This bit of drivel sparked some back and forth on a friend’s social media timeline. I thought it needed a spirited response. The italics are mine. I - sincerely - apologize for the length.
It's time to take a position and let it be known. Though I'm borrowing this from another post, I agree with it.
I don’t. See italicized remarks.
That moment when someone says, "I can't believe you would vote for Trump.”
That would not possibly ever happen to me.
I simply reply, “I'm not voting for Trump.”
Duh. Does the pope shit in the woods?
I'm voting for the First Amendment and freedom of speech.
If only conservatives understood that freedom of speech has parameters in civil society. They think the internet has given them license to egregiously abuse this monumental, bedrock privilege. And that is why private companies sometimes opt to curb their freedom. And, so they whine about an amendment that no Democrat is threatening to take away.
I'm voting for the Second Amendment and my right to defend my life and my family.
A majority of Americans believe in gun control. We have laws on the books, but they are not enforced effectively, efficiently or equally across the board. We have a national registry that is kept. . .on paper! This needs to be rectified. Private sales should not be allowed unless there is some way of tracking it. Assault - and honestly, gun-splainers, I don’t give a shit about the gun specificities - weapons should not be sold to the general public. You can play with them at a gun range or something. There’s much to be said about this but I have lots of other inanities to deal with. Except - I wish Obama hadn’t taken all their guns when he was in office. We wouldn’t be in this pickle.
I'm voting for the next Supreme Court Justice(s) to protect the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
What is meant by this is we want someone to overturn Roe v Wade, add protections to corporations and keep minorities in their place. Watch out gals! We might be going back to a time when you are not allowed to vote. That last part is hyperbole. . .
I’m voting for the continued growth of my retirement 401K and the stock market.
This sounds like the real intent of this manifesto. Did you know that 40% of Americans have nothing in the stock market? Have you noticed that - since its inception - the stock market has gone up regardless of which party is in office? What you should be concerned about with the stock market is how - at the moment - it is being propped up by stock buybacks. Ever heard of the Tulip Mania Bubble? Does the year 2008 mean anything to you?
I’m voting for a return of our troops from foreign countries and the end to America’s involvement in foreign conflicts.
Technically known as isolationism and I am not opposed to this - in regards to our military - under the right circumstances. I also agree that nation-building is nonsense. But I would like to point out that George Bush and Dick Cheney and all of the hawks in Washington got us involved militarily in the Middle East. Troops elsewhere are problematic. There are long-standing treaties and such to take into consideration.
I'm voting for the Electoral College & the Republic we live in.
The Electoral College was partially designed to benefit the South, or the slave holding states. It is seriously outdated. Why not just go with a nation wide referendum? You know, simple, like the GOP’s “flat tax” wet dream. Did you know that 23 states, with the same population as California, have 44 more Senators? Does that seem fair? Equitable?
I'm voting for the Police to be respected once again and to ensure Law & Order.
If the police want to be respected - again - they might want to devise how they’re going to address their white supremacist problem. They also need to be demilitarized. They also need to be reformed. They also need to be held accountable when their actions grossly overstep civilized boundaries. I know their jobs are incredibly tough but they should not believe they have carte blanche to execute Americans.
I’m voting for the continued appointment of Federal Judges who respect the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
This is code from The Federalist Society. See above. Talk about packing the courts with activist judges! Remember when Chief Justice John Roberts admonished the child who would be president about calling judges ‘HIS’ judges or Obama judges? Yeah, that was a hoot, wasn’t it?
I’m voting for our jobs to remain in America and not be outsourced all over again to China, Mexico and other foreign countries.
“Not be outsourced all over again” - what does the anonymous author mean by “again”? Did Reagan bring all the outsourced jobs back to America? Obama then sent them away? You vote every day by the shit you buy. Quit buying cheap crap from China, India and Mexico and maybe you’ll get your jobs back. Oh, right. You can’t afford to do that because there aren’t any unions and the minimum wage is $7.25 nationally and there isn’t any affordable health care.
I’m voting for secure borders and legal immigration.
Vote Biden/Harris. I guarantee you they are NOT for Open Borders.
I'm voting for the Military & the Veterans who fought for this Country to give the American people their freedoms.
No candidate for president, except maybe the insufferable boor, in the history of the United States has been opposed to the military or veterans. Sheesh. Which president was it who took a War Hero’s name in vain? Let me think. It will come to me…….
I’m voting for continued peace progress in the middle east.
Then you are going to want someone to do something about Saudi Arabia stomping all over Yemen, I guess.
And, by the way, getting the UAE, Israel and Saudi Arabia to sit around the glowing orb and sing kumbaya is not exactly what the U.S. diplomatic corps refers to as a “heavy lift”.
I’m voting to fight against human/child trafficking.
Who isn’t opposed to human/child trafficking?! Right. No one other than human and child traffickers - which Hillary is definitely not one. This is some QAnon shit here.
I'm voting for the right to speak my opinion & not be censored.
I’m sure this is in reference to social media and the wild, wild internet like 4chan where occasionally bomb-throwers get banned. Happens all the time to liberals on Twitter as well. As such, you are going to have to learn how not to yell “Fire!” in a theater when there isn’t a fire. It’s not that hard.
I'm not just voting for one person, I'm voting for the future of my Country.
But not the planet. I get it. ‘Cause Nationalism.
Moreover,
I am voting against socialism.
The Right’s ‘straw man’ they trot out every time progressives try to make their lives better. Well, in that case, you will have to give up the interstate, the banking system, social security, medicare, medicaid, food stamps, the internet and you will have to explain what you are going to do that makes sense to those corporations who depend on “Socialism for the rich, and capitalism for the poor”. Good luck with that!
I am voting against, denigrating, disparagement and defunding of this nations law enforcement agencies and organizations.
Fine. But the law enforcement agencies are going to need to regain our trust first.
I am voting against energy plans that would wipe out industries that provide employment to large swaths of American families
The current energy plan is to gouge, strip, dynamite public and private lands until they are barren. Meanwhile, the planet will continue warming. Wise humans would choose to make a concerted effort to change that course. And when we do so, we will wind up creating thousands of jobs.
Conservatives are so defeatist.
I am voting against politicians and their family members who became multi millionaires while acting as elected officials for this country.
Hmmmmm. I, too, am opposed to politicians milking the government for multi-million payouts while cozying up to corporations. But, whoever wrote this, did not look at the current Cabinet members, the president or his bevy of offspring. And that is not even mentioning the legion of lawyers and clingers-on like Rudy Giuliani.
I am voting against racism as propagated and falsely twisted by the left.
So, the guys in khakis bearing Tiki torches in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us” were. . . leftists? I know they were “fine people”, according to our president, but. . . leftists? The Sikh in Seattle killed by someone who thought he was Muslim was murdered by an angry. . . leftist? The folks who had their throats cut on the Portland transit line, who had been trying to protect a passenger who looked Muslim, had their throats cut by a. . . leftist? Ahmaud Arbery was tracked down and murdered by a mini-mob of. . . leftists? Tell me again about racism and the left?
Oh, that’s right. During the debate, Mike Pence told us he does not believe there is systemic racism. Mike Pence. Mike Pence said that. How would he know?
I am voting against a political party that has caused multi generations to become dependent wards of the state and has furthered the blight in major cities across this country.
Wage stagnation. Reagan shuttering mental facilities. Clinton diminishing welfare. Taxes falling lower and lower and lower. Corporate CEOs earning multiple hundreds more than their workers when the ratio was once 20 or 30 to 1. 50 families holding more wealth than 165 million Americans. Wealth disparity growing exponentially.
I am voting against a party that has solicited and encouraged riots which has lead to the destruction of entire urban communities.
That’s just FALSE. No further comment. Oh, wait. I have one. Sometimes you have to crack some eggs to make an omelette.
I am voting against a party, that time and again, under false pretenses of protecting voters rights, has perpetuated a voting system that is rife for manipulation and corruption.
Voter fraud is practically non-existent. Old trope perpetuated by a drug-addled old man. The worst fraud in memory happened in North Carolina and favored the GOP candidate. Irony is delicious sometimes.
I am voting against the threatened possibility of court packing to usurp the judicial branch true role of oversight of the Executive and legislative branches of government, and making it an extension of the liberal left agendas.
Tell you what. If you are okay with waiting until the next president is inaugurated, I’ll keep my mouth shut about expanding the Supreme Court. Which has been expanded in the past, by the way. But, all bets are off, if you insist on nominating and seating a Supreme Court Justice before then.
And, actually, never mind. If progressives, liberals and moderates take control this January, we might just do it anyway. That’s a polite way of saying, “Fuck you.”
As we all well know by now, elections have consequences.
I am voting against a party that encourages violation of the sovereign borders of this country, laying open to abuse and exhaustion of safety net programs designed to assist Americans in their desperate times of need.
That safety net you speak of is “socialism”. And, immigrants and migrant workers pay into the safety net you speak of - if they are on a payroll - yet they never get to take advantage of the system.
They told me you didn’t need to thank them.
They are just grateful to have the work.
I am voting against a party that unjustly targets lawful gun owning Americans in lieu of taking action against criminal elements use of weapons.
You mean like those white guys in Georgia who hunted down Ahmaud Arbery? Or the guy in Florida who shot a Black kid because he was wearing a hoodie in the wrong part of town? Or the white kid who killed nine Black people in their church and then the police bought him a take out snack from Burger King?
I am voting against a potential administration which has not told us of their true intentions, a potential president who does not have the mental stamina to lead this country, And his potential successor - who does not have near the skills necessary to manage this country.
This closing statement is RICH. True intentions? The First Crime Family has been robbing us blind for the past four years while insisting their work is pro bono. And, while they are robbing the treasury of the nation, they leave the door open for their henchmen to steal from them! Does the name Brad Parscale ring a bell? When your role model is the dufus with the heavy orange makeup, what do you expect?
Mental stamina? This author clearly has not heard the president mangle the English language either because he is hopped up on Adderall or some kind of dementia cocktail or because he’s had numerous mini-strokes. Now you can add whatever drugs he is still taking for the hoax he caught last week and tried to pass on to his opponent during their first debate.
And lastly, the racial dog whistle combined with the latent misogynist tendencies of Federalist Society members who might have up-chucked this screed. The potential successor does not have the skills. . . You mean, the former District Attorney? The former Attorney General of California? The former Senator from California? The sixth largest economy in the world. That California?
Senator Kamala Harris has forgotten more than the current occupant of the White House has ever known about governing. If THAT has you up at night, dear Anonymous, you can rest easy.
Enough said....
I’ll say! Way too much said, in my opinion. But you probably thought the more you regurgitated the more it would sound, or appear, scholarly, or something.
What are you voting for? Honestly???? We can wait......
Your wait is over. Please see above.
But - one last thing - because I remembered an interaction I had with this bloke from Liverpool when I was gallivanting about Chile running rivers. I kept meeting these fellow travelers who spoke perfect King’s English and I kept making the mistake of asking them where they were from in England.
Three times this happened. And three times the traveler - didn’t matter if they were male or female - replied acerbically that they were not English, but Welsh.
It was as if I had accused them of having bad breath or something.
I’ve never been to the small island that we liberated ourselves from in 1776. So, I’m a little hazy about their differences but I’m getting better having watched Outlander, The Crown and Mary, Queen of Scots. All three of these people spoke clear English, so in my mind, it was difficult, if not impossible, to differentiate the accents.
Anyway, back to the gnarly kayaker Mick, from Liverpool, whom I met on the shuttle ride to the put in for the Bio-Bio River. I told him of my encounters with the perturbed Welshers(?)
He pontificated a moment, scratching his chin, and then he leaned towards me conspiratorially and said, “Well, the next time you run into one of them on your travels, just say. . . . (long pause). . . Fuck off, you bloody Welsh bastards!” Har, har, har!
That’s Mick laughing. More like guffawing, actually, at his own joke.
I don’t think he stopped laughing until we reached the put in.
At this point, hardly three weeks to Election Day, I think that will be my sole response to all those who circulate bullshit like this.
Have a good day! :)
###
I’ve spoken about Sarah Kendzior numerous times. Here she is with the St. Louis Arch in the background as means of demonstrating that she is a lifelong native of the heartland. Not a coastal elite. She speaks quickly because she has a lot to say and a short time to do so, but she encapsulates Il Duce II in a nutshell - and this was a few years back!
Also, James Corden sings parody!
Excellent! Who would have thunk drivel could be so deceitful and scary?