I’m with her

I try not to post political or religious commentary on social media, but sometimes I can’t help myself. And since no one reads this, I’ll  use this space for my own little rant.

I can see how torn up my well-informed Republican friends are about the prospect of voting for Trump, and I want to shake them. Why, why do they dislike like Clinton so much?

Is it that she’ll spend too much and get us more into to debt? Well, not compared to Trump and his tax policies.

Is it that she has no foreign policy experience? No, she has tons.

Is that her husband cheated on her? Surely not. Surely we’re not blaming a woman for staying with her husband for the sake of their child and their respective careers. Of course, Trump’s divorces and infidelities are much more spectacular.

Is it the email thing? Maybe, but the email “scandal” is surprisingly similar and possibly less troublesome as the same approach taken by Colin Powell, the Bush administration, and Mitt Romney. Remember how the FBI said, “Not cool, but not illegal or anything”? Yeah, they’ve put that one to be bed. And we have to realize that Trump would do much, much worse (and has)  if he were trying to “cover his tracks.”

Is it Benghazi? She made a difficult decision with limited information in the heat of battle. Yes, people died. Do people honestly believe she wanted them to die? That military commanders and other leaders don’t make difficult decisions all the time that result in death for people they want to keep alive? Or that Trump would have evaluated the same facts more carefully and saved more lives? Besides, the bipartisan (or even more right leaning) investigation cleared her of wrongdoing in this case.

Is it the Clinton Foundation, rated as an A in terms of legitimacy and funding by the association whose job it is to rate such agencies? Maybe there was a conflict of interest that one time or just in general? No, it can’t be that, with the transparent, traceable funding that goes to support HIV/AIDS research and clean drinking water. And even if so, let’s compare that to the Trump Foundation, Trump University, and the hundreds of lawsuits against Trump for not paying people for their work.

Is it because she’s a politician, and all politicians are bad, corrupt, and only concerned with their own self-interest? Maybe that’s it, but when it comes to politics I’d like someone familiar with the job and the Constitution. Assuming all politicians are bad makes about as much sense as assuming all billionaire CEOs are only out for their own self-interest. Surely no one is going to tell me that she is more corrupt in politics that Trump is in business? That Trump is a job creator and she is a job killer? Because the facts simply do not support that. At all.

Is it because she’s for gay rights, abortion, women’s rights, criminal justice reform, and other liberal things? Maybe. Fair point. But she does not, despite claims to the contrary, support late-term abortions unless the health of the mother is at stake.

Overall, though, I’m a fan. She makes the best decisions she can, she never, ever gives up, and she is smart, prepared, effective. For those who do think they are “both bad,” I offer Noam Chomsky‘s take on the matter of Lesser Evil Voting.

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