Thursday, October 20, 2016

two cents.

Photo stolen from Buzzfeed, here. If it's a problem, I'll take it down immediately.

Dear friends,

As you are aware, I generally try to keep this blog light and fluffy and fun, and, with few exceptions, keep my own personal politics personal.

However.

In light of the nature of the election occurring in my homeland--you may have heard something about it--I feel compelled to put pen to paper, so to speak. This has been weighing on my heart and my head and has cost me much sleep, and I've always found that if I write about things, I feel better. So. Regardless of whether this influences anyone--I'm looking at you, undecideds and "ooh, how 'bout a third party!" people--here I go.

To you all: in light of what's at stake here, and however horrible and polarizing this campaign, while I understand that neither candidate is particularly palatable, this is unequivocally not the year to try and make a statement by voting third-party or write-in. Trust me, as a contrarian, a third-party voter in years past, and someone who seriously considered it again this year (at least for a while, anyway), this is a difficult pronouncement for me to make. We need the ability to recall and replace Congress* when they waste our time and money by doing nothing, nothing, and more nothing, and we certainly need more than two parties in our hopelessly broken system.

But people, THIS IS NOT THE YEAR TO MAKE THAT POINT. OR TO NOT VOTE.

Let me explain why.

So, I am not much a fan of Hillary. I dearly, deeply want our country to have a female president someday, but she strikes me as somewhat untrustworthy and dishonest and impersonal. She's done some dumb, careless, shady things (that stupid email server! her involvement [or lack thereof] with Benghazi! those previously unreleased Wall Street speeches, which, apparently, contained nothing of note, go figure! and now this stupid quid pro quo thing! her connection to the Clinton Foundation is a wee bit questionable!), and I've heard interviews with her that make me distrust her (boy, can she dodge a direct answer!). That having been said: I voted for her (thanks, early voting in Colorado!). She is smart, hard-working, experienced, even-tempered, tough as nails, completely innocent of wrongdoing both in the Benghazi and email scandals (and after 3 years' worth of investigation, no less), and God knows how she's managed to remain classy, given the nature of her opponent and his campaign.

Which is really what I'm here to talk about today. I'd like to consolidate here, in one handy-dandy primer, all of the reasons why, whatever your feelings about Hillary, you cannot, as a person with a conscience, aspirations of being a decent person, or a modicum of concern for your country, children, and fellow Americans, vote for that man. He's a bad person and an even worse candidate for president.

Let me explain why.

(Fair, and entirely serious, warning: the language in some of the following videos is very much not safe for work. Or for anyone with a sense of decency, frankly. But on we trudge.) (And also, before you go off shouting "liberal bias!," of course there is. You know that. [And also, if you need a subscription to the Washington Post in order to read all of this, get it. I'm happy to reimburse your dollar the next time I see you. They're having a sale.] But I've made every effort to support my opinion with facts; to the best of my non-investigative-journalist abilities, all of the following links contain facts that are matters of public record, are documented, and are things the man has, in real life, been recorded saying or doing.)
  • The man lies. Provenly. Over and over. As in, constantly. As in, there are so many documented instances of this that it would take months to compile a complete list, although I doubt one could keep up at the rate he's spewing fallacies. He's not telling you anything like it is, people.
  • Relatedly, he obfuscates. In particular, he refuses to release those tax returns, and flat-out lies in claiming that the IRS won't let him. (There is no such law, as Warren Buffett--noted actual successful businessman--can attest.) Most recently, he has refused to discuss whether he'll accept the outcome of the election. (But a bit more about that later.)
  • He is a violence- and hate-monger. It feels insane to have to point out how many videos exist of his supporters shouting horrible, violent, racist things and physically attacking protesters...and the candidate himself encouraging it (skip to 9:35), as well as off-handedly suggesting that "the Second Amendment people" do something about Hillary's stance on gun control. His campaign has created an environment in which hate speech and bigotry have gone public, on record, without fear or apology.  He brings out the worst in people on both sides of the aisle by playing to the basest fears of the ignorant and by insulting and devaluing one of America's greatest features--its cultural diversity. Being a melting pot is a good thing. You want to see blatant hate and racism in the post-Brexit vein, vote for this man.
  • Trump displays an obvious disregard for the First Amendment. Apparently, freedom of speech is only applicable to himself and his supporters (about some of whom "deplorable" is absolutely the nicest thing one could say). Protesters at his rallies are regularly, violently removed (see above, again), and journalists who disagree with him or have anything remotely negative to say about him, his policies, and his campaign are placed on his "blacklist." Trump also wants to "open up" libel laws to allow him to sue any press organization, for any reason. (Truth be damned, apparently.) 
    • His version of "religious liberty" sounds an awful lot like suppression of religious freedom in favor of establishing a Christian nation (skip to 2:40), and he wants to repeal the 1954 Johnson Amendment, which disallows political endorsement from tax-exempt entities (e.g., churches). It may not be on everyone's radar, but it's near and dear to me, and it's patently clear that Trump is talking about destroying the separation of church and state--entirely essential to a modern democracy--in order to gain the evangelical vote. 
  • He's a cheat and a fraud. If you think he's "looking out for the little guy," you are beyond sorely mistaken. Without remorse, he takes advantage quite often of people with little money, because his only concern is his own fortune. As though $5.1 billion isn't enough.
  • If you are a Christian or conservative values voter who traditionally votes straight-ticket Republican, it should be painfully obvious by this time that Trump does not share your morals and family values (again, see his number of marriages and treatment of women; his record of fraud and misuse of charity funds; his encouragement of hate speech and of violence; and his refusal to pay workers). Shockingly, even Glenn Beck says that it's the "'moral, ethical choice" to oppose Trump, and 'Christianity Today' accuses Trump of "blatant immorality."
    • His stances on guns and the Second Amendment and on abortion (he was staunchly pro-choice until 2011--the last time he considered running for president), and even his supposed Christianity (which, shockingly, is brand new, according to one Dr. James Dobson), are clearly matters of political expediency;
    • he's pro-torture; 
    • on LGBTQ issues, he's rather ambivalent; 
    • plenty of prominent, experienced Republican leaders have stated their opposition to him (here are just a few);
    • and hey, if you're worried about Hillary's ability to push through the "liberal agenda," don't. Congress apparently plans to cooperate with her on supreme court nominations just as well as they cooperated with Obama.
  • The man is a massive and outright hypocrite. He insists repeatedly that Hillary is a liar, despite being proven to exist in a state of near-constant dishonesty himself, and he insists on inserting Bill Clinton's indiscretions into the political discourse--even going so far as to hold a press conference with them and invite them to the debate--while insisting that his own accusers' accounts are "fiction," "fabricated" and "never happened." (On a related note, TRUMP HAS YET TO UNDERSTAND THE FACT THAT BILL IS NOT RUNNING AGAIN. Bill's actions are his own and have zero bearing on this election BECAUSE IT'S HER CAMPAIGN.)
  • Trump has zero political experience. None. While this may make him seem like an exotic and exciting outsider, the fact that he has never held any office of any kind makes him qualified to run nothing other than his own fan club. How will he "fix the economy"? How will he get Mexico to pay for that wall? How will he put China in its place? How would one go about "extremely" vetting immigrants from certain threatening "regions"? And so on, and so forth. A qualified leader would make no such ridiculous (much less offensive) claims and would propose actual, concrete policies for implementing real-world solutions. Trump's combination of steadfast refusal to prepare at all for the debates--as one might be expected to prepare for meetings with world leaders, or security or economic advisors, or with Congresspeople, say--and complete lack of, and disregard for, experience portend a frightening, terrible road ahead.
  • He might just kill democracy as we know it in America. If he wins, his desired suppression of the First Amendment could potentially lead to the death of the free press and destroy our country's freedom of religion, but if he loses the potential for destruction is limited only by his rabid supporters' ability to wreak it. Trump's paranoid, preemptive-sore-loser talk of conspiracy and voter fraud (actually uncommon) and his current threats to not accept the results of the election will have serious consequences, especially amongst his more outspoken (to be polite) supporters. These threats run one hundred percent counter to the aforementioned tradition of "peaceful transition of power" in our country. I've thought for some years now that the U.S.A., with all its faults, still has this amazing thing going for it: we can have actual free and open elections after which, whatever the outcome, no one gets killed, there are no wars, and we accept the result, however unhappy we are, and life continues on. Trump and his band of idiot thugs are actively threatening to put an end to civility and to faith in our democracy.
  • And finally, THAT DULL, CREAMSICLE-COLORED, SMUG, SLEAZY, DEAD-FISH, POUTY, ARROGANT, DOUGHY, JOWLY, ASKING-TO-BE-PUNCHED RACCOON FACE AND ROADKILL-TOUPEE HAIR. Who of sane mind goes outside looking like that, much less allows themselves to be filmed and photographed? Much worse, is proud of it?? Good Lord, if you believe that you can stand to look at that visage for the next four years, then God have mercy on you and yours. 
Well. That turned out to be far rantier, and far closer to ten dollars than to two cents, than I'd intended...but here's the bottom line: if you value the freedoms we are constitutionally guaranteed in America; if you value genuine (if sometimes addled) democracy; if you are a woman, or have women in your life whom you love and respect; if you are any color besides lily white (or, in Trump's case, bronzed tangerine) and value your heritage; if you prize the amazing diversity present in our country; and if you are anyone other than an entitled, fat, condescending, ignorant, one-percenter, white male, then this "man" is not your candidate. He respects and values none of these things and is looking out for no one but himself.

Electing him--even just voting for him--legitimizes the hate, the bigotry, the racism, the xenophobia, the misogyny, the sexism, and all of the other filth spewed by him and by his supporters. Making excuses for perhaps his misleading tax proposals or stories about the size of his fortune or even his experience is forgivable, but excusing any of the rest is not. He will certainly damage, if not destroy, many of the things I--and probably you--love about our country.

And while I understand entirely the idea of voting third-party on principal, this is not the time. We cannot, absolutely must not, put Trump into the White House.

I suggest voting instead for the candidate who can actually beat him.✣ And may turn out to be a decent president as well.






*Whom, with exceptions here and there, appear to me as grossly overpaid, vastly underperforming wastrels who missed the day in kindergarten where we learned about "cooperation," and never got the memo that they're supposed to be serving the public, not special interests. (Yeah, I said "wastrel." What.)

**Whether you agree that his subsequent avoidance of taxes makes him "smart," it cannot be disputed that in doing so he both withheld money from the government he wishes to lead--not a quality I look for in the president of our great nation--and placed more of the tax burden squarely on the shoulders of everyone else. You, me, the middle class, the Common Man, that "little guy" whose best interests Trump purportedly has at heart. How that fact has not been absorbed by the people who rejoice about his proposed tax cuts is beyond me.***

***Just a quick note about taxes in the US, for my readers outside of it: the only way our government functions is with the help of tax money from all of its citizens. If people are in any way concerned about their children's schools; the arts; local and national roads, bridges, and infrastructure; sanitation services like garbage collection and water treatment; parks; law enforcement, corrections, and fire services; health care services; the military; functioning (well, sometimes...) government institutions; and higher education...then they should absolutely want to pay taxes. These things aren't free, and by cutting taxes on anyone, these services lose money. It's a very basic concept, but one that obviously needs to be pointed out in a very basic way to a very lot of irrational people right now.

****I love this take on it. "Is that how you talk? Is that how your dad talks? Is that how your pastor talks?" (Just FYI, this video will most likely offend you, on some, if not several, levels. But it's so delightfully pointed.)

✣Whoa...did I even need to write this post? Amen, Brother Reich. Amen.

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