For the past two decades, my presidential election-related writing involved me literally cutting and pasting full passages verbatim every four years. The whole mess could be comfortably summed up in one of my favorite phrases: The primary difference between Democrats and Republicans is that they tell different lies to get elected.
By late 2015, I had that line polished and ready to shine again… but along came Donald Trump. This time around, there actually is a lesser evil component, but my radical (sic) “comrades” are far too programmed and/or sexist to accept this profound change. They’d rather go on (and on) listing the many obvious transgressions of Hillary Clinton while downplaying (mocking, even) Trump, his impact, and his chances of winning.
A request before you launch into yet another cataloging of Clinton’s criminality in response: Why not allocate some of your daily Google time to finding more examples of how Trumpism threatens us all? Get back to me when there’s a desperate need for the “Hillary Hate Map.” Wait. I take that back. There is a desperate need for the Hillary Hate Map. It should exist to document the relentlessly hateful misogyny being launched at her (and all women) by folks all across the pathetic political spectrum.
If I had a dollar for every time I've seen Hillary Clinton called a c*nt, b*tch, wh*re, etc. on the Facebook pages of “leftists,” I could probably build and fund a female-only self-defense center. The despicable denizens of the Left (sic) make a grand show of publicly disavowing the use of slurs by visitors… unless those slurs happen to be misogynist. Then, it’s suddenly all “freedom of speech” and “I won’t censor” from these reprehensible reactionaries.
Thanks to the rise of Trumpism, the Brave Men of the Left™ have finally been given the chance to live up to their purported principles. And how do they react? After years or even decades of boasting about how “antifa” they are, they're spending their meager time and energy conjuring up clever nicknames for Hillary and/or marching for Bernie’s “revolution” and/or clinging to the righteous purity of supporting Jill Stein and/or engaging in three-day flame wars in oh-so-hardcore private “anarchist” groups.
If you’ve ever wondered just how white and how male the American Left (sic) is, well… it’s on full display in 2016.
Let’s please recognize the Left (sic) as the fetid cesspool of privilege, male supremacy, and denial it is and has always been. Whether they’ve anointed themselves to be radicals, progressives, revolutionaries, or whatever the latest self-serving title may be, the “Left” hive mind (like all hive minds) is the enemy of justice.
What exactly do these (usually white, usually male) leftists (sic) gain from of making post after post about “Shillary” and “Killary” and “Hitlery” -- with the same long (and often accurate) lists of her transgressions? I can only guess that since this timeworn template has garnered them an infinitesimal following in their sad little social media fiefdoms, they’re holding on for dear life.
Whether you’re Joe Blow on Wordpress or any one of dozens of tragically ineffectual Counterpunch writers, why are you so afraid to shift gears? Is it so important for you to look radical (sic) and hardcore (sic) to your sycophantic followers that you can’t recognize that -- finally -- your vote matters in a U.S. presidential election (and thus you may have a glimpse of the influence you desperately crave)?
More breaking news: It is possible to identify Hillary Clinton as the despicable corporate-funded war criminal she is while simultaneously realizing that Trumpism is the far graver and more urgent concern. It’s actually quite easy. You should try it some time.
Choose Wisely The media-fueled rise of Trumpism has re-emboldened misogynists and white supremacists all across God’s Country™. To view this phenomenon as some form of low brow entertainment spectacle is to expose one’s lack of historical context. For some Americans to flippantly talk of moving to Canada is a betrayal to all those without the resources to leave or fight back or earn justice. To trot out the classic “it can’t happen here” is to ignore that it’s already happened here many times and, in some cases, never stopped happening.
No matter how many likes and shares you get on Facebook, you ain’t changing this FACT: Either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump is going to be elected U.S. president this November. As horrifying as this is to accept, the choice is real: Obama’s third term or Mussolini’s second.
Time to choose: Which side are you on?
Mickey Z. is currently writing his fourteenth book, How to Lose Friends & Influence Nobody: My Life as an “Activist.” In the meantime, hecan be found here.
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