davemerrill (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
davemerrill) wrote2016-11-04 08:47 am
davemerrill) wrote2016-11-04 08:47 am
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my Presidential endorsement statement
I know everybody's sick to death of this endless election. I am too. I can't sleep and I'm cranky and nervous and refreshing 538.com every five minutes to see poll results. I'll tell you why I'm so nervous.
I'm nervous because Donald Trump is singularly unqualified to be President. I'm nervous because in his own words he's a terrible human being who treats people with utter contempt. I'm nervous because the only yardstick of his competence - his business practices - are ruinous and destructive. I'm nervous because of the endless parade of demonstrably false and illegal campaign practices that have been utilized on behalf of the Republican candidate. I'm nervous because of the racists and white supremacists that have come squirming out of the dark to cheer him on. I'm nervous because of the violence and ugliness that his campaign has inspired. Mostly, I'm nervous because this dumpster fire of a candidate is within striking distance of the White House, and what that says about American democracy, what that says about the nature of the American voter, that Trump has been able to get as far as he has. It doesn't say good things about the Republican Party and it doesn't say good things about America.
That's why I'm nervous.
Hillary Clinton is, on the other hand, uniquely and positively qualified to be President. In spite of a concerted and well-funded smear campaign that dates back decades, she's displayed competence and wisdom in both elected and appointed positions. Her public service has helped America on nearly every level for decades. A race between her and a competent Republican candidate that focused on policy and issues would be a tribute to democracy itself. That is not what we have.
It's been a grinding root canal of an election all along. We've all been suffering through angry Bernie supporters, putting up with leftier-than-thou hectoring from professional Presidential candidate Jill Stein and her fans, and the only bright spots have been seeing the look of confusion on Gary Johnson's face when he's asked to consider a foreign city or name a world leader he admires. We've spent eighteen months being pounded day after day with polls and fake scandals and revelations and the jowly paranoia of Rudy Giuliani.
But we must not lose sight of the whole point of this; that this Tuesday, we vote.
I am in honest fear of a Trump administration. His stated campaign goals will cause real, actual, physical harm to many of my friends and will take a sledge hammer to decades of foreign and domestic policy. I am lucky enough to live in Canada, but Canada is not far enough away to escape the effects of a President Trump.
It's rare that we're given such a clear choice at the polls. A lot of us flipped coins over Bush/Gore or felt that McCain was a strong candidate, and reasonable people could debate the issues in those races. This year the gulf between our choices is a wide, yawning chasm, an abyss that is gazing back at us right now. I want to urge you to stare that abyss down and say "no thanks, chaos." I urge you to join me in voting for Hillary Clinton.
I'm nervous because Donald Trump is singularly unqualified to be President. I'm nervous because in his own words he's a terrible human being who treats people with utter contempt. I'm nervous because the only yardstick of his competence - his business practices - are ruinous and destructive. I'm nervous because of the endless parade of demonstrably false and illegal campaign practices that have been utilized on behalf of the Republican candidate. I'm nervous because of the racists and white supremacists that have come squirming out of the dark to cheer him on. I'm nervous because of the violence and ugliness that his campaign has inspired. Mostly, I'm nervous because this dumpster fire of a candidate is within striking distance of the White House, and what that says about American democracy, what that says about the nature of the American voter, that Trump has been able to get as far as he has. It doesn't say good things about the Republican Party and it doesn't say good things about America.
That's why I'm nervous.
Hillary Clinton is, on the other hand, uniquely and positively qualified to be President. In spite of a concerted and well-funded smear campaign that dates back decades, she's displayed competence and wisdom in both elected and appointed positions. Her public service has helped America on nearly every level for decades. A race between her and a competent Republican candidate that focused on policy and issues would be a tribute to democracy itself. That is not what we have.
It's been a grinding root canal of an election all along. We've all been suffering through angry Bernie supporters, putting up with leftier-than-thou hectoring from professional Presidential candidate Jill Stein and her fans, and the only bright spots have been seeing the look of confusion on Gary Johnson's face when he's asked to consider a foreign city or name a world leader he admires. We've spent eighteen months being pounded day after day with polls and fake scandals and revelations and the jowly paranoia of Rudy Giuliani.
But we must not lose sight of the whole point of this; that this Tuesday, we vote.
I am in honest fear of a Trump administration. His stated campaign goals will cause real, actual, physical harm to many of my friends and will take a sledge hammer to decades of foreign and domestic policy. I am lucky enough to live in Canada, but Canada is not far enough away to escape the effects of a President Trump.
It's rare that we're given such a clear choice at the polls. A lot of us flipped coins over Bush/Gore or felt that McCain was a strong candidate, and reasonable people could debate the issues in those races. This year the gulf between our choices is a wide, yawning chasm, an abyss that is gazing back at us right now. I want to urge you to stare that abyss down and say "no thanks, chaos." I urge you to join me in voting for Hillary Clinton.