I've tried to explain to some of my Facebook friends why I am going to
vote for Hillary Clinton. This is one more try.
From The Guardian
Why does Donald Trump do so poorly among these groups? Because he's widely understood to be leading a racist campaign that threatens the well being of these vulnerable minority groups. Overwhelmingly they do not want this hate campaign to succeed.
I'm no fan of CNN or Anderson Cooper but they did some checking up on Trump's public remarks about women. See the above video.
From the horse's ass' own mouth.
Let’s deal with some political realities:
1- The United States has never been a democracy. That means that the system is designed to thwart a well informed population to even exist, let alone govern through majority rule. You will not find any reference to our country being a democracy in either the United States Constitution or the Declaration of Independence. So, at best, the citizenry's voice, or voices, are muffled by the system. That's why we are facing a choice between to very unpopular and distrusted candidates and it's why real issues are rarely debated by candidates in the mass media.
One candidate for major party nomination did try to inject the actual concerns of the population into the campaign. His name is Bernie Sanders. He became the center of gravity for a potentially effective mass democratic movement without, and in fact in opposition to Wall Street, eccentric billionaires, white supremacists or the Israel Lobby. He and the movement took it about as far as they could.
Other candidates are blocked from participating in the few rigged candidates debates that are likely to take place. These are voices that the public deserves the right to hear and consider.
2- Because we do not have a parliamentary system but rather one designed for two major parties to contend for office votes for alternative candidates translate into votes for the eventual winner. Actually abstention translates into the very same thing. So those who are in sympathy with the concerns of African Americans, Hispanics, Muslim Americans, underpaid exploited workers, young people crushed by debt and women, from many perspectives, anti militarists and anti interventionists are literally up Schitz' Creek with a tiny paddle. By their vote or non vote they take sides even in spite of themselves.
3- Hillary Clinton is a horror show. Her husband, putative unelected Economy Czar under her potential administration is anti worker, as disrespectful of women as any man on earth, a miserable human being. Yet, due to the undemocratic nature of the political system our most vulnerable friends, neighbors, and co workers put their hopes in her election. That is because, for them, Donald Trump, the alternative, is more threatening, more dangerous and within striking distance of taking the presidency along with the Congress, state governments and The Supreme Court.
Ultimately elections will at best be a small part of our gaining a democracy that lives in peace with and respects the rest of the world and the environment. We need a fighting reality based movement in the streets, organizing strikes and demonstrations, using social media and guerilla style propaganda (educational ) campaigns. It would be good, though if we hand the organized bigots a moral defeat in the coming election. That's why I want Trump to lose, and why I am going to vote for his opponent.
"I was Grand Marshall at the Salute to Israel Day Parade."
One thing the Bernie Sanders campaign did was it challenged the stranglehold of the Israel Lobby on United States policy towards Israel and Palestine. It was praised and recognized by Alison Weir of If Americans Knew. In my opinion Alison Weir is the most serious and effective friend Palestinians have in the United States.
She supported Bernie Sanders. Now that Sanders has done what he said he would do from the beginning- support the Democratic nominee as opposed to Donald Trump - she says she's lost all respect for him. I hope that somehow she could read this post and consider my point, that the United States is not a democracy, that the public is consistently given unpalatable choices and that whatever one chooses to do one is in fact making a choice between Clinton and Trump.
And Trump has dangerous magical qualities - charisma and teflon. He's now the spiritual and political leader of a dangerous social formation- armed, combat hardened militarily trained fear inducing white man biker thugs.
It will be good for the United States and the world if the Rolling Thunder boys suffer a setback.
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