Dear Americans: VOTE

There won’t be normal blogging this week because I am godsdamned terrified.

I’m haunted by Brexit (CN: casual ableism). Remember how folks in Great Britain thought that staying in the European Union was a sure thing, so they either didn’t vote, or voted NO as a joke or protest, thinking they were safe – and next thing they knew, they were staring down a wrecked economy and emboldened racists? Yeah. That could happen here.

Don’t believe that Trump losing is such a sure thing that you don’t have to bother voting. Don’t believe it’s such a sure thing that you can safely vote for a third party candidate. Because there’s never a sure thing until the last vote is counted.

Vote.

Vote because we don’t only need to defeat Trump, we need to crush him and all he stands for. If we’re to have a hope of rescuing this country from the white supremacists and militias and all the other deplorables who want to burn it all down, we need to vote in such numbers that it sends a clear message to politicians who want to harness that bigotry: they are the ones who will burn. That strategy of appealing to racists and bigots and misogynists needs to fail so spectacularly that they don’t attempt it again for generations.

Vote, because if we’re going to stop global warming, we need people in office who actually believe it’s happening.

Vote, because we need to put as many progressives in power as we can, and where we can’t get the progressives we want right away, we at least get someone who leans far enough to the left to help pull us in the right direction for next time.

Vote, because we need someone with a solid liberal voting record sitting in the Oval Office, and that person is Hillary Clinton.

Vote, because the next president will decide whether the Supreme Court leans liberal or conservative, and the effects of that will be felt for decades to come. The damage a conservative court could do would not be undone for generations.

Vote, because someone whose safety and life here in America can’t vote. Be the voice for the voiceless: the immigrants, the disenfranchised, the people too sick or too disabled or too stuck working three shit jobs to feed their family in a country that has robbed from the poor to pay the rich that they can’t spare the time to stand in line without risking starvation and homelessness.

Vote, because we need a person with a vast amount of experience and expertise to take the reins, not a tantrum-prone con man.

Vote, because reproductive rights matter.

Vote, because when history asks where you were, you want to be able to answer saying you were right there doing your best to prevent the rise of a man beloved by white supremacists.

Vote, because unless you are a healthy straight white Christian cis male, a Trump presidency will be catastrophic for you. And if you’re a straight white etc., you should be a decent enough person to give a shit about those who don’t share your advantages.

Vote, because your vote matters.

Vote.

Image shows Hillary Clinton from the neck up. She's looking skyward, with the stars of the American flag behind her. A banner at the top says, I'm With Her.

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Dear Americans: VOTE
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