Practical Position for President

Let’s get real. The choice is bigger than two people. The choice for president will be between Clinton and Trump. Trump has demonstrated that his temperament is most closely suited for a tyrant — he is never wrong and therefore never will have to apologize to the American people and its all about him. He has no experience working in government — on the federal, state, or local level. Some of his ideas and comments are, for use of a better word, wacko — the black man just can’t be an American citizen, all Muslims are suspect, all Hispanics are suspect, the US will build a Wall of China but won’t have to pay for its exorbitant cost. Clinton, for all her imperfections, has consistently worked for many different groups of people over the years and knows that her success is dependent on others.

But the choice to vote is bigger than Clinton and Trump. It’s about the Supreme Court nominee, and its about putting the “us”, all of us, back into the U.S. and not only the people who Trump is speaking to. The U.S. is the country of religious freedom, even though some of Trump’s supporters insist that the freedom really applied to different branches of Christianity and should have not gone beyond. The U.S. is the worldwide hub of technical innovation, yet it is also harbors those who misunderstand, misrepresent and dislike science, the foundation of those innovations. The U.S. is many things — we as individuals and as a country can be extremely generous to those who have less and we can be economically imperialistic and insensitive. We are the country of freedoms but we are also a country of native genocide, slavery, and class, gender, economic and ethnic divisions. Have you heard? “What are you?” “What kind of a last name is that?” “What brand are you?”

I, as one of the many, will not give away my power to the supporters of Trump, and not vote. I will vote for the supporters of Clinton and Sanders — and Obama and Biden. Even though I’m white and have no street cred and I’ve been lucky to live outside the neighborhoods of poverty and violence, I will support the people who live in those neighborhoods. I will throw the power of my vote to the Americans who want to problem-solve and work together and better themselves and the country in general. I will not give power to the Americans who are selfish, simple-minded, divisive and misunderstanding of different people. My vote for Clinton is a vote for balance and inconclusiveness. It’s an imperfect vote, but all votes are.

I will vote and continue to tell people to look at Google Maps and see how the human environment has eclipsed the Earth. I will continue to tell people that not every Muslim is a terrorist and the Syrian refuges are the closest victims of ISIS and their staunchest opposition. I will continue to tell people that racism is still alive in America even though I’m white and have no street cred, but I still know that — I’m not stupid. I will continue to tell people it’s not about one person or a small group of heroes. Unfortunately, we ALL have to continue to work at becoming better. Step by imperfect step.