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First off, I am a former grunt with a potty mouth, so if you don't like profanity, better head elsewhere because I am really mad and need to vent. You were warned.
A friend of mine with whom I often discuss politics told me the other day that if his candidate didn't win the Democratic nomination, he would vote for John McCain. My response was something along the lines of
ARE YOU FUCKING RETARDED?!?!?!?
I proceeded to tear him a new one (verbally, anyway). Despite all of the conflicts going on between the Senator Clinton camp and the Senator Obama camp, there is no fucking way in hell I am going to stand for some bullshit like that. I thought the era of Democratic "Barnburners" was over with the end of slavery. Anyone who votes for Senator McCain out of spite because their candidate doesn't get the nomination has completely lost all perspective. Senator McCain has already made it pretty clear what he is going to do if elected: essentially, continue all of the utterly fucked-up policies of George Bush. Stay in Iraq for another 100 years? Sure! Put more asshole conservatives on the Supreme Court? Absolutely! Reverse Roe vs. Wade? Damn skippy! And we'll make a fortune by buying up stock in the coat-hanger companies beforehand to boot! Yay! And we'll sure as hell make sure that any insider trading never ever gets investigated! Woo-hoo! "Return" to a mythical time when for straight white males it was an idyllic Leave it to Beaver happy universe but everyone else is pretty much fucked? Oh hell yes! Maybe even make people like Joe "We Can't Bomb Iran Fast Enough for Me" Lieberman Secretary of State, or maybe Secretary of Defense? Awesomeness!
COME ON YOU FUCKING BLINDER-WEARING JERKOFFs!!!!! How can you really say THAT is an acceptable alternative to your candidate losing the nomination?!? I know it's almost become a cliche, but seriously, a McCain presidency will essentially be Bush's third term. On many of the major issues, I don't see any real difference between McCain and Bush, especially since on the few issues where there was a difference McCain appears to have changed his stance to match Bush's in order to appeal more to the base of the Republican party, i.e. the moronic, mouth-breathing, homophobic, xenophobic, "Adam and Eve rode a dinosaur to church" types. Christ, are we really that fucking stupid? Would we really rather see McCain win? Are we that goddamn short-sighted? Is the country going to be better off that way, because we took our fucking toys and went home, so to speak? Waah waah waah, if I can't have it my way I am going to just fuck it up for everyone? Jumpin' Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick.
Everyone take a deep breath and say it with me: "Democratic candidate (whomever I like) is not a Savior, and Democratic candidate (whomever I hate) is not the Antichrist. There is no reason - NO FUCKING REASON - that we can't pull our shit together, win this goddamn election, and turn this country around regardless of which Democrat gets the nomination."
I am going to vote Democrat in this election regardless of who gets the nomination, OK? Yeah, I have my preferences, and right now I prefer Senator Obama - so the fuck what? I'll still vote for Senator Clinton if she wins the nomination. At least in this Presidential election, I can't imagine the circumstances that would force me to NOT vote for any Democratic candidate. That is not because I am a "yellow dog" Democrat, it is merely because the Democratic party's stances on the issues follow my own a hell of a lot more closely than the Republican party's stances on the issues, and either candidate is bound to be a better fucking President than Senator McCain, not to mention the White House's current occupant. And despite all the Democratic candidates and the Democratic party's flaws (and there are definitely quite a few) I would rather see the Democrats come out on top than vote for a third-party candidate just to make a point, because I think that it is still more likely to succeed by pushing for change within the Democratic ranks (at least in the short term). As the country collectively gets in worse and worse situations on all fronts, I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't see that. Yeah, there are differences between Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. And there were things that President Clinton did that I did not agree with. Still, I would rather have President Hillary Clinton than President John Fucking McCain. And yeah, I don't think that we should sacrifice our idealism, but I think we have to realize that some things just aren't going to fucking happen anytime soon without ensuring that we have the opportunity and the time to accomplish them. Yeah, I would like to see our political system get cleaned up and adapted to accept more political parties, but in order to do that, we have to ensure that WE STILL HAVE A WORKING FUCKING POLITICAL SYSTEM. And whatever allows the Republicans to keep taking us down the path that we've been on for the last seven nightmarish years is a fucking bad thing. They DON'T CARE about the system, they are going to milk it for all its worth to empower and enrich themselves at the expense of everyone else. THEY are the ones that think the ends justifies whatever means - a unitary executive, torture, gentrification, pollution, exploitation, you name it. I am most definitely not for the ends justifies the means, and I would love to see a viable third party that is more progressive, but for fuck's sake, can you not see that that particular means (throwing away your vote on a third party candidate, or worse, voting for the other side out of spite) helps put a goddamn Bush clone in the White House for four more fucking years!?!?! How much is that going to help? How is that going to stop the corporations from virtually sodomizing the public for money? How is that going to help worker's rights, or gay rights, or fix the broken goddamn health care system? It's like standing on the deck of a sinking ship and saying "goddammit, if only we had paid more attention to the charts, and if only we hadn't turned off the radar, and if only we had taken a different ship, and yadda yadda yadda we wouldn't be in this mess - so let's sit and argue about it some more because YOU KNOW I'M RIGHT!" Yes, you are indeed right, but that doesn't change the fact that in the meantime while we are arguing WE ARE GOING TO FUCKING DROWN. How about we get in a goddamn lifeboat and we can argue about it once we are out of danger? Would that be OK with you?" It's insane. Period. It's like that scene in this movie (Strange Brew - love that film) where the guy realizes that his brakes are gone, so he just shrugs and says "well, no point in steering now" while his brother freaks out and grabs the wheel. Seriously, it is about that dumb.
Christ I am so pissed off right now. I literally turned red. Sorry if this contains a lot of profanity, but obviously this is something I feel quite passionately about.
Perspective, people. Get some.
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