If You Think this Meme is the Cat’s Pajamas, This Article is For You
If you are looking to expose yourself as an individual devoid of complex thought or as a person who seeks cheap applause by grasping at the lowest of hanging fruit, feel free to utter one of these choice phrases:
- The Westboro Baptist Church is just wrong;
- Support our troops; or
- This presidential election is between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.
Excuse me for a minute. That last one was a real knee slapper.
OK, I’m back.
The three phrases above are each ridiculous and essentially meaningless. I mean, good luck finding a human being who thinks the Westboro Baptist Church rocks. Or that our troops should not be supported. Or that it is a real struggle choosing between Hillary and Trump because both are so awesome. The pointless and vacuous nature of these statements does not, however, prevent millions of people from repeating them day-in and day-out, and usually with a disturbing air of cleverness.
But let’s focus on the third of these three statements—i.e., that Trump and Clinton are the two worst choices for president, and since they are equally bad, you cannot be expected to choose between them.
Isn’t It Odd that Every Leader of the Democratic Party is a Craven Sociopath?
Too many people buy into the idea that 2016 is some type of strange year because we had the misfortune of nominating the two most unpopular choices for president ever, and if only we had selected better choices, all would be well.
Do we all have amnesia?
Do you remember how the Republican Party has treated Obama for the past eight years? Republicans have called him a Communist, a secret Muslim, a terrorist, and the anti-Christ. Before that, it was John Kerry who the Republicans “swift-boated” and attacked as being a traitor. Before that it was Al Gore who conservatives vilified as a pathological liar. Bill Clinton was (and still is) called a rapist and a murderer. And it’s not just the presidential candidates. Feel free to do a quick Google search to see just how keen the conservative media is on Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.
Do you really believe the 100 million Democrats in this country keep selecting as their leaders murderers, sociopaths, and anti-Christs, or is it more likely that the Republican hate machine is designed to viciously knock down ANY Democrat that gets into a leadership position?
Consider this. Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State from 2009 to 2012. During this time, when she posed no electoral threat to Republicans, her approval rating with American voters stayed between 62% and 66%. It now sits at 41%. What changed? Oh yeah, the Republican hate machine spent the last four years fomenting anger and rage towards Clinton with the heat of a thousand suns. Do not be fooled into believing that the Democratic Party could have nominated any person that would not have been turned into a cartoon character of evil and depravity.
Hillary Clinton is a Mediocre Candidate with Pretty Typical Political Baggage
Despite Donald Trump’s assertion that Ms. Clinton is “the devil,” Ms. Clinton, as a candidate, is a pretty typical presidential candidate with her share of minor and medium-level scandals. Reagan illegally sold arms to Iran. Bill Clinton had a long string of adulterous relationships haunting him. George W. Bush had the DUI and that dubious Texas Air National Guard service. Al Gore had a penchant for exaggerating and being a smug jerk. And Hillary has a tendency to be secretive, and shifts many of her positions with the political winds, and then denies it. No candidate will ever be scandal-free, and Hillary is no exception.
Having said that, put…Hillary’s…scandals…into…context. Hillary Clinton has been under investigation by the Republican Party for the better part of 30 years, and the best they can come up with is a private email server. Conservatives want to say Clinton is benefiting from a rigged system, but that assertion defies reality. Hillary has been investigated by Republicans hell-bent on destroying her along with the help of numerous Republican-appointed prosecutors. No one took it easy on Clinton. These conservative-led witch hunts have never found anything more than decisions that, in hindsight, were regrettable. No evidence of criminal intent has ever been unearthed, and accordingly, no criminal charges have ever been filed.
The only way the Hillary haters can portray her as a demon, which Alex Jones said this week, is to buy into repeatedly debunked conspiracy theories such as Hillary letting people die in Benghazi, laughing at a 12-year old rape victim, Travelgate, Whitewater, and on and on. If you are gullible enough to believe every conspiracy theory, it makes sense to hate Hillary Clinton. If, on the other hand, you rely on objective evidence, Hillary Clinton’s skeletons are on par (or better) than most any other presidential nominee of the past 30 years.
Voting Isn’t About Getting Everything You Want
I understand and respect people who feel disappointed that neither candidate inspires them or gets them excited. I feel the same way. That disappointment sits with me as I write this, and it sat with me in 2012 (Obama v. Romney) and in 2000 (Bush v. Gore). But that disappointment is not an excuse for inaction. Sometimes touch choices have to be made. And sometimes an uninspiring choice is actually an easy choice because the other option is so bad.
My brother likes to compare the choice of Hillary versus Trump to the choice of eating dog food for dinner (Hillary) versus eating dog shit for dinner (Trump). As much as I may find the idea of eating dog food unpleasant, this is not a tough choice.
And for those who are choosing to vote third-party, well, I’ve already covered that here. I would advise third-party voters to recognize that we live in an electoral system (first-past-the-post) that will only allow two parties to exist. This is called Duverger’s Law. While it is of course each person’s right to vote for anyone they want, it also each person’s right to wear a chicken costume when voting. Both acts carry the same political relevancy, but at least wearing a chicken costume would not negatively impact the things you profess to care about. I very much wish we lived in a multi-party system, but we do not, and we cannot without first amending every state’s election laws, and amending the Constitution to eliminate the Electoral College.
Nothing is Equal
Related to the above point, nothing is equal. I have been saying for quite some time that the only way Donald Trump becomes president is by way of false equivalencies—i.e., “Both candidates suck,” or “I don’t trust either one of them,” or “Giant Meteor 2016.”
Real scandals are not the same thing as made-up scandals, and not all scandals are equal. Lying about how many emails a person received that were marked with a “c” is not equivalent to stating that you enjoy sexually assaulting women and trying to “fuck” married women. If you would like a comparison of Hillary’s scandals vs. Trump’s scandals that is portrayed in a thoughtful and funny way, I would encourage you to watch John Oliver’s brilliant comparison here. As you will see, there is no comparison.
American voters need to get over their need to be inspired, and absolve themselves of the natural inclination to throw up our hands and say, “They’re both bad.” The analysis must go on. Dog food and dog shit are both bad, but they are not equal.
When voting for president, one should consider a multitude of factors including: temperament, knowledge, record of service, policy positions, work ethic, and the kinds of people they place in their inner circle. When considering these factors, it may be true that neither Trump nor Hillary blow you away, but there can be no question who deserves your vote regardless of ideology. Hillary Clinton needs to be our 45th president. Or to put it another way that may be more palatable to you, Donald Trump CANNOT be our next president, and the only way to prevent that outcome is for about 65 million of us to vote for Hillary. Let’s do this, people!
– Dylan
TheBlueBrothers 
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