More respectful edits

If I do share this with people I care about I want to change the tone a touch. Because they are people I respect and I do sincerely want to, with kindness and love, knock them upside the head 😹

There are many, many things that have pushed me to a breaking point this election cycle. The one that has taken me over the edge is the “lesser of two evils” camp. I am fed up beyond belief of this group. Maybe because it is made up of many people I respect. They vary between the ones who are wringing their hands because “neither candidate deserves his vote” and the ones who are putting their foot down and voting third party.

I’m over it. PICK YOUR DAMN POISON. You know what you do when presented with two choices? You pick the lesser of two evils. Always, that is what two choices mean. You stack the issues and chose the one that fits your views. Sometimes this is easy, when you can pick your personal Jesus, but more often neither candidate is exactly the person you’d like to see ideally but you find the issues that matter and DECIDE. Please decide. 

Personally, if I were in this position this election cycle it would come down to this: one candidate will result in policies which will likely last at least a generation but policy can be changed. She has been in the system a long time and will at least play lip service to proper checks and balances, she understands our obligations around the world and the repercussions of not living up to those. The other candidate has spent more than a year stoking racist and xenophobic fires and in my opinion not to resolve them but to monopolize on them. This type of rhetoric just erodes any minuscule progress we’d made on this front. He has a shocking inability to accept or address criticism. My biggest fear with him is that he seems to double down no matter what and no matter how obvious the lie. His campaign’s inability to apologize and instead defame anyone who dares to question IS DANGEROUS. 

Now to address the third party voters: it is math time friends. This is a two party system we are working within. I posted a great video of how voting for a third party candidate hurts the candidate that you most align with (because you do align more closely with one than the other: see above). I also call on you to take a closer look at your methods. If you truly care about third parties you would remember that more than every four years. You know what would legitimize the Green party? Bumping into your Green party city councilman at the grocery store. Or seeing your state house being a mix of blue, red and GREEN. Stop with the feeling left out every four years and start chipping away year after year. Now  is the time to do it. One of our parties is crumbling. 

I feel more and more like this election will be a “what did you do during the war, daddy?” question in history. Pick a side and vote. Vote for Trump if lining up your values that is where they fall- though I will be disappointed because, to paraphrase Mitt Romney, racism should be a deal breaker. 

But stop this “lesser of two evils” thing. It is  troubling and tiresome. Also, please remember that the ballot box is a private place. I'm not asking anyone to canvas for Clinton or publicly renounce the Republican Party (but please feel free). But your vote can be cast quietly. Sadly acknowledging that while not ideal you have done what you can to vote as close to your values as possible. That you've quietly made a choice to reject a campaign which has thrived on hate and fear. Vote for Congress as you desire and try to maintain a balance of power. Then hope or work to have a candidate you can support more easily next time.