I think that the main problem is that elections move the Overton window. So when a conservative wins, conservative ideas and policies become more normalized and liberal policies seems less mainstream. So not only does making a protest vote not help move the party to the left, it actually moves it to the right. Trump is the extreme example of this, with the window shooting off the building and 5 blocks over. Positions that were unthinkable 8 years ago are standard politics now.
This has been an interesting thread so far. I’ve read through all the replies so far, trying to figure out which one of the many smarmy politicians would make me vote for Trump. And, I’ve realized that no such creature exists for me.
Even the worst of the bunch (Cruz and Marge) would be lacking that cult following that Trump seems to have. His minions will follow him blindly, which I don’t think would be the case for any other possible candidate.
I don’t really think anyone will be proudly flying DeSantis flags, or wearing ugly t-shirts emblazon with McConnel’s logo.
So, I stand by my answer. I would absolutely never vote for Trump.
It’s important to particular individuals. It’s not really important to the world.
I’m going to be worse under Trump. But I’m also going to be worse under Biden.
See? Doesn’t really matter.
Okay, okay, Ukraine will be worse under Trump. It sucks for Ukraine, because they’re the good guys in all of this. But Israel will be worse under Trump, because this is one of the good fucking things that Biden is doing.
So, as the leftists always say, vote for your best interest. That’s neither Trump nor Biden, so I’m not going to vote for your piece of shit, whether your particular piece of shit is Trump or Biden. The world is going to be just as bad no matter who wins.
It is utterly insane that someone can honestly believe there is no difference between Biden and Trump. It’s just mind-boggingly stupid. Thats like saying a paper cut is just as bad as an amputation because “hey I’ll feel pain either way so they are totally the same.”
The first thought that sprang to mind was Alan Keyes, but even that might not be enough.
The modern version of people like the Communists who said "After Hitler, Us” as the Nazis took power, because they were sure that the worse things got, the more inevitable it was that an angry populace would sweep them into power. And who died instead in the purges and the camps.
Heck, many of them are Communists, I’ve gotten into arguments with Communists online who oppose voting and want things to get as bad as possible to spark the Revolution.
I personally did well during the last Trump years. Made a ton of money. Taxes went down a bit. But I was constantly embarrassed for my country and disgusted by around half of my fellow citizens. I was outraged by the corruption, incompetence, and lust for power by a vulgar idiot. In my mind, Trump (“Malice tempered by incompetence”) is worse than anyone else because he is ruining things not as a conservative (whch he’s not) but as a malicious fraud. That’s damaging the country far more than bad policies (left or right).
I agree. If you cannot discern a difference between the two primary candidates and pick the better of the two, you probably shouldn’t be voting. There are always differences, and in this case, the differences are HUGE!
As many others have mentioned, Trump’s saving grace is that the damage he can cause is somewhat limited by his stupidity and impulsivity.
There are a lot of people on the R side who are worse than Trump and more competent than him. Steve Bannon, Michael Flynn, Mike Johnson, all of them would make me vote Trump to keep them out of office. If you don’t have a list of at least 10 people like that, you haven’t been paying close enough attention.
Though I do admit I would have a lot of “what’s the point” sentiment about it. I don’t know if there’s a meaningful difference between eating half a shit sandwich and a whole one. Cognitively I know that cutting my intake of dietary shit by 50% can only be a good thing, but it’s hard to get excited about that kind of harm reduction.
I just want to know, what is the appropriate kind of bread for a shit sandwich?
According to some etymologies, pumpernickel.
So it has been established that you are o,k. with the slimy shit Trump has done.
Is this because you would like to be able to get away with the slimy shit Trump has done? Is normalizing the slimy shit Trump has done something you look forward to?
If I was given the choice between Trump and someone worse than Trump for president, I would be more encouraged to commit some unspecified act of domestic terrorism than to vote for either of them.
I’m not sure I’m willing to go that far. I agree that nobody should be voting for a Republican. Even a Republican who is okay as an individual is going to help the other Republicans who are scumbags.
That said, I acknowledge the reality that a lot of people are dumb enough to vote for Republicans. And if a Republican is legally elected (which I grant is a big if) then I would “consent” to them holding office, even if I wouldn’t be happy about it.
The Republicans may stage riots to try to overturn election outcomes they don’t like. But I want us to be better than the Republicans. (Along with wanting to put the Republicans who break laws into prison.)
It’s cool. As I’ve posted elsewhere, it’s an obvious lie. Obvious because there’s no such thing as a sin, in the sense of “actions that the Creator of the Universe gets pissed about (because the universe doesn’t have a creator).”
It’s aimed at people who believe that sins are actually a thing and the small percentage of those who are, umm, malleable enough to be intimidated into not fucking things up for all of us.
Every little bit helps.
#Why_should_the_bad_guys_be_the_only_ones_who_get_to_take_advantage_of_the_fact_that_obvious_lies_often_work?
ETA: Yeah, the “consent” line needs work (ambiguity).
I know. I thought about replying, but I have no words.
Going off on a tangent, but I feel a sin can also be defined as something which is immoral, even if the standard of immorality is defined by society rather than some supernatural being.
Because their audience is the one that doesn’t care about the truth.
Do y’all mean “a republican” or do you’ll mean “Trump”? Not really the same thing.
I don’t like Trump, but I like some Republicans. Especially locally, where they have platforms, vs. the current crop of Dems, whose only platform is that they’re not Trumpers. I assume things will improve in the future, but this is the here and now.
I believe that DJT is the evillest person this nation has ever produced. While some like Alito and McConnell are much more cunning, neither of them is able to mobilize the hard core racists and basket of deplorables that he can. A president Alito would not be able to make an entire party grovel at his feet and thus couldn’t do as much damage, not that he wouldn’t want to.