Stone #2: The Stone of Othering

my "no one for president" sticker and refusing to choose sides

Glenn Siepert

Mar 08, 2026

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Friends.

I have a sticker on my coffee mug that says, “NO ONE FOR PRESIDENT”.

Allow me to explain.

I first saw the sticker on Billie Joe Armstrong’s guitar when Green Day was around the San Francisco area playing some pop up concerts in the days leading up to their Super Bowl pre-game performance. I’m obsessed with this guitar (don’t worry, I won’t bore you with the story behind it) and how Billie Joe is constantly adding stickers to it; so, when I see a new one on it - I recognize it right away.

Like I said, I’m obsessed.

(And, yes - my coffee mug is the same color as the guitar. HA!)

I’ll get back to the sticker in a moment, but the sticker made me think about August 2024 when Dana and I went to see Green Day in concert.

Oh.

My.

God.

I was in heaven. We had seats SUPER close to the stage as we listened, sang, and jumped around to some of my very favorite songs. I’m a major introvert (I’d rather spend 3 weeks alone without saying a word than go to an event that has more than 5 people), but that night - I sang the lyrics to every song on 2 albums, jumped, screamed, danced … all the things.

And the thing this “NO ONE FOR PRESIDENT” sticker made me recall was how very early on in that hot, humid evening (maybe 1 or 2 songs in) Billie Joe made an announcement.

This guy who is VERY vocal about his …

Disgust of all things MAGA.

Stance against facism.

Views on war.

Etc.

… stood up before thousands of people and announced that everyone (regardless of their beliefs, backgrounds, etc.) was welcome at their table that night and that we were all coming together not to argue or fight or flex our muscles of who is right and who is wrong, but coming together in the midst of our differences to sing, to dance, to let everything go for a little while and enjoy being in the presence of one another in a world that does everything in it’s power to pull us apart. He encouraged us to put our phones away, direct our focus to the stage, to the people around us … and live (together) in the moment.

Wow.

Right?

The anti-MAGA, anti-ICE, anti-facism, anti-war Green Day doesn’t compromise their values; and yet they make room (intentionally) for everyone, everywhere.

Because.

Truly.

At the heart of their music - they don’t aim their resistance at PEOPLE as much as they aim it at the VALUES, IDEAS, POLICIES, etc. (that people often promote) that cause harm and division.

In other words.

They don’t equate HUMAN BEINGS with the VALUES those human beings hold; they realize that people are MORE than their values, MORE than their religious beliefs, MORE than their voting choices, etc.

And THAT?

That’s one of the most “punk rock” things ever - a radical way to live in these explosive times, especially with a platform as large as theirs. They have, truly, I believe, found another way to be and exist.

And that’s why I put that sticker on my coffee mug - not because I don’t think that one candidate might be better than another or because I’ve put my head in the sand regarding politics and the state of the world or because I’ve given up hope.

No.

But because …

Honestly?

… as long as there is a “side” that we need to align with there will forever be another “side” that we need to stand against, that we need to label, that we need to “other” as the problem, the enemy, the cause of the problems in the country and world.

AND.

As long as that continues to happen? Then regardless of who we vote for AND regardless of who wins AND regardless of who spends 4-8 years in the Oval Office.

Regardless.

Of.

Any.

Of.

That.

… this System that gives power to the powerful and riches to the rich continues to grow; because regardless of which “side wins”, the System that is above both of those sides - it keeps on winning and winning and winning.

“NO ONE FOR PRESIDENT” is my way of saying that (for me) we aren’t facing a Right or a Left problem as much as we’re facing a systemic problem - a monstrous System that calls all the people beneath it to throw stones at the side that is opposed to their side, a System that gets more powerful even as one of the sides beneath it grows weaker, a System that needs to be dismantled, overhauled, and rebuilt from the bottom up.

It’s my way of saying that rather than taking up residence on one side while othering a different side, I’m choosing to take no sides.

Woah, right?

I know.

At first I thought that was a rather insane idea, too. After all, I grew up as a staunch Conservative Republican before becoming a Fiery Progressive and so standing firm on one side while standing against another is (really) all I’ve ever known.

But then I read about a Zen Master named Thich Nhat Hanh and how during the Vietnam War he and his order of monks and nuns were persecuted for refusing to take sides.

Imagine that?

Instead of choosing the side that would have been most obvious for a group of peaceful Buddhists, they chose to minister to the communist and anti-communists alike - a move that got Thich Nhat Hanh exciled from his homeland for 40 years.

In his book, “Peace Is Every Step” he explains that “we belong to each other; we cannot cut reality into pieces. The well-being of ‘this’ is the well-being of ‘that’, so we have to do things together. Every side is ‘our side’; there is no evil side.”

Archbishop Desmond Tutu (in his book, “God Has a Dream”) says something similar regarding white people who uphold racial apartheid - “they too are God’s children, even though they may be our oppressors, though they may be our enemies. Paradoxically, and more truly, they are really our sisters and our brothers … and their humanity is caught up in our humanity, as ours is cuaght up in theirs. When we see others as the enemy, we risk becoming what we hate. When we oppress others, we end up oppressing ourselves.”

None of this is easy - I admit.

And there is no “simple way” to do this - I fully realize.

I mean, yeah - I’m with you, friends; I’m royally ticked off at a lot of people and the thought of ministering to a MAGA supporter or an ICE agent or even Donald Trump in the way that Thich Nhat Hanh led his monks to minister to communists … my skin cralws just thinking about it.

But.

Maybe crawling skin and putting ourselves into positions of compassion and kindness and service, bent before those we’d most like to punch in the face … maybe, just maybe there’s some bit of magic in there that can begin to shift our consciousness and (therefore, since we’re all connected to one another) shift the consciousness of everyone, everywhere.

And so today I am challenging myself to put down my “Stone of Othering” as I refuse to take sides, refuse to give more power and strength to a System that is already far too powerful and far too strong, committing myself to the hard work of figuring out what all of that looks like in a world that expects me to choose a side while throwing stones at the other.

And …

Yes, I will make mistakes.

Yes, I will fall flat on my face at times.

Yes, I will say things I wish I didn’t.

Yes, I will speak about others in judgmental ways.

… But.

I will pick myself up and try again.

Much love,