This would generally be K-bats schtick, but it needs to be said and if they don't then I will.
When this thread was first made there was a fair amount of pushback on it. Most people didn't want Ryan or the site to be linked to or entangled with BLM. The people for it praised it as helping to shine a spotlight on the various injustices still present in our current society, those opposed said they didn't want politics in their hobby and that BLM was not the group to attach it to even if they did. We've gone back and forth and back and forth with some very good discussions that have been illuminating but haven't moved anyone from their positions, which is both good and bad. It's good that people are willing to stand up for what they believe in. However, at some point, something will happen that you have to answer for. I've stayed quiet, I've lurked and followed the conversation, but now something has happened that I need to speak up about. Ryan said that he believed in something and he used his platform to speak out. Now I'm going to do the same.
https://districtherald.com/portland-rioters-attempt-to-murder-man-who-intervened-in-their-robbery-and-assault-of-a-white-trans-person/This just happened in Portland which has become the hotbed of everything both Black Lives Matter and Antifa, which I know many people in this thread openly support. This has gone on in various other places around the nation as well to lesser degrees; Portland remains the worst case of it. Over the last several months the riots following the death of George Floyd that kicked off this new wave of Black Lives Matter activism if it can still be called that, has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. To public property, to private businesses, to residential houses. Hundreds of police are now injured, some of them maimed for life, some of them dead. Common citizens either in the wrong place at the wrong time or simply caught home when the marches and riots reached them have been assaulted and their property damaged or destroyed. This is not up for debate. The evidence has been spread and circulated across the internet. We have video. We have photos. We have print and testimony. To deny what has happened is to deny reality and replace it with a vision of faith that is nothing short of fanaticism and I won't argue it. The damage is done. The people are beaten or dead. The cities are still smoldering.
That's not the point I wanted to make though. I wanted to get back to the very beginning of this whole thread when Ryan came out and made the statement, made the post, changed the banner which I've noticed is gone now. In fact there's no mention at all on the front page even. And that's probably a good thing. I understand what was intended, a statement of support, a showing of solidarity. What was intended however and what has happened are two different things. What was supposed to be a movement of support for police reform has degenerated into a mob of destruction. The showing of solidarity has devolved into an oppressive nationwide insurgency demanding to be heard and obeyed or else face violence. You don't need to take my word for it, just only need listen to the protests themselves. I could pull them here but Karanbat has done a good job of posting links to such videos that many here have simply ignored because they don't like the source, ignoring the fact that they could skip the color commentary and take the actual video, photoes, and articles sourced in them. The people that pushed back against this move did so in part because they didn't want the politics in their hobby but also because it only took one night of rioting in Minneapolis to see just where this was going to lead.
Now we have general lawlessness across the country in most of the major cities. What started as police reform became police abolishment. What started as a call for self governance in communities has turned into violent mobs in those communities, and every time someone has said it needs to be stopped or it will get worse it has not been stopped and it has gotten worse. Again, I'm not going to argue this point. More people with more time on their hands have already done so and it's not the point I wanted to make here. The point, long winded as this has been and I will get to it now, is that every person who has signed on to support BLM is now tied to this. It wasn't the intent, I'm positive, but as they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Ryan did as he thought he should and it is his platform to do with as he pleases as he made plainly apparent, but now the chickens have come home to roost. Ryan supports BLM. Seibertron supports BLM. The riots and destruction are being done in the name of BLM. Antifa is marching alongside BLM. And last night someone was nearly murdered by the people in BLM. This is the reason no one wanted Seibertron to get itself entangled with this.
Now, I know what the arguement against this is. It was a single person, an individual that did this. Or a handful of individuals. They're not the whole movement. That's not wrong, but unfortunately we live in the age of guilt by association. Most police are good people, but they are judged on the actions of the bad ones. So too is the entire BLM movement judged on the destruction and violence left in the wake of these riots. Don't blame me for saying it and don't take my word for it, look up the popular opinion of the BLM movement. It's dropping like a stone. The actions of these people ARE representative of the movement whether you like it or not. And by extension everyone who supports the movement. That's why they call it becoming entangled, because once you latch on to one part all the other parts of it wrap around you even if you didn't want them and all the attempts to divest yourself from it, your business, your party, your fansite, cannot undo what's been done.
Perhaps this is moot. As I said, it looks to me like Seibertron has already stripped all the BLM material off the more visible parts of the site. I suspect that was simply due to time but maybe not. Either way I haven't forgotten. And I'm not going to accuse Ryan of doing anything untoward, obviously. He threw in his lot with people he thought held the same beliefs and convictions as himself. He was wrong. He made a mistake. Being a mistake however doesn't mean it didn't happen. Seibertron.com is now an affiliate of all the damage done across the US and the world under the banner of Black Lives Matter, as are all the other businesses that did the same thing. THIS is why we pushed back. THIS is why we said not to get involved. And now it's too late.
I'm not going to do anything about it, there's nothing to fear from me. As I said, I don't have a lot of time as it is and I wouldn't want to hurt the site anyway. I spoke out because I care for this site and the future of it. But consider this: The Black Lives Matter movement is losing popularity the more damage is done, the more lives are maimed and destroyed. The more businesses are burned. The politicians that have supported the movements in their cities are losing popularity as well and people are fleeing the cities in droves and I would suspect that at some point in the future, someone who DOES have too much time on their hands is going to go tawling through the internet looking for all the businesses, websites, and people who threw their lot in here to make an example out of them. DDOS's, hacks, exposure, I don't know, but it's coming. The pendulum swings both ways. And all the people that tried to warn you not to get involved, that you called racist and bigotted, will have nothing to do but sit and watch.
Don't bother quoting this, I'm not answering any of it. I'm done. I said my peice before, I made my arguements, no one listened then and no one's changing now. As the saying goes, we've made our beds, and now we're going to have to sleep in them.