F- It! I’m Voting For Jill Stein

stevenmsinger Bernie Sanders, Democrat, Donald Trump, Dr. Jill Stein, Education, Election, Election Reform, Green Party, Hillary Clinton, Media, Opt Out, Politics, President, privatization, Propaganda, protest, Republican, Schools, Standardized Testing, United Opt Out, Voter ID, voter suppression, voting, , , , , , ,

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I have had it with this election.

 

Trump is a petulant, disgusting, fascist with terrible hair and a machismo complex. Clinton is a warmongering Wall Street lickspittle who smiles in your face as she secretly advocates policies that will hurt you and your family.

 

I simply refuse to choose between either one of them.

 

And before any of my so-called progressive friends start chiding me about third parties, let me just give you my reasoned argument: FUCK YOU.

 

Don’t tell me it’s a wasted vote. Don’t tell me it’s a vote for Trump. Read my lips: IT’S A VOTE FOR JILL STEIN!

 

No, I don’t want Trump to win. Yes, I agree Clinton is the lesser of two evils. But I simply cannot spend the rest of my adult life voting for evil.

 

Get real, people. When you keep choosing the best of the worst, it never ends. Do you really think things will be any different in four years? In eight?

 

The major parties will still give us a choice between dumb and dumber. I am done being a part of it. I’m opting out. Take your fake two-party Democracy and shove it.

 

When pundits and partisans talk about Presidential politics, they pretend it’s a game of chess. No. They think it’s fantasy football. Who won which debate? Who’s polling better with Latinos? Who’s got the most endorsements? They want you to take all this useless overcooked data and vote strategically, relying on the media to maximize the outcome regardless of the quality of the candidates involved. Unfortunately, it’s all baloney.

 

Few polls are actually scientific and even those that are given this dubious moniker are iffy at best. No matter what your opinion, you can find a poll or statistic somewhere to back it up. At least 60% of people know that!

 

This election has done a lot to foster my distrust of the media. The Associated Press calling primaries for Clinton before people were even done voting! Ignoring stories of voter irregularities! Giving Clinton debate questions ahead of time! Leaking a five year old video of Trump being a pig to bury Wikileaks emails that might otherwise hurt Clinton!

 

My God! We’ve gotten more actual news from whistleblowers in the past few years than journalists! And it’s pretty obvious why. The media is really just the public relations arm of the handful of corporations that own the dwindling number of newspapers, TV stations, search engines, etc. Very little makes it through the amalgamated filter that isn’t in the interests of the moneyed few.

 

Sorry. I prefer to think for myself.

 

There is just no reason to play games with your vote. It’s really quite simple. Vote for the candidate who best represents your values. That’s your only responsibility.

 

It’s up to each candidate to earn my vote. If I don’t cast a ballot for Clinton, I’m not a spoiler. She hasn’t done enough to prove to me that she’s the person for whom I should be voting. If that means she loses the election, it’s not my fault. She didn’t run a successful campaign. She didn’t give voters like me enough, she didn’t prove to us that she isn’t the same neoliberal lapdog of the elites that she’s always been.

 

She voted for the Patriot Act twice. She pushed for more troops in Afghanistan and US intervention in Libya. Her top donors are the same folks who crashed the economy – JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup. She sold fracking to the world through the Global Shale Gas Initiative. She signed on to the Workplace Religious Freedom Act, which, according to the ACLU, would have effectively legalized discrimination, and she introduced a bill that would have made flag burning a felony.

 

I’m sorry. I don’t care how many pussies Donald Trump grabbed. I can’t vote for a person like that!

 

So why Jill Stein?

 

Easy. I’ve met the woman, and she’s the real deal.

 

No, she doesn’t have Clinton’s experience, but that’s a good thing. I’m not entirely satisfied with what Clinton did while Secretary of State, a U.S. Senator or First Lady. Better to hire someone with good intentions who has to learn on the job than someone who is immediately in a position to continue our endless series of petty wars, enrich the banks and compromise away protections for the environment.

 

As a father of a school age child and a public school teacher, education is my number one issue. Trump wants to tear everything down and give it all away to big business. Clinton wants to do much the same but more slowly and with a smiley face sticker on it. Stein is the only candidate who actually wants to help.

 

When United Opt Out held its annual conference in Philadelphia last year, Stein was the only candidate to actually come and speak with us. You read that right. She didn’t send a surrogate. She didn’t write a letter. She came in person and talked to us as a group and one-on-one. Heck! She even gave me a hug as a fellow activist working for change.

 

She is in favor of everything that needs doing for our public schools. She wants to stop endless high stakes standardized testing. She wants to stop school privatization. She wants to fairly fund all public schools. She wants to provide free college and end all student debt. She wants single payer healthcare paid for by cutting our bloated military budget with no raise in taxes. She wants to stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, stop giving weapons to Israel, freeze terrorist-funder’s bank accounts, end the War on Terror and engage in a policy of peace. Moreover, Stein wants the savings from slashing our biggest federal expenditure to be used to fund a New Green Deal, creating full employment and a living wage all while transitioning to 100% clean energy by 2030!

 

Now that’s a platform I can vote for without reservation.

 

However, I have no illusions that she’ll win. When tens of thousands of people can look at an admitted sexual predator like Trump with approbation, I know we’re just not ready as a species for a candidate like Stein.

 

We’re too stupid. Too racist. Too sexist. Too classist. Too much the evolutionary apes that conservatives refuse to believe in.

Yet those on the other side of the aisle are so civilized they’re willing to politely follow the leader over a cliff. They’ll ignore every criticism, silence any dissent as they’re given marching orders by the establishment all the while congratulating themselves for being so intelligent.

 

I’m not sure which is the bigger joke – this election or our electoral system. Trump whines that the election is rigged against him, and we laugh because he’s his own worst enemy. But the system is far from fair. You can’t tell me some of those primaries weren’t stolen from Bernie Sanders – people living in highly concentrated Sanders leaning districts facing long lines, closed polling stations and uncounted votes. Always against Sanders voters, hardly ever against Clinton or Trump supporters.

 

Even setting aside the crappy primary, look at our obsolete and eminently hackable voting machines. Look at our refusal to make election day a holiday. Look at our recent spat of voter ID legislation which makes it so much more difficult for the poor and minorities to cast a ballot.

 

This is the best system we can muster!? But of course it is, because the powers that be don’t want all of us to vote. They want just enough of us to foster the illusion of a democracy – a weak one that they can manipulate and control. They decided a long time ago they wanted Hillary Clinton to win. Trump is just there to scare the rest of us into voting for her so that we can pretend we had a choice.

 

I’m not saying things couldn’t go astray. If white nationalists come to the polls and everyone else stays away, we’ll have our new fuehrer. But the rich and powerful are betting on Clinton. She means stability for the market, she means the needs of business will be met and the rest of us will just sit back and take it because we had a “choice.”

 

Well, screw that. I’m not doing it.

 

I will proudly go to my polling place this November and give my vote to Stein. She’s earned it.

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33 thoughts on “F- It! I’m Voting For Jill Stein”

  1. We all must cast the vote in our hearts, but mine doesn’t want to do *anything* that might tip the balance toward Trump. You have to know that Jill won’t win, so here’s a question for you: do you really want to take a chance that a man like Trump might have his finger on a button that could begin a world war in the nuclear age?

    Say what you will about Hillary – and everything you say resonates with me as well – but I doubt that these two candidates are an equal threat to America and to the world. I AM voting for “the lesser evil” – because I can’t imagine what it will take to overcome the horrors if “the greater evil” were to win this election. One egotistical temper tantrum and we will all have to live with the results.

    I believe we stand a better chance at reforming the corruption in our political system if we aren’t fighting at levels I don’t want to imagine — and I certainly don’t want to experience. PLEASE think again.

    xx,
    mgh
    (Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
    – ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
    “It takes a village to transform a world!”

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Madelyn, you know I respect your opinion, but this isn’t just a choice for this election. It’s a pattern we re-experience every election. If we vote for the lesser evil this time, we’ll be expected to do the same in four years when Hillary is up for re-election. And then in four more years when the Democrats run another neoliberal hack. I am jumping off the merry-go-round. I doubt Trump will win even if Hillary doesn’t have my vote. I don’t expect many people will follow my example. But I wanted to explain my reasoning. As a people, we have to do something about this endless cycle that holds us back. If the Democrats want our votes, they need to run real progressives. Otherwise, we need to move on. That’s really my point.

      Liked by 4 people

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      • I respect yours as well – and I hope you are right that Trump will lose anyway. I’m sure that none of us can imagine the horrors otherwise.

        Although we disagree on HOW, we are in total agreement about WHAT: as the Republican Party seems to move further toward the Dark Side with every choice, the Democratic Party *must* change for the better or they will become irrelevant as well.

        Perhaps a 3-Party system will be our only solution, ultimately — with the Progressives taking the lead until we, once again, have a political system that offers Americans ethical choices.

        God help us ALL.
        xx,
        mgh

        Liked by 2 people

      • Sorry man, but this isn’t the election to finally decide to stop voting for the lesser of the two evils. When one candidate could actually start a nuclear war because of his lack of understanding of nuclear weapons coupled with his demeanor you don’t get to vote for someone who can’t beat him.

        Also, Jill Is an anti-vaccine 9/11 conspiracy theorist who has no idea how the federal reserve works. Please watch John Olivers latest on third party candidates so you really know who you are voting for…measles for everyone, YAY!

        Liked by 1 person

      • Joe, none of that is true about Stein. She is NOT an anti-vaxer. She is NOT a 9/11 conspiracy theorist. These are lies the mainstream media has made to smear her. And she’s only polling at about 2%. Imagine how terrified they must be that we’ll vote for a real progressive like her! John Oliver’s segment on third parties was a joke – but not in a funny way. What exactly was his criticism? That she played in a band? That she sometimes panders to voters? That forgiving student debt may be harder than she describes? Compare these to any other candidate and Jill Stein will come out far above. As to Trump, they’ll say this same crap every election cycle about the Republican nominee. Admittedly, Trump is a piece of crap, but he has very little chance of winning after his recent self-implosions. In any case, I refuse to be responsible for all that. The Democrats are supposed to be about progressive politics. When they run a real progressive, I’ll vote for her. Until then, I’m voting Stein. Compromising your ethics to vote for the lesser evil only ensures that every election you’ll be presented with another one.

        Liked by 4 people

      • If it’s nuclear war you’re worried about, Hillary is not your candidate. Pay close attention to how she’s rattling Russia’s and China’s cages. No-fly zone in Syria. Her interventions in Ukraine. Ringing China with missile defense (allegedly to protect against North Korea, but with the added bonus of neutralizing China’s own nukes – you think China is going to sit idly by and let that happen?). Hillary is dangerous, moreso because people believe her to be the “competent” and “rational” one.

        Liked by 4 people

    • “…do you really want to take a chance that a man like Trump might have his finger on a button that could begin a world war in the nuclear age?”

      Trump’s a risk but not as much as Clinton for nuclear war. I’ve seen this fearmongering before and those who spew it never offer a cogent, evidence based response. It’s based on biased emotions instead of facts. I agree with some things the author of this blog said except his blind acceptance of the uncritical claim that Clinton is the lesser evil. She is not the lesser evil but the greater. On almost everything I know of her, she is not only a greater risk to our national security but civilization as a whole.

      You mention nuclear warfare. Trump (though I despise him for some of the reasons everyone is aware) has never advocated a first strike option. He explicitly denounced first strikes while Clinton has said that if she were president she would “totally obliterate” Iran. The context was not a hypothetical attack against us but an attack against our ally Israel. She said that in dealing with Iran they need to know the “consequences” of their nuclear program (which is for energy, not weaponization as she knows full well but often spreads the lie that it is intended for the later). Trump’s threats with nukes have been retaliatory against ISIS. Look at his Chris Matthews interview where he said that they are off the table in first strike but he wouldn’t rule them out for a retaliatory strike. So you’re saying that a woman who is advocating the genocide of 80 million people in a first strike nuclear holocaust is the “lesser evil” compared to a man who has only advocated a nuclear attack towards ISIS in retaliation for a terrorist attack. Think about what you’re saying.

      And that is not the worst of her proposals. She wants a no-fly zone in Syria which means that she wants us to impose our will against Syrian sovereign airspace which they have not given permission for us to use but they have given Russia permission to use that space. This will lead to military conflict with (next to us) the largest nuclear power on earth. She is also one of the architects of the pivot to Asia which seeks to “put a ring around China” putting us in conflict with another country which has hundreds of nukes.

      Additionally she has said recently that a military response in on the table against alleged Russian hacking. This kind of belligerent games of brinksmanship is dangerous. According to Gorbachev we are now closer to a nuclear war than any time in the past and the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has also released a statement with similar content. Clinton’s words alone represent a serious threat to world peace. Trump is actually seeking reproachment (though we cannot be fully trusting of his words) with Russia. I do think that Trump is also a risk for nuclear war because he has said Japan and other nations should be able to have nukes which would escalate tensions and increase risk of nuclear war.

      This doesn’t even touch on her history of interventionism which has seen disasters such as Iraq (a million dead, three million refugees and displaced), Libya, Honduras, Syria.

      Liked by 2 people

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      • I certainly see where you’re coming from, Higherinfinite. I would agree that a vote for Clinton is a vote to continue our perpetual wars. However, I’m not sure I agree about those wars necessarily being nuclear. However much I don’t like her as a candidate, I admit that she is a smart person. She isn’t going to do anything that isn’t in her best interest. That’s how she’s always behaved in the past. Nuclear war doesn’t further the ends of big business and the market. It hurts them. Trump, on the other hand, is erratic. He does things on mere whim. That makes him more dangerous, I think, in the nuclear scenario. However, you are free to disagree. In any case, I think the closest Trump is getting to the White House is if he takes the tour.

        Liked by 1 person

      • You are obviously paying close attention and put considerable time and thought into your comment – good to see.

        It’s a crazy time, politically – very scary on a number of levels. We could probably do a point/counterpoint until election day and we’d still be left with the same ballot. What is REALLY needed is a political paradigm shift and election reforms (especially in campaign financing).

        Trump’s temper, his hair-trigger impulsivity, his self-aggrandizing, his total lack of political experience – not to mention his hateful comments when cornered – stop me cold and scare me senseless.

        The focus of my blog is a mental-health information and advocacy, not a politics, but I did write one post outlining the thoughts that inform my choice in November: “Ten Things I Do Not Want in My President.” I’d love to hear your reaction.
        xx,
        mgh

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      • To say that she is a greater risk is not to imply that she will certainly go to a nuclear war. It’s to say that based on available evidence, there is a greater risk under her than current chances (which are unacceptably high) and even under Trump who also raises risks. I think both are unacceptably high risks which makes Stein not just an option but the only choice for those who wish to remain at least minimally morally decent.

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      • Additionally I’d prefer an erratic personality to a predictably evil one. Trump is erratic for a reason on some issues. He’s hedging his bets between many of his base who are mostly denizens of the left tail of the Bell Curve and those disaffected Berners.

        Trump is actually mostly not that erratic wrg to foreign policy. As the political scientist John Meersheimer has pointed out after studying his statements and comparing them to speeches made by Clinton on the senate floor, he’s mostly a non interventionist while she is the most hawkish member of congress in either parties in both the number of interventions she wanted and in the enthusiasm in which she advocated the.

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    • I’m Native American, DAPL is going to systematically murder my friend and family. Before you go around shaming people for voting Stein, take this into consideration: Clinton, Trump, and Johnson all profit off of and support DAPL and all the human rights violations DAPL involves.

      There is only one candidate who will stop DAPL, and thus stop the systematic murder of my people, and that is Jill Stein. You can be on the right side of history and vote to stop the systematic murder of my friends and family on the reservation, or you can be an accomplice to mass murder by voting for a candidate who knowingly supports poisoning our drinking water. Don’t support mass murder, go Green 2016 #NoDAPL

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      • I had no intention of shaming anyone – and I apologize sincerely if it seemed so to you. I certainly do NOT support mass murder – or much of what else is going on in American politics these days.

        Like I said, we all must cast the vote in our hearts.

        For ME, I intend to cast my vote for a candidate likely to beat Trump, not merely to ring in on any particular issue for the sake of being a statistic on the right side of history.

        If the person we elect can be reached without popping off in a knee-jerk, defensive “nobody tells me anything” manner that Trump has chronically exhibited, I will work to promote awareness of the problems of DAPL (and other issues).

        If Trump wins, I fear that change of ANY kind that negatively impacts the rise of corporate capitalism will be possible.
        xx,
        mgh

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  5. I’m in Florida, and I’m voting for Jill Stein as well. This article has many of my sentiments as well. I’m blue to green, and will not hold my nose, but will proudly cast my vote for Dr. Stein! When we continue to get these endless wars, bombing of other countries, and thousands (if not millions) of more innocent people killed or maimed, their blood will not be on my hands. I’m voting for the greater good of our country, and our influence in this world.

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. Dr. Jill stein graduated from harvard, is an author, lecturer, activist, feminist. And don’t you say that she “doesn’t know anything about the federal reserve” or that shes an antivaxxer because ‘apparently’ what media hosts say are facts now. Why do you think the media is smearing her so much? Because theres barely anything they can smear her on, and they’re desperate to elect the war monger Hillary. And SO many Bernie supporters have chosen jill, the media doesn’t even know.

    Liked by 2 people

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  8. Steven, I may not be voting for Dr Stein but agree with both your sentiments and our desperate need to escape the two party system. Fyi community organizer and higher ed activist Rich Moser agrees with you and has been posting about on his blog Be Freedom, https://befreedom.co/category/electoral-strategy-for-2016/page/2/

    From another direction, conservative Republican policy wonk (and Forbes opinion editor) Avik Roy, also agrees about not voting LEV,

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  9. This post made me do a happy dance. The moment I was certain that Bernie Sanders was indeed endorsing Clinton, effectively ending his campaign, I made the same decision. I had been admiring Stein’s platform, and I’ve long been an advocate for third & fourth (and fifth & sixth) parties, especially if we can ever get instant-runoff voting.

    This election, my vote will be UN-wasted by helping the Green Party gain 5% or greater in November, guaranteeing us Federal matching funds in the next two elections. This first step will also place us on the ballot automatically in all 50 states instead of forcing us to complete the expensive, time-consuming, and demeaning task of gathering thousands of signatures to get what the Dems & Repubs take for granted.

    I’ve heard each & every argument from friends on both sides of the Dem/Repub false-dichotomy, and like you, called bullshit on them. It’s In Our Hands- For The Greater Good, Not The Lesser Evil.

    MB Tankersley,
    Proud NEW Member of the Green Party of New Mexico, 2016

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. Thank you for Voting Green Party ❤

    I'm Native American, DAPL is going to systematically murder my friend and family. And it sickens me when I hear people go around vote shaming Stein supporters. I wish Clinton, Trump, and Johnson supporters knew and would take into consideration that Clinton, Trump, and Johnson all profit off of and support DAPL and all the human rights violations DAPL involves.

    There is only one candidate who will stop DAPL, and thus stop the systematic murder of my people, and that is Jill Stein. They can be on the right side of history and vote to stop the systematic murder of my friends and family on the reservation, or they can choose to accomplice a systematic mass murder by voting for a candidate who knowingly supports poisoning our drinking water.

    If they know about DAPL and still vote for the mass murder of my people, it will be what it will be, but they should not do so while pertending moral supiriority and/or vote shaming the only people voting against DAPL.

    Thank you for voting against mass murder. I wish more people would say NoDAPL and go Green Party this election.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

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