With each passing day that draws us closer towards the ballot boxes and this country's reckoning yet again with the worst elements we contain, I grow more and more concerned about how many people actually view their vote.
Since citizens first began casting their choices, we have seen how some pledge allegiance to party; how some view the financial/societal landscape and then drop their ballot; and how some morph to draw their entire identity from a candidate, never straying from their side. Infidelity, racism, xenophobia, convicted of felonies, credibly accused of sexual assault - no matter - they buy another hat/shirt/flag/yard sign.
And then there are the idealists. Wide eyed, open hearted, and dangerously possessed of some level of naivete'. They view their vote as some sort of love letter, commitment for life, pledge of undying fealty in which they tacitly approve of it all. In the parlance of online dating, a swipe right to profess them hopeful and ready to be loved back.
Anyone paying attention since October 7th last year when the atrocities began filling our screens from Israel and Gaza know how deeply affected are our young voters. I see it in my own young adult offspring. Young people have paid far more attention to the unspeakable losses, unimaginable horrors, and disregard for life than older generations. And for that, there is shame aplenty to be spread around.
But in the constant rabbit holing and trauma porn viewing of what has been happening, the entirely predictable result has occurred.
When the mind absorbs the unthinkable; when the eyes take in too much pain, sorrow, and loss; when the heart has been under constant attack, human beings kneejerk for an immediate, simplistic answer. And someone, something to blame.
And I hope to God, the universe, whatever power floats around, that this current administration is paying attention.
You will brook not a single breath of argument from me about what has been happening overseas. And for those who have privately demanded I write about it all, I will type here what I have responded to them individually. My heart, my thoughts, my soul are with every innocent HUMAN BEING caught in the unyielding butchery that has gone on for decades and decades. I do not care which side of the line they are on. I do not care how they pray, if they pray. I do not care where they were born. I care that they are caught, that they are viewed as "news", that so many have died for the crime of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time. I care that children are starving, parents are desperate, that children and parents are losing one another around the clock.
But in a Tik Tok world where events bubble up, go viral, and then fizz away just as quickly, so much is being ignored in favor of being the latest go-to for virtue signaling and more war porn video footage. There is no one in that vacuum of rage baiting who is doing anything to educate about the whys and hows and constraints and history of what this nation's governance is caught in. The decades long policies towards Israel that would require more than some Harry Potter wave of a wand to change or eradicate. We are all guilty of being an immediate gratification, simple answer society. I get that. I admit that. But what is happening there, in Haiti, in the Congo, Myanmar, Syria, Ukraine, Kenya, and on and on just do not have simplistic answers that can fall only from our government. And as far as that wand? One is not enough as this world has Voldemorts to spare.
But again, in the emotional kneejerk we humans elevate to an art form, blame must be directed and punishment must be meted out. Which makes creatures like Trump and Robert Kennedy, Jr's brainworm so much more dangerous. Far too many are turning their anger, their rage, their heartache towards their vote. And in doing so, are treating it as some FUCK YOU to the current administration with no thought to what the actual fallout of their capriciousness will be should we allow that sweaty circus peanut back into the Oval. (Take note: Putin is currently engaged in some Love Island bullshit with Kim Jong Ew in North Korea. Where do you think Trump would be? There would be a three member, dicktator circle jerk going on in Pyongyang.)
There has never and will never be a perfect candidate for this land's highest office. And no one will ever agree with every action taken or view held by them. But long gone are the days of a mere difference in politics - fiscally conservative, socially liberal, etc - that divide us at the ballot box. We have crossed the Rubicon in that regard long ago.
Your vote is not a love letter to a candidate. It is a love letter to the future.
And if this race were the Tinder dating app? Swiping RIGHT is the way you condemn all women, anyone who falls within the letters LGBTQIA, all minorities, all children (here and abroad), all asylum seekers, all immigrants, this country. Every high ideal we purport to hold; every notion upon which those privileged lauded founding fathers put pen to parchment; every right that has been so hard fought to be won; every book that has expanded a mind; every guardrail our system of governance contains - all will be swept away for generations. And honestly, do you truly think any humanitarian crisis would be better handled at all by an Adderall addled, racist, self aggrandizing wank? Come on...
The MAGAverse and their dementia darling are not sneaking about, carefully hiding their desires, their goals, their plans should they retake office. Rather they are on the stump daily sharing their Project 2025 far and wide. They have put their diabolical plans to paper - 900 pages of it - and it can be read by anyone who actually cares about the gravity of this election cycle.
From disappearing the Department of Education to a national abortion ban, the entire manifesto is bent on eradicating every check and balance, every protection, sadly everything we take for granted about our lives, and consolidating power into an authoritarian fiefdom in which far right judges and politicians warp and invade every breath we take.
Trump is circus clown at this point. Bashing on him is fun, make no mistake, and he deserves every bit of disdain and ridicule thrown his way, but he is simply the Trojan horse the right is using in their attempt to slither back in, thwart the will of the people, grab as much power from the people as possible for as long as possible, and to dismantle the people's lives.
So for them, seeing how many are contemplating fuck you voting, third party voting, not voting? They are gleeful indeed.
It will not take much pants shitting in that regard to swing this election to the darkest place possible. A place where women are once again merely chattel with no bodily autonomy. Where my trans son will become targeted and have every step forward he has has taken yanked from him. Where trans children and their parents will have zero recourse, medical help, hope. Where gay marriages will be attacked with a push to be dissolved. Where the most disgusting form of Christianity will be shoved into every crack and crevice of lawmaking, education, daily living. Where the environment and climate change will be meaningless, the results devastating. Where political retribution has been promised against every person who has dared speak against the melted circus peanut. Where there will never again be the hope of accountability for those who abuse their power, commit crimes, rape, steal, and deceive.
This country will devolve in the blink of an eye. And it will affect every single person. Yes, even you MAGAts. You are a lost cause and there is no reasoning with you ahead of this election. Truth be told, you have been a lost cause since he slithered down his escalator and spoke the words that freed your racism and hate and bigotry to come out into the daylight. He may pander to you in his word salad at his Klan rallies, but your women get pregnant and have complications just as easily as do women on the other side of the aisle. Welcoming Trump to grab your pussy offers you zero protection when shit goes sideways in your life. Or your daughter's, or your child's. Your parents won't still receive Social Security just because they voted for him. If it goes away, IT. GOES. AWAY. Hope you have room and money to care for Gramgram as she declines.
And just a small sidebar: Stop buying that line of SS being an entitlement and start paying attention to your paystub. It's YOUR money that has been taken from every paycheck you have ever earned. It is a safety net for when you get older so that you have some form of income. Eliminating SS means one thing: YOUR MONEY WILL BE STOLEN FOREVER. How do you not understand that? Never in their orations about getting rid of it do they mention giving back what you have already paid in. Wake the fuck up.
Again, casting your vote is not a proclamation of love anymore than is swiping hopefully on a dating app. But it shouldn't be a tantrum induced act of societal suicide either. So much of that thought process is based in the fact that a third party voter, a non-voter, a revenge voter simply does not believe the "worst" warnings, and does believe they have nothing to lose. That the results won't actually touch their lives because <insert any measure of privilege>. But throwing that holier-than-thou stone in the water will create ripples that grow and eventually tsunami over people they do care about.
I have saved this for months and reread it often. It sums things up beautifully:
Voting isn't marriage - it's public transport. You are not waiting for "the one" who is absolutely perfect. You are getting the bus. And if there is not one going exactly to your destination, you don't stay at home and sulk - you take the one going closest to where you want to be.
This administration is not perfect, of course it's not. And the ongoing human carnage around the world (widen your scope) is a stain on us all, but the possibility to make things better, move us forward, secure rights for women, the beautiful rainbow spectrum, minorities; the chance to fill our libraries with all the words, not just the ones conservatives deem acceptable; the chance to make meaningful moves on the world stage that ultimately do protect and defend - those possibilities only exist on one side of your ballot.
Open your eyes, educate yourself as to history, policy, effecting change, and what Trump and his craven ilk are about, and whatever you do, in this election, please don't swipe RIGHT.
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