So you're voting for Hillary because you're afraid of Trump?...

It's only been a full 24 hours since Hillary has won the nomination and I'm hearing from some of my friends that they may cave in and vote for Hillary because they're afraid of a Trump presidency.

To understand where they were coming from I asked them for some insight into why they felt that way. What I'm learning is that they are falling for the same old tricks that happen every single election year.

Every year we're given two choices, and with those two choices comes the fear-mongering talking points from both sides. The left tells us why the right's candidate is so dangerous to our country, while the right tells us why the left's candidate will be just as dangerous if not worse. The back and forth leaves us all dizzy and confused, as they want us. Then we take that cocktail of fear and confusion into the voting booth come Election Day.

This year is a bit different. See, in the past, candidates on both sides have had some redeeming qualities, some more than others, but that has helped them along the campaign trail. But this year, it seems voters are finding more to dislike about our choices than ever before. How long will it be before Hillary's gender can no longer continue to carry the weight of her negative image? How long before Trump's ego finally catches up to him and the public wises up to his antics?

I've seen unenthusiastic and undecided voters say that Trump is far worse than Hillary. She's the "lesser of two evils" they'd say. He's far more dangerous because he said this or that. I noticed that everyone is so hyper-focused on the "this or that" but not on the "said" part.

My point is, Trump says a lot of dangerous stuff. But what about Hillary? Hillary actually did a lot of dangerous stuff when she was first lady, senator of NY and then as Secretary of State. I truly believe actions speak louder than words, and it's Hillary's actions that have me far more concerned about her ability to be our Commander in Chief than anything Trump could say at this point.

Let's take a look at Trump's words vs Hillary's actions

On race relations being affected:

I've heard this talking point, about how "Trump is terrible for black and brown people in the US". The same people telling us this are the same people in a political party that has done virtually nothing to stop the rise of race relations and tensions in America right now. 

I read a tweet a few days back where someone said something so profound it caused me to pause and think this whole thing out. To paraphrase, it said that that "at least Republicans don't pretend to care about us [minorities]". I've always seen the Democratic party as the champion for minorities and the Republican party as the racists and bigots who do everything possible to trample our civil liberties. While I definitely don't condone the racism and bigotry, I have to agree with the poster who called the Democrats out on that. At least the Republicans are upfront on how/what they feel. Democrats will lie to our faces then go behind closed doors and say what they really feel. Fake friends can do far more hurt and damage to you than someone who isn't your friend at all. 

Truth is, Trump may say racist and bigoted stuff, but Hillary's track record shows her actions are far more racist and bigoted. Hillary called black kids "super predators" (a term used by racist conservatives to refer to black kids breaking the law). She said they had "no conscience" "no empathy" and that they needed to be "brought to heel." She actively championed for a crime bill that would put more police on the streets and more minorities in jail. A crime bill that would enact a "three strikes" law that she actively and openly supported, that would put habitual offenders (and at times targeted minorities) in jail for good instead of helping rehabilitate them. A crime bill that her husband signed into law with a big smile on his face as the pen hit the paper. When he left office, the US had the highest rate of incarcerations in the world. I didn't see her worried about minorities when she championed for welfare reform which did not help but actually hurt poor minority families. She was proud of her part in welfare reform and even wrote about it in her book.

Some will say "well, she isn't Bill and shouldn't be held responsible for what he did in office". But Hillary likes to tell everyone how much she actively worked to help Bill while he was president (which she did). There's a joke that his presidency was a "two for the price of one." These are all things she actively and openly pushed for during his presidency. She wasn't sitting around decorating the White House for 8 years.

She can say all the wants now about how there were things that were bad about that bill, but I don't see any proof of her actively fighting against those bad parts of the bill while she was actively supporting it back then. The only time I see her interested in the issues that a hurting the people the crime bill affected most are right now, when she conveniently needs our votes. 

Hillary said she listened to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak and it inspired her as a young girl. But what she did years later after hearing Dr. King, was join the campaign staff of the ultra-conservative (anti-civil rights movement) Barry Goldwater. The list could go on, but I'm not convinced that the Clintons are good for race relations. I'm pretty sure they're just as racist as Trump, but they're more quiet about it, which is just as dangerous if not more.

On building a wall and deporting undocumented immigrants:

I'm not going to defend Trump on any of this. I want to start out by clearing that up. I don't think we should have a fence or a wall or anything else. But, I am here to merely point out that Trump's an idiot. He is saying this all on fear-based emotions. He's the kind of paranoid guy who buys an alarm system for his home, and security cameras, and puts up a fence, and sets booby traps around his property. Not because he hates a certain race of people, but because two of his neighbors were recently robbed and he is scared he'll be next. That's the type of fear running through Trump's and many other conservative's minds when they say things like they want to build a wall.

But let's not forget that Hillary was the one who actually voted for a border fence though. And no, it's not some chain linked fence. It's a WALL that is called a fence.

Trump says he wants to deport illegal immigrants, but the Democrats under Obama are already doing it! More deportations are happening under Obama than happened under any of the other sitting presidents in the last few decades. Does anyone think this will change under Hillary?

Credit: Reuters article

If you believe it will change under Hillary, you're delusional. Just a year before she started her campaign for president, she said that we should send children fleeing from violent Central American countries back to where they came from in order to send a political message. The message? “We have to send a clear message: Just because your child gets across the border, that doesn’t mean the child gets to stay." Those are her exact words.

Now I can understand if her views have changed since she said that. Her views changing don't alarm me. It's good for people evolve in their thinking and I appreciate it when they do. What alarms me is that we've learned the hand she played in helping create the violence in at least one of those Central American countries, Honduras. How can she refuse to send the President of Honduras back to his country in order to protect him, but will send innocent kids back into the dangerous area? My concern is that we now see the true Hillary behind closed doors, out of the public eye. Nobody to pander to for votes.

Now when she smiles at us and tells us she'll be the better choice for immigrants, all I can truly see are the actions she took to help perpetuate unrest in Central America. Now knowing she had a hand in that, it sickens me even more that less than a year before launching her campaign, she still advocated sending children back to those countries. Countries that parents of those children determined were less safe than a long, dangerous and unaccompanied journey in order to flee them.

On refugees:

Remember that fear-based fence thing I mentioned with Trump? Same goes for refugees. Trump is scared, as is his base of followers. They don't want ISIS to "get in" and they don't truly know what ISIS is or how it operates. They assume it's comprised of "all Muslims," and it isn't. They assume it's limited to "people living in or coming from the Middle East," and it isn't. There is a lot Trump and his followers need to learn.

Trump says he wants to ban Muslim refugees from coming into the United States, because he worries terrorists will sneak in along with them. While I am a strong advocate for helping the refugees in any way that we can, I also have to take a step out of this smaller situation and think about the bigger picture of it all.

Do you think the refugees wanted to come here? Do you think they wanted to lose their homes, jobs, families, valuables, and take only the clothes on their back as they fled their home country which is being torn apart? Do you think anyone wants that? Just close your eyes for a second and imagine it's you living that horror.

Hillary voted for the Iraq war. That war led to the toppling of Saddam Hussain which paved the way for the rise of ISIS. She's since apologized for her vote, but do you think it taught her a lesson? No. She later pushed for an overthrow of Gaddafi, which once done, again paved the way for ISIS. Either she is completely clueless (which then she definitely shouldn't be president) or she's secretly on whatever side is funding ISIS (I expect Saudi Arabia, which would make sense in her case since they donate massive amounts of money to her Clinton Foundation). Honestly, she can't be that stupid.

We were knee-deep in a pile of shit when it came to Iraq, then waste deep when you added in Syria. Now, thank's to Hillary's intervention in Libya, we're up to our necks in it.

We've got a mass exodus of people fleeing these war torn countries with not many places to go. Those staying are either being killed or recruited by ISIS (which option would you go with?). Or they're being killed by the opposing side. All the while, we have to remember she voted for and advocated for all of this.

I don't trust she can now fix it without causing more harm. It's like when someone breaks something, and then tries to fix it but it just keeps breaking it further. At what point do you take that thing away from the person and put it in more capable hands? I'm not saying Trump is more capable, mind you. I'm simply stating a point.

Any person who can say this in 2014 and then less than a decade later do the exact same thing, and blame the president for what we all know she actively pushed for? Obama called it the worst mistake of his presidency, and her leaked emails with Sydney Blumenthal prove she was the one responsible for pushing Obama to agree to action in Libya.

She's already talking about launching an attack on Iran if they attack Israel. He words were that "we would totally obliterate them." Can we just stop and think about that for a second? Those were Hillary's words, not Trump's...

We need a president who will stop the perpetual wars so refugees can go home where want to be. I don't see Hillary (or Trump) being the answer to that. But 4 years of Trump then getting a true Progressive candidate in office who can get it done, sounds like a better plan than 8 more years of war under Hillary, before we can elect someone who will change things. That's my opinion.

On terrorist's family members and killing innocent people

Trump said he would go after the innocent families of terrorists in order to teach them a lesson (he then backtracked said he never said "kill them" just "go after" them). But Hillary already does that when she votes for wars and regime changes in countries that breed terrorists and then votes to continue to bombs those very same countries after terrorists groups pop up from the ashes.

Just last week the Obama administration bombed a village in northern Syria killing upwards to 100 INNOCENT people, including women and children. That happened under our DEMOCRATIC administration- who in the past 8 years has been accused of doing that far more often than not. You think that will magically stop under a Hillary presidency?

With Hillary, there is certainly no end in sight to the wars she will get involved in. Hillary has never met a war she didn't vote against. It doesn't matter if Trump or Hillary get into office, innocent people in these war torn countries are about as safe under a Hillary presidency as they were under an Obama one, or a Bush one.

On dangers to our national security and going to war

Let's put Hillary's email server issues aside for a second, because we all know thanks to the FBI that Hillary's actions regarding her email server were careless and potentially dangerous to our national security.

Our national security also means the overall safety of our nation and the people in it. This week, North Korea announced they feel we've declared of war against them with the sanctions the Obama administration placed on them. They have been itching to go to war with us, but let's face it, they are too weak to win against us and no matter how many missiles they test in order to flex their muscles, the whole world knows this. But, if only there were a larger force they could join with to defeat us? Say, maybe like the world's largest country with the world's second largest military? Yes, I'm talking about Russia. The very Russia that Hillary just insulted by claiming they were behind the #DNCLeaks. The same Hillary who enraged Putin when (ironically) she accused him of of election fraud in 2011. The water between Russia and the US has been heating up for some time now. Just at the beginning of this month the US and Russia both expelled each other's diplomats from their countries. If Hillary gets into office

At least North Korean likes Trump, and apparently so does Putin.  Whereas with Hillary, Russia has a pretty uneasy history with her (and North Korea already doesn't respect her or the US). While those things may not be a redeeming qualities Trump in the eyes of most in the US, anyone who doesn't feel like being drafted to go to World War III against Russia and it's angry allies may want to take a long hard look at those facts. We need someone in office who can form a respectable establish diplomatic relations with Russia, not do what Hillary did, which was poke the sleeping bear before even getting into office. The last thing we need is a nuclear stand off with Russia and North Korea joining in.

On dangers of having access to the nuclear codes

Given my last point, at this moment nine nations in the world currently have nuclear weapons. Here is the list:

Photo Credit: Business Insider article 

As you can see from that list, the only powerful nation that comes close to our nuclear arsenal is Russia. Does anyone for a second think Trump would just throw a tantrum and nuke Russia, or any of those other nations, for no reason? No. The idea that this is even an argument is ridiculous.

First, there is no "nuclear button". It's not like he just opens his desk and presses this big red button. There would need to be proper channels he'd have to go through before legitimately nuking Russia. He'd have to meet with his security team and advisors and discuss the pros and cons. He may be a hot head but it's doubtful that he wouldn't have some level headed people in his administration to tell him "no, we aren't nuking Russia because Putin insulted you."

Hillary on the other hand, seems to surround herself with other war hawks. She's friends with lobbyists and higher ups at companies that make billions in profit on the wars we engage in. Her strings are being pulled by the same puppeteers who want us to continue engaging in wars that give us access to oil, gold, and political influence in foreign nations. These wars around the world will continue under a Clinton administration until they all start to merge and form one large war, and we all know how the last World War ended.

If anything, I see that "button being pressed" with Hillary finger on it, more so than I do with Trump's. Don't for one second think nuclear war is a Democrat vs Republican thing either, because the only president to ever "push that button" was a Harry Truman, a Democrat.

Aiding and abetting in criminal behavior: 

Thanks to the #DNCLeaks, many of us now know that with the help of the media and the establishment, Hillary lied, cheated and stole her way to the nomination. We all heard the FBI's report on her private server and deleted emails, and it definitely wasn't a glowing reference for the job she is hoping to get hired for in November. We all have our eye on the Clinton Foundation and the strange dealings that go on around and within it. Many of us fully expect some more information to come out on that soon, especially now that the IRS is investigating them over concerns of unethical behavior and dealings. 

These investigations that keep popping up around the Clintons and is a 50/50 chance that more scandals will come out each new day as the election draws closer. But all of these investigations take time, and that's something we're running low on. Imagine the Clinton Foundation is under deep investigation and there may honestly be something there, something important that could actually take down the Clinton family. But by the time they figure it out, Hillary is already president and she and her Democratic controlled Congress have the perfect advantage to burry everything.

The way I see it, by electing Hillary as president we'd not only be sending a message that what the Democrats did this election season was okay, but we'd be allowing a potential criminal the ability to hold the highest public office and therefore have the power to make all her wrongdoings disappear before ever seen by the public eye. Just remember all the people pardoned under Bill Clinton who otherwise would be in jail right now for various scandals they had their hands in.

On Jobs

Trump says he'll bring jobs back and because I haven't seen his plans on how to do that, I can't speak for his claims. I have however heard him say that the trade deals we have are a disaster. Whether he means that or not, I can't be sure. What I do know is that Hillary has actually given us disastrous trade policies like NAFTA, CFTA, PNTR, etc. which helped damage the middle class by taking away good paying jobs. She's voted for, championed for, lobbied for, etc. all of these. Do you truly believe a woman who called the TPP the "gold standard" will do everything in her power to fight against the worst trade deal in the history of our country? No. I don't. Trump has come out openly against the TPP while Obama is still trying to get it fast tracked through Congress. What does that tell you?

And so on, and so forth

Honestly, at this point, there are pros and cons of both candidate, but for me, the cons of Hillary outweigh the pros. Would I love all the progressive things we fought for the Democrats to adopt on their platform? Of course! Do I believe even half of them will happen under a Hillary presidency, not at all. See I feel Hillary only cares about one thing-- herself. She just wants to be the first female president. She's campaigned on that the entire election so far. Do you think the history books will say "Hillary Clinton was the female president of the USA. She didn't keep any of her campaign promises"?  No. Everyone will only know the first part and that's all that matters to her.

I'd much rather see Trump get in there for 4 years, try to do some damage but face intense gridlock from a Democratic controlled congress and essentially sit there with his hands tied for four years while progressives regroup and work on finding a Bernie-like candidate to run against him in 2020 and win.

If Hillary wins in November, she'll be in the White House for 8 years, and all the things we're starting to have issues with Obama for will become exponentially worse under Hillary. Obama went into office with aspirations of hope and change for progressive agendas and ideas. "New Democrats" like the Clintons pushed Obama more center as time went on.

We cannot allow the Clinton's to continue on. They have hijacked and completely corrupt the Democratic party and they need to be stopped. The only way to do that is to not allow her to become president. So whether that be you vote for Trump or you vote your conscience/values and vote a 3rd or 4th party candidate instead, either way I truly believe the lesser of two evils isn't Hillary, it's Trump.

If Trump wins, there are a lot of people to blame... but it isn’t Bernie supporters.

Now that Hillary Clinton is officially the nominee for the Democratic party, there is a lot of talk among her supports about how we need "party unity" and to "unite blue" in order to come together and defeat Trump. It's quite obvious the Democrats are in crisis mode as they realize it may not be as easy to get Bernie supporters to "fall in line" as they originally expected.

I can already see how this plays out. Bernie supporters will continue to do as they've done this entire election season so far, vote their conscience. Some may vote blue, others green, some even red or whatever else they plan to do. Either way, I fully expect Trump to win in November and I also fully expect Bernie supporters to be blamed for it.

Why? Because from what we've seen from the Democrats this election season, they aren't one to take blame for things, they like to deflect that blame to others. We will be the fall guys who put Trump in office because we "threw a temper tantrum" over not getting our way this year. But nothing could be farther from the truth.

If Trump wins in November it is NOT the fault of Bernie supporters. It's the fault of a culmination of many different people and organizations all in collusion with each other and I hope that when Trump takes his seat in the Oval Office, those listed below all learn accept their roles in his victory.

If Trump wins in November...

I blame the liberal media who covered Trump and his antics nonstop throughout the primary season. Every time Trump so much as burped they were right there to analyze and discuss it. They provided biased and often times untrue coverage of Hillary in order to cover up her lies and scandals, and refused to give Bernie the positive coverage he and his campaigned earned.

I blame the Democratic establishment because despite knowing that Hillary was chalk full of scandals, and her tanking poll numbers, they ignored the warning signs and proudly announced their support of her. Many actively sought out ways to discredit Bernie and his authenticity. They promoted Hillary to their constituents, parading around with her on the campaign trail or talking to media on her behalf. It was shameful to hear the negative things they said about a good, honest, man who did nothing to deserve their disrespect except try to run Presidential campaign against their “chosen" candidate.

I blame the Democratic Super Delegates who went to the Democratic National Convention and despite seeing Hillary was polling below Trump in national polls, despite the knowledge that the DNC actively tipped the scales in Hillary's favor, still casted their vote for Hillary giving her the win over Bernie. Especially the ones who voted for Hillary despite Bernie winning the majority of votes their states and/or congressional districts. Neither Hillary nor Bernie had the amount of pledged delegates needed to win going into that convention, and the super delegates held the power to undo the wrongs that had been done to Bernie and his supporters, but they chose wrong over right.

I blame our President, because several times now he has lied to our faces telling us Hillary was the right choice for America when she and her poor judgement have proven to be an embarrassment to his legacy. I also blame him for rushing to find out who hacked the DNC (and point fingers at Russia), but never once did he address the findings of the #DNCLeaks and publicly admonish the DNC for their actions. It has brought shame to a party he is the current figure head of. Many expected more from him and many have lost their respect of him over it.

I blame the Democratic National Committee, who actively colluded with the Clinton campaign, the media, and other establishment Democrats to slander Bernie and his supporters when their job was to remain neutral. Voter irregularities, suppression and expected election fraud has been a running issue in this primary election, yet the DNC remains silent about it. Their silence tells us more than their words.

Lastly, I blame Hillary voters. So many I’ve spoken to over the year have pushed they narrative that they just want to see a “first female president.” They have no knowledge of understanding of her record or how dangerous she would be if she became president. They called us conspiracy theorists for what we expected was in her emails (later confirmed by the FBI). Or for thinking the DNC was in cohorts with her campaign (later confirmed by Wikileaks). They didn’t listen to us when we presented facts and evidence against why she was the weakest of the two choices we had. They ignored our warnings when we told them Trump would destroy her in attack ads playing into the fact she is the most untrustworthy candidate we've ever had. They said she was "strong" and would "bounce back" when she tanked in the polls, despite our warning that based on her past campaigns she never goes up in polls, always down. Instead we were told “Bernie can’t win” or that “it’s her turn/time for a woman”. Their desire to vote for her gender and not for anything else was selfish and irresponsible, and definitely not “feminist”.

I WON'T blame the Republican party. I have to give credit where credit is due, if Trump wins in November at least I know he won fair and square. Despite the Republican party viewing Trump as a thorn in their side for all these months, there was zero evidence that any election issues came up during the Republican primary. As Trump grew more popular, the Republican establishment cringed and gritted their teeth in protest, but they accepted it because it was clear Trump was who their voters wanted. Their exit polls had virtually no discrepancies. It's an embarrassment to the Democratic party when the only candidate of the two major parties who won a fair election to earn their spot on the debate stage was Donald Trump.

I WON'T blame other party candidates. If they are lucky enough to get on the ballot in all states and make it up on to that debate stage, then all the power to them. Independent voters make up the largest voter bloc, larger than the Democrats and Republicans combined. That to me says it's time we put an end to the establishment force feeding us two candidates of their pick every election. We deserve to know all of our options and make informed decisions at the voting booth, not be shamed or fear-mongered into voting for the lesser of two evils each and every time. If more people stood up and actively worked to make sure non-establishment candidates voices were heard, we would finally be able to break free from the two-party chains.

I WON'T blame Bernie Sanders. Bernie ran a clean campaign, despite what the media and Hillary camp tried to portray, Bernie kept us focused on the issues facing the American people. He made history with his campaign and he brought more people into the political process than have been involved in a very long time. Bernie also polled significantly better against Trump. He didn't have an entire laundry list of issues that Trump would be able to drag out and use against him, unlike Hillary. Bernie would have been stronger in the debates. He always speaks from the heart and uses his head, where Hillary is coached and scripted and Trump's outbursts will end up bringing out an unscripted side of her that will do her no favors. Bernie would have been our best chance against Trump, and for that alone, I'd never blame him for a Trump win.

Finally, I WON'T blame Bernie supporters. Not in the least. It is not our job to carry Hillary to the White House. Time and time again during this election Bernie supporters were told by Hillary supporters that they didn't need us to win come November. The DNC leaks proved we (and Bernie) weren't taken seriously throughout the campaign. The media called us Bernie Bros and slandered us for our strong beliefs and unwavering support of the candidate we knew would be the best option for our country now and in November. We were told we weren't "real Democrats" because we didn't support the establishment candidate. We were told to that we should get out of "their party" several times. We no longer feel welcome in the Democratic party and we certainly don't trust the party to work for us when it's worked so actively against us. 

So when Trump loses in November, don't be mad at Bernie supporters who are exiting the party in droves right now. The party left us before we left the party...

I love Bernie! But what do I do now?

I am 29 years old and have been a registered Democrat since the day I became old enough to vote. I happily and proudly supported Obama in 2008 and again 2012. I voted for him because I believed in the "hope and change" he was selling to the American people. I benefited first hand from Obamacare, and was excited at the ability to stay on my father's (excellent) health plan until I was 26. It was a welcomed financial break for me as someone having lived on my own since I was 18, worked full time and paid my own way through college. There were many times over the last 8 years that I was proud of our President, and would defend him to my religious, and therefore conservative/Republican, family members. I trusted Obama and the Democratic party, which is why this year has hurt me in so many ways.

This year I woke up to a lot of things I didn't know or understand about politics, our government, and our involvement and influence all around the world. I travel a lot for work, and I meet people outside of this country who open my eyes to the unfairness around the world but also here at home. I see things other countries have or do that should be no-brainer things we have and do, but we don't. I didn't understand why, until this election season. Until Bernie came along.

Image credit: The Daily Beast

From day one of joining the Bernie Revolution, at the announcement of his campaign, I felt the passion behind the movement. I watched all of his rallies through Youtube sites (since the media never showed them). I joined all the pro-Bernie groups from Reddit For Sanders to any possible group you could find on Facebook. I followed all the pro-Bernie accounts to stay "in the know".

I found myself immediately jumping to defending him to people who didn't know him. I worked furiously to debunk and correct claims against him and his family that were all later proven false or an obvious stretch of the truth in order to create slander. I did tons and tons of research to make sure what I was responding with were facts and not hearsay. I researched validity or political leanings of websites before citing them in arguments, to make sure my argument was logical and that I had a leg to stand on.

I stopped watching the news when they refused to cover him. I learned I loathed CNN, MSNBC, and especially Chris Matthews more than I loathed Fox News or anyone on it. I tried to watch every Bernie rally, to the point that I found myself even standing in line one day at the grocery store live-streaming one of his events because I didn't want to miss it. I was lucky and relieved that my husband loved Bernie as much as I did, because we were able to bond and share in the excitements of his campaign together.

I also got involved locally worked to create a local pro-Bernie group-- in a highly Conservative area of Florida-- and host phone banking parties, sign waving events, canvasing, debate watch parties, car pooling to his rally, etc. Our group went from the three people who started it (myself, my husband and someone we met at a pro-Bernie event) to over 100 people locally. By the time it was Florida's turn to vote, we had a sign waving event of over 30 people and the Bernie bus even came into town to support us.

We lost Florida and it was a devastating blow to many of us who poured our hearts and souls into winning. I, like Bernie, wonder now what I could have done differently. Truth is, not much. Those supporting Hillary had sent in their mail-in-ballots way back in January, a good almost two full months before we went to the polls. Two months before the Florida debate or before a single political ad played on our TVs here. We met tons of No Party Affiliation, Independents and Republicans for Bernie who had to switch party affiliation over a month before voting took place, and many didn't realize that until it was too late.

We could have organized earlier on. Spread the message around. Sign waved back in December or January to push the message - but the Bernie team didn't come to town to give us the "let's organize for Bernie" pep-talk until we had barely any time left to find other Bernie supporters and put a solid plan together. So we did with it what we could, and I truly think he did well in our county regardless. Sure there were times we were cursed at, given the finger, called hateful names, and our lives were even threatened several times by angry Trump supporters. But, in the end, despite the hiccups, I will forever be proud of what we accomplished locally here for Bernie.

I worked all day during the week, then put my time and energy into Bernie on the weekends, and at night, I found myself sucked into the vortex of social media, proudly going to bat as a "keyboard warrior" for Bernie. I was up against Trump fans who didn't understand Bernie's "socialism". I was up against what I know now are many online trolls paid by David Brock's pro-Hillary Super PAC to attack us with false accusations of Bernie while also (falsely) "correcting the record" for Hillary (we called them "Brock Bots"). Then there were the actual Hillary fans who followed the cues from the Brock Bots.

I remember back in 2015, I felt like I was completely alone in my support of Bernie as I fought against the wave of support for Hillary and Trump. Many people who, at the time, were completely ignorant to who Bernie was or what he stood for. The only press Bernie was getting was negative press, if any press at all. The media saw Bernie as a thorn in Hillary's side, so they blacked him out or only covered him when it made him look bad. For example, the mainstream media didn't bother to cover the massive rally in Portland back in the October of 2015. Around 28,000 people attended (20K inside and 8K in the overflow area outside), and that was while he was still being considered by the media as a "fringe candidate":

Photo Credit: Bud Myers Blog

But they had no problem covering him when Black Lives Matter protestors stormed the stage at an event he was a guest speaker for. They slandered him for being weak, when many later saw it as a respectful gesture to give them the microphone, especially when it wasn't even his event. They set the narrative from then on that black people just didn't like Bernie, which was completely untrue.  Later on I'd watch as the media continued to spin that, ignoring the constant protests from Black Lives Matter at the (much smaller) Hillary rallies around the country.

I watched the media talk about the media talk about Hillary having a "firewall of black people" while Bernie had an "aggressive white male" problem (aka "Bernie Bros" as they referred to his supporters). I watched the narrative being spread by all forms of media and was appalled that in the 2016 election, organizations as powerful as they were would be resorting to using blatant racism and sexism to promote one Democratic candidate over the other.

But then I remembered what Obama went through in the 2008 election. The "muslim" accusations spawned from a photo that appeared out of nowhere (oddly enough at the time he was running against Hillary). That photo set the narrative for Trump to later spin the "Birther" lies about our President. I found articles from the 2008 election, where the narrative was "Obama Boys" instead of today's "Bernie Bros".  More sexism. More racism. Only one common denominator in both elections... Hillary Clinton. Later, the DNC leaks would prove our suspicions this was all a collusion between the media, the Democratic National Committee, and the Hillary campaign to push an anti-Bernie narrative and help Hillary's chances of winning the election.

But us "Berners" had social media, which was a force far more powerful than the mainstream media. On social media, and while we were dragged through the mud repeatedly for supporting a "socialist" "Jew" who "never accomplished anything", we fought back armed with facts and truths. I saw us as Bernie's Truth Army - proud (unpaid, mind you) volunteers, supporters who would sometimes forgo sleep at night to stay up late and argue back and fort with someone in defense of the candidate we knew and loved. There were many nights my husband and I would lay next to each other in bed, furiously typing on our cell phones until the early hours of the morning sharing our frustrations with each other over the ignorant people were were talking to. All because we truly believed Bernie was the best candidate to give lead our country and we wanted to help other people understand that too.

Photo Credit: Bernie Sanders Dank Meme Stash

So much hate was being thrown at us from every direction, but a funny thing happens when the candidate of your choice spends the length of his campaign preaching love and unity. People who flock to him start to feel the love and unity. They start to come together as their own community. Some of the pro Bernie friends I've made both online and locally, will be people I will love and appreciate for the rest of my life. Any time I see a Bernie shirt or sign, I'll immediately feel a sense of connection to that person. Like bumping into a childhood friend you haven't seen in years. I felt the love surrounding me at the rally I attended. Bernie brought so many of us together and it was a beautiful thing to be a part of.

There is an authenticity about Bernie that the other candidates in the race just don't have. You can see the arrogance and egotism radiating from Trump at all times. With Hillary, there is an a sense of insincerity and even downright wickedness about her. I made the joke once that Hillary reminds me of a Disney villain while Trump reminds me of her idiot sidekick.

But not with Bernie. With Bernie I saw the love and kindness that radiated from him, even through the TV screen. I saw it when he spoke to his supporters. I saw it when he smiled at his grandkids. I saw it when he would rushed to the aid of a person who fainted on stage near him (happened quite a few times actually). I saw it when he paused his rallies when some in the audience needed medical attention, and wouldn't continue until he knew they were okay. I saw his heart break when he visited Flint, or spoke to people who had lost their jobs, their homes, their loved ones to the issues he promised to address and fix. I saw it in his expression when he toured his old childhood apartment in Brooklyn. I saw it first hand when he would hug his wife, Jane, and wave to the crowd at the end of each rally. I saw it when he looked down lovingly at a little bird in Portland who had felt safe enough to land on his podium and look up at him in interest. And I saw it for myself right there in his eyes when I had the honor to shake his hand at the Tampa rally.

Photo Credit: CNN

Which is why, this week, my heart broke several times. It broke when Wikileaks released the truth we'd known all along, the system was rigged against Bernie and us all. It broke when I listened to his speech and heard him asking us to join forces with him to ensure Hillary wins in November. It broke when he started to cry as his brother invoked the name of their parents who didn't get to live to see what an amazing man their son turned out to be. It broke when Bernie officially lost the nomination to Hillary. And it broke when I felt our movement splinter. And that's exactly what it did. It splintered right before our eyes.

Photo Credit: NBC

I watched as supporters turned to each other and said "what do we do now?" I watched as we all tried to digest the fact that the DNC and Democratic Party elites had actively worked together to tilt the scales in Hillary's favor. I watched as the Bernie delegates and the Philly protesters too to the streets to stand up and speak for the majority of us supporters who were furious that we'd all been robbed of a fair election. That's something I will never forget when I hear anyone in the Democratic party mention the word "democracy" again. In my eyes, democracy died in Philadelphia that night Hillary became the Democratic Presidential nominee.

I now watch as my Bernie friends part ways at the forks in the road. Some are trying to decide if they should follow Bernie's lead and support Hillary. Most flocked to Jill Stein of the Green Party, to carry on the a promise of progressive agendas they believe she'll keep. Others refused to leave the idea of Bernie as our President behind and expect to try and write-him in come November- despite the fact that those votes will most likely not be counted. And some actually went to get behind Trump, as shocking as that may seem.

I was left wondering which way I should go. Immediately I internalized what everyone around me was saying and thought it through. Am I being a "brat" or a "sore loser" (as Hillary supporters have been saying)? Should I just "fall in line" and stop "being ridiculous" (as Sarah Silverman said)? These were all things I heard the media, Democratic elite, and Hillary fans repeating over and over. That raised a red flag for me, because if there was anything I had learned over the last year (and thanks to the DNC Leaks), whatever those three groups of people said were probably complete lies or manipulation tactics.

I had to think long and hard about this, because this election has awoken something inside of me, something I feel the need to continue to fight for.

I love Bernie, but...

It pains me to even utter those words because they are words I've come to loath over the past year. Undecided Democrats would always say to me "I like Bernie, but he'll never win". If every person who told me that actually voted for Bernie, he would have won in a landslide and we wouldn't be looking a candidate who is going into the general election 1 point behind Trump. Before the first debates or TV ads are run.

The "I like ____, but they'll never win" is exactly what is wrong with our political system and exactly why I made the decision to refuse to "fall in line" ever again.

No, I won't vote for Hillary and here is why:

I don't agree in throwing my support behind Hillary over the Supreme Court pick(s). My brother told me he worries somehow, someway, the wrong justices will overthrow the same-sex marriage law. This is nonsense. For starters, same-sex marriage was passed by a conservative leaning Supreme Court. Second, look at the example of interracial marriage. That was made law decades ago and though we've had some terribly conservative judges since (and then) has anyone overthrown that law? No. Because it's not as simple as it sounds. You can't just simply change what the Supreme Court has passed into law. While Congress can write laws they hope to pass in order to counter the same-sex marriage law (such as "freedom of religion law that would allow states and businesses/people within them to refuse to recognize same-sex marriage) it wouldn't make it far enough to be made into a law. Mitch McConnell explained in a July 2015, interview that a law like that wouldn't make it through Congress and "I've always felt that marriage was between one man and one woman. The Supreme Court has held otherwise, that's the law of the land." Same-sex marriage to the Democrats is what the Second Amendment is to Republicans, a scare tactic used to manipulate voters into fearing they have to vote for one over the other for fear one of their civil liberties will be stripped from them.

I also feel that Congress- if the majority is Democrat- will fight him on his Supreme Court picks the same way the Republicans are currently doing. Let's be honest, the replacement for Scalia should be picked by Obama. If the next President picks it, there will be a lot of arguing between both sides over it and not much will be accomplished without compromise on both sides, which will most likely lead to a moderate judge instead of an ultra conservative one.


I don't agree that we need to stick with Hillary to push the progressive platform. While I applaud Bernie, his platform appointees, and the Bernie delegates who worked as hard as they did to get some of our most important agendas on the Democratic platform, I don't trust Hillary in the least to follow through with any of them. I think Bernie is smart to continue to mention all the things passed in the platform so we were aware of what promises she is making to the American people, but there is a reason he did that- even he doesn't trust she'll keep her end of the deal. He did that as insurance. He believes that if she starts to stray from what we passed, we can hold her feet to the fire.

But I'm not as optimistic as Bernie is. See, Hillary has a long standing history of promising one thing and doing another behind closed doors. For example, just look at what her email leaks revealed about her stand on the Columbian Free Trade Agreement. She was against it throughout her 2008 campaign, but as soon as she became Secretary of State she helped lobby for it behind closed doors and out of the public eye. THIS is the Hillary I fear. This is why her approval ratings are the lowest they've ever been for a Democratic nominee. This is why more than 50% of American's don't find her trustworthy or honest.

We all know Trump is a pathological liar, and we all call him on it. But not enough people call Hillary out on the same thing. Trump is a lot of talk, but Hillary is a lot of action and actions always speak louder than words.

I don't trust that she won't pass the TPP after promising not to. I don't trust that she will keep her word on the platform we co-created. And I'll be honest, I don't think she will even care when we call her out on it. You see, Hillary cares about one thing and one thing only-- Hillary, and Hillary wants to be the first female President of the United States. That's all that will matter when her name appears in the history books some day, not whether or not she kept her campaign promises to us. She truly doesn't care about passing progressive agendas. She's a center-left/moderate and for anyone who doesn't understand or agree with that, just research the "New Democrats" and the "Democratic Leadership Council" and see who is at the helm of that ship. The Clintons have hijacked the Democratic party from the days of Jimmy Carter and Bernie was our last fighting chance to get it back from them.

At this point, I trust Trump more not to pass the TPP than I trust Hillary. Hell, just an HOUR after officially being nominated the Democratic candidate, Hillary's close friend, Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe, told a reporter that he knew she'd pass the TPP once in office. Trump picked that information up and ran with it, and it enraged progressive Democrats, some of whom were sitting in the convention at the time of the interview, holding "NO TPP" signs up in protest. It sent her camp into a tizzy and they had to get McAuliffe and his staff to walk-back the claims. I'm sorry, but I don't believe for a second McAuliffe wasn't speaking truthfully the first time. He's know the Clintons and knows them well. Tim Kaine, her VP pick, supported the TPP up until Friday when he was announced as Clinton's running mate. So don't fall in line with Clinton because you expect progressive concessions when she gets into office. History shows it will not happen.


I don't agree that, if Trump becomes President, we will face World War III. Honestly, I feel at this point more confident that it's the opposite, if Hillary becomes President we'll be facing World War III. If there is one thing I've learned this election season it is that Hillary Clinton is a war hawk. For those not fully "awake" during this election, going into details of this won't make much sense and will take too much time. But just for a simple reference, take a look at the DNC leaks. The DNC was caught red handed doing some extremely shady, and possibly illegal, stuff. But immediately Hillary's campaign jumped to it's defense and blamed Russia. Obama followed. Do you understand how dangerous that is? The Cold War started over this very thing, claims and accusations of espionage that spun into a constant back-and-forth of fist raising that each time sent citizens into panic mode (aka "Red Scare"). Do we really want to go back to the days where sirens go off and we hide under our desks, because Russia and the USA are back in a puffy-chest contest? Pushing this sort of narrative is not only dangerous, but irresponsible for a potential Commander in Chief. If this woman wants to be President of the United States, she cannot get into office on day one already in a pissing contest with a country that has the world's second largest military.

Saying you wont let Muslim refugees into your country for fear or terrorism is awful to say, but it's fear-based response to terrorism. Blaming the second most powerful country in the world- one that already is lukewarm about us- for your own problems is a downright perilous and fear-mongering.

As for fear of Trump's finger on the nuclear button that Hillary and Obama keep reminding us of, let's not forget our history. The only President in the history of the United States who ever actually "pushed that button" was Harry Truman... and he was a Democrat.


I don't agree that Hillary is better for women, minorities, LGBTQ, immigrants, etc. We saw more mass deportations under Obama than we ever saw under Bush. We have seen an uptick in police violence and militarization under Obama. We've watched as race relations in this country got far worse under a our first black president. Do I believe they'll get better under Hillary? Not at all. This is Hillary, who advocated sending children refugees fleeing violence back to their Central American countries just to send a political message. One of the same Central American countries who's coup and she played a role in (Honduras). Hillary who takes money from for-profit prisons will all of a suddenly focus on criminal justice reform? The list could go on.

Hillary doesn't care about the civil liberties of people in other countries. She has helped over throw democratically elected governments in other countries. She has pushed for or overthrown dictators that caused civil wars inside of countries. Wars that have destroyed the lives of many because of her influences (Iraq, Syria, Libya, Venezuela, Hondura, etc.).

Hillary also has deep ties to the Saudi family. It's been reported that the Clinton Foundation (currently being investigated by the IRS for essentially being pay-to-play) took millions of dollars in donations from the Saudi royal family- the same one recently linked to 9/11. The same ones who she then approved a massive amount of arms deals to as SOS, after their generous donation. Whether you want to believe the Saudi's are behind much of the distress in the Middle East and Africa - can we all agree that a woman who touts herself as a "feminist" and "champion for LGBTQ rights" should NOT be taking money from a kingdom that still to this day, mistreats, tortures and even kills women and LGBTQ people? How is that okay with people?

I never thought I'd say this, but at least the Republicans don't pretend to hid their bigotry, sexism, and racism.

Hillary isn't good for America, nor is she good for the world. This illusion that we absolutely need to elect a Democrat in order to "save our country" is the exact same argument on both sides of the political sphere. But the funny thing is - both sides are right. Both of our choices are awful and there truly isn't one that is better than the other. For the next four months both sides will be invoking their greatest scare tactics in order to get us to freak out and fall in line like we always do, election after election. Sadly, too many will fall for it.

So what do I plan to do in November?  

I have a pretty clear plan laid out for myself. I am not falling in line. This year it became obvious to me that the two party system we have in place has failed us. We're supposed to be the "land of the free" and the "home of the brave".

We're not free when we're being force-fed candidates because our entire country (government, media, Hollywood, etc) is controlled by two powerful political parties that do everything in their power to silence our other options.

We're not brave when we're sitting here shaking in our boots worrying about the "what if's" of a Trump or Hillary presidency.

We're playing right into their hands when the Republicans warn us how unsafe we are from ISIS under a Democratic administration - forgetting 9/11 happened under Republican one. Or when the Democrats warn us that the Republicans will trample our civil liberties- forgetting that the DNC leaks, major discrepancies in exit poll data, and a current Election Justice lawsuit show that the Democratic Party manipulated what should have been a "democratic" election process, taking the right to vote in a free and fair election away from millions of Americans across the country.

So, this November, my plan is simple. When it comes to the President, I will be voting my conscience and values. I won't be thinking of the "what if's" or worrying if my vote will count. I won't vote for the "lesser of two evils" because I've learned in the past year, both sides are equally evil and both sides need to be stopped. Therefore, I will vote for the person I truly believe has the best platform and the person who has most earned my vote. I don't believe that not voting for Hillary is a slap in Bernie's face. He has said time and time again that this election isn't about the President, it's about us. It's our choice and he supports our right to vote however we choose.

For Congress, my plan is to "vote blue no matter who".  Whether they supported Bernie or Hillary this election-- or whether you plan to vote for Trump, Stein, Johnson, Clinton, or write Bernie in-- it's important we get out there and vote turn the Senate blue so if Trump wins, his hands will be tied. In order to stop the evil on both sides, this needs to be a "fail safe". I fully expect Trump to win in November. Hillary is tanking in the polls, and with the IRS investigation into the Clinton Foundation, Congress returning from recess in September to go back to investigating the FBI/email issues, and Wikileaks planning to release more leaks-- which Julian Assange (found of Wikileaks) has said will be enough to put Hillary in jail-- she will continue to go down in those polls. Who knows what other scandals will pop up around her too. This is the best way to ensure Trump doesn't get into office and go crazy because a Democratic controlled Senate will continue the same gridlock we see right now with Obama and in this case, it could be our saving grace.

Then for the House of Representatives, my plan is to vote out anyone who supported Hillary. Any Democrats (or Republicans) who threw their political influence into the election and endorsed her early on before we even had a chance to listen to what the other candidate(s) had to say. Anyone who campaigned with her or urged their constituents to support her. Anyone who cast a super delegate vote for her. Vote them out/don't vote them in. This is the message we'll send to the establishment.

For local elections, I'll be voting whoever has the most progressive agenda. For now, it will be the Democrat, but I look forward to Bernie's plan to continue on his campaign by pushing to get more down-ticket progressives in office.

Will I be joining the #DemExit? 

Yes. I will. Just not immediately after the convention. On August 30th, my plan is to vote in the Florida primary elections for the most progressive of the two senate choices, as well as other local Democrats/Progressives. Then on August 31st, I will be taking my registration paper down to the Supervisor of Elections and switching to Independent. I urge anyone else participating in the #DemExit to wait and vote in your local primary if you have one.

Why am I leaving? Because the Democratic party obviously doesn't want me. I learned this week from the DNC leaks that the party didn't respect me, my intelligence, my candidate of choice, or my vote for him. Democrats told me time and time again throughout this election that I wasn't a real Democrat because I supported Bernie. Because I watched videos of innocent children and civilians being bombed in Syria by OUR Democratic president, and it sickened me to see. Because I don't believe in a party that can continue to support war, continue to support the Israeli occupation of Palestine, that rigs elections and dangerously deflects the blame to other countries around the world, that promotes and supports regime changes and coups and civil wars in countries that we have something to gain from their collapse. I've learned this year that Republicans are idiots, but Democrats are sly. Both are equally dangerous for different reasons and therefore I want no part of either anymore.

Will I still fight on with Bernie?

Of course! Bernie has spent decades of his life fighting for us. I don't think he "sold out" or "deserted us". I think he knows politics and the games politicians play very well and he knows what he has to do. He wants to keep the congressional caucus seats he'd earned, and he's cost the Democratic party a lot of money running against their "anointed one" in the primary.

But do I think that just because Bernie has to fall in line that I do too? No. It also doesn't mean I have to desert him or everything we've all worked so hard for together. I will happily join Bernie in his fight to put more progressives in office. But Hillary isn't a progressive, so that is where he and I agree to disagree. I still love him deeply and respect him immensely. His vote is his choice, as is mine.

Personally, I don't see Trump being in office more than four years. He has the attention span of a gnat, and I think he'll grow bored of the job and not bother seeking re-election. But also, even if he did want to taste the power for four more years, I think whoever runs against him in 2020, would win in a landslide at that point.

Four years of Trump (or Hillary) gives us, the Berniecrats/Progressives/Independents, plenty of time to work our butts off prepping Bernie-like candidates to run third party in all the elections in 2020 and beyond. Several "Berniecrats" around the country have been elected into office so far. We have to keep doing this- it doesn't matter if they're running as Blue, Green, Red, Purple, whatever color party- make sure they have the progressive values Bernie stood for so we can help transform America.

Again, all of these are just my personal feelings and decisions. I'm not advocating you vote one way or another, just hoping to shed some light on ways we can continue this revolution without it falling apart after all of our hard work.

What should you do?

It's not my place to say, though I do hope you consider your options before you just give up and fall in line. A lot of us woke up to the bullshit around us this year. If you think you'll just nap through this election now that Bernie isn't the nominee, you're doing exactly what they want... going back to sleep.

Don't fall for it. Keep fighting and pushing forward with each other. Awful and amazing Presidents will come and go. Like Bernie says, this election isn't about the President. This election is about the people, and the power we have when we come together. If we threw our support behind another "fringe candidate" right now, and we convinced Independents and unsure voters to stop the "I like ___, but..." we could break free from the two party chains easily this election.

We learned from Bernie that if millions of us stand up and fight for what is right, we CAN change this political system and we WILL do it together. 

And for that I have to say: Thank you, Bernie! You will forever be the father of this political revolution.

*Sorry for the typos. I wrote this fast and just to share quickly. I may edit as I re-read this again in the coming days. :)