gigglinggoblin
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Americans: You Should Vote
🕑 Added 2020-10-17 18:09:36 +0000 UTCHello, my lovelies!
It's been a rough year for trying to keep this Patreon apolitical, and I can't pretend I don't have an obligation to speak up right now, so... well, you've been warned. 2020 is a trip, isn't it?
In the interests of full disclosure here, Joe Biden was not my first choice in this primary. He wasn't even my second or third or fourth. I am deeply uncomfortable with his politics, his conduct towards women, and his belief that his election will "reset the clock", like our only problem was Orange Man Bad and resetting to mid-2016 is somehow a good idea. I don't like Harris, either, for many of the same reasons. The Democratic party platform this year is an insulting mess that treats neither the pressing need for Medicare-for-All nor the urgent crisis of climate change as anything more than idle daydreams. I am considering the Democratic leadership to largely be in direct opposition to the Democratic electorate.
It's been a rough election year. Fundamentally, when and if Democrats retake the White House, my country is going to be in the same spiral it was four years ago that started this whole mess. I don't consider Joe Biden an ally in any meaningful capacity—not with his opposition to basic common-sense policies like M4A.
I'm saying all of that to emphasize that I'm not naive about this situation. I consider the Democrats to be adversaries. It is, however, my firm position that the people who care about fixing things are in a better position to organize and effect that change than ever before. I am genuinely optimistic. But if we have to have an adversary to rally against, we are much better off with the Democrats, who are easier to pressure and more reluctant to have us shot.
Our democracy is under serious threat right now, and as promising as the polls are for Biden, polls are hard to trust when Republican leaders are so willing to toss ballots under the couch cushions. If we're going to have any chance at making a difference, we will need to keep Republicans from doing more damage first.
This isn't about Trump or Biden or Pelosi or McConnell. This is about throwing a wrench into the gears of the machine actively trying to tear us all to pieces so we can survive to start fixing it.
No matter what, if you are American and can vote, you should immediately move to do so. Early voting is our last electoral defense against ballot tampering.
Vote for small seats. Vote for measures, vote for state senators and representatives as well as the national races. If you're Californian, vote for Kevin de León and, if you're in the right district, Shahid Buttar. If you're in Portland, please vote for Chloe Eudaly and Sarah Iannarone.
And though it pains me to say this, if you are in a swing state, please vote for Joe Biden.
Voting isn't the end of this, but it is the least we can do right now.
We'll work on bullying Biden into giving people health care and, y'know, other basic human rights in a few months.
Comments
Wells Bengston
Thank you. I feel much the same. I've never voted anything but independent before, and rarely gotten politically active, but I feel that our current president is a danger to our grand Republic and am voting Biden this year and being vocal about my reasons.
Kenneth R Moore
If you think a world with such regular representation of trans lives and the advantages of class is apolitical then that is a product of your privilege, not whether or not this setting is apolitical. As well, silence in the face of fascism is support of fascism. Full stop.
Lorelei
Yeah, I have mixed feelings about promoting people like him and Biden, but the primaries gave us what they gave us.
Cool Dude
I want to make it clear I don't intent to be confrontational about this but I believe its important that I voice my opinion on this matter. I have to disagree with you using your completely unconnected work as a means of pushing your political believes on others regardless of which side you're supporting.
Michael
Note that Shadid is hella toxic, and a bunch of his former campaign staffers are asking people to stop promoting him. https://twitter.com/socialist_queer/status/1290695252571914241
Lorelei
I think this is the most I've ever agreed with a centrist on a political take, so there you go! I'd love for Biden to have meaningful opposition on the left (as he'd be considered a conservative by most metrics), but, well, that's just not where American politics are this year. This year, it's not about left vs. right. It's about everyone else vs. fascism, or "right vs. far-right", if you like. Hopefully we can get back to left vs. right next year and have some vaguely interesting political conversations again. It's been a long time.
idna222
Thank you for outright stating you dislike Joe Biden. More left-leaning individuals need to reiterate that. It helps dispel the myth that the Dems are a leftist organization. I've actually been rooting Biden from the beginning; but that's because I'm a textbook middle-class American, and so I'd benefit the most from a centrist candidate. You and I probably differ greatly in terms of our political viewpoints and concerns, yet we're supporting the same political party. That's because the Dems, as a party, are not a monolith. Dems oppose one another all the time. A whole multi-dimensional spectrum of individuals have reasons to vote for Democrats. The Republicans, on the other hand, have become a borderline extremist cult of personality, who brand any dissenting voices as unpatriotic traitors. The latter just happened to galvanize the former by putting off so many different demographics. But many are fooled into thinking elections are a choice between left-wing and right-wing. In reality, it's a choice between civil democracy and chauvinism.
Timothy Ellis
I worked hard to get Bernie the nomination and I'm gutted that we didn't win it, but your analysis here is spot-on.
Dulcinea St. Cameron
Thank you for speaking up.
