toggle election

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Republican Friend: I’ve been a moderate Republican all my life. I voted for Trump last time, but I didn’t think he’d actually win. I can’t bring myself to vote for him this time.
Me: Great. Glad to hear it.
RF: Don’t be too glad. I’m not voting for Biden either.
Me: Those are the only choices. Trump or Biden.
RF: I’m voting for Jo Jorgensen.
Me: Who?
RF: Jo Jorgensen.
Me: Who is Jo Jorgensen when she’s at home?
RF: She’s the Libertarian candidate.
Me: So you’re voting for Trump.
RF: No, I’m voting for Jorgensen.
Me: Same thing.
RF: No, it’s not. I’m voting my conscience.
Me: Bullshit. You’re dodging your conscience.
RF: No, I’m not. I said I can’t bring myself to vote for…
Me: Yeah, I know what you said. And I know what you meant. You mean you don’t want to feel any responsibility if Trump is re-elected.
RF: No, that’s not it.
Me: Bullshit. That’s exactly it. You don’t want to vote for Trump, but you’re not going to do anything to prevent him from being re-elected. You’re more concerned with soothing your conscience than with protecting the Constitution.
RF: That’s not true. Biden won’t fix the nation’s prob…
Me: Does Jo Jorgensen have a popcorn fart’s chance of winning?
RF: No, but that’s not the point. The point is…
Me: Fuck your point. This is a toggle election. The choices are truly binary. Yes or no. Up or down. On or off. Biden or Trump. Those are the only choices.
RF: I have to vote my conscience.
Me: Fuck you and fuck your conscience. You’re a coward.
RF: I’m not a…
Me: You’re dodging all personal responsibility to act for the good of the nation. It’s no different than saying you oppose the pandemic but won’t wear a mask. Fuck you.
RF: It’s not like that at all.
Me: Did I just say ‘Fuck you’? I believe I did. Fuck you again.
RF: Are you angry with me?
Me: Shut up. Go away. Fuck you and everybody you know, you fucking coward.
RF: I understand you’re upset.
RF: Hello?
Former Republican Friend: Hello?

21 thoughts on “toggle election”

    • Hey Billy. I do care about other folks’ opinions. But this election is too important for me to tolerate bullshit. It’s true that I see this election in very stark black&white terms. There are only two choices: Trump or Biden. That’s it. If you’re not voting for Biden, you’re voting to continue the Trump administration. If you vote for a third party, you’re voting to continue the Trump administration. If you refuse to vote, you’re choosing to continue the Trump administration. If you vote for Trump, I’ll disagree with you but I’ll acknowledge that you are voting for the candidate you want to run the nation.

      To you, voting for Trump is a good thing. To me, it means the end of representative democracy. It’s really that simple. I suspect it’s that simple for you as well.

      Liked by 2 people

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    • Billy, I don’t believe Trump can actually WIN a fair election. I don’t think Trump believes he can win a fair election. That’s why he’s doing everything he can to make it harder for people to vote. I think it’s possible for Trump to be re-elected, but I don’t think there’s anyway he can truly win.

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  4. Billy, it is not TDS. That whole line of argument is crap. I am voting against Trump because he wants to take my healthcare, he is lifting restrictions that it took generations to put in place and he is an isolationist. His Vice President has said the earth is 6000 years old and Trump himself is a Climate Science denier.

    Trump is bad for America. Trump is bad for the world. Also, hate is on the rise with Trump. Join the human race Billy.

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. Greg, that is a valid point. I overheard a conversation between two republicans and they agreed to themselves that Trump was a bad president, but they would vote for him to keep a republican in the White House. I get that. It is valid. I disagree, but that is how democracy works. I myself do not think Trump represents the republican party.

    If you told Biden he would have to be sacrificed or 1000 Americans would be killed, I believe he would give himself up as a sacrifice. In fact, I think the last 4 presidents would. If you told that to Trump he would let them die.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Oh man, your last point is spot on. I haven’t liked a Republican president ever, but I believe you’re right; I think they would all sacrifice themselves for the good of the people. And Trump wouldn’t.

      Liked by 1 person

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  7. I don’t understand people who think Trump is an aberration, rather than the culmination of Republican trends since at least 1964. I’m going to post part of length op-ed by Paul Krugman that he wrote about George W Bush in 2008:

    People claim to be shocked at the Bush administration’s efforts to disenfranchise minority groups, under the pretense of combating voting fraud. But Reagan opposed the Voting Rights Act, and as late as 1980 he described it as “humiliating to the South.” People claim to be shocked at the Bush administration’s attempts—which, for a time, were all too successful—to intimidate the press. But this administration’s media tactics, and to a large extent the people implementing those tactics, come straight out of the Nixon administration. Dick Cheney wanted to search Seymour Hersh’s apartment, not last week, but in 1975. Roger Ailes, the president of Fox News, was Nixon’s media adviser.
    People claim to be shocked at the Bush administration’s attempts to equate dissent with treason. But Goldwater—who, like Reagan, has been reinvented as an icon of conservative purity but was a much less attractive figure in real life—staunchly supported Joseph McCarthy, and was one of only twenty-two senators who voted against a motion censuring the demagogue. Above all, people claim to be shocked by the Bush administration’s authoritarianism, its disdain for the rule of law. But a full half century has passed since The National Review proclaimed that “the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail,” and dismissed as irrelevant objections that might be raised after “consulting a catalogue of the rights of American citizens, born Equal”—presumably a reference to the document known as the Constitution of the United States.
    Now, as they survey the wreckage of their cause, conservatives may ask themselves: “Well, how did we get here?” They may tell themselves: “This is not my beautiful Right.” They may ask themselves: “My God, what have we done?” But their movement is the same as it ever was. And Mr. Bush is movement conservatism’s true, loyal heir.
    Krugman, Paul. Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future (p. 300). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • If that quote actually “says it all” you wouldn’t need the ellipsis, would you. So let me complete the thought for you. I do care about other folks’ opinions. But this election is too important for me to tolerate bullshit.

      Until recently, I’ve always had a fairly elastic bullshit tolerance. The astonishing amount of bullshit that’s come out of the Trump administration has stretched that tolerance to an end point. I don’t have any more patience with opinions that are grounded in Trumpist bullshit.

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  10. It was very brave to have this conversation with your friend. It will be a hard election. It is a sadness to lose friends over politics because they are always changing. Would we be able to feature you in our upcoming issue of “This Just In… Today’s Era.”? Please let us know if we have your permission to quote you.

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