And there it is...

So, imagine my surprise when I got online and saw the media calling the primary for Ms. Clinton.  Well, I wasn't all that surprised, it was barely a blip on the radar.  Oh hey, that was a shocking article, oh my.  I was actually more surprised when I read Kimbo Slice passed away (not a fan of his or MMA, but it was shocking given his young age). 



So, the media called it, yesterday no less (for the record that was Monday June 6, 2016), more than twenty-four hours before the first polling stations of the day closed in most of the final primaries for the Democratic Presidential Nominee.  I will say that many people probably wept, others were outraged, some of us were quietly shaking our heads wondering what was happening.  Say what you will, believe what you want, until the end of time, this little squabble in the Democratic Party family isn't over.  Sure, Clinton might carry the day, she might even win the war, but there are questions, things that will come up, be brought up, be beat into the ground, and we all will get to see the mother of all shyte shows.  It will be reality television crossed with a soap opera, with the writers being from TMZ. 

All the way until Election Day, or until Clinton is out of office.  Yay Murica, way to go.  We got a clown and an extremely disliked person running for office.  I'll let you, the reader of this, sort out who is what.  So what will come next for the Democrats?  Well, more calls to rally behind Clinton.  Notice something here, its subtle to me, "rally behind" not rally around.  When a friend is in trouble, you rally around them, when most political candidates are running, we rally around them as well, but with Clinton it is behind.  Sure, there is nothing to it, its just one of those subtle things that I noticed.  Yes, rally around and rally behind mean the same thing, but its just one of those oddities in wording.

So, we must rally behind Clinton because Trump.  Do you know how bad Trump is?  Trump will do something stupid in the first month in the White House.  Aren't you afraid of Trump?  Do you really want Trump picking SCotUS nominees?  While on the flip side, I hear conservatives posing those same questions and statements about Clinton.  So, I will field both candidates on those questions and statements equally.  Yes, I know how bad both of them can potentially be, and I can say that almost every newly elected president does something stupid within the first year of taking office.  No, I am not afraid of Trump, and I am not really afraid of Clinton.  Keep in mind, I have been homeless, I live in utter poverty, by American terms its pretty bad where I sit.  At this point, there isn't much one can do to me to make me scared.  I do not like the idea of Clinton or Trump picking nominees.  I honestly do not like the fact that the majority of my peers and fellow Americans are likely picking which poison they want to willingly swallow.  The truth is, it speaks to fear.  Our fear of what the other person could do, and honestly the younger me would have gone for it.  I would have gone for it if my life hadn't been what it has been.  I would have gone for it if I was ascending the socioeconomic ladder, or I was merely holding ground as I was in 2007 or 2008.  Even as I am today, I might have been able to do it, if I saw a chance of improvement.  But, I am not my younger self anymore, I have had those experiences, I am not ascending the ladder, nor am I merely holding ground, and I do not see a chance of improvement with either of these candidates. 

Once elected Trump or Clinton will never be held accountable for their actions.  We have a showman in Trump, and a serial panderer in Clinton.  Both are willing to say or do anything to get power.  Both are largely disliked, viewed as unfavorable by the people.  Both have a ton of baggage.  And you know what, we get what we get.  Something somewhere has to give, because from where I sit, so many people have given everything except to physically lay down and die.  So many people bust their chops day in and day out to provide for themselves and their families, and what is their reward for politicians and the companies they work for in general?  A knife in the back. 

Look, as a supporter of Trump or Clinton, you are free to support them, you are free to vote for them, you are free to talk to people about them, to get them to join your side.  It is still a mostly free country after all.  But do not try bully people into voting your way, its like torture.  Sure, people might say what you want to hear, but you really cannot trust what they say.  I will say it now, I will not vote blue no matter who.  By not voting for Clinton in the General, assuming a host of things don't happen and magically vanish never to be seen or heard about again, I am not magically voting for Trump.  I can only vote for Trump if I actually cast a ballot for Trump, and believe me, I am not casting a vote for him.  But what I can do, what everyone else who dislikes Trump and Clinton can do is vote for someone they do like, someone who they feel represents what they represent.

As it stands today, I am going to vote for someone who does stand for what I stand for, who appears to want this country to go in the direction I do, and it isn't just at the top of the ticket, it will extend down ballot.  That means that third way Democratic Nominees will not get my vote, nor will third way politicians or conservatives.  If, no candidate can be selected that best represents my views, I will not vote at all (there is often a measure that allows one to not vote for any candidate on the ballot).  More people need to vote in this manner.  Forget party loyalty, the parties have ceased being loyal servants to the people, following our wills and desires.  Vote for the person who best represents what you want, the direction you want to go in.  Do not vote for someone because the other person is more evil.

Yes, it can make things worse.  Yes, it can lead to disaster.  The cold truth is, it will very likely make things worse and it will be a disaster in the short term.  I can say that on those dark nights, you will probably loose sleep over it, you might well have your conscience beating you up with what ifs, and could have beens.  Remember that statement, about people picking their poison, well the third option is to not take the poison.  Sure, you are assured that with the poison you are going to die, maybe quickly or maybe slowly.  You might even survive, but with lifelong damage and trauma.  But you can play Russian Roulette, of which you will likely die (as it is an extremely dangerous thing to do), but you might also come out unharmed, well outside of soiling yourself and never waiting to touch a gun again.  I am advocating this third choice at this moment (unless Clinton can convince me she really is liberal at the least).  I am advocating that people vote how they want, without rationalizing their vote because of fear of what could happen. 

Speaking of the fear of what could happen, if we allowed the fear that permeates our politics to dictate our lives, there would be zero work place fatalities, zero car accidents, no crime, no nothing.  How you ask?  Because we would be so utterly afraid to even move from our beds, we would waste away and die.  We wouldn't go to work because there could be a workplace shooting.  We wouldn't drive, because we could be killed in an accident.  The bad guys wouldn't break into homes or do anything because, you guessed it.  We wouldn't leave our beds, because we could drown in the bathtub, or slip and hit our heads on the sink in the bathroom.  We could burn our homes down cooking dinner, or break our necks falling out of chair.  We are already sacred of terrorists that we created with Conservative and Third Way policies.  So, why is the option of not voting for Trump or not voting for a potential Clinton presidency so frightening, cause I can promise you now, if enough people read this, I can guarantee you that someone, somewhere reading this today is likely not going to vote.  It will not because they do not want to vote, it will be because they are unable to vote, for whatever reason.  I can promise you, my Dad would have loved the ability to vote in the primary here, he would have loved to have voted in the general, but he cannot. 

All in all, vote for the person you want.  Do not cast a vote out of fear of the other candidate.  This vote, like all others is over the direction you want to see this country move in.  After that, pack up, wait for the next election, rinse and repeat, until you start seeing the change you want.  One person cannot change the world, but they can change another person.  Two people alone cannot change anything, but they can sway others.  If enough people are swayed, change will come.  Change is coming, regardless of who gets into the White House, the Senate, and the House, at all levels of government.  Just be prepared, when the candidate you voted for out of fear, decides to dig that knife in a little deeper.