Maybe it’s because I’m a gay man from a certain era that I’ve become less radical and more pragmatic in my old age. As one who fought against the establishment and survived the plague, and who never thought he’d see his long-term relationship legally recognized in his lifetime, I am petrified of a Trump presidency.
Yes, I was a Bernie supporter, and just like Bernie, I am now fully supporting Hillary Clinton. I know Trump’s conservative appointments to the Supreme Court would set this country back 40-plus years and wipe out everything for which I fought so hard.
Trump’s list of potential nominees to the bench is a who’s who of anti-women, anti-choice, anti-environment, anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ and anti- fill-in-the-blank zealots.
Hillary has stated that she will do everything in her power to overturn “Citizens United,” the 2010 “Corporations Are People Too ” decision that allows mega-money to buy elections.
Imagine a Hillary victory with a Senate majority, and we might very well see our recently retired president filling the empty Supreme Court seat the Republicans have stubbornly refused to fill or even hold hearings on during Obama’s last “lame duck” year. Wouldn’t that be political Karma?
I have learned from my mistake. Back in 2000, naively thinking there was no real difference between the two mainstream parties, I supported Ralph Nader.
Gore lost Florida and the election to Bush by a handful of votes, due to left leaning Democrats abandoning ship and voting Green.
Under Bush, the country paid dearly with a deceptive war that destabilized the entire Middle East, the worst recession since the Great Depression, the total loss of respect from our global neighbors, and the widening gap of the haves and the have-nots.
What Trump could do in four short years could make the Bush years pale in comparison.
Jill Stein has even less chance of winning than Nader. Voting Green, or staying home in protest of Sanders not getting the nomination, is the equivalent of handing your vote over to Trump on a silver platter.
The last 14 months on the campaign trail is proof enough that Donald Trump is unfit to be president. There’s no need to go into all his past tirades, but recent attacks on a Muslim-American’s Gold Star family and the tasteless and dangerous “joke” about “Second Amendment” violence to Clinton, and claims that President Obama founded ISIS may be the turning point where the rest of the country catches up and collectively shouts WTF.
Hillary has taken a lead in recent polls, but I’m not sleeping sounder just yet. A whole lot of things can shift and alter this election in the next 80-some days.
Thanks in part to Bernie Sanders, the Democrats have put together the most progressive platform in American history. It’s in stark contrast to the Republicans, who are against marriage equality and a woman’s right to choose, who want to throw 20 million people off their healthcare coverage, and who still think climate change is a hoax.
A Facebook friend recently posted he was voting Green, stating, “It has to burn before it can be reborn.” Fine and dandy, just don’t take me down in your flames.
It won’t be the Trump supporters I’ll have resentment toward if he is elected, it will be that small percentage that threw away their vote by not supporting Hillary. Arkansas is a red state and the chances of Hillary winning here at home are slim. There is an argument to be made that voting Green or not voting at all makes a statement and will not affect the election results. But it can also be argued that Hillary winning the popular vote by a large margin legitimizes her presidency and sends a strong message to the country and watching world that Americans will not tolerate a bigoted, race-baiting, misogynistic, loudmouthed bully in this country’s highest office.
Yes, vote your conscience, but remember a non-vote for Hillary is a vote for Trump.
John Rankine
The proofreader thankfully regained consciousness in the print edition. LOL
Was the proofreader unconscience?
Nitpicking aside, Rankine is dead right. How is it that we can recognize the crucial difference between Trump and Clinton on the national level where the individual Arkansas voter has very little impact and ignore the same difference at the local, Eureka Springs level where one vote can have enormous impact? In many ways, things happen in Eureka before they ripple down to the nation at large. What is happening now in Eureka is voter apathy. There is so little confidence in the democratic process that no one even runs for office. Even if he doesn’t win, Trump’s presence in the race has turned off millions of millenials who will never vote, just as the dominance of the business class for forty-five years in Eureka has turned off local voters who have lost faith in the process. Trump cares about Trump, not the country. Eureka’s de facto business party which dominates local government cares about personal financial profit. It does not care about community or the future of its residents. Elected stooges of the banks, hotels and Chamber of Commerce have squandered the public’s trust in the institution of local self-government in exactly the same way that Trump and the Republican Party have destroyed faith in self-government by voting at the national level.
Great letter! If you disagree with me, it’s okay, you’re wrong.
Thank you for a wonderful letter. You’ve made a very important point and I hope readers understand the seriousness of your message. We all have much to lose if Trump wins.