Friday, July 22, 2016

It Won't Be Trump (Except it Might Be)


After watching the orange man give his "acceptance speech", I am now officially scared.


Of course not scared of the things he obviously wants all American's to be scared of:
Immigrants (i.e. brown people)
Terrorists (i.e. Islam)
"Crime and lawlessness" (i.e. black people)

No, I'm not (nor have I ever been) afraid of those things. I'm afraid of a Trump presidency. I'm afraid that the people who don't know any better will think those threats are just real enough to propel this narcissistic sociopath to the highest office in the land. I'm afraid that well meaning people on the right will buy into his demagoguery and carry him to the White House on their "I Want MY America Back" protest signs. I'm afraid that those folks (and others who've yet to come out of the woodwork) will take his threats as implied permission to take things into their own hands and we will see more bloodshed aimed toward the most marginalized in our country.

But, I'm even more afraid that well meaning people on the left will continue to buy into the right-wing spin machine driven narrative about Secretary Clinton and either stay home, not voting at all, or instead swing their vote to the Green Party or "write in" Sanders. It is well worth remembering:

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good (people) do nothing.


There is TOO MUCH AT STAKE my friends for you to sit in your tower of privilege and either sit this one out or make a "protest vote". Too much. People of color in this country don't have the luxury of struggling to survive four years of this man because you want to make a point. Peoples lives are literally on the line here, migrant lives, black lives, muslim lives, the lives of women and yes the lives of people all across the world who will be harmed by the ideology of division and hate Trump is using to propel himself to the presidency (and which I can only assume will continue to guide him once elected).
Beyond just the immediate damage he can (and likely will) do to those on the margins from his policies, this isn't just about the next four years - it's about the next two to three GENERATIONS! There are three or perhaps even four SCOTUS nominations that the next sitting president will control. That will swing the court's direction either toward more authoritarianism and oligarchy or toward more inclusion. Your choice.
Remember voting is a right but with rights come responsibilities. You have a responsibility, if you're a person of conscience, to keep this man out of office. Again, your choice. PLEASE make the right one.