If you are into politics, even remotely, you have undoubtedly become aware of the radical insurgence of Jill Stein and the Green Party.
Bernie Sanders recently stepped aside after a rigged “Democratic” primary and unleashed a cluster-bomb of liberal voters, along with parting instructions for his followers to vote for Hillary Clinton, in order to defeat the evil Donald Trump.
In a normal election year, voters would likely heed Sanders’ advice, but there is nothing normal about the 2016 presidential election.
While there is an argument to be made that a vote for Jill Stein is actually a half-vote for Donald Trump, to believe this is to take an overly simplistic view of the dynamics of the current political situation in America.
The two largest political blocks in the United States are Independent voters and non-voters.
Independent voters make up 43% of the electorate and the majority of them had no intention to support Secretary Clinton to begin with.
It is also important to note that over 93 million eligible voters opt not to vote at all in presidential elections.
Many of these people choose not to vote because they have been disenchanted with their options in past elections.
In order for these people to get over their apathy and participate, they require a new and refreshing voice.
Add to this the 13 million people who voted for Bernie Sanders and the millions of disenfranchised voters, who were locked out of closed “Democratic” primaries and are seeking a new home, and it becomes obvious, that due to this confluence of factors, America is finally ready for the rise of a third-party.
It is important to note that there is a similar movement taking place on the right side of the political spectrum with Libertarian Gary Johnson holding firm at 10%, as many Republicans are looking for a new home as a result of the hostile takeover of the GOP by Donald Trump, but this article will be focusing specifically on the false narrative that “a vote for Jill Stein is a vote for Donald Trump.”
To assume that Hillary Clinton is somehow entitled to the votes of people who do not agree with her politics is ludicrous.
It is like asking someone if they would like to be shot, waiting for them to say “No.” and then pretending that this means that they would enjoy being stabbed.
While the above simile is ridiculous, it is no more ridiculous than Clinton supporters assuming that everyone who opposes Donald Trump, automatically would throw their support behind a candidate that represents everything they hate.
In a normal election year, many of these people would simply choose not to vote.
Some would even cast a grudge vote for the opposing party, due to their anger at being cheated by the DNC.
When you look at it from this perspective, you see that Jill Stein could potentially even help Hillary Clinton.
While it is true that corporate media, working hand in hand with the Clinton campaign, have done an excellent job of scaring millions into voting for Hillary, based solely on the premise that she is not Donald Trump, many reject this ideology of fear and refuse to support any candidate that does not represent their core values.
A vote for Jill Stein is nothing like a vote for Donald Trump.
In fact, a shocking new study reveals that a vote for Jill Stein is actually a vote for Jill Stein.
In 2008 there was a false movement started by Hillary Clinton supporters, known as PUMA.
PUMA was an acronym representing the words Party Unity My Ass.
This movement’s lack of an imaginary name was only exceeded by the lack of conviction found in it’s members.
PUMA turned out to be a giant bluff.
In the end, Clinton supporters caved and voted for Obama.
They patted themselves on the back for being good Democrats and came back eight years later to support their rejected candidate.
Of course, Clinton supporters did not take the Bernie or Bust movement seriously.
They couldn’t even take their own movement seriously.
Why would they believe that there were millions of Americans who would have the courage to follow their convictions when they themselves did not?
They caved, so they expected others to cave.
The DNC made the fatal error of assuming that Sanders’ supporters were loyal Democrats, when by and large Sanders’ success was based on the fact that millions had become fed up with the corporate antics of the “Democratic” Party.
After watching PUMA turned to roadkill, it was only natural that the DNC would assume that Bernie or Bust voters would rally behind Hillary Clinton, especially with the specter of Donald Trump looming.
But if anything, PUMA was the beginning of the end for the “Democratic” Party.
The assumption that Sanders supporters could be reabsorbed once Clinton was nominated caused the leadership to be careless in the treatment of said supporters.
Bridges have been burnt and there seems to be no effort by the arrogant, corporate party to make amends.
While loyal Democrats keep reminding us that Bernie and Hillary voted in lockstep 93% of their shared time in the Senate, they are only exemplifying their complete lack of understanding of Sanders’ political revolution.
Clinton and Sanders may be somewhat similar on policy, but Sanders’ movement was one of ideology and when it comes to philosophy the chasm between the two candidates is vast and all encompassing.
Clinton is the embodiment of everything Sanders’ revolution stood in opposition to.
Sanders voters, hungry for social justice, are left starving by Clinton’s neo-liberal facade.
In fact, some leftists are willing to suffer through four years of Donald Trump, just to send the message to the DNC that their tactics will not be tolerated.
In the midst of Wikileaks exposing the corruption of the “Democratic” Party, there is a once in a lifetime opportunity for America to finally break the shackles of it’s corporate two-party system.
Enter leftist anti-Democrat, Jill Stein.
Jill Stein is more than just methadone for Bernie Sanders addicts.
She is a true revolutionary voice and an activist not afraid to do time on the front lines.
Although Stein lines up nicely on policy with Sanders, she is much more vocal than he is, regarding the corruption in the “Democratic” Party.
Whereas Sanders focused completely on issues and his message of political revolution, Stein is angry and not afraid to call out Hillary Clinton directly.
Where Sanders was hogtied by Clinton’s accusations of sexism, Stein has no such obstacle.
Jill Stein is not afraid to speak the truth about Clinton and millions of people scorned by the election rigging in the “Democratic” primary are flocking to her message.
Still, there are those who are locked into binary thinking, who insist that voting for Jill Stein is actually indirectly voting for Donald Trump.
But contrary to popular belief, politics is not horse racing and our vote is not a bet on whom we think will be victorious.
A person’s vote is meant to represent one’s personal values and anyone who tells you otherwise has an agenda.
The American vote is sacred, as it is based on the blood of our ancestors, who literally gave their lives for this right, that so many take for granted.
While it is true that a single vote rarely has an impact on something so grandiose as a presidential election, this does not mean that one’s vote is unimportant.
To vote is to cast one’s thoughts into action and to tell your government, in a very direct way, exactly how you feel about what they are doing and what you expect from them going forward.
All the Facebook and Twitter posts in the world do not equate to the power and sanctity of a single vote and it is for this reason that a vote for Jill Stein is anything but a vote for Donald Trump.
A vote for Jill Stein is a middle finger in the face of tyranny.
A vote for Jill Stein is a protest vote against a party that rigged an election against a good man.
A vote for Jill Stein sends the message, loud and clear, that we will not support any candidate who attempts to usurp our democracy.
To vote for Hillary Clinton, after the way the DNC smeared and threatened Bernie Sanders, is to sanction such activities.
We would have no one to blame, but ourselves, when future elections were rigged.
Voting for the lesser of two evils is what brought us to this point and Americans have, at long last, decided to stand up to the illusion of choice, in the corporate two-party system and throw their support behind a movement, that will help guarantee, that we will never again find ourselves locked in a system so broken, that it spits out a corporate controlled warmonger and a racist reality TV star and then pretends that we have choice.
Still there are those who don’t have the fortitude required to support a third-party candidate.
They fear a vote for Stein or Johnson will allow the other side to win and they just couldn’t live with themselves should that happen.
To appease these people, I propose logic, in place of guilt.
Unless you live in a swing state (a state that is closely contested and is never consistently won by either party), your single vote will not affect the outcome of your state’s election.
This allows you the freedom to vote your conscience, without fear that you have helped elect someone you dislike.
In Indiana, where I live, Donald Trump has three times as many voters as Hillary Clinton.
In essence, my vote is wasted if I vote for either Clinton or Trump.
Trump is going to win regardless of how I vote.
Jill Stein will most certainly not win Indiana, so I must use my vote as part of a larger picture.
Even though Stein is unlikely to win my state, my vote will go towards supporting the Green Party and increasing their status in future elections.
This means that in 2020, Americans will have more choice.
We will have more voices on the debate stage and a third-party candidate will start the election cycle as a household name, instead of having to battle from obscurity.
When you look at things this way, you realize that non-swing state voters make their vote count more by supporting a third-party candidate.
So if you are angry at your lack of choice in this election, rejoice!!
You have an opportunity to make things different in America on a permanent basis.
If you vote for the lesser evil, then evil always wins.
The time to vote for the greater good is now.
The time to break out of the corporate, binary system is at hand.
Don’t let fear-mongers take away your voice.
Don’t be deceived by false narratives, designed to trick you into supporting someone who doesn’t represent your values.
Your vote is your voice.
Don’t ever let ANYONE take that away from you or make you feel bad for exercising your personal freedom.
Don’t be afraid to vote third-party.
Future generations will benefit greatly from your benevolence.
theindependentthinker2016 
We don’t really believe Sen. Bernie Sanders has completely “stepped aside” Make YOUR/OUR Vote Honestly Count! Dear Berniecrats/Sanders Supporters Please Sign & Share this WhiteHouse.gov. Petition to replace the current ‘delegate’ nominated candidate with Sen. Bernie Sanders! https://wh.gov/iFVlr
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Thank you for this concise and well-written discussion of the care for voting for Jill Stein, the only candidate in the 2016 presidential race who truly represents the interests of the people of our nation, rather than those of powerful corporations.
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Do have issues w/voting rights– as a woman–we didn’t get to vote until 1920 after we protested and died for the right; or that soldiers died for our “right to vote”–they died to keep our MIC alive and in charge—this isn’t a Democracy, and I don’t think it ever has been! If ANYONE is disenfranchised in a country, regardless of why, you don’t have a Democracy……bottom line, I don’t think many of us believe in this country enough to feel like we even belong here–but where to go? We’ve fucked w/so many countries, we aren’t really welcome anywhere!! WTF!!!?? Susan
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I am translating your beautiful post to Spanish, and with your permission, posting it in forty or fifty sites, as well as sending it, bilingually, to some family members, including some of my children, who have been saying (or thinking) that the fact that I will not vote for Hillary means a vote for Trump. I had already expressed some of the same thoughts that you do so brilliantly. If you want to, I will gladly share my Spanish version of your brilliant version in English.
You might also be interested in checking out my blog, whose name at one time was silviantonia, which was changed when most of my posts were bilingual Bernie or Bust posts. This is the “Bust” time, and I am amazed that people don’t get that. In my own case and with my own family, I am amazed that they forget that I have been arrested again and again for principles I believe in. I had to forgo Philadelphia, although I had bought my ticket before I was named a candidate, way back in March, I think, because I slipped and fell and was badly injured and couldn’t travel.
I am reblogging this on my own blog and will post the Spanish version there as well.
Thank you for a beautifully written and expressed post. Onward the revolution, or as we say in my native country of Cuba, ¡Qué viva la revolución!
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Here is the translation of your article:
Si usted está interesado en la política, aunque sea desde lejos, sin duda se ha enterado de la insurgencia radical de Jill Stein y el Partido Verde.
Bernie Sanders se hizo a un lado recientemente después de una primaria “demócrata” fraudulenta y desató una bomba de racimo de votantes liberales, junto con instrucciones de despedida para sus seguidores de que votaran por Hillary Clinton, con el fin de derrotar al malvado Donald Trump.
En un año normal de elecciones, los votantes probablemente seguirían el consejo de Sanders, pero no hay nada normal en las elecciones presidenciales de 2016.
Si bien se puede hacer un argumento de que un voto por Jill Stein es en realidad un medio voto a favor de Donald Trump, creer esto es tener una visión demasiado simplista de la dinámica de la situación política actual en los Estados Unidos.
Los dos mayores bloques políticos en los Estados Unidos son los votantes independientes y los no votantes.
Los votantes independientes representan el 43% del electorado, mientras que más de 93 millones de votantes aptos optan por no votar en absoluto en las elecciones presidenciales.
Asumir que Hillary Clinton de alguna manera tiene el derecho a los votos de las personas que ella ha marginado es haberse quedado dormido al volante.
Asumir que uno debe votar por Hillary Clinton por temor a su amigo, Donald Trump, es estar muy lejos del pulso de los estadounidenses.
Tradicionalmente, los estadounidenses son soñadores y por lo general un grupo idealista.
Y si bien es cierto que los medios de comunicación corporativos, trabajando codo con codo con la campaña de Clinton, han hecho un excelente trabajo de asustar a los mentecatos para que voten por Hillary, basado únicamente en la premisa de que ella no es Donald Trump, muchos están rechazando esta ideología del temor y se niegan a apoyar a cualquier candidato que no represente sus valores fundamentales.
Un voto por Jill Stein no tiene nada que ver con un voto a favor de Donald Trump.
De hecho, un estudio reciente impactante revela que un voto por Jill Stein es en realidad un voto por Jill Stein.
En el 2008 hubo un movimiento falso iniciado por partidarios de Hillary Clinton, conocido como PUMA.
PUMA por sus siglas en inglés representaba las palabras “me cago en la unidad del Partido”.
La falta de un nombre imaginario de parte de este movimiento sólo fue superada por la falta de valor de sus miembros.
No era nada más que una pantomima.
Al final, los partidarios de Clinton cedieron y votaron por Obama.
Se dieron una palmadita en la espalda por ser buenos demócratas y regresaron ocho años más tarde para apoyar a su candidata rechazada.
Por supuesto, los partidarios de Clinton no tomaron el movimiento de Bernie o nada en serio.
Ni siquiera habían podido tomar su propio movimiento en serio.
¿Por qué creerían que había millones de estadounidenses que tendrían el valor de respetar sus propias convicciones cuando ellos mismos no lo habían hecho?
Ellos habían cedido, por lo que esperaban que los demás también cedieran.
Después de ver a PUMA convertirse en un animal atropellado, era natural que el Partido “Demócrata” supusiera que los votantes del movimiento de Bernie o nada se unirían en pos de Hillary Clinton, sobre todo con el espectro de Donald Trump en la cercanía.
Pero en todo caso, PUMA fue el principio del fin para el Partido “Demócrata”.
Mientras que los demócratas leales nos siguen recordando que Bernie y Hillary votaron al unísono el 93% de su tiempo compartido en el Senado, sólo están ejemplificando su falta completa de comprensión cuando se trata de la revolución política de Sanders.
Clinton y Sanders podrán ser algo similares en cuanto a las políticas, pero el movimiento de Sanders fue uno de ideología y cuando se trata de la filosofía, la brecha entre los dos candidatos es muy amplia y lo abarca todo.
Clinton es la encarnación de todas las cosas a las que se oponía la revolución de Sanders.
Los votantes de Sanders, hambrientos de justicia social, se ven morir de hambre por la fachada neo-liberal de Clinton.
De hecho, millones de liberales están dispuestos a soportar cuatro años de Donald Trump, sólo para enviarle el mensaje al comité demócrata nacional (DNC por sus siglas en inglés) que no se tolerarán sus tácticas.
En medio de la exposición por WikiLeaks de la corrupción del Partido ” Demócrata”, tenemos una oportunidad única para que los Estados Unidos rompan finalmente los grilletes de su sistema de dos partidos corporativos.
Presentemos a la anti-demócrata de izquierda, Jill Stein.
Jill Stein es algo más que metadona para los adictos a Bernie Sanders.
Ella es una verdadera voz revolucionaria y una activista que no tiene miedo de pasar tiempo en el frente de batalla.
Si bien Stein se alinea muy bien sobre las políticas con Sanders, ella se hace escuchar mucho más que él en cuanto a la corrupción en el Partido “Demócrata”.
Mientras que Sanders estaba completamente centrado en los temas y en su mensaje de revolución política, Stein está enojada y no tiene miedo de denunciar a Hillary Clinton directamente.
Donde Sanders se vio amarrado por las acusaciones de sexismo de Clinton, Stein no tiene tal obstáculo.
Jill Stein no tiene miedo de decir la verdad sobre Clinton y millones de personas despreciadas por el fraude electoral en las primarias ” Demócratas” están uniéndose a su mensaje.
Sin embargo, hay personas que están encerradas en el pensamiento binario, que insisten en que la votación para Jill Stein es en realidad indirectamente una votación a favor de Donald Trump.
Pero, de modo contrario a la creencia popular, la política no es una carrera de caballos y nuestro voto no es una apuesta sobre aquél que creemos que va a ser victorioso.
El voto de una persona representa los valores personales de cada cual y cualquiera que le diga lo contrario no es de fiar.
El voto estadounidense es sagrado, ya que se basa en la sangre de nuestros antepasados, que en realidad dieron sus vidas por este derecho, que tantos dan por sentado.
Si bien es cierto que un solo voto rara vez tiene un impacto en algo tan grandioso como unas elecciones presidenciales, esto no quiere decir que el voto de uno no sea importante.
Votar es convertir los pensamientos en acción y decirle al gobierno, de una manera muy directa, exactamente cómo se siente acerca de lo que están haciendo y lo que se espera de ellos en el futuro.
Todos los mensajes de Facebook y Twitter en el mundo no equivalen a la potencia y la santidad de un solo voto y es por esta razón que un voto por Jill Stein para nada es un voto a favor de Donald Trump.
Un voto por Jill Stein es levantar el dedo del medio en la cara de la tiranía.
Un voto por Jill Stein es un voto de protesta contra un partido que manipuló fraudulentamente unas elecciones contra un buen hombre.
Un voto por Jill Stein envía el mensaje, en voz alta y claramente, de que no vamos a apoyar a cualquier candidato que intente usurpar nuestra democracia.
Votar por Hillary Clinton, después de la forma en que el DNC calumnió y amenazó a Bernie Sanders, es sancionar este tipo de actividades.
No tendríamos a nadie a quien culpar sino a nosotros mismos cuando las elecciones futuras fueran manipuladas.
Votar por el menor de dos males es lo que nos trajo hasta este punto, y los estadounidenses por fin han decidido hacerle frente a la ilusión de la opción, en el sistema corporativo de dos partidos, y darle su apoyo a un movimiento que ayudará a garantizar que nunca nos volvamos a encontrar encerrados en un sistema tan roto, que escupe a una belicista controlada por las corporaciones y a una estrella racista de “reality show” de televisión y luego finge que tenemos una opción.
Este es el momento para la revolución y los que están exigiendo que nos pongamos en fila detrás de alguien que amaña nuestra democracia, son descarados y fascistas.
Pedirles a los votantes privados de sus derechos, que acaban de ser despojados de sus derechos al voto, que apoyen a Hillary Clinton, es como preguntarle a una víctima de asalto sexual si estaría interesada en salir con su violador.
Como respuesta a esos traidores alarmistas que dicen
“Si usted vota por Jill Stein, obtendremos a Donald Trump.”
El votante progresista dice…
“¡¡Exactamente!! ¡¡Y usted debería haber pensado en esto antes de apoyar a alguien que ya habíamos rechazado en el 2008!! ”
No estamos bajo ninguna obligación de apoyar a una candidata que no representa nuestros valores.
No queremos una candidata que apoya la fracturación hidráulica y acepta millones de las grandes petroleras.
No vamos a apoyar a una candidata que votó a favor de rescatar a los millonarios de Wall Street y sigue tomando su dinero, mientras que se niega a entregar las transcripciones de sus discursos, para que podamos ver qué les prometió.
Nos negamos a apoyar a una candidata que participó en una campaña de difamación contra Bernie Sanders, que incluso cuestionó la religión del hombre.
No hay forma alguna que los verdaderos progresistas van a apoyar a una candidata que silenció a las víctimas de ataques sexuales de su marido.
No vamos a ensangrentarnos las manos cuando Hillary Clinton “destruya a Irán.”
No vamos a apoyar el próximo error horrible de su política exterior, cuando instale una zona de exclusión aérea sobre Siria.
Cuando el único argumento para apoyar a su candidata es que ella no es Donald Trump, entonces usted ha lanzado el peso de su persona detrás del candidato equivocado.
El DNC debe ser castigado severamente.
Cualquier cosa menos que esto sería sancionar su conducta.
Y por favor no pierda mi tiempo discutiendo de nuevo el argumento viejo y cansado sobre los jueces del Tribunal Supremo.
Hillary Clinton nombraría jueces corporativistas y ella apoya el acuerdo transpacífico de cooperación económica, conocido simplemente en inglés como el TPP, que es tan poderoso que permitiría que las corporaciones escribieran las leyes directamente, haciendo que los jueces del Tribunal Supremo fueran impotentes contra ellas.
Stein, en realidad, es la única opción que queda para aquellos que se preocupan por el cambio climático y la democracia.
No todo el mundo tiene la paciencia y la previsión de votar por alguien como una manera de asegurar que los votantes tengan opciones en el año 2020.
No todo el mundo es lo suficientemente fuerte como para denunciar la pantomima de Hillary sobre Trump.
No importa que en realidad Clinton haya cometido muchas de las atrocidades que Trump sólo ha amenazado con hacer.
No importa que Trump y Clinton sean amigos de toda la vida.
No importa que compartan la misma dirección para la evasión de impuestos en Delaware.
No importa que Trump le ha donado grandes sumas de dinero a Hillary Clinton.
No importa que Trump fuera un demócrata toda la vida, hasta que de repente cambió toda su filosofía política, hace unos pocos años.
No importa que millones de personas murieran por su derecho a vivir en una democracia y que el hecho de votar por alguien que manipuló fraudulentamente unas elecciones equivalga a escupirles en la cara.
Hillary Clinton se “ganó” la primaria sin nuestros votos.
Ella ha dejado muy en claro que no necesita nuestro apoyo.
Ella ha dejado muy en claro que no representa nuestros valores.
Si vota por el mal menor, entonces el mal siempre gana.
El tiempo de votar por el bien común es ahora.
El momento de salirse del sistema corporativo y binario es ahora.
No deje que los traficantes del miedo se lleven su voz.
No tire su voto a la basura.
Vote por Jill Stein en el 2016.
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Corporate 2 party system? Call it what it is, 2 party dictatorship. Bernie and Jill went up the hill, and Bernie wimped out. I’m voting Jill. Go green or stay home.
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Go jill
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Donald Trump’s agenda is fully endorsed by the KKK. He has a chance of being president and executing that agenda. That is the threat. Jill Stein has absolutely no chance of being president. Voting for her is the equivalent of being silent on the subject of racism.
The well known wisdom on electoral silence is, ” qui tacet consentire videtur” (He is who is silent consents). If you vote for her, you have acquiesced to and endorsed the KKK agenda, whether you take responsibility or not. There are no plausible rationalization around that fact, though I don’t doubt you will vainly try to create one.
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You are right.
Trump has a much greater chance of becoming president.
Also Trump didn’t rig the primary election, like Clinton did.
I fully support your choice to vote for Donald Trump.
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This is brilliant, intelligent, inspiring writing!! I hope you will be taking part in The Green Party in a big way.
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This is a brilliant,intelligent, inspiring article.
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This is a briliant intelligent inspiring post. All power to you.
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This is brilliant intelligent and inspiring. All power to you
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The wasted votes are the ones for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump… two sides of the same corrupt coin. This is a great article!
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Lovely theory, unfortunately the # of supporters for a narcissistic phobic millionaire means we gotta consolidate #s. Primary was for Bernie-yes. Today is a different ugly reality. The lesser of evils is real. Vote Hillary.
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So you believe that if someone rigs an election, we should reward them by making them president?
Honestly, my five year old knows better than that.
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Clinton is a narcissistic, self-serving, mendacious, war mongering, multi-millionaire. Who is the worse choice between Clinton and Trump. There is no longer time to beat the global heating monster chasing humanity down the road. choosing Clinton also presents the strong possibility of starting a nuclear war. Which worse option is safer?
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I had to practically browbeat my 1st time voter granddaughter to go with Bernie. She came over the other day and said, “Nana, I want you to know that since Bernie is out, I have been listening to all the rest of the candidates, on my own and I am going to go Green with Jill Stein. It’s like you’ve drummed into me my whole life, you MUST stand up for your beliefs even if you don’t win.” I am so very proud of her!!!!!
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There is something that activists are finally learning (see Rebecca Solnit’s book Hope in the Dark) which is that in activism it is not all are nothing. We haven’t lost if we don’t get everything we want. Activists in the 60s, 70s, and even into the 80s thought they were going to simply change everything, and because they didn’t many of them folded, gave up, walked away, when they had actually created tremendous change, even though they hadn’t changed everything.
My perspective on this election is that, after dragging Hillary so far to the left, we would be throwing away that work to vote for Jill Stein. Are Bill and Hillary really neoliberals? Or were they neoliberal in the 90s because that was the only way to accomplish anything? I am 66, and lived through the 1990s as an adult. If Clinton hadn’t come along and acted as a neoliberal the democrats would not have accomplished anything They did a few shitty things, but they did a lot of good things too.
I am not a Hillary fan, but my hope is that she was a neoliberal because that was the only way to get things done, and that she will prove to be a progressive if elected. If I am wrong, then we can still raise such a stink about her ignoring the party platform that we can hold her to the left.
And the other side of this is that if Trump turns it around and gets keeps the house and senate, then we are going to be decades undoing all of the damage that he will do.
Just Sayin’
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“I am not a Hillary fan, but my hope is that she was a neoliberal because that was the only way to get things done, and that she will prove to be a progressive if elected.”
I don’t get your logic. At all. Based on that assumtion, the things that will be done WILL be neoliberal. Look at her track record. Her foreign policy is neoliberal/neocon. In neoliberalism the foreign policy is by far the most important mean to fulfill the agenda, and Clinton has done that 100%. In the latest leak there are some DNC mails that didn’t really get the attention they deserve. There are som DNC plans for getting through the TPP as a “lame duck”, just after the election. What was discussed was that it is a TRULY Clinton agenda, but implementing it as a lame duck makes Clinton look less right wing than she actually is – that was the explicit reasoning behind the strategy. So the truth seems pretty much the opposite to what you assume.
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The Dems have brainwashed you. Hillary is a Republican and will only serve their agenda. She is the billionaire, Wall St, crooked candidate and voting for her is equal to voting for Trump
Even if Trump wins, he can’t actually do anything b/c Congress hates him. He will probably be ousted quickly after arriving in office. If Hillary wins, the Republican and billionaire establishment agenda will be accomplished.
Hillary has already signaled an impending war with Russia. She won’t stop talking about how much she hates Putin. She will send US troops into Russia, start a war w Russia, and after that, US troops into North Korea.
But the more important thing to note—-if we vote for Jill, the DNC will have gotten the message that you can’t f**k with true Progressives and we don’t want Hillary. They will see our power in our votes for Jill and we will be able to get a real Progressive in office, not the fake liar Hillary.
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As a Jill Stein supporter, I’d like to emphasize that there are Democrats I would vote for, especially against Donald Trump, just as I voted for Michael Dukakis in 1988. But my minimum human rights standard is that a candidate oppose the death penalty, extrajudicial killings, and torture. To give candidate a mandate who would authorize any of these things is to violate my conscience and authorize arbitrary violence against some of the most unprivileged and oppressed people in the world. including for example the innocent victims of drone strikes.
Hillary Clinton does not stand for “everything I hate”: for example, she has evolved on marriage equality, and is vastly preferable to me as a woman and member of the LGBTIQA community than Donald Trump. I don’t fault anyone who supports her for that reason, in a swing state or elsewhere.
The moral tragedy of Hillary Clinton is that she still supports the death penalty, although the 2016 Democratic Party platform rejects it (a great victory for progressive forces!), and also seems ready to approve drone assassinations as usual as is now the fashion of the “bipartisan” imperial presidency. This isn’t Hillary’s personal vice, but rather her conformity to some pervasive trends toward killing rather than capturing as a preferential option. She may be acting in accordance with her conscience, but I must act in accordance with mine.
As to the 1990’s, what the Clinton Administration did on some crucial issues was not a matter of making compromises that won some progress, but of moving in precisely the wrong direction, for example as part of a bipartisan Contract on America. Announcing that one will “end welfare as we know it” is either a call for some combination of a massive jobs program (e.g. Humphrey-Hawkins) and a basic income policy (e.g. a negative income tax) to make the welfare bureaucracy obsolete while also abolishing poverty as we know it; or it is a declaration of war on the poor. What the Clinton Administration did, with Hillary’s support, was sadly the second of these alternatives. Likewise, while something like the Racial Justice Act might have restrained the scope of state death penalty statutes although stopping short of abolition at the state level (where the States and also the Supreme Court have primary roles), the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 and Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) of 1996 were legal and moral disasters, not “compromises” on the road to abolition.
Also, in the 1970’s, Senator Frank Church and others helped achieve a ban on assassinations, now routinely violated with “terror Tuesdays” and kill orders as an official matter of policy. So it’s quite imaginable to go back to that standard of decency. I would emphasize again that this isn’t about Hillary personally, but about destructive trends that voting for Jill Stein is only one way to resist.
Again, different people will weigh these issues differently, and I respect where anyone finds themselves. And one question we might join in asking ourselves these next months is how we might build a movement ready to resist the next “war of opportunity” on an even greater scale than our efforts of 2002-2003 on Iraq that didn’t quite succeed.
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yes yes yes!!!!!
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I don’t care who a vote for is for. I have to vote my concience and Hillary and Trump don’t just make the cut. I’am also trying to teach my granddaughter about standing up for what you believe in. Bernie never said he would be with us on the whole journey. But he opened many eyes and even re-woke the kids of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. I could never vote for Trump or Hillary. I thought about sitting this out, but there are so many down ticket progressives that need support and votes. I can’t #DEMEXIT until that vote is over.
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DNC:
1 Rigs a primary.
2 Smears us systematically as racist, sexist bros.
3 Pays trolls to attack us online.
4 DEMANDS our votes.
5 Feigns surprise when we flock to a real progressive: Jill Stein
#ItsInOurHands
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So true!!!
We have to send a message to the DNC that we wont take their BS any longer—-vote against Hillary and vote for Jill Stein!
Our votes for Jill show them that they can’t just brainwash us into voting for Hlllary
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Great post. I just started my own page because I had to address another line of criticism. My first post is about the anti-science narrative, where it comes from, and why it’s BS. ✌🏼️💚😀
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Great piece! Thank you!!!
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stein and johnson would look and sound better on tv than either clinton or trump. to get stein into an upcoming debate, she must get to 15% acceptance in polls, says CNN and other networks. this is ridiculously high, but maybe she can get into one of the debates. assuming these polls are not rigged, lots of people, if and when polled, will have to say they prefer stein. this could happen with strong effort by greens plus other stein supporters plus people who just want to see what stein and gary johnson have to say to a national audience.
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Even if she doesn’t get into the debates, we can still elect Jill president
The polls are often manipulated by the media that works for Hillary. She pays off the media so they spin stories in her favor. They spin polls in her favor. The media makes it look like Jill doesnt have a lot of votes, but this is manipulation being done to scare us into voting for liar Hillary
Don’t let them brainwash you. Vote your conscience, vote for Jill!
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