This is one of those times when it is hard not to turn every blog into a political blog. I am horrified right now, people. And I have nothing more worthy or insightful to say than anyone else, but still, I cannot help but take a moment to say: WTF? WTF, America?
Bizarrely available via Weebly's free image library.
Do you want this two-dimensional billboard of a two-bit dictator to be your head of state? Because that is exactly what you are flirting with. Rumor has it that actual governing will be delegated, as befits a leader who has no interest in being more than a paper tiger. Unless it turns out that he is basically Mussolini. It is not clear which one it will be, which is a stunning risk to take.
Meanwhile, while all the posturing, xenophobic policy-making, and/or violation of civil liberties are taking place, SOME VERY URGENT PROBLEMS WILL GO UNADDRESSED. This, to my mind, is the greatest danger of a Donald Trump presidency. Donald Trump does not believe climate change is a problem. Donald Trump thinks gun laws should be even less restrictive, to the point that even the NRA finds his positions extreme. Trump doesn't think the federal government should be in the business of setting a national minimum wage. Trump's response to suffering outside our national borders is to build a wall, stick our fingers in our ears, and hum loud.
In particular: sane people know that, if we do not do everything we can to slow climate change RIGHT THIS MINUTE, and redouble those efforts constantly via improved technology and cultural adaptation, much of humanity will not survive for long, and many of those who are surviving will be getting by only by the skin of their teeth. WE CANNOT AFFORD TO WAIT UNTIL THIS STUPID, SELF-DEFEATING NATIONAL WHIM PLAYS ITSELF OUT. We don't have 4 years, or 8 years, or longer than that if our current political system is subverted. Not only the future of the United States is at stake, but, by virtue of our emissions as well as our foreign and economic policies, the entire world will potentially fall victim to the vagaries of our national freaking mood.
Hillary Clinton isn't perfect, but she will keep us moving-- albeit more slowly than I would like-- in the right direction while we search for better answers. She can at least correctly identify many of the problems, even if she doesn't have all the solutions handy. She is basically on the right side of most issues, and she has the practical experience-- in multiple branches of government-- to know how things actually get accomplished. Would I like someone with a magic wand to come along and change the world radically, right now, to my specifications? Of course! And Hillary Clinton will not be that person.
But she's also not a crook, nor a whore, nor a lying bitch; and she's certainly-- and I can't believe I even have to make this distinction-- not an egocentric fascist (and possible tool of Russia?), which makes her far superior to Donald J. Trump. So I'm not going let her imperfections send me into a hissy fit resulting in a protest vote for a) the most dangerous presidential candidate we've seen in a long time, b) Jill Stein (whom you know damn well can't win) or c) nobody, nobody, nobody, I'll put my fingers in my ears and hum loud and STAY HOME. Please, people! I don't actually believe it is hyperbole to say, THE FUTURE OF THE ENTIRE WORLD IS AT STAKE. Not that Hillary Clinton can save the world. But Donald Trump could certainly destroy it.
I know, it sounds like hysteria. But he could! Directly, or much more likely, indirectly, while he is farting around with his walls and his fomenting of hatreds and erecting of statues in his own honor. We do not have time for this.
And for those who are beginning to wail that, because of a few recent polls showing him in an improved position, Trump has already won... you're making me so angry I can hardly see straight. Believe me, I can relate to your sense of panic. But, if we have less than four months to avert the apocalypse, please let's not use this time wearing sackcloth and lying in ashes. If you live in a state that is at all competitive, go volunteer for the Clinton campaign right now. If you don't, donate what you can. Talk to people. Stay informed and don't propagate nonsense. WE MUST WIN AND WE WILL.
The alternative is unthinkable.
Meanwhile, while all the posturing, xenophobic policy-making, and/or violation of civil liberties are taking place, SOME VERY URGENT PROBLEMS WILL GO UNADDRESSED. This, to my mind, is the greatest danger of a Donald Trump presidency. Donald Trump does not believe climate change is a problem. Donald Trump thinks gun laws should be even less restrictive, to the point that even the NRA finds his positions extreme. Trump doesn't think the federal government should be in the business of setting a national minimum wage. Trump's response to suffering outside our national borders is to build a wall, stick our fingers in our ears, and hum loud.
In particular: sane people know that, if we do not do everything we can to slow climate change RIGHT THIS MINUTE, and redouble those efforts constantly via improved technology and cultural adaptation, much of humanity will not survive for long, and many of those who are surviving will be getting by only by the skin of their teeth. WE CANNOT AFFORD TO WAIT UNTIL THIS STUPID, SELF-DEFEATING NATIONAL WHIM PLAYS ITSELF OUT. We don't have 4 years, or 8 years, or longer than that if our current political system is subverted. Not only the future of the United States is at stake, but, by virtue of our emissions as well as our foreign and economic policies, the entire world will potentially fall victim to the vagaries of our national freaking mood.
Hillary Clinton isn't perfect, but she will keep us moving-- albeit more slowly than I would like-- in the right direction while we search for better answers. She can at least correctly identify many of the problems, even if she doesn't have all the solutions handy. She is basically on the right side of most issues, and she has the practical experience-- in multiple branches of government-- to know how things actually get accomplished. Would I like someone with a magic wand to come along and change the world radically, right now, to my specifications? Of course! And Hillary Clinton will not be that person.
But she's also not a crook, nor a whore, nor a lying bitch; and she's certainly-- and I can't believe I even have to make this distinction-- not an egocentric fascist (and possible tool of Russia?), which makes her far superior to Donald J. Trump. So I'm not going let her imperfections send me into a hissy fit resulting in a protest vote for a) the most dangerous presidential candidate we've seen in a long time, b) Jill Stein (whom you know damn well can't win) or c) nobody, nobody, nobody, I'll put my fingers in my ears and hum loud and STAY HOME. Please, people! I don't actually believe it is hyperbole to say, THE FUTURE OF THE ENTIRE WORLD IS AT STAKE. Not that Hillary Clinton can save the world. But Donald Trump could certainly destroy it.
I know, it sounds like hysteria. But he could! Directly, or much more likely, indirectly, while he is farting around with his walls and his fomenting of hatreds and erecting of statues in his own honor. We do not have time for this.
And for those who are beginning to wail that, because of a few recent polls showing him in an improved position, Trump has already won... you're making me so angry I can hardly see straight. Believe me, I can relate to your sense of panic. But, if we have less than four months to avert the apocalypse, please let's not use this time wearing sackcloth and lying in ashes. If you live in a state that is at all competitive, go volunteer for the Clinton campaign right now. If you don't, donate what you can. Talk to people. Stay informed and don't propagate nonsense. WE MUST WIN AND WE WILL.
The alternative is unthinkable.