The Presidential Election: that thing that seems less real and more like an episode of Parks and Recreation with each new headline. As with most election cycles, there are diehard people on either extreme of the spectrum, and that’s good that’s why we hold elections in the first place, it’s a time for people with different ideas to decide how the country should be run. It’s what makes America great in the first place, the right to choice and the right to vote for our government.
However, there are people who I believe come to be too absolutist in their thinking. We see it a lot this time around with Bernie Sanders supporters, and don’t get me wrong, I love Bernie and was rooting for him for a long time and was sad to see him go. But that’s just it, he’s gone now and you just have to accept that.
If you’ve reached this point in the election and are still #BernieOrBust, that tells me a few things about you.
For one it tells me that you really have nothing at stake should Donald win this election. If you can go around telling everyone to vote third party, then you don’t really grasp how scary this election actually is.
Another thing it tells me is that you don’t actually care about what Bernie stands for, but rather your own little attempt to overthrow the system. Bernie has on several occasions stated that Hillary needs to win this election, and you going against that shows you really just don’t care.
On one hand, there’s a candidate who has spent the past 30 years in government office, seen what it’s like to be president and what it takes first hand and has created her platform on working towards helping people. On the other, there’s a man who has exactly zero government experience, says has business background despite having to declare bankruptcy six separate times, and has built his campaign on hate.
It’s the hate there that the #NeverHillary camp doesn’t actually have to worry about. Yes, they will say that the understand and support people with fewer privileges than them, but they don’t.
If you can overlook how many people would be targeted by hate and violence if Donald becomes president and make your third party vote against the system, then you obviously know you aren’t going to be the target of that hate. You obviously know that regardless of what happens in November, your life will largely be unaffected by the aftermath.
You don’t have to worry about being called out in a bathroom, or stopped on the street and harassed about who you love, or what color your skin is. You don’t have to worry about being a target of the hordes of hate mongers that follow Donald’s every whim.
You are safe, but there’s a lot of people in the United States that are going to be severely put at risk if Hillary doesn’t win this election.
If her opponent ends up winning, we’re telling not only our citizens, but the entire world that we are a nation fueled by hate and fear of that which we don’t understand.
This is what I see when you share that post on Facebook about #CrookedHillary, not that you really just want Bernie to win, but that you have no actual reason to worry if Hillary doesn’t.
