First of all, I am sorry I don’t remember your name. I only had a few minutes to catch Thom today, when I usually listen to pretty much a full hour every day if not more. The reason why I am addressing this to you is because you are a Bernie supporter, like me. And, like me, you find Bernie’s politics much closer to your own than you do any other candidate in the field. I find myself in that same position! You said you were a college professor in California, and I can identify with that too, I was a college student not too long ago. But then you said something that made my jaw hit the floor and made me shake my head in shame.
You said you would vote for Donald fucking Trump in the general election over Hillary Clinton.
I cannot, for the life of me, understand why two people (myself and you) would agree on so much, support the same candidate for president, but diverge so wildly on what to do after the primary. And, I have to be honest, as a former college student I cannot understand how a professor of 26 years could come to such a dangerous conclusion for the country.
You said in part that you knew a bunch of people who were poor, down and out, without jobs and hope. That you and many of the people you know are done with the political establishment. That your eyes were open to the corruption and dishonesty of the current political system, and that you and the people you know have had enough. I totally get that. I find myself in the same position. Yes, I am sick of the political establishment on the Democratic side. Yes, I am done with trying to work with people who are so over the cliff that they tried to bring down a president, thus the country, for eight years with gridlock and backstabbing. Yes, I am sick of the naivety of Dems who think that republicans are going to do anything, ANYTHING but reneg on agreements and backstab for power.
But I don’t get you, Thom Hartmann caller. I don’t get how a college professor of 26 years, someone who agrees with Bernie strongly, comes to the conclusion that Donald “the fascist” Trump is somehow better for progressive politics than Hillary Clinton. Yes, she is establisment-y. No, she doesn’t bring the excitement or fresh perspective (speaking only for myself, of course) that a political outsider like Bernie does. She doesn’t go as far ideologically as Bernie. But how the hell does one figure “well, I didn’t get my favorite so burn this whole shit to the ground and start over”. How does an educated, intelligent, thinking democrat such as yourself get to the point where voting for, quite literally, someone who says they are going to kill people’s families and start a muslim registry get your vote. How does someone who calls latinos (Mexicans specifically) “murderers and rapists” get some sort of pass from you? I just dont understand it. You support Bernie, he is much closer to you on the ideological spectrum than any other candidate, and you know he, in all probability, will not be our candidate. Why go for the ideological opposite of yourself? It makes no sense.
What makes sense to me in all of my non-professorial purely working class brain is reassessing the state of the race and again deciding who is closer to you ideologically of the options available. That person, to me, is Hillary Clinton. Yes, I am absolutely bummed about Bernie all but losing the democratic nomination, but going into “burn this motherfucker down” mode isn’t going to help anyone but republicans.
Make no mistake — if Donald actually wins the presidency we are fucking screwed for four entire years. Republicans know it, Democrats generally know it. We are fucked if this man goes anywhere near the White House. There will be no progressive utopia afterward. Burning the village to the ground to save it has never, EVER worked for us, essentially brought us the worst president in modern history (GWB) for eight years, and is now threatening us once again. Please learn from strong progressive mistakes of the past. If Donald Trump wins, we all lose. There is no silver lining. We lose and we lose big. Full stop.
So please, I beg you reconsider your position. Re-evaluate. Use some introspection. Learn from history. On no universe is a democrat, progressive or liberal voting for Donald Trump and acceptable outcome. Surely a professor must know this. Surely.