Haters Gonna Hate

It was a lot of fun filling in for Mike Malloy on Thursday and Friday night.  That was the first time I had hosted a national show.  I was a little nervous to begin with, but the two nights flew by.  On Friday night, I walked into the station with a bit of trepidation.  On Friday, Hillary Clinton announced she was going to officially announce (?!) her run for President on Sunday, something I knew was going to cause a lot of Hillary Clinton haters to howl.  My apprehension was well placed.

I spent the final two hours Friday night beating back fringe callers and chat room commentators, all of whom insisted Hillary Clinton was ten times worse than ANY Republican.  She would get us into multiple wars, would allow Wall Street to take our houses, money and livelihood, and apparently she's the secret love partner of Henry Kissinger (the last point being made repeatedly by some person in the Mike Malloy chat room).  The endgame of all of these complaints was an insistence the Democrats, if Hillary would be nominated, would be no different from whichever troll the Republicans nominate.  I had a headache at the end of the show

First, you're an idiot if you really do think there's no difference between the Democrats and Republicans.  I'll repeat that, you're an idiot.  There's a big difference; just look at my blog to see the multitude of ways I've pointed out.  The 2016 election is going to come down to the Republican nominee verses the Democratic nominee.  That's it.  No third party candidate or plucky independent; D v. R!  If Hillary is the Democratic nominee, even if you can't stand her, there are four major points which demand you vote Democrat:  1) 3 to 4 Supreme Court appointments, 2) the right's dream of war with Iran, 3) the future of the Affordable Care Act and 4) GLBT and minority rights.  Those four points alone make any person manifesting their temper tantrum about her getting the nod into not voting in 2016 (in my opinion) irrational and foolish.

I believe half of the "anti-Clinton Democrats" are fake.  I think they're plants, bought and paid for by Republican supporters.  The GOP can't win a fair fight, so they need to outspend the left and fix the system to win.  Part of their plan is to discourage Democrats from voting.  To do so, they'll disguise themselves as 'concerned Democratic callers' who really have 'major concerns' with Hillary Clinton.  They'll call in, stoking the fires of frustration, editorializing with their fake outrage, and then insist the only real option is to, "not vote at all!"  These righto lemmings are being encouraged to do this because if a large portion of Democrats stay home, the GOP wins.  Mark my word, we'll hear a lot of this made up outrage on the day one of the candidates clinches the Democratic nomination, regardless of whom it is.

The other complaints, the ones from actual Democrats, and people from further to the left on the political spectrum, are wrapped in a lot of frustration.  You can dislike Hillary Clinton.  This is not about whether a person is allowed to dislike a political candidate.  If you really don't like her, more power to you.  If the thought of her winning the nomination, and then the Presidency, angers you so much you protest by either not voting or voting for a third party candidate who has no chance, I disagree with you, but that's your right.

That's what happened in 2000.  In one state, Florida, anti-Democrat/anti-Gore voters on the left forgot A) we elect Presidents via the electoral college, B) the race between Gore v. Bush was going to be very close in Florida and nationwide, and C) the right was spending a ton of money promoting Ralph Nader, hoping they could swing enough Democratic votes to the fringe candidate.  The right succeeded in making the race close enough to where they could use the pro-Republican Supreme Court to award the state of Florida to Bush, and hence the Presidency.  This led to 9/11, two wars, torture, the economic collapse, the Katrina response and the US government being used as an tool for Cheney's self gratification.

In Florida in 2000, there were not only people who, in hindsight, foolishly gave their vote to a candidate who had NO CHANCE, but there were also a lot of Democrats in the state who insisted on not voting to, "send a message."  You sent one alright, and your misgivings and guilt about what you did have been felt by us all.  Even if you did protest with your vote, what did you do to follow it up?  Nothing!  You didn't formulate a more organized third party or fight for a more progressive Democratic party.  Nope, you just went home, hiding from your fraudulent legacy, pouting, insisting in your chat rooms, "if only the rest of world would do exactly what I wanted, how we'd all be so much better."  To the protest voters who are revving their engines again, we did it your way and it ended up screwing us all.  Pardon me if I don't welcome you with open arms

Clinton haters, left leaning Democratic Party haters, countrymen, lend me your ears.  If you want me to take you seriously, then show me something serious.  Start by getting true, far left, Wellstonian Progressives on the stage with the rest of the Democratic candidates during the debates, and make those debates a beacon to the country, showing them how good it could be.  If you really don't like the Democratic Party, then start cultivating the Occupy sentiment, still alive and well, into a fully functioning, multi faceted political party with a full platform, not a party based on a one trick pony or a "I don't like their candidate so I am taking my toys and going home" pity party.  It'll take a hell of a lot of work, but if you are determined and committed, you might be able to field a candidate for president in 2024.

Hillary Clinton is not my first choice for the top of the Democratic ticket, but rest assured, if she does become the nominee, nothing will keep me from voting for her in 2016.  I'll even have a proud smile on my face as I cast my vote.