsweek published an article listing protest locations nationwide… and my cancelled Iowa event was included. I hadn’t submitted it. I had already taken it down everywhere but where I couldn’t search for it on pol-rev. I hadn’t even been able to find my event listing on my own browser searches before that article ran. I didn’t think anyone else could either. But there it was—published after the accusations, and after I had tried to do the right thing.

I issued an apology directly to the iowacoalition/50501 representative after the Newsweek article. Meanwhile, those who attacked me haven’t said a word—not to me, not to the public. No acknowledgment, no apology. My attempt at a new group and my name were dragged, shared in social media and group chats, and undermined publicly. I’ve spent more time apologizing for trying to help than I ever thought possible.

People who weren’t responsible apologized to me.

I’m not trying to dominate the space. I was not here to create drama. I’m trying to build something that helps others take action. But I can’t do it alone—and I definitely can’t do it while being shut out based on false assumptions.

This isn’t a movement if we tear each other down for trying to stand up. I won’t be a part of that.

Solidarity requires communication. Accountability goes both ways.
We can’t rescue our democracy if we can’t even communicate effectively, apologize for making assumptions and acting poorly from them.

I was told I shouldn’t try to do a protest on my own, from the national 50501, relayed through the representative in Iowa.

I asked for apologies before today’s’ protest, they are aware I am posting something, if I didn’t receive them. Which I did not. I was going to work with them after today’s protest, thinking I would have been apologized to.

From my point of view, I didn’t do anything to deserve this treatment. I should have been apologized to directly, the moment they were informed they were mistaken.

I have no idea where to go from here.

— Rescue Our Democracy

***EDIT 4.23.2025*** Still no apology, moving forward with May 4th protest. Moving forward with finding groups who actually do want to work together, not just advertise that they do.

***EDIT 4.26.2025*** Apology received from 50501 Iowa Coalition, but not the original agitators. I do know where to go from here….Moving ONWARD.

***EDIT 4.30.2025*** Due to not understanding how commenting on a website works and how the site has to be protected, or use of a VPN, ROD will be moving forward to seek building relationships with those who want to work with us and understand these basics.

The rescueourdemocracy.com “Hands Off: It Takes 2” Protest located on the Iowa State Capitol sidewalks was cancelled.

This is due to confusion and not finding anything was already planned.

I didn’t want Iowa to miss out on this day of action.

So I tried to quickly come up with a theme and poster to just go on with the “Hands Off” protest before, as I said, I didn’t see any sort of protests searching Google, Bluesky, and pol-rev.

I never intended to cause confusion, for this I sincerely apologize.

I ask that you please attend the “Official” 50501 led protest, bring some canned food items (make them good ones guys!) your signs, your passion, your spirit and all of your friends.

Here’s their information.