Jessica Valenti: Vote shaming Trump supporters is fair. What they have done is shameful

[CousinIT]

Trump voters sure are sensitive lately. They’re upset that the cast of the hit play Hamilton made a statement to Vice-President-elect Mike Pence, and that the audience booed him. They’re displeased that their vote is costing them relationships with family and friends. And for some reason not entirely clear to me, they’re unhappy with Starbucks and decided to demonstrate as much by … buying lots of coffee at Starbucks.

The same people who wear shirts that read “fuck your feelings” and rail against “political correctness” seem to believe that there should be no social consequences for their vote. I keep hearing calls for empathy and healing, civility and polite discourse. As if supporting a man who would fill his administration with white nationalists and misogynists is something to simply agree to disagree on.

Absolutely not. You don’t get to vote for a person who brags about sexual assault and expect that the women in your life will just shrug their shoulders. You don’t get to play the victim when people unfriend you on Facebook, as if being disliked for supporting a bigot is somehow worse than the suffering that marginalized people will endure under Trump. And you certainly do not get to enjoy a performance by people of color and those in the LGBT community without remark or protest when you enact policies and stoke hatred that put those very people’s lives in danger.

Being socially ostracized for supporting Trump is not an infringement of your rights, it’s a reasonable response by those of us who are disgusted, anxious, and afraid. I was recently accused by a writer of “vote shaming” – but there’s nothing wrong with being made to feel ashamed for doing something shameful.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/19/hamilton-mike-pence-trump-voters-safe-space?CMP=fb_gu

[Hoyt]

1. What i have found is that the ignorant white wing racists don't care. They are proud of it.

[bdamomma]

3. karma

karma will bite them back

[Hoyt]

4. I hope so. But I think most will say it's worth it if some minorities get hurt. They're that bigoted

[bdamomma]

17. Horrible they are really afraid thinking the white race has been

disfranchised by minorities etc they are nothing but bullies, there're are laws don't they realize that? or do they want to abolish those too. Will their tune change when all those tRump supporters get nothing what was promised to them, they have the guns you know. We have to remain vigilant.

[duffyduff]

22. Their are racist, sexist entitled white dudes who think they are entitled

to the best jobs and all opportunities because they have white skin and have dicks. They don't even care that the economy was heavily rigged in their favor all of those years. When suddenly the government makes polite inroads to help make a more level playing field for women and minorities, these assholes blow a gasket. These are the idiots who ranted against affirmative action ignoring, of course, the fact veterans preference is also a type of affirmative action for the simple that the latter favors white dudes.

They can't be reasoned with. They are vile. They need some "tough love" shoved down their throats.

[alfredo]

28. Fear overrides reason. They know they do better under Dems, but fear of the other is deep.

As long as the Republicans can intensify the fear, then exploit it, economic matters, environmental degradation, personal rights take a back seat. Power is slipping away as the country changes to a younger, browner population.

[boston bean]

2. I agree. I let people i know how i felt about their vote.

Too bad if they thought it was unpc. for chrissakes they voted the most crude son of a bee.

They can certainly take what I had to say.

[neeksgeek]

5. This. 1000

My dad voted for Clinton, my mom voted for Trump. I told my father that I was attacking my mother's point of view, because it deserves to be attacked.

You don't get to vote for a person who mocks disabled people, and not expect your own son (me), who grew up with that kind of mockery and bullying because of his disabilities, to not take it personally.

[dhill926]

6. K & R to infinity.....

and yes, if I find out you voted for agent orange, you will get an earful....

[handmade34]

7. we say this to them....

http://m.dailykos.com/story/2016/11/17/1600760/-Aftermath-2016-Tess-Rafferty-s-hard-hitting-statement-on-the-election-of-Trump

[tosh]

31. Thanks...

that was definitely worth a listen.

[SunSeeker]

35. Best rant yet. Silent no more. Fuck those assholes.

[Dan]

8. And I just realized that

That for the next four years (or impeachment time) the way to deal with Trump is simple - laugh at him.

[Equinox Moon]

9. I like ops that validate my experience

Thanks. This is how I feel as well. I watch myself feeling resentful of anyone that looks like a dumpman supporter, and lookout if they are (meaning, I am out of here). It is unthinkable what has happened!!!

I like the Guardian as well. An Independent news source.

[etherealtruth]

10. They feel proud of this ... what sickens me most

... is that a hate filled bigoted white supremacist society is precisely what they wanted and what they voted for. They feel no shame, only jubilation

[bdamomma]

20. the worse part he was endorsed by the KKK

sickening. It scares or worries me what are going to about women's rights I worry about everyone the Muslims, Latino's, LGBT people we are a diverse country don't they get that???? We better watch our backs, so sorry this is happening to our country they are going to destroy it.

[JI7]

11. lack of shame is a big thing. when someone brought up trumps bigotry

Some bigot trump supporter on the fucked up news would reply with some stupid email shit.

And to the shit media it's all equal.

[Equinox Moon]

13. emails vs destroyed lives...

Hmmmmm.... I am going to go with destroyed lives that wins as the issue of our time.

[JI7]

15. parking violation ticket is equal to drunk driving and ending up

Killing someone. I'm showing how they equate things.

[Equinox Moon]

16. I don't understand your comment and I read it twice

[JI7]

18. there was supposed to be an equal sign in there

I was showing how they make stupid equivalencies.

[JI7]

12. oh no are victims of dems who abandoned them over trade

That's the fucking bs being pushed. But doesn't explain why they voted against feingold and strickland.

[Equinox Moon]

14. Voter turnout was down by 14 million

[spooky3]

19. No, that is not true.

Turnout, with many votes still to be counted in California and elsewhere, is nearly 3% (3.5 million votes) higher than in 2012. That's even with likely higher levels of voter suppression this year than in 2012.

http://cookpolitical.com/story/10174

[duffyduff]

21. You bet it is. I will be damned if I am going to kiss their collective asses and "respect"

their idiotic votes which could well destroy the country for good.

There was no excuse for voting for this moron. No excuse whatsoever.

[Fast Walker 52]

23. NAILED IT.

[smirkymonkey]

24. 1000

[Paladin]

25. 1000

My sentiments exactly. Trump voters put this country into the toilet, and they deserve our scorn for it.

[Doreen]

26. I gaurantee

if I hear someone complain about the stuff he does I will ask who they voted for and if it was Trump I will not very nicely remind them it is partly their fault and they deserve what they voted for.

[world wide wally]

27. Since when is voting for a "pussy grabber" socially acceptable?

[DemonGoddess]

29. I work with a person

who doesn't vote. Isn't registered to vote. Has never voted. I told her flat out, that if she starts to complain about things after the fact, she gets no sympathy from me.

[nolabels]

30. I only know one Trump voter from my workplace and nobody else

He is a kind of born again religious person just a couple years older than me. In a couple of years or so he hopes to retire partially relying on SS and medicare. I hope he doesn't get anymore surprises but if goes that way for him because of trump, he will get a lot more grief from me than he currently does. No matter how big California is, there is still not enough room for any bigots that will cut their nose off to spite their face.

Being a team player for a win while abandoning your morals and stated principles is going to be loss no matter how you paint it.

[Tikki]

32. I don't think this is considered shaming, but I have printed 2 tshirts that say:

BLUE STATE PROUD
California
Protecting the Name...Protecting the Brand

The reason I did this is because I just read an article on how much
products designed, developed or sold from California are respected
around the World and I want everyone who might see my t~shirt to know
that those who voted BLUE are extremely proud of doing so.

I just don't care if anyone comments on it or not...I am just so proud of voting BLUE.

Tikki

[mac56]

33. I posted this elsewhere.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028289057

His followers don't give two shits. They got all they wanted -- what they craved -- permission to be racist, bigoted, misogynistic, xenophobic assholes.

[barbtries]

34. yep.

the unfortunate fact of course is that so many of them are literally incapable of experiencing shame.

[Snarkoleptic]

36. "..upset that the cast of the hit play Hamilton made a statement to Vice-President-elect Mike Pence"

Now they're boycotting!

[lunasun]

37. The word itself comes from a societal practice in Ancient Greece . Bad be just bad

Ostracism, the political practice in ancient Athens whereby a prominent citizen who threatened the stability of the state could be banished without bringing any charge against him. (A similar device existed at various times in Argos, Miletus, Syracuse, and Megara.) At a fixed meeting in midwinter, the people decided, without debate, whether they would hold a vote on ostracism
Society will often set consequences Standards assumed
Shaming or shunning in many a different culture is not uncommon . Bad just be bad no excuses