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Why are Bernie supporters posting anti-Hillary memes inspired by Trump fans and literal Nazis?

Hillary Clinton as "le Happy Merchant." Found on the Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash Facebook page
Hillary Clinton as “le Happy Merchant.” Found on the Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash Facebook page

If the remaining #BernieOrBusters want to convince the world that they are something other than “ridiculous” — as the far more grounded Bernie fan Sarah Silverman so aptly characterized them at the DNC last week — the Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash on Facebook isn’t exactly helping.

Bernie himself has bowed to political realities, endorsing Hillary and lending his support for her fight against Trump. Not so Bernie’s Dank Memers. The anti-Trump memes there are surprisingly few and far between. Far more common are memes supporting the Green party’s Jill Stein. And far more common than those are memes attacking Hillary and her supporters with all the subtlety of a channer who’s just mastered MSPaint.

While the anti-Hillary sentiment isn’t that much of a surprise, what is surprising, even a little shocking, is how utterly backwards many of the memes are, echoing classic misogynistic tropes and tinfoil-hat conspiracy theories, and in a few cases, even more bizarrely, repurposing antisemitic propaganda popular amongst GamerGaters and Internet Nazis.

Why would the supporters of a Jewish socialist repeatedly post pictures of Hillary Clinton as the “Happy Merchant?” You’ll have to ask them.

Let’s take a look at some of the more, well, colorful memes.

There’s this lovely reworking of an old sexist joke:

bdm1bill

And this slightly more original offering.

bdm2crab

Here’s Hillary as a beauty pageant winner.

bdmhil

And as a porn star:

bdmpor

Here’s a meme inspired, I guess, by Pokemon Go?

bdmpoke

This one manages to add transphobia to the mix:

bdm3penis

This meme links Hillary with a woman who was famously not convicted of murdering her daughter. At least in a court of law; in the court of public opinion she was considered guilty, guilty, guilty. Apparently in the mind of the mememaker, Hillary not being indicted for deleting emails is the literal equivalent of Casey Anthony getting away with murder?

bdm5casey

There are memes that echo Trump’s, er, “critique” of Hillary:

bdm4crooked

This one, while directed at disgraced DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, offers an apologia of sorts for Melania Trump’s plagiarism.

bdmmelania

And here’s one promoting a hashtag that originated with far-right attack dog — and fervent Trump fan — Mike Cernovich.

bdmtongue

And no, I have no idea what’s really going on with her tongue.

There are some memes that reek of conspiracy theory, though it’s a little hard to tell how many Bernie fans take these seriously.

bdmballoons

There are a surprising number of memes depicting Hillary as a reptilian space alien. I’m going to assume they’re all meant as jokes, because it’s too depressing to contemplate otherwise.

bdmreptiel

Naturally, there are more than a few memes attacking Sarah Silverman for her “ridiculous” remark, with many of the mememakers assuming she was paid to make it.

bdmsara

But it’s the “Happy Merchant” memes that truly baffle.

Here’s a typical “Happy Merchant” meme, using the now-infamous cartoon that originally appeared in a neo-Nazi newsletter.

happy2

And here’s Hillary in the same role, from the Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash:

hilhappy

The most depressing thing? This isn’t just some random Facebook page. The Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash page has more than 438,000 members. I can only hope most of them are less backwards than those posting memes on the page today.

H/T — r/againstmensrights

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Luzbelitx
8 years ago

I know I might be a bit too dense with my “holy shit, this DOES look like the Argentina election” but… but… holy shit!

There was the “everything is at stake in a choice between someone who might be able to keep things going and someone who will break our State stuff and be generally violent” situation.

There was the Woman President issue, albeit in a slightly different configuration since the WP was leaving office while both new prospects were male. Still, it was a Big Thing affecting the overall scenario.

There was the resentment from the progressive force’s pre-candidate who didn’t make it to the candidacy. In our case, he didn’t even make it to the primaries, it wasn’t nice at all. But then again, there was no misogyny directed at the remaining candidate because white cis het dude.

There were 3rd party groups promoting blank vote and abstention when the election was down to the 2 most voted parties, under the argument that “both candidates are equally evil”.

(Our election system was built to resemble the French, in which the winner must pass a certain % of votes or a certain % difference with the second force, otherwise a 2nd round takes place between the two most voted.)

There was the widespread ignorance about electoral systems and democracy in general misleading good-hearted people and being used by media for mudding the waters.

Sadly, our local version of Trump, who is actually a bussiness partner of the Trump and indeed belongs to the same global circle of pretentious money worshipping assholes, won the damed election.

And I get why it is angering and offensive to say one could wish for Trump to win as a “wake up call”, because similar arguments were heard about Macri. And I agreee it’s cruel and unreasonable. However, we should all make space in our heads for the idea that this might happen, whether we like it or not.

Sadly, way too many people have had their world explained by dominant media for too long. They are unable to grasp what’s going on or why it matters or how it can be changed -the very idea that things CAN BE changed is out of sight.

Most of those people don’t really care what happens to others unless they’re directly affected -and sometimes not even then. They will not acknowledge the damage until the poor are lining up outside their homes -or until they *are* in the line of poor people.

It is heartbreaking, and mostly the reason I do a little work of political good every single day. It’s not that I’m cruel and wish suffering on people for voting wrong, it’s more like I know some people are pretty fucking cruel and won’t care about all the suffering unless they have no choice left.

In the mean time, all we can do is keep working as usual (or a bit harder than usual) for the change we want, and hope very hard that we’ll have a chance to see it in practice.

Sorry for randomly tealdeering at irregular intervals lately. And thanks for reading.

kale
kale
8 years ago

@Axecaliber

“She definitely did deny the accusations (and did so in a pretty disgusting manner)”

well, thats literally what I meant. cover for, cover up, whatever, however you want to phrase it, its the same to me. At best, she has shitty judgement under pressure. I dont forgive her bc she hasnt changed.

Falconer
8 years ago

The argument that Hillary voted for the war has irritated me since it was busted out in support of Barack Obama in 2008. Obama didn’t vote for the AUMF because he wasn’t in the Senate at the time. Bernie didn’t vote for the AUMF, Donald Trump didn’t, and I didn’t, all because we weren’t asked to, and the implication of the argument is instead that all of us voted “no.”

@Kale:

At best, she has shitty judgement under pressure.

She was First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State. I guess that means she’s one of those people who fails upwards OR her judgment isn’t that shitty.

I dont forgive her bc she hasnt changed.

And evidence that she has changed would be what?

mildlymagnificent
mildlymagnificent
8 years ago

Evidence? I’d say her policy documents are pretty good evidence of a small-but-visible shifting of the Overton window a bit leftish.

Speaking as yet another non-US citizen here, the one thing apart from Supreme Court appointments that tips the scales for me is campaign finance.

She will also propose a constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United within her first 30 days in office.

In my view, that should make every voter, regardless of their party / policy affiliations or preferences, vote for her. She says she’ll get the ball rolling in the first 30 days. The people who worked to get her elected will still be keen and available to push a proposal like this along pretty vigorously. And people who voted for her for this reason will also be likely to get out and do the door-knocking and envelope stuffing to help out.

Getting this through and getting decent bodies onto the Supreme Court benches are important enough – without any other consideration – to justify voting for Hillary.

https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/campaign-finance-reform/

msexceptiontotherule
msexceptiontotherule
8 years ago

I think all evidence should have to be presented in the form of a parade. I might need less caffeine and more adequate sleep.

(((Hambeast))) Now With Extra Parentheses
(((Hambeast))) Now With Extra Parentheses
8 years ago

Still on pg. 3, but on pg. 1, Berdache said

My hope is that Sanders actually has started a revolution, that the thousands of good people energized by his campaign continue to work on both the national and local scene.

This is exactly why I voted for Bernie in my state’s primary even though it was a late primary state and it made no difference in the outcome. I was heartened by Sanders’ popularity and the fact that he got as far as he did without big-money donors. That said, I will be voting for Hillary in November and encouraging everyone I know to do the same.

The thing that’s got my panties in a bunch right now is Trumplethinskin’s deplorable tweets about the Khan family after Mr. Khan’s speech at the DNC convention. To attack a family that made the ultimate sacrifice for this country is low and as a veteran, this offends me to my core.

I saw that poor mother, grieving for her son; she appeared to be uncomfortable in the spotlight, yet determined to support the message her husband was conveying. Which they both wrote, according to them. But, as always, facts lose when Trumplethinskin’s dubious honor is at stake:

“If you look at his wife, she was standing there,” Trump said. “She had nothing to say. She probably, maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say. You tell me.”

Trump forbid she get any benefit of the doubt here. That man has less impulse control than a two-year-old, why does ANYone think he’d be any good as a world leader??? /rant

Avid Squirrel
Avid Squirrel
8 years ago

Okay. Hopefully no one thinks I’ve dismissed anyone’s opinions just because I assessed the situation here and sensed it would be unhelpful to talk about why I’ll not vote for Hillary Clinton.

I didn’t intend to derail the conversation. As a former volunteer and delegate for Sanders, I mostly wanted to say I think the people who made those deplorable memes might not actually be Sanders supporters. (I could totally be wrong on that.) I’d thought that talking about why I won’t vote for Clinton would have been off topic.

But I also saw the abuse going on in the comments. (Yes, I’m calling it abuse. I’m no psychologist, but I have a lifetime of experience with it.) I saw people wearing their fear-induced anger like a badge, literally granting themselves permission to treat those who don’t agree with them however they choose. (Abusers usually think they’re justified, even if only in this one special circumstance.) I’ve seen some of you playfully “batting” obvious trolls around (like cats!) before, and I’ve chuckled along. This is different. I saw someone–who clearly was trying very hard to be respectful and kind–verbally ripped to shreds here. Even when he was broken down, the mockery continued. There was a chance to make a connection across the “line” that I spoke of earlier, and it’s gone.

Why aren’t Sanders/Stein supporters itching to tell everyone why they’ll not vote for Clinton? Because this place has become like a tank of hungry piranhas to anyone who isn’t going to vote for her. Anything said can be shot down. Like so:

It’s tone-policing if someone says “Please try to respect my right to see things differently,”–even as they’re mocked for showing any hint of having “fee fees”.

Privilege, instead of being something we can discuss to help foster understanding, is being used to contemptuously dismiss any talk from certain people. (Sit down, shut up, and double my vote in November or you’re a terrible person!)

If someone’s upset about people who’ve actually been killed in wars overseas, they’re accused of using them as a shield, even as they’re also called selfish for not caring more about a hypothetical, worst-case scenario, Trump-related future death or deportation. (That you surely know they don’t believe will happen, otherwise they’d be with you on this!)

And of course there are suggestions that they’re not quite living in reality, with mentions of unicorns, etc. This one surprised me since I thought we aren’t supposed to attack people who might have psychological problems here. (But then I’m new, so maybe it’s okay to dismiss one another this way as long as we don’t use the able-ist “c” or “i” words.)

So my very abridged opinion regarding the election situation, since a couple people expressed dismay at my initial reluctance:

Many people are scared. I understand why. They believe Trump=Death. Literal death. But when we’re terrified, we don’t always think critically or compassionately. That’s why it can be so dangerous, and why unscrupulous people have been known to use it as a tool. (You think fascism can only appear from the right?)

Fear of Trump has been pushed by a lot of prominent talking heads, and I believed it at first, too. I don’t anymore. Why? Because if the Democratic party believed it, they would’ve chosen the stronger candidate to beat him. Instead, all evidence I’ve seen suggests stopping Sanders was in fact their top priority. If you asked me why I think that would be, I’d tell you it’s because he threatened the oligarchy. Because oligarchy is what we actually have now. (If you look into it, you might find that Divide-and-Conquer and fear-mongering, through propaganda, would really help these people hold onto power.) And further, I’d say that I suspect Trump was meant all along to be a bogeyman to scare us into voting for Clinton. You can dismiss me as a conspiracy-theorist, but those are my beliefs that are guiding my conscience. I’m not trying to convince anyone here to believe the same. But this is all I’m going to say on this matter, because I’m still quite certain it will only cause more pain for all.

To close out this long, agonizing thing: I only wanted to try to help some people who disagree to talk without hurting each other, because I do believe feelings matter, and we shouldn’t shame people for having them. But I’m not a counselor, and seeing this hostility coming from people I know mean well really hurts. Please understand that I don’t have the endurance to keep this up, so I’m probably not going to post here anymore. (I’m not trying to get the last word or anything.) I sincerely hope I didn’t hurt anyone with my words. Thank you to all who worked through my TL;DRs.

leftwingfox
leftwingfox
8 years ago

I wonder if part of the issue here is the myth that elections are the only time when people have a say in the running of government.

The US first past the post voting system ensures we only have two viable candidates, and ensure any third party candidacy will only harm the closest ally. Imagine if Stein won 33% of the vote. That would be historical and unprecedented for the Green party, but that means Trump wins with only 34% of the vote.

That’s magnified by the Voting college, since all it really takes is the split to be 48.9% Dem, 49% GOP, and 2.1% Green in a couple of swing states to throw it all to Trump.

Barring a change in election policy, we’re stuck with a 2-party system with potential spoilers.

So what can we do instead?

We call, we petition, we protest. Worried about Hillary’s warmongering? Take to the streets in protest. Call your representatives. Be a thorn in the side of government. It’s the activists, lobbyists and protestors who make the voice of the people known to the politicians, improve lives, and Get Shit Done.

Hell, just look at the primary. Bernie may have lost, but the result is one of the most progressive DNC platforms in history. That’s something to take pride in. Why risk throwing that away because Hillary Clinton isn’t “good enough”. Bernie Sanders probably wouldn’t have been able to implement a fraction of his policies due to Republican interference, but even incremental change is better than wholesale backsliding.

Loquora
Loquora
8 years ago

@Avid Squirrel

Because if the Democratic party believed it, they would’ve chosen the stronger candidate to beat him.

I know you may not see this or post anymore but this is grade A bullshit and I can’t let it slide. HILLARY CLINTON GOT MORE VOTES THAN BERNIE SANDERS IN THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY ELECTION. Democrats, and some non-Democrats, overwhelmingly voted for her. Democratically. WE chose her. WE voted for her and even Sanders campaign is emphatic that the primary wasn’t stolen from him. If the Super Delegates and the party had overturned the will of the voters themselves to install someone simply because they thought he would do better they would have been pilloried for it AND FOR GOOD REASON.

This narrative that the Democratic Party was against him has almost no bearing on reality (other than the fact that when you have a candidate that has been working for your party up and down ticket for decades vs one who has only recently joined the party and has done little if anything to help any others in the party it’s not hard to want the person who has been on your side for a long time to win).

I wish you (Avid Squirrel) had given us some reasons why you won’t vote for Clinton, because I have yet to hear a convincing reason from anyone. And I don’t want to hear it because I want to tear it down, or change your mind but simply because I cannot wrap my head around your world view.

Oh, and I don’t particularly like being talked down to for being afraid of a literal fascist who has outlined plans that will ruin my life and the life of my family and friends. Maybe that means I’m not thinking “critically or compassionately”, but I don’t particularly line of reasoning does anything but give you license to write the rest of us off as ’emotional’ or ‘ruled by fear’. So much for helping people who disagree talk without being hurtful.

Axecalibur: Middle Name Danger
Axecalibur: Middle Name Danger
8 years ago

@kale
OK. Thank you

@Squirrel
Abuse? Really? I said you were being naive. WWTH and Johanna said you weren’t thinking it thru. You said we’re abusers. Knowing full well, I have to assume, that a lot of people here have endured actual abuse in their lifetimes. See, I try so hard to be nice around here. Others have gone the mean route (and are entirely justified), and I just didn’t wanna add to that. You’re making it reeeeeaaaal hard to be the shepherd right now. We didn’t abuse Mark, we didn’t abuse you. We gave you the same shit we’d give everyone else who shows up saying that bullshit

We’re not voting out of fear, and you don’t have the monopoly on compassion. You literally tone policed when you explicitly thanked those being nice to you. Neither you nor Mark actually gave any affirmative reason for your stance, so what discussion and what fostering of understanding is meant to go on here? It’s using those killed as a shield, when you think it’s a catastrophe when Clinton gets people killed but not Trump. That you don’t think it will happen is the fuckin problem. Calling out delusion is not ableism and neither is magical thinking. Clinton is the stronger candidate. Oligarchy is a stupid word. Conspiracy theorizing ain’t magically OK if you believe it

In conclusion, yes, you did hurt people. Don’t care that you didn’t mean to. Don’t care what you wanted to do. You dismissed people’s fear as both unfounded and overwhelming. You #notalled when nobody said all. You sorta tried to gaslight us, by saying Bernie supporters would never be sexist, antisemites (they would, and there are women who’ve been driven from Twitter who can attest to that). All in your 1st post. If others were hostile, they were right to be. Bye

Loquora
Loquora
8 years ago

@Axecalibur

Thank you! That bothered me too, but I hate stepping in on conversations about abuse when I have no experience myself, but you summed it up better than I ever could have.

ETA: I realize I’ve been very vocal here, politics are an arena I’m well versed in and generally in threads here other people are making better points than I would/could. I will try to be around more, since this has given me some confidence.

weirwoodtreehugger: communist bonobo

It’s not abusive to state the simple fact that a Trump presidency would be a disaster and giving him the power to make judicial appointments will harm us for decades.

Maybe Avid Squirrel, you just don’t have a response to that?

Please point to me where I personally attacked anyone. A strong opinion isn’t abuse ffs.

kupo
kupo
8 years ago

@Avid Squirrel
If the people who made those memes are not Sanders supporters, that’s one thing (not sure why you would think that or how you would demonstrate it, but let’s assume for the sake of argument that it’s true). The fact is that these memes are being allowed in a 400,000+ member Facebook page. Seriously, how does that nor concern you about the current state of Bernie or Busters? I’ve seen some of these in my news feed shared by
Bernie supporters. Not hypothetical Bernie supporters, but people I’ve known for decades who’ve been talking about Bernie for months.

Scented Fucking Hard Chairs
Scented Fucking Hard Chairs
8 years ago

But when we’re terrified, we don’t always think critically or compassionately.

Translating from Purple-ese: “You hysterical wimminz are too emotional; you’re being irrational. What about me and what I want, hmm?”

EJ (The Other One)
8 years ago

What WWTH said.

(Honestly, I could pretty much make that my avatar.)

John Seavey
8 years ago

Avid Squirrel said: “Fear of Trump has been pushed by a lot of prominent talking heads, and I believed it at first, too. I don’t anymore. Why? Because if the Democratic party believed it, they would’ve chosen the stronger candidate to beat him.”

And they did. Look, I like Sanders, I voted for him in the primaries, but a big part of the reason he polled so high against Trump is that the Republicans hadn’t started campaigning against him. He’s a principled man, but he’s also a liberal Senator from Vermont with a long voting record from decades in politics. He could easily have been turned into the next John Kerry, someone who had to spend their entire campaign defending every single vote they took.

Whereas Hillary…there’s nothing the Republicans can say against Hillary Clinton that they haven’t been saying for 25 years already. They have exhausted every line of attack against that woman through years of character assassination, Facebook memes, Congressional investigation, you name it. All Trump has against her is the same tired, discredited rhetoric, and it’s failing.

If Bernie had been the candidate, I’d have pushed hard for him. But if he was everything you say he was, he would have pushed past Hillary the same way Obama did. He couldn’t do that. Now it is time to ask yourself, “What’s the best use of my vote in implementing practical, real-world change to make America better?” The only answer is Hillary Clinton. Full stop.

Hu's On First
Hu's On First
8 years ago

I wonder if those Sanders people will still be supporting Jill Stein now that she’s selected an ardent Sanders-basher (Ajamu Baraka) as her running mate.

weirwoodtreehugger: communist bonobo

I’d also like to point out that this post was about offensive memes. Inviviomark and then Avid Squirrel are the ones who made it about Hillary Clinton being bad.

It’s a little ridiculous to get mad at some of us for responding. It’s also a little ridiculous to get upset for being asked to back up your argument. It’s like, internet debating 101. You can’t just roll up and expect people to take your word for it that there are reasons rational and vast, but secret.

weirwoodtreehugger: communist bonobo

Interesting. What I find most disconcerting is Ajuma Baraka saying that the media and the government arejust making things up and Bashar al-Asaad is not a dictator and not using force against the Syrian people.

Axecalibur: Middle Name Danger
Axecalibur: Middle Name Danger
8 years ago

@Loquora
Do stick around. You’re great

Thank you! That bothered me too, but I hate stepping in on conversations about abuse when I have no experience myself, but you summed it up better than I ever could have

I also feel weird about it. The way I see it tho, the best way to get my thinking right on abuse (or anything else I haven’t dealt with) is to talk about it. If and when I talk about it wrong, someone will let me know. Then I can get better at talking about it. It’s a dangerous road, but I think, ultimately, it’s the right one. I’ve learned just as much here by being corrected as silently listening. Time and place basically

PS. this is awesome:
comment image
It’s from Dinesh Dsousa’s latest bullshit, but evil, Coachella, queen of all Hillary with the feminine colored backdrop and illuminati eyes is just goddamn perfect! ?

weirwoodtreehugger: communist bonobo

Now I’m singing “Illuminati Eyes” to the tune of “Bette Davis Eyes.”

Paradoxical Intention - Resident Cheeseburger Slut

Why am I, a Bernie supporter, voting for Hillary in November?

Because I can’t fucking survive a Trump presidency, and I don’t have the luxury of pretending like I could. I don’t have the luxury of pretending that Jill Stein is going to have the power to do anything in government, because her and her party don’t have people in Congress or the House of Representatives. I don’t have the luxury of pretending that splitting the left vote between democrats and third parties is going to do anything but support Trump because the right isn’t split that way.

I’m poor, I’m genderflux and pansexual, I’m pagan, I’m mentally ill. The only privileges I can think of that I have is that I’m not as physically fucked up as I could be, I have a place to live, and I’m white. That’s it.

Under a Trump presidency I wouldn’t have access to healthcare and insurance that Obamacare granted me. I wouldn’t have access to contraceptives or birth control. I would face the very real threat of being denied housing, services, or work due to my gender and orientation (Fuck you, Pence). Hell, I could be lynched and burned at the stake by hardcore fundie Christians for witchcraft for all I know.

Black people would be shot more often by police, and those police officers would get away with it. Muslims would be put on a “registry” (Not to Godwin, but seriously, GODWIN) and possibly shipped out of the country because “terrorism”. Latinx people would be shipped out of the country, even if they were born here and have every right to be here, because they’re under suspicion of being “illegals”, or “rapists” as Trump put it.

Does saying that make me sound paranoid? Maybe. But I’m not willing to take that fucking risk with my life, and the lives of other people like me. If I may quote someone that makes a lot of sense on this matter: “I don’t have the luxury of conviction.”

I would rather have non-perfect Hillary (who, by the way, voted the same as Bernie more often than not on a lot of things and who has been lambasted by people for doing the same things that they hand-wave Bernie for), and all the democrats she can bring with her, than Trump, who is almost literally the devil to me at this point, and his little right-hand VP-pick demon Pence, who would sooner see me in conversion “therapy”, or homeless, or dead because I’m not a fucking cishet Christian like he is.

I can protest and make my voice heard with a Hillary presidency. I would very likely be shot dead in a Trump presidency if I even attempted to.

So, yeah, don’t vote or vote third party in the election. Pretend like that will make a difference while you gamble with my life, and the lives of other minority people.

But don’t get mad that I’m angry about your willingness to throw us under the bus because your principles are apparently more important to you than the people you claim to stand with and support. You brought that on yourself.

Avid Squirrel
Avid Squirrel
8 years ago

@Axe,
You and Kupo didn’t bother me. I actually thought most of the rest were rude–but not abusive–toward me. It’s what was directed at invivoMark that I believe crossed a line. I outlined the examples of “mean” things I took issue with.

I never meant to say no Bernie supporters were sexist/racist etc. It’s only that the memes seemed awfully similar to gamergate type stuff, and Sanders being Jewish… it seemed odd to be so antisemitic. Like I said, I could be wrong.

Gaslighting is not the word for when someone genuinely can’t find the right way to express themselves, or is mistaken about something.

I’m fine with people hating the word oligarchy and disagreeing with me. My entire point here was that I thought it would be better to try to talk respectfully. (Maybe you folks could have swayed a Bernie-or-Bust person?)

Also, I didn’t say my vote is compassionate and yours isn’t. I’m trying to encourage compassion in this comment section. It doesn’t seem to be working.

If Clinton is the strongest candidate, ignore the delusional voters like me. We are inconsequential.

To whoever referenced the “emotional women” stuff… I’m a woman. I believe we can be emotional while still having fair, respectful conversations, but I always try to be aware of my emotions so that I don’t just start shutting people down and being hurtful.

@Loquora,

In my first comment you can see why I won’t be the most privileged “safe from Trump” Stein voter. (Apologies for it’s being long, like all my comments. I’m not great at being brief.) I’m not dismissing anyone as simply emotional. I’m emotional too, and I promise I’m doing my best to still be open-minded and kind. I’m just really starting to wonder if there’s anything I can say that won’t offend/enrage someone here besides “Okay I’ll vote for Clinton”.

Now, I said repeatedly that I wasn’t here to convince anyone to change their vote. Four reasons for this:

1. It’s not something I usually try to do.
2. I wouldn’t think it would be on-topic.
3. Everyone here seems 100% decided. (And that’s okay!)
4. I’m not a glutton for punishment.

But, I’m still being asked to try. Since no others like me are probably going to touch this comment section with a 10 ft pole at this point, here are some links that explain some of my problems with voting for Clinton. It’s a lot. It’s okay if no one wants to go through this stuff. I’m posting it so they can. And they can dismiss, disbelieve, etc. everything here. FWIW, I initially intended to vote for Clinton, too.

Regarding the assertion of fairness in the primaries:
http://electionjusticeusa.org/index.php/report-an-electoral-system-in-crisis/

Why many believe the platform meant nothing:
https://benjaminstudebaker.com/2016/07/26/bernie-sanders-got-nothing-for-endorsing-clinton/

Clinton’s policies in Latin America:
https://www.thenation.com/article/a-voters-guide-to-hillary-clintons-policies-in-latin-america

Discussion about why many think now is the time to go third party:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kotO-kAFZ70

Suspicious Weapons Deals:
http://www.ibtimes.com/clinton-foundation-donors-got-weapons-deals-hillary-clintons-state-department-1934187

Clinton befriends dictators:
https://theintercept.com/2016/07/14/donald-trump-praises-dictators-but-hillary-clinton-befriends-them/

Everything I’ve said in this comment section has been an attempt to foster better understanding between our “camps”. I know you folks are scared of Trump, and I understand why. Perhaps I’ve failed. Perhaps it wasn’t ever possible. Frankly, I’m becoming increasingly concerned that someone might want to hurt my husband or me in the real world if they see a Jill Stein bumper sticker or yard sign. If they’re convinced Trump will bring on such death and destruction, they might think it justifiable to take out a couple of voters to prevent it.

Jody
Jody
8 years ago

Wait. Are we talking about Jill Stein now? The one who thinks Wifi signals hurt kids brains?

http://gizmodo.com/now-jill-stein-thinks-wi-fi-might-be-hurting-kids-1784664503

To say nothing of her vacillation on the vaccine front, or her total lack of experience.

As a Sanders guy myself, there is a reason he has nothing to do with the Greens. He had his third party run. It just happened to be in the Democratic primaries, where he got more progress than any other third party candidate in history.

Don’t throw that away.

Axecalibur: Middle Name Danger
Axecalibur: Middle Name Danger
8 years ago

@Squirrel
It. Doesn’t. Matter. What. You. Meant. To. Do

they might think it justifiable to take out a couple of voters to prevent it

You. Don’t. Matter. You’re votes won’t change anything. Your signs are meaningless. We’re not abusive and we’re not a lynch mob. Meanwhile, Trump rallies are abusive lynch mobs, but you really have to worry about Hillary supporters I guess…

I’m just really starting to wonder if there’s anything I can say that won’t offend/enrage someone here besides “Okay I’ll vote for Clinton”

1)I’m sorry, here’s what I did, here’s why it’s wrong, here’s what possessed me to do it even knowing it’s wrong, here’s how I’ll make up for it
2)Nothing

Try saying those. I. Don’t. Care. Who. You. Vote. For. I’m not saying any of this, cos I hate you for voting Stein. I voted Stein 4 years ago. I’m saying this, cos you’re spouting nonsense in a callous, reductive, irresponsible way

To everyone else, please stop assuming that everyone who votes 3rd party or will vote 3rd party is a member of a privileged class. It’s also callous, reductive, and irresponsible