Can't wait for this to end...

I cannot wait for Wednesday morning to come. Its like Christmas, really it is, and I'm not even Christian. Will Santa bring me the gifts I asked for in a poorly written letter, or will I get a lump of coal. For what its worth, it is apt to be a lump of coal, because Santa really is a prick (just look at the historical characters he is based on).

Alright so as it stands according to the Media, the polls of tightening up. For what its worth, if Trump wasn't so putrid to most of us perched on the center to left side of the political ideology charts, Clinton would not be leading currently. If Clinton did not appear to be so god awful, she would be running away with the election in one of the most severe landslide victories in history.

So, here is what I am hearing now, right now, just days before the election and my responses to those comments (remember this is my personal opinion). First up we have the tried and true, “Now is not the time or place for a protest Vote, do you see how bad Trump is?” In the entirety of my voting life, I have heard these types of sentiments in various forms, sometimes it was a joke of sorts, other times it was not, this is the latter. But yes, I have seen and heard how bad Trump really is. The man has enough political sense to probably blow himself, and us, to hell and back repeatedly, which is to say he has no political sense. The man openly flaunts racism and sexism like its a great thing. He is a showman, concerned with putting up false fronts, to show himself as being stronger and more badass than he actually is. He is a small fish swimming in a very large sea. That said, he is exactly that, a man who doesn't really grasp how politics works, nor does he want to. He wants to be a bully, he is a bully, and he has bad ideas. That is an extremely poor mix of qualities to have in a political leader, no doubt about that. Now, this is not the time or place to say no more, because Trump is not qualified to be the president, but as someone who has been watching these things play out for as long as I can recall, it appears to never be the time or place. Over the years, I have watched as people scream that we cannot allow this person or that person to become the president, senator, representative, delegate, governor, dog catcher because, my God, they are so bad. The truth of the matter is, when you paint the other guy as being so bad, we then try to overlook our candidates faults. But the thing is, if now is not the time or the place, when will it be the time or the place? In four years, providing Trump does not win, which I doubt he will, unless some extraordinary events occur, the next candidate who runs for the position of president will be far, far worse than Trump, making matters worse, this candidate will have four years to plan, to hone and craft his or her message. In four years this new candidate will not make the same mistakes as Trump, he will be squeaky clean. But wait, there's more... In four years we will have over a hundred scandals of the week to fend off with Clinton. This leaves me with, now is the time and the place to force the issue. We have what are seen as two really bad candidates running, and we have to stop this nonsense of “Have you seen how bad the other guy is,” mantra. Sorry Clinton supporters, we have to make the time to put an end to this, for far too long we put it off as candidates from both parties have become less and less acceptable. Hey its bad when your only standing points appear to be, I'm not the other guy.

“I'm really getting sick of these Bernbros.” I always enjoy this statement. Really I do. Just because, its actually pretty funny. See, this is called cutting off your nose to spite your face, and its really just an ignorant thing to do. Think about it in simple terms, you have a group of people, of a questionable size (maybe 30% or more) of Sanders supporters who won't vote for your candidate. So, how best to include them? Insult them, paint them as sexist, push them away, rather than reach out to them, talk to them, see if you can't politely persuade them to your cause of stopping Trump? Nah, lets just insult them, then complain when they don't support you or even agree to reluctantly agree to you. Hey, that's great you are really getting sick of people who supported Sanders, but now support Stein. Guess they aren't as sexist as you were saying. But wait, there's more. Rather than just apologize for trying to paint them as sexist, they double down on it, because now, they are secret racists and sexists because they are voting for a female candidate who has no chance of winning. I remember back in April and May of 2015, myself and many others were being accused of such. That is called shaming, and it has no place in politics, well outside of the really egregious things. I also find it laughable because what you are really saying is, “I'm getting really sick of these people who are speaking out against what they see as wrong with our political system, and they are refusing to allow themselves to be bullied into voting in a fashion that contradicts their personal views.” Hey, guess what, there is nothing wrong with that either, well, unless you are directly voting for some really egregious stuff.

That reminds me... “ A vote for ~insert candidate~ is just a wasted vote,” or “A vote for ~insert candidate~ is really a vote for Trump.” Yeah, I hate to break this to you but... That's not how it works, its not how any of this works. A vote counts for one candidate, if I vote for Vermin Supreme (who I am now officially nominating at this moment), its his vote, it counts for him. It does not magically become a Trump vote. I signed no contract with the Clinton campaign to vote solely for her, so when I went to the voting spot to cast my early ballot, my vote didn't magically vanish from her tally, and reappear under Trumps. No, my vote did not exist until the moment I magically appeared at the polling station, cast my ballot, and put it in the box. Now, I have heard some really boneheaded responses to how a vote for one candidate magically becomes a vote for someone else. The truth is, we should really vote for someone like Dr. Stein, because her vote is a vote for everyone running, depending on who you talk to anyway. That whole a vote for “X” is really just a vote for “T” is hard to believe. Actually I would find this more scenario more believable. I go to the polling station, where a Unicorn craps out a rainbow colored ballot, where I vote for cash money, paid by the candidates, and when I put my vote in the envelope and do my thing with it, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit randomly pick a candidate after I leave. The truth is about a vote for x is a vote for y is... Just an assumption. You see, candidates and their supporters assume that because you are liberal, or registered as a member of a specific party that you will always vote for whatever that candidate that party is offering. Why do you think people rip Nader for 2000, when the truth is, Florida residents voted between 10 candidates, and other states that could have swung it for Gore, predominantly went with other candidates rather than Gore. The ugly truth of it is, when you loose an election you failed to entice voters to rally behind you, or to even cast a ballot on your behalf. There is no magical vote change, votes are not owed based on party affiliation, or gender, they are based on policy ideas and direction, along with a trust factor.

“They (Never Clinton people) need to grow up and realize that as an adult they can't always get what they want.” But, I don't want to adult right now, its too hard. Yeah, that is about how I sum up my response to that statement. Hey, I have news for everyone, if you are an adult, you have reached a point in your life where you have your own opinions, even if they are misinformed. I have an idea, how about we all take a step back, and take a breath. The fact is, a lot of people have been adults for a long time. Some of us have seen more crap than most adults should see in a lifetime, we have lived lifetimes in the span of a few years. There is a reason why so many people go third party in every election, its because they want to see a different path. Just because they do not agree with your chosen path, does not mean that they aren't being an adult. They are not throwing a tantrum because... If anything, more people should respond with, “Why don't you adult right now?” Look, if there is one thing that I learned early on in my life is that, risk is part of life. The higher the risk, the greater the reward. Being an adult means you have to shoulder the risks, you have to accept that risk no matter how great, is part of being an adult. If you never put yourself out there, take the chance, you will do nothing. No, you don't always get what you want, but if you never take a chance, if you never risk anything, you get nothing. But being an adult also means when you risk it all, you might not win, you might actually harm yourself by losing everything. That said, if all your friends were jumping off a cliff, would you follow them? Would you jump off the same cliff with them, just because they are willing to do so? Look, being an adult requires you to make choices, take risks, do some pretty ugly things at times. Just because someone is not willing to jump off the same cliff as you are, does not mean that they aren't being an adult. That is a discredit to those who do not agree with you. They are making a choice, taking a risk based on the information they have at hand.

Some people are contrary by nature, and when you start throwing out the lines that have been thrown out there, you have alienated them. Rather than talk, they feel as if they are being pushed into a choice they do not like, so they rebel. Others, simply do not like the choices offered, and seek other choices. Some just want to watch it burn, because they see no hope, and no way to fix things. They see the system as being totally broken, beyond repair, and in some ways they are right. The system is broken, and as long as you have half of the population that votes refusing to acknowledge there are problems, while refusing to do anything to help fix it, you are going to see the divide grow larger, while those people who feel as if they and others are being marginalized outside of a few crumbs being tossed their way are going to become more radicalized. This will result in even more dysfunction, and more problems in two, four, eight years down the line. So, you might be getting sick of people not toeing the line, you might be tired of people “not being adults,” and you can continue this “a vote for x is really a vote for y because...” mantra, but until you actually sit back and listen to people without screaming “no is not the time or place” for such, you are just as much to blame for the problems as those who created this mess in the first place. The blame for a potential Trump presidency is not on those who voted their conscious and voted third party. It falls on your candidate and yourselves for deciding to not listen to people with very real concerns and problems.