A thread: Mostly, I just need to write down some things that have been running around in my head. Four years ago, I had to make a seriously shitty choice. My middle sister (K) was dying, from alcoholism.

By the time my youngest sister called and asked for help, K's brain was seriously affected by the buildup of ammonia, but I didn't understand until I flew out and saw for myself. I spent 1 night with her, at the of which I had vomit & feces on my clothes.

K had a daughter, a daughter that she had desperately wanted. But, it became abundantly clear that K could no longer care for her. Her 7 year-old daughter had been cooking for herself, doing all of the laundry, and sleeping on the couch, bc her room was no longer functional.

Two days later turned into something out of a Jerry Springer Show, complete with a public screaming match &physical altercation with her ex-husband, who had shown up to take my niece, for the summer, per the custody agreement. It was a damn nightmare .

Here's the thing: I have absolutely nothing in common with my ex BIL. He's a conservative extremist, his stepmother is a former conservative AZ Southern Baptist legislator, and his father is also crazy conservative. They believe dinosaurs & humans walked the earth, together.

They also believe the earth is only 6k years old, their daughter had problems in relationships bc she kept dating Black men, the reason so many Black families are poor is bc the fathers leave, all Muslims are horrible, and we lost the Vietnam war bc we quit.

I can't even begin to express my anger about their racism, on all levels. That being said, I still had to make decision. K's daughter was in an increasingly unsafe situation. Despite what I consider would be emotional abuse, I helped my ex BIL obtain emergency sole custody.

It was absolutely the most difficult decision I've ever made. But you see, K's daughter wouldn't have cared 10 years from now about my apprehension, concerning her paternal family's religious beliefs. She would only know that we left her in an unsafe situation.

I refuse to casually dismiss the allegations against Biden, although I think that @AmandaMarcotte wrote a very balanced assessment, including the red flags. Let's assume the worst case scenario, and it's true. I believe in being honest with myself, even if I'm not thrilled.

If Trump gets another 4 yrs, SCOTUS is gone as a check on the other government branches. The same applies to the appellate courts. Additionally, the GOP will finish consolidating power, and the congressional branch will be gone, as well. Our republican democracy will be finished.

The women, who will be die from back-alley abortions, the Black men who will continue to be murdered by unscrupulous police members, the Black women, who continue to be turned away and then die, within our healthcare system, and the immigrant children who are caged and sold

won't care, in 30 years, what Biden may, or may not have done. They'll only know what Trump definitely DID do, that he and the GOP loathe all women, LGBTQ, and minorities, and that certain people left them to die or suffer, bc they refused to make a tough decision.

In the real world, we are constantly faced with seemingly no-win choices. The question becomes, are we refusing to make that choice to protect others, or ourselves? My niece may grow up thinking I'm an evil, atheist liberal. But she's safe, & that's enough.

*Correction- It's not that it's enough; it's all that matters.