For once, I kind of agree with Kellyanne Conway

[democrattotheend]

The other day, Kellyanne Conway criticized the "precious snowflakes" on college campuses who are staging vigils and hiding in safe spaces with cookies and play dough since last Tuesday, and as a slightly older millennial (and a Bernie supporter in the primaries) I have to agree with her.

What bugs me is not the protests, which I think are a good thing to a point, but the crocodile tears of many of these students who didn't vote for Hillary in the first place. People like the young woman I spoke to in Pennsylvania canvassing for Hillary a few months ago, who said she understood the arguments about Trump but planned to vote for Jill Stein because it was her first vote and she wanted it to be for someone she really liked. I am hopeful that I may have convinced her, but there were so many others like her who couldn't suck it up and vote for someone who wasn't perfect and are now needing play dough to cope with the result of their inaction.

When I was in college, I was all out for Howard Dean, whom I began supporting during my senior year of high school. It was the first presidential election I was really involved in and my first presidential vote, and I took it pretty hard. But I got over it, and not only voted for Kerry but organized a trip to Ohio for a few of us to volunteer. I skipped the College Democrats party on election night so I could travel to Philadelphia to volunteer. I wasn't super excited about or inspired by Kerry but it was what I felt I had to do to try to defeat Bush, who wasn't even as much of a threat to our continued democratic existence as Trump.

Unfortunately, too many in the younger half of my generation were too precious to "settle" for a candidate who wasn't perfect. How many of the kids out there protesting now actually voted for Hillary? Even among those who did, did they spend half the energy they are spending on protests now volunteering for her? Probably not, because she wasn't revolutionary enough, didn't "inspire" them enough, yada yada. They are too young to remember 2000 and ome are even too young to remember how bad things were last time Republicans were in charge in Washington. They will soon find out, and the precious snowflakes are in for a rude awakening.

[apcalc]

1. Anyone who voted 3rd party ,owns this bag of crap, just like Trump voters.

[democrattotheend]

2. Indeed.

That's what I said to my friend who voted for Gary Johnson in PA and bragged on Facebook about voting his conscience. He apologized to me after I sent him a nasty text on election night, but I am having a hard time forgiving him. I know I shouldn't throw away a friendship over a vote, but I guess I'm not ready to make nice yet. He admitted he might have sucked it up and voted for Hillary if he knew PA would be that close. But I told him the night before that it would be close or Hillary wouldn't be campaigning there with the president and the whole entourage.

He said he's not happy with the outcome of the election, but I told him he will just have to live with his role in creating it. It feels like he is looking to me for reassurance or absolution, but I won't give it to him. I don't want to hear him keep explaining why he voted the way he did, because no explanation can change the fact that he helped enable the election of a facist, not to mention spitting in the face of a president he claims to love.

Am I being too harsh?

[LeftInTX]

6. Your friend has to live with the outcome of the election

There is no reason for him to explain himself more than once. And you don't owe him any reassurance about anything, because everyone has to live with the outcome of this election. He may have learned a painful lesson.

However, I don't know if I would sever a friendship over it.

I thought most Johnson voters were Republicans that didn't want Trump.

[democrattotheend]

9. My friend is a libertarian-leaning Democrat. Likes Ron Paul

He is a Democrat on most issues but is very isolationist on foreign policy and did not want to vote for Hillary because he felt she was too interventionist. He would have voted for Obama again in a heartbeat, and I pointed out that she was his hand picked successor and he trusted her not to start WWIII, but he didn't listen.

[yardwork]

14. I have more respect for Trump voters. They honestly voted for somebody they wanted to win.

Third party voters in this election were assholes. Instead of choosing between the only two viable options in this election, with so much at stake, they had a temper tantrum because their favorite wasn't an option.

Now they're upset that other people didn't save them from Trump.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. It's not just kids, though...

but I can almost excuse some of the kids for being young and naive.

Those I can't excuse are the ones who should be old enough to know better-- who have been through this before. There's a few around my age who chant on about their purity of choice and other nonsense.

The simple truth is that if you did not cast a vote for Hillary, you are the problem.

[yardwork]

15. Hear, hear.

[BainsBane]

4. A lot of them did vote for Hillary though

and the fact is this election has been traumatic. People aren't "special snowflakes" to worry about their basic rights under a president who ran on savaging them.

[democrattotheend]

5. For sure

I am worried too. I am just pissed off at the ones who didn't vote for her in swing states because they felt they had to "vote their conscience." What part of their conscience told them to enable this monster?

[BainsBane]

10. agree

and I'm even more pissed off at the older voters who did the same. Not being in a swing state isn't an excuse. As we saw in this election, any state can swing.

[mimi85]

18. And I'm even more

pissed off at the something like 43% of eligible voters who didn't even bother to vote.

[handmade34]

7. no matter...

we can't do over and I want to rant at them as well (and have) but at this point I am forever grateful that they are out there protesting and hope they keep it up indefinitely...

[JI7]

8. most of them DID vote for Clinton. the ones who voted stein are happy trump won

[BainsBane]

11. Actually there are a number of Busters protesting

yet they seem to feel no responsibility for their own vote.

[JI7]

12. They are probably the career types

That's all they do. They like to feel like they are being rebellious .

[BainsBane]

13. Yes, probably so. nt

[stopbush]

16. I have a friend here in CA, a D who hated Hillary. Big Sanders supporter.

Accused me of being part of the establishment for supporting Hillary.

After Sanders lost to Hill, he made it clear that he would be voting third party to vote his conscience. Said that since CA was safe for Hill, he had that luxury. He trumpted his opinion all over social media, FB etc. He was crapping on Hillary as a corporatist the day before the election.

Here's the thing: even though CA was safe for Hill, other parts of her blue wall turned out to not be so safe. I believe that people like my friend are just as responsible for Trump being elected as anyone else, because their trashing Hillary and talking about how it was safe for them to vote third party most likely got people living in PA and OH and MI and FL to think the same way. They also thought their states were safe, and they never believed for a moment that their single vote for a third party candidate would help elect Trump.

But it did.

[SharonAnn]

17. I believe that people like my friend are just as responsible for Trump being elected as anyone else

"I believe that people like my friend are just as responsible for Trump being elected as anyone else, because their trashing Hillary and talking about how it was safe for them to vote third party most likely got people living in PA and OH and MI and FL to think the same way"

Yes, I had a serious talk with two of my friends about this. Told them that every time they said they were 'going to hold my nose and vote for Hillary" they were convincing some of our moderate GOP friends not to vote for Hillary. I explained that these people would figure that if even the Democrats didn't want to vote for her, they shouldn't either. I told them that if they wanted the Democratic candidate to win, they needed to speak highly of her, especially to people who might be on the fence.

But, both of these friends wanted their precious right to voice their political opinions all over the place. And these are women over 65. It didn't make much difference here in Tennessee, but I'm sure they cost Hillary some votes here and who knows where else.

[BainsBane]

19. Yes, and now we know the Kremln

Helped plant a lot of that propaganda to promote Trump. They stated back in the Dem primary with trolls posing as Bernie supporters.

[boston bean]

24. a yup...

people need to Look up yanukovich.

[Vinca]

20. No doubt the third party candidates gave the election to Trump.

I originally thought the semi-sane Republicans would gravitate to Johnson, but they all went "home to the Republican Party" (as they say) and put party over country. It's a disgusting and scary state of affairs. When the "precious snowflakes" lose abortion rights, get no relief for college debt and find nothing has changed re the job market, they'll appreciate the gravity of their actions . . . maybe.

[Demsrule86]

21. I agree with you, but we must support everyone who is fighting Trump.

She just wants to divide us.

[kydo]

22. I know a dem that voted Johnson

He is of Haitian decent (so yes African-American), a dem, in his late 30's early 40's, college educated, as very good job. He hates orange man but couldn't vote for Hillary because of the movie 13, she is corrupt, the email thing, but the big thing that turned him off Hillary, the story of her stealing all that money from Haiti.

He early voted and I told him before the election that your protest vote is not a protest vote, it is a vote for orange man. He didn't believe me said it doesn't matter Hillary will win and that while he 100% preferred Hillary over orange man, he still refused to vote for Hillary because of Haiti.

I am sure he is regretting his choice now. Part of me is rather glad orange man won. Shit's gonna crash and very soon people will realize that in their hate of Hillary (which really is the end result of 30 years of lies, and smears) gave a person 100% worse then all their fake corrupt versions of Hillary could ever be, the highest office in the land. If they thought Hillary was scandal ridden and corrupt to the core, well they ain't seen nothing yet.

They got what they voted for. They will be regretting that wish for the rest of their sorry stupid ass lives.

[mtnsnake]

23. Who cares what smellyanne thinks? I hope the precious snowflakes protest until the moon turns blue.