Mr. Shirky is a intelligent, professional rhetor and social analyst. In fact, the Wikileaks drop shows he has previously been engaged by Sec. Clinton for his ability to “influence/hype” the public (https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/16329).

The article, without evidence, posits a false choice: vote Clinton; vote Trump; or waste your vote.

Voting third party as a protest has historically proven effective. E.g., the California Green Party surge of the early 2000’s prompted the California Democratic Party to open its primaries and to adopt Green Party positions such as marriage equality.

There is also the Pinochet effect. Just showing up at the polls and voting “no” encourages others to re-engage with the political process, which they may have abandoned.

If one finds oneself in a swing state come November, it makes some sense, as Mr. Shirky writes, to vote the least of two evils. If one finds oneself in a safe state, such as California or New York, vote the least of your half dozen evils. If that’s troubling morally, vote swap. (Vote swapping is legal in every state (http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2007/08/06/0655517.pdf).)