There's only one choice

I will now refrain from any further commentaries on the election I can't vote, in stick my fingers in my ears, hope America decides to embrace sanity, and ignore the whole thing until 9th November.

Via Sakari Maaranen.

Originally shared by Eli Fennell

My Final Plea To Voters

Tomorrow is Election Day 2016 in the United States, and while many millions of people have already voted, more people haven't voted yet. I doubt anything I can say at this point will change anyone's mind, but let me try to convince you if I can. I believe every American voter of good conscience should cast their ballot for Hillary Clinton, that she is the best and frankly only good choice for our future. Let me, therefore, make a brief 'closing' argument for everyone who isn't committed to her (or hasn't already voted early for her).

To Trump Supporters

If you're planning to vote for Donald Trump, please reconsider. I won't waste time arguing over issues, because that would be to legitimize what is, sadly, not the top consideration here. I've often said that issues matter more than candidates, but there are exceptions to every rule and Donald Trump is one of them.

There has always, virtually without exception, been minimum standards of qualification and experience, temperament, and basic decency for American leaders. Hillary Clinton easily clears these bars, indeed if anything one common complaint from certain types of voters it that she is too 'establishment', and for whatever faults this nebulous and poorly defined 'establishment' may have, maintaining basic standards is not one of them.

Donald Trump does not meet this minimum standard, and therefore issues are irrelevant, or very much less relevant at least. You may or may not agree with Hillary on issues; you may or may not like her personally; but she doesn't call Mexican immigrants 'rapists', women 'pigs' and 'slobs', attack Gold Star families for their religious beliefs, threaten to ban whole religions, discuss her genitalia during debates, lash out on Twitter in the wee hours, insinuate dark theories about 'certain people' committing 'vote fraud', encourage armed vigilantes to commit voter intimidation... honestly, this list could go on forever.

He is also the most notorious liar in the history of modern Presidential politics, with nearly every word that comes out of his mouth being a bold faced, proven lie. This is not my opinion, this is a fact, as proven by multiple nonpartisan Fact Checkers. And his life of work is likewise a testament to astounding, habitual dishonesty so extreme it is clear he is pathologically incapable of even distinguishing truth from falsehood or of keeping promises. So whatever positions or promises you think he'll honor, think twice, thrice, a fourth and fifth time, because any honest assessment will tell you that he cannot be trusted.

Vote for Hillary, and we can spend the next 4-years debating and fighting over the positions she holds that you may disagree with, as we Americans have always done. Split your ticket and vote GOP on the down-ballot if you feel she needs to be 'checked' against her platform and policies. That is how America works. Donald Trump is not how America works, or not how it should.


To Johnson Supporters

If you're supporting Johnson because you're a Conservative who can't vote for Trump, vote for Hillary instead. Johnson can't and won't win, and you know it, but beyond that basic fact, what this means is by not voting against Trump, you're saying it's OK for the GOP to nominate a candidate who doesn't meet the minimal level of acceptability that if met would have convinced most of you to vote against Hillary if not for the GOP candidate.

If you can't convince yourself that Hillary is so much worse than Trump that you should vote for him anyways, after decades of her being GOP Enemy #1, then that says all you should need to know about how horrible Trump is, and how not stopping him now would only send the GOP farther down the rabbit hole of crazed bigotry and lack of experience and substance Trump represents. A Clinton victory is the best chance the GOP has to find an excuse for introspection and learn from its mistake and how to avoid it.

If, on the other hand, you're a Liberal and you're supporting Johnson, then as Obama says, "C'mon, man." Please, actually go and read, in full, the Libertarian platform, because it isn't all pot, gay marriage, and nonaggressive foreign policy, it's also anti virtually everything else you claim to care about. It's about opposition to science; a blank check and zero regulations for big corporations; dismantling of the Department of Education; overturning Roe v. Wade; and much more. If you know all this, and are still voting for him, then be honest with yourself and admit you're not a Liberal, because you can't call yourself liberal just because the Libertarians agree with you on two or three things.

To Stein Supporters

Jill Stein is no Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders believes in science, he doesn't play footsie with anti vaxxers or people who think WiFi melts your brain. Bernie Sanders wants a world of peace, but doesn't think ISIS can be defeated by a "Peace Offensive" (which is literally Stein's 'prescription' for ISIS, as though the sight of a few tie dyes and sunflowers will get them to put down their suicide vests, stop severing heads, and embrace us). Bernie made the wise choice not to run as a third party 'spoiler' because he knows only one of the two major candidates will win and that the two aren't equivalent, unlike Stein who claims that they are.

And, oh yeah, Bernie has flat-out told you that the success of his Revolution depends on Hillary winning and Trump losing.


To Undecideds

If you're still undecided, it at least means Trump hasn't won you over. Neither has Clinton. So if you have to choose between two people, neither of whom convinced you, go with the 'known quantity' candidate. This is a no brainer, just as surely if you were otherwise equally split between two possible candidates for a job but one clearly had more experience and qualifications, and a more proven track record, than the other.


Before closing this out, let me add that, if you 'hate' Hillary Clinton, consider that the same people who convinced you to hate her also told you that every supposed 'scandal' was the smoking gun that would DESTROY her, only to have it turn out to be wild goose chases that wasted taxpayer money. How many times can they lie to you about her actions and her record before you realize that falsely shouting 'Fire!' fifty times doesn't make it any less false than shouting it once or twice or a handful of times.

This is not a normal election. This is a choice between a candidate who is clearly qualified, in terms of experience and temperament, to lead this country, and one who isn't. If no other argument sways you, let that be the one.