It takes a certain kind of privilege to not vote for Hillary
This is an argument we're going to hear for the next several weeks or few months as the general election campaign progresses. The implied (or sometimes explicitly stated; see LoF) privilege is that of a white male. Frequently "affluent" or some variation will also be included.
This argument is a variation on the divisive identity politics the Clinton campaign used to successfully sweep the south in the primary, coupled with the "fear Trump" argument. It plays on feelings of guilt and uncertainty in a white population who consider themselves allies of non-whites, and it's very effective.
It's predicated on the notion that Trump is terrible for everyone but white straight cis-males, while Hillary (it is asserted) is better:
We have to accept that Hillary is better than Trump on race because Trump said some mean things and fomented some violence.
We're not supposed to remember that Hillary and Bill encouraged Trump to run, knowing who and what he is, or that Hillary not only fought to pass awful and racist criminal and social support laws, she has as recently as this damned primary marginalized and belittled black activists.
We have to accept that Hillary is better than Trump on sex orientation because Hillary stood idle while some (many) of our LGBTQIPA friends and allies struggled to win victories in courts, while Trump opposes something those victories already covered and will never be able to overturn.
We're not supposed to remember that Hillary held essentially Trump's stance on gay marriage ("up to the states" was code for "opposed, but want to make people think I'm not") until it became politically dangerous for her to do so, or that she as recently as this primary "made a mistake" when honoring Nancy "AIDS holocaust" Reagan at her funeral.
We have to accept that Hillary is better than Trump on gender because she's cracking a glass ceiling and supposedly has fought for women and children for decades, while Trump is a misogynist jerk.
We're supposed to forget that Hillary's economic policies hurt women, and especially single-mothers and their children most, and that her foreign policies result in the mass death and destruction of women and their families, and that she this very primary season said the children of Central America should be sent back through a dangerous journey where they could be raped, killed, or kidnapped and sold into slavery at every turn just to "send a message" to Central and South American countries' people.
One last point.
Listen: I grew up in majority-minority (African-American, Latino and a mix of Korean and Vietnamese) neighborhoods for most of my childhood. I ain't a black dude, and I haven't lived the life of a non-straight, non-white, non-male. But I've come closer to the first two (I had gay family, and gay friends) than Hillary's rich lily-white ass ever has.
Call me privileged for being white--it's true. Call me privileged for being male--it's true. Call me privileged for being straight--it's true. Don't tell me those things are why I oppose Hillary. Don't tell me my opposition to voting for Hillary is from a position of privilege. It just isn't true. Nobody--of any race, gender, or orientation--has the standing to tell me I'm privileged as a response to my objections over Hillary. And they don't have standing to do that to you, either.
It's just a way to shut down debate, because they know their candidate is awful on all the issues that affect all of us.
Comments
I read an article on OpEd News this morning
by Paul Craig Roberts that scared so much about HRC and the saber rattling from her and her co-horts that I almost decided to go back to bed and remain there sucking my thumb in a fetal position for the rest of the day, week, month. Option 2 was to start cruising those Mormon food sites for shelf stable foods, enough to last for a decade or two.
I wish I were kidding but I'm not. The good news is I think it removed any possibility of me ever succumbing to any guilt/shaming techniques to vote for her.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
Phoebe - this article?
http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2016/07/29/the-democratic-party-no-longe...
Interesting...
Yes.
"Interesting" in the most horrible possible connotation of that term, like Hiroshima was "interesting".
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
oops..was being sarcastic
didn't have horrible enough words to use...
terrifying, hideous, seem so mild...
I knew you were being sarcastic
I didn't post a link myself because I found it so damn disturbing.
Americans have long thought that their physical isolation from the rest of the world provides them with some sort of protective shield that allows them to insert themselves around the globe without ever suffering any profound consequences, and with the exception of 9/11, that has been true for the most part. But what has been true in the past is not guaranteed to be true in the future. And the behavior of some "leaders" seems designed, consciously or not, to make sure that it does not remain the case in the future. This is a failure of personality and the psyche, to not regard those perceived as enemies to be possessed with the same options they reserve for themselves. It's not a f**king game of Stratego, although they seem to think so.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
Ancient Curse
"May you live in interesting times."
"Politics is not evil; politics is the human race's most magnificent achievement." Senator Tom Fries, 'Podkayne of Mars,' Robert Heinlein
Paul Craig Roberts has his own agenda
There is some truth to what he says regarding the current aggressive stance taken by NATO, but his defense of Putin is frankly misleading and disingenuous.
What we do face is a situation not unlike that which was in place prior to the First World War where a series of misunderstandings and alliances led to a disastrous military conflict that could and should have been avoided. Hillary Clinton clearly supports policies that make such a conflict far more likely to occur than our current President, Obama, or even former president, George W. Bush.
However, to say that a President Trump would be any better on matters of war and peace is speculation at this point. Some days he says things that suggest he will adopt a less aggressive approach regarding the use of our military forces overseas as the principle means of advancing American interests. On other days, however, he blurts out statements that make me wary of his judgment. Frankly, I fear he will follow the advice of whomever he appoints to head up the CIA, Defense Department and State Department.
The only advantage Trump has at the moment is that, unlike Hillary, he has no record of advocating and implementing the reckless use of American military power to destroy people's lives in order solely to benefit our "Allies" (which ironically enough include both Israel, a state with nuclear weapons, Pakistan - another state armed with nukes -and Saudi Arabia, the main promoter of Sunni fundamentalism and terrorism around the world) and American business interests, whether defense contractors or the fossil fuel industry.
Whoever wins the Presidency, we need to be prepared for the enhanced possibility that individual, whether Clinton and Trump, may take actions that intentionally, recklessly or by sheer accident lead to a war with Russia. We must be prepared from day one to use our people power to prevent such an outcome.
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
I have always pretty much consigned most of my writing
and commenting to domestic issues - healthcare, housing, economic injustice, etc. That has happened naturally as a result of my own acknowledgement to myself that I possess only the most superficial knowlege about foreign policy especially as it relates to global struggles for dominance and control.
The only knowlege that I have gleaned that strikes me as being sound, is that wars between nations for the most part are over resources and/or to enhance the moneyed interests and not ideology although they are almost always garbed as wars of ideology. The Shock Doctrine was the most influential book I have read in this arena.
I feel sorry for the peoples of the world, that we are reduced to fungible pawns in these power struggles. I was one of those people who believed in the sixties that maybe it was possible to "buy the world a Coke" and "sing in harmony". I shake my head now at my naivete. War is a Racket. Truer words were never spoken.
" “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” FDR "
There's more than one scumbag on the loose
Thanks for this bit of sanity Stephen.
The problem we have is that there are so many violent psychopaths in positions of power these days: Putin, Clinton and Trump are only the top three. Just because you dislike one of them doesn't mean the others are sane. This is just another version of the lesser evil thinking and it is not any more valid just because it isn't about politics.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
Actually I think Putin *is* sane
Just very coldly calculating about what will best serve his/his country's best interests. That's scary enough without the hyperbole.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Coldly calculating, yes.
But for a sane reason. The US has been pushing NATO expansion into the former Soviet sphere since before Putin rose to power in Russia. As the encirclement grew tighter, Putin assessed the situation and took actions he thought necessary to protect the homeland.
I look at it this way: How would an American president respond if Canada and Mexico and our other neighbors joined a Russian version of NATO and put military hardware in place? President Kennedy was ready to fight a nuclear war over Soviet missiles in Cuba. Why would any sane person expect Putin to be happy about what we're doing?
Rational actor
Andrew Bacevich as he attended conferences and seminars over his career as soldier and scholar noted that the foreign policy crowd could not see movements, leaders, etc. as rational actors. That is, people do things for a reason. What are those reasons? He called it lack of empathy. This is not sympathy but trying to get understand somebody. Now we may think the reasons are illegitimate, but the point is to understand the reasons.
And we come to Putin. And absolutely right. He has reasons for what he does. He once answered a question whether he is friend or foe to the West. He answered something like "I am not your friend. I am not your bride or groom. I am the president of Russia and my job is to do what is best for national interests." He didn't go into a rant about rebuilding Czarist nor Soviet Russia and goose stepping into Warsaw or Vilnius. Seems sane to me as his definition of a country's leader is sane.
So part of the demonization of Putin and the laying down of justifications for eventual war is to not treat him in a rational way. What happens is a self-serving mind reading of Putin's intentions, personality, motivations, and the result of that mind reading becomes a mix or semi-religious explanations or psychobabble which of course describe a deeply, villainously flawed cartoon character. I don't think once when I have asked what the reasons for Putin invading the Baltics, was there any other answer than basically "Putin is a bad man--end of discussion".
How about an “underground railroad” for whistleblowers, etc.?
Casablanca time (brainstorming exercise / thought experiment) for an anti-war movement:
These days documents and the like can be encrypted and uploaded to the Internet. But what about a person? After a leaker or whistleblower, or even just a particularly effective anti-war activist (“ringleader”) has been fingered by the government, they and their family may be in danger.
Part 1. Consider what non-governmental covert infrastructure would look like, for example, for getting people across borders to physical safety.
Part 2. If flight abroad is not an option, how might one go about concealing Anne Frank’s family today, given the NSA and so on?
These days,
a revolutionary movement has got to be much smarter than they have had to be in the past.
Your term "ringleader" reminds me of what I consider to be a very important book: The Starfish and the Spider.
I find myself in a kind of anguish that there are so many of us out there who know how corrupt things have become and want to fight it tooth and nail, but we are not organized. Some are going to vote for Jill, some write in Bernie, some Johnson, some stay at home. What an impact we could have if all of we disaffected persons, liberal and conservative alike; agreed to do the same thing, such as vote for Stein.
So I remember The Starfish and the Spider and retrieve a glimmer of hope for us all. Because everything is changing, and we are that change.
Something that has occurred to me more than once
is reviving the Jane Collective and taking it nationwide. Surely there are still those living who were part of that, and I suppose it's possible we could find physicians (particularly gynecologists and midwives) willing to train lay women.
The Jane Collective
"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained." - Mark Twain
Somehow the social justice faction
never talks about "American privilege", in fact they glory in it... the idea that brown people in places like Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen don't count. They can be killed with no more thought or guilt than it takes to squash a bug.
That's actually the most disgusting "privilege" of all, yet they are completely blind to it, or beholden to it.
No more wars.
"Obama promised transparency, but Assange is the one who brought it."
Clinton's convention performance: Militarism; jingoistic
patriotism and neoliberalism-promoting identity politics. It was a sad and sorry spectacle.
Warren Buffet says we're in a class war and his side is winning. The wage earners need to wise up, or they have wised up but lack a candidate, and fight back.
"We're all colored; if we weren't, no one could see us"....Captain Beefheart
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
I like your sig line
Captain Beefheart was on of the few bands that came to Portland in my youth. Well Charlie Musclewhite came here but the biggies all passed us by and went to Seattle.
Thank you. Captain Beefheart, especially his albums Trout
Mask Replica and Lick My Decals Off Baby, still sounds avant garde and is a challenge for any rockers who aspire to being cutting edge. I have videos of he and the Magic Band in concert and they put on a great show. Glad they made it to Portland.
Ice Cream for Crow is excellent for blending rock with poetry.
The signature line is from the Mekons song and it's the title of the song. I think the title catches the way many feel: trapped in a confined space with a monomaniac - neoliberalism in our case - at the helm. I think it's important to remember Fletcher Christian overthrew the captain and did, indeed, get away with it.
Cheers!
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Given the demographics of Dead State
they're joking, right?
Gëzuar!!
from a reasonably stable genius.
Not at all. They're serious. And the reinforcement
they get from some of the non-whites on that site is shameful. I sometimes get the feeling folks like BBB and Denise have a good laugh in private over how dense and easily manipulated the typical LoF person is. When they aren't gnashing their teeth a bit at the shallow engagement with the real substance of racism, that is.
It takes a certain kind of immorality and sociopathy to
vote for Clinton.
Gawd, we're really going to go through with this aren't we.
really going to go through with this
Yes.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Partisanship lends itself to immorality and sociopathy
Doesn't it? Now that I've left the Democratic Party, I'm having a harder and harder time seeing the difference between Democrats and Republicans. All I can see at this point is the different social wedge issues the parties use to manipulate their flocks. Everything else looks depressingly uniform.
It doesn't really require "privilege" to not vote for Hillary. It only requires a right -- our right as a citizen to vote for whom we damn well please, or not to vote at all. The privilege evident among those who think they own our votes, on the other hand, that stinks in the nostrils of the gods.
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I think they've run out of room, that's why they're melding.
"Help me, help me, I'm melding!"
What else explains how the partisans will rant and rave about Bush's wars, torture, and other assorted crimes against humanity and then support someone like Clinton, or Obama. They seem to know the truth but somehow translate it differently. I've never been a partisan so I don't know.
All this nonsense about privilege is just childish guilt tripping, same shit we did in junior high. That seems to be the level of games they play.
Junior high
Yep, same sort of in-group out-group bullshit. It's so cute when they learn a new word, and try to figure out how to make it an insult.
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I've lived my entire life
being only a shave and a haircut away from white male privilege. Does it make a difference? Sometimes. Sometimes I feel it is easier for me to hang with non-whites because I'm not perceived as an agent of "the man". However, Corporate Whitey gives me a pass because I have Letters with Dots following my name.
I won't vote for Hillary because she is a criminal, plain and simple. Convicted or not, she has never been exonerated.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
What's very cool about being able to vote
is that it's one of the few things that you can do privately, and no one else gets a say. In fact, a majority of people eligible to vote choose to abstain. So, no one can shame me into voting, and they sure as hell can't shame me into voting for Hillary. Go convince all those folks who've been sitting out elections for years. I've done my part. Am I privileged? Don't know. I am woman (had to go there), white, straight, old. Old---that's the biggy. Because when you're old, you get to do and say things that may have been taboo or shameful at other times in your life. But people think it's cute now. I love it!!! So, Hillary, go fuck yourself!!
its not so private on the casino floor in NV
Everyone has to make their own decisions on voting
whether you are black or white, gay or straight or bi or trans, religious or atheist, an immigrant or Native American.
It's not a privilege to vote for someone other than Hillary Clinton, it is your right. End stop.
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
Everyone, including Hillary,
has the right to choose on voting. She can decide between her wealthy donors and their "interests", or my vote, and it's been years since she clearly made that choice. In fact, it may be the only choice she hasn't waffled on.
"If I sit silently, I have sinned." - Mossadegh
Privilege/right!
It's your right to vote for whomever. It's a privilege to be able to back that candidate. Shame, fear, what, no hope and change this time? Bait and switch, that's what we get every time from Dems. Up thread said it best for me, fuck hillary, fuck the dems, and fuck people who try to extort my vote. I'll abstain before I vote for either of these sociopaths.
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
What's really galling
is the vehemence of the attacks the brain-washed or bought-off make on people who choose to vote outside the 2-Party system, yet they never criticize people who choose not to vote at all. (They consider non-voters to be non-thinkers, and so cult material) Neither choice actually changes the false rationalization they justify their outrage with - the 2-Party vote tally.
I'm with ya - fuck 'em. But I will vote. Likely Jill, never Hill. I'll keep my vote; they can keep their rationalizations. I like that deal.
"If I sit silently, I have sinned." - Mossadegh
I deny the very concept of privilege
it's nothing but a divide and conquer tactic. House slaves are not privileged.
On to Biden since 1973
It sure is
and the Clinton shills over at TOP been using it all year to attempt to divide us along race and gender lines. Clinton is not only corrupt but corrupting. Corrupting of unity, of elections, of ethics, and of spirit. There is no moral imperative to vote for a warmonger.
Dingdingdingdingding!!
This!
Somebody get doh1304 a Marijuana! (I live in Colorado; I can say that!)
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
Sorry, but I don't like the high.
Now if you can gather some 'shrooms...
On to Biden since 1973
Now there's a poster of taste and distinction!
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Privilege is a thing, but it's not as simple or
one-dimensional as the folks who have weaponized pretend.
It's become a short-hand for accusing people who disagree of racism and sexism in order to shut down debate. Like so many other things that Hillary and her supporters have done, it acts as a real impediment to honest, open discussion about what real privilege is, who has it, and when it actually applies.
Yes, only the privileged can vote for someone other than Hills.
1. You have to be human.
2. You have to be 18 years old or older.
3. You have to be a registered voter in your area.
It's a big club and you can be in it.
Life is strong. I'm weak, but Life is strong.
4. You have to ensure that each vote counts and is not stolen. n
t
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
On the contrary . . .
. . . if you're voting for Hillary number 4 is the one thing that need not concern you.
Unless you weren't even allowed to vote
Registration Fraud. It happened to 50% of the people in my home. Two of us didn't even get to vote for the candidate. We got non-partisan ballots.
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
Well...
You might be privileged to know people from some of those countries Clinton helped to ruin, maybe Honduras or Haiti or Syria or Libya or the Ukraine.
Or you might be privileged to have your vote stolen or nullified by one of Clinton's associates.
Or you might be privileged to have relatives or friends imprisoned for very long terms on account of the Crime Bill for which Clinton campaigned.
There's all kinds of privilege, you know.
"there's something so especially sadistic about waving the flag of a country that you're actively destroying" -- Aaron Mate
Well, I could just hug you all over for this comment :D nt
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
Well I'm not male, not entirely white, and not affluent, so good
luck with that. Trump is terrible, yes, yes, to everything they say about him.
Hill is also terrible.
Vote Jill.
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By the way, why are they even bothering? I thought they had
this all sewn up. I thought they didn't need us.
I've been told to go away, they'll win anyway, there aren't that many of us, she'll get the votes of ALL those Repugs and right-leaning Indies who can't stomach Trump.
OK, Hillbots, so leave us alone, already.
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Reason they don't go away,
is too often they're your co-workers, neighbors, friends or family. I've lost 2 in the last 2 weeks alone. I've now had to reserve any thought of actual rational discussion for like-minded forums or.........myself? And I've had to boil social situations down to, "Let's make a deal. I'll keep my vote for myself; you keep your opinion for yourself."
"If I sit silently, I have sinned." - Mossadegh
Yes, I don't talk politics with my neighbors much. Which boils
down to not talking with my neighbors much.
My family, fortunately, was all in for Bernie. Now we're all sort of at loose ends. A couple have joined me in getting Jill on the ballot, but none of us are completely committed to her yet. Feeling a little disappointed in the results of commitment after Bernie's run.
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It's early.
The stench of the coronation's barely reached many noses yet, but I can see nothing but downhill for Hill. The recent leaks have done great damage yet have not been fully analyzed, and more are coming.
MSM media can no longer cover up the disgraces social media is exposing. I'm too old and poor to participate in instant social media, but I'm smarter for it, and watching with glee and feeling better about the future being in the hands of those who are using it well.
I think it will be at least a memorable year for third party emergence. Bernie didn't win, but changed us forever, and so will alternatives to the stranglehold of the 2 Corporatized Party's of America.
"If I sit silently, I have sinned." - Mossadegh
I love the Mossadegh quote, not the least because it is
Mossadegh
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Cat, isn't that the honest truth!
As jorogo smacks it clean out of the County!
I know painfully well the truth of what you're saying. I've got critical-order friends and family members who've bought the whole Hillary "SCOTUS - Scary Trump" nonsense hook, line, sinker, pole, beer cooler, boat, pickup truck, and redneck.
Ouch.
There are otherwise very intelligent folks out there who don't get that Hillary is Trump, with better hair and mouth control.
She's his clone, and he's her after-shave.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
This is a problem we need to deal with.
The division of the people has been a deliberate thing. It hamstrings all of us, no matter which "side" we are on.
This is because we all tend to gravitate toward sources of news and information that confirm our opinions. We are all dealing with different sets of "facts" that only serve to inflame our divisions. This has only become possible with the advent of cable and the proliferation of sources other than the MSM. And even they have changed, as we all know. Uncle Cronkite is dead and buried.
That is how they got away with it in 2007-8. In the past, the people would have tarred and feathered those criminals. But we had the right blaming poor people for taking out mortgages they couldn't afford. etc. and there was no unified voice screaming for justice. We were blindsided but they were ready with their divisions. I have friends who STILL blame poor black people for that recession.
What can we possibly do? Well, we can stop writing friends off because of their intractable opinions. And we can talk with them about how deliberate division is and how it prevents the people from acting with any force. I'm open to any other suggestions, but we first have to recognize how seriously this problem must be fought.
What’s galling is that even the two Bushes sent people to prison
— people who were in their social orbit, even — after the S & L crisis and the Enron fraud.
Barack Obama, Eric Holder, and Lanny Breuer on the other hand . . .
Sybil had nothing on the sHills
I never know which personality will show up. They go from "don't let the door hit ya" to OMGTRUMP!!!!!11!1!!!! Often in the same threads.
"Politics is not evil; politics is the human race's most magnificent achievement." Senator Tom Fries, 'Podkayne of Mars,' Robert Heinlein
This is SO true! I'm going to try to memorize this comment and
use it over there!
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feel free:D
It's nuts. They can't decide if it will be out fault that she looses or if they don't need us. Makes my head spin.
"Politics is not evil; politics is the human race's most magnificent achievement." Senator Tom Fries, 'Podkayne of Mars,' Robert Heinlein
I was "privileged" to have my vote STOLEN. Fuck the DNC,
if they think they can rob us of our right to vote and then try to shame us for not voting.
A basic right and the DNC stole it and most don't give a flying rat's ass.
It shows just how much our society is enslaved and impotent.
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
Dammit, Janet, how can
you Not vote for one of your own? A female, that is. I asked three other Berner ladies that very question at a Meetup last week and they snswered, "some of us have a brain." Thank the election gods for that!
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Ha, same reason I didn't vote for Palin :) I'm a bit sane.
Rodham is not one of my own. I am not a lying, warmongering 1%er.
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
Hillary == Sarah + 25 years.
Hillary is what Sarah Palin will be once her looks fade and the typical younger FOX "News" viewer (white, male, thinks with the little head) has no more use for her.
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
One of the things HillBullies steadfastly refuse
to understand is this: not voting for a candidate solely because she possesses a vagina is sexist, yes, but so is voting for the candidate solely because she possesses a vagina. Sexist as shit, actually.
Whenever anyone tries to guilt trip me with the 'woman card' I simply reply that a candidates reproductive organs are an irrelevant attribute and a ludicrous method of choosing a candidate.
"When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained." - Mark Twain
And some how voting for Dr. Stein is also sexist...
Because...
Apparently you don't count as a woman unless you are also a corporate tool.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
♪ ♫ She takes just like a human
She fakes love just like a human.
And then she aches just like a human.
But she breaks just like a corporate tool.
The Vagina Voter
"Love One Another" ~ George Harrison
Oh, Damnit Janet, that is
Oh, Damnit Janet, that is good.
In life, as in dance, grace glides on blistered feet. ~Alice Abrams
Also takes a certain kind of privilege
to ignore all the death and suffering Hillary Clinton has either actively promoted or condoned in places such as Libya, Syria, Honduras and occupied Palestine. All the holier than thou types trying to shame people into voting for Clinton have a very selective sense of moral outrage - the tremendous harm that Hillary has done and will do in the future is of no concern to them, as long as it's directed at somebody else.
inactive account
^^^THIS^^^
Spot on, mouselander. That is my definition of privilege. I suppose the privilege to forget or dismiss all the ways in which you are wrong and have wronged others; that you can't and don't see that many are still suffering financially and worse from policies you've helped to create.
The Clinton supporters calling me privileged...a white woman, over 50, without formal education (some college), I've never made more than $35k a year, haven't worked in 10 years, on disability for six. Had to live off my savings after two car accidents. Considered by most agencies as "homeless." I live with my daughter but she is not legally or financially responsible for me. If things get too crazy here, I really have no where to go. If I had any more privilege, I don't think I could stand it!
I am very angry this year. I will not let them guilt me into a vote. My feelings are that they are the ones who screwed this up. We only had one chance. Never will I vote for Hillary.
ml, your comment was perfect!
In life, as in dance, grace glides on blistered feet. ~Alice Abrams
#PrivilegedandProud
I feel so proud to have the (white straight) privilege of Not voting for Her Highness.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Funny thing about identity politics
If I voted based on identity politics, then I would be supporting Trump. But I'm not doing that, because I have a brain.
"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."
Honest to Buddha,
I truly have no idea what your comment means. All I can think is ... you hate Muslims and Mexicans, too?
I miss Colorado.
I don't know what he means. I took it to mean
that if he voted on identity politics, he'd vote for Trump (because Trump is a white male).
Privilege and identity politics are complicated issues. I wrote this essay because I think it's shameful how the Hillary crew have oversimplified them and weaponized them into tools for shutting down debate.
No white leftist wants to even be close to being accused of racism, sexism, or genderism, so it's an effective tool for that purpose. It's not effective for advancing any issues around race, sex, or gender, though. In fact just the opposite: it erects barriers and to what purpose? To elect on old rich white lady.
My guess is that the poster in question means nothing more
than he's a white male and if he were to believe, and act on, the identity politics being foisted on us to erase class consciousness, he'd vote for the white male, Mr Trump. To be called a bigot by a 1%er is no big deal to a lot of us; we have a higher course of action to pursue.
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Ohhhh, I see.
That makes sense. It was simpler than I was making it out to be.
Thanks for the response.
I miss Colorado.
You're certainly welcome. It's just a guess but
that's what came to mind so I posted it.
(I miss Colorado too - Montezuma County to be specific)
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
I am embarrassed to say that
I don't know where Montezuma County is. :/ I only lived in the Boulder/Denver areas the 18 years I was there, so I was spoiled by all the damn hippies.
I miss Colorado.
The Colorado county the borders NM, AZ, and UT
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Such a beautiful area, I'll bet!
I miss Colorado.
Unfortunately, the area is home to the Four Corners Power Plant
and other similar power generating facilities.
http://fourcornersfreepress.com/?p=883
That power plant was near Farmington, NM, and I could see its
smoke plume if I drove a few miles from our house at 7200 feet up to 8000 feet. It was awful
It was reported that astronauts could see it from space and pollution from the plant was easily detected in Los Angeles. I guess Larry Summers would have said the the Four Corners, like Africa, was under-polluted. (Fortunately the prevailing winds kept the pollution out of our immediate area but it should never have been built.)
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
The irony...it burns...
When I represent some client charged with a crime, I know instantly that the best plea bargains will be obtained for white females. They are my favorite clients. They make it easy for me, make me look like a defense attorney genius.
Extrapolate...
Clinton was not indicted.
So the TOP shills can just go fuck themselves.
I rest my fucking case.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Yes. Privilege isn't one-dimensional or one-way.
But Hillary's apologists act like it is.
Funny that 'Priviledge' is where she turns for
financial support.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
Unpatriotic
Bernie was on bill maher last night and normally I don't watch that fucking troll looking weasel but since Bernie was on first I tried to watch. It became tough right away when Bernie started with the beat Trump elect hrc at all cost bullshit and then maher started with his shit calling Bernie a real patriot unlike a lot of his supporters so I just turned it off.
IMHO it takes a special kind of stupid to keep voting for
The same people because you keep falling for their campaign promises and believe that THIS TIME they mean them.
Orwell was an optimist
No more Lucy
and Charly Brown and . . . You get the idea.
Ya got to be a Spirit, cain't be no Ghost. . .
Explain Bldg #7. . . still waiting. . .
If you’ve ever wondered whether you would have complied in 1930’s Germany,
Now you know. . .
sign at protest march
So, like, I have three best friends.
Four, I guess, if you count my sister. I have my BFF from childhood here in Green Bay. I've known her for 41 years, I shit you not. I have my BFF in San Francisco, a gay man who used to live in Boulder. I've known him over 20 years now. And my BFF in Colorado, female, is also my ex-partner; we will forever be linked because of Little Shiz. I've known her now, wow, 14 years.
All four of those fuckers are voting for Hillary Clinton in November. To their credit, however, all four of 'em voted for Bernie in the primary.
So my ex-partner BFF calls me last night and, boy howdy, she LOVES to argue politics with me. We spent about a solid hour arguing about why I'm voting for Jill Stein and why she's voting for Hillary Clinton, and I told her at the end of the call, "Man, you just went through the entire DNC guilt-trip checklist, didn't ya? Scary Trump, Supreme Court, white privilege, the whole shebang! Congratulations!" And then we both laughed it off, like we do, because I know her and love her and she's a wonderful person.
But, for the first time ever, I'm not gonna cave this year. My #DemExit is complete, and I refuse to budge and vote for Hillary Clinton. My ex-partner BFF is probably the only person who could potentially sway me, but the guilt shit just isn't working anymore. And I'm SO, SO glad because my relationship with the DNC for the last 28 years has been verbally abusive, to say the least. Only a huge corporation with untold millions and tons of power could convince *progressive voters* that it will be THEIR fault if the Scary Republican is elected.
It makes no fucking sense whatsoever. We, the poor and huddled 99%, have zero money and power, but it'll be OUR fault if Trump is elected? Fuck that noise, that's ridiculous. And I honestly cannot believe I have been falling for this goddamned shit since 1988!
All that being said, BAL, you're absolutely right about the white privilege argument. If you want to piss me right the fuck off, tell me I'm privileged. That's a hold-over feeling from the days of TOP, when I started criticizing Obama and was immediately accused of being a racist. I am a poor, white woman, and it's insulting to my intelligence (and the intelligence of millions of other voters) to assume that we won't vote for Hillary Clinton based on said white privilege. Talk about an oxymoron, too: Hillary Clinton is one of the most privileged women in the entire world.
Give me a fucking break. I wish all the trolls would just save their breath and not come here, because they will succeed at nothing except making us irate and driving us further away from the Democratic Party.
Gah.
I miss Colorado.
My last diary over there
Was a broadside against Clinton and her excusifiers after that horrendous lie she told about Nancy Reagan at her funeral. The straight privilege from Clinton supporters dismissing the real pain her words caused many LGBT folks (and straight ones too) was as obscene a display of privilege as I've ever seen.
Straight privilege, Christian privilege, wealthy privilege -- these are entirely invisible to Hillbots, because they can't use them to guilt-trip people into voting for their candidate. They can go fuck themselves right in the eye with their privilege bullshit.
Please help support caucus99percent!
WORD!
Also, LOL. I heart you so much.
I miss Colorado.
Btw, I remember that diary like it was yesterday.
You made me cry. It was really, really effective and extremely well-written.
Fuck Hillary Clinton and Nancy Reagan right in the eye!
I miss Colorado.
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