During #ReOpenNC, Protest Banner Reads “Fewer Graves If We Reopen in Waves”

While conservative idiots are hosting “reopen” events around the country — showing up, sans masks and without social distancing, outside state capitols and other public spaces — one science advocate is pushing back in his own way. Activist Todd Stiefel, who’s donated a lot of money to atheist groups over the years, happens to be immunocompromised. He’s more at risk when people go out in public during this pandemic.

So today, during a #ReOpenNC protest in Raleigh, North Carolina, Stiefel is protesting from a distance by having a plane fly over the rally space with a banner that reads “FEWER GRAVES IF WE REOPEN IN WAVES.”:

He added in a press release:

“ReOpen protesters cloak themselves in the symbols of patriotism, but they are not patriots,” said Todd Stiefel. “True American patriots sacrifice for the freedom of others; they would never sacrifice others to benefit themselves. Reopening too quickly will kill so many people that the economic and emotional costs of those deaths will far outweigh the benefits.”

Some people may argue the banner is useless since the protesters aren’t about to change their minds by looking up in the sky, but think of it this way: Stiefel is grabbing a large chunk of the media attention away from the publicity hounds on the ground. He found a way to inject science and reason into a story that would otherwise give unwarranted attention to the idiots putting everyone’s lives at risk.

It’s working. The question now is whether sensible people will listen by staying inside. The people on the ground don’t care who they hurt. They’re selfish. Most people are better than that. If only more people would move into their camp.