New Rule

New Rule:

If you're voting for Trump (or a third-party candidate to "punish" the DNC) you have to meet with your Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, Black, Muslim and Hispanic friends and explain why your need for spite is more important than their right to live free and happy lives.
You have to look them in the eyes and tell them why your anger at a 238 year old system, that didn't dramatically change in a few months, is worth more than their safety or security.

You need to meet with every mother, father, sister, brother and parent who has lost a loved one to gun violence and tell them why a lack of Bernie supporters at the polls is enough reason to support the RNC's love affair with guns and their hatred of common sense gun reform.

You have to tell your female friends that you're furious about Benghazi and other vague incidents that are somehow Hillary's fault and that the de-funding of Planned Parenthood is worth enduring as long as she isn't in the White House.

You'll need to take time away from PokemonGo and Netflix to talk with the youngest generation of Americans who will live with the legacy of non-existent environmental protection that your vote promised them. An environment we tossed away, because Hillary is pro fracking. A position far worse than Trump's pro fracking policy and one she assuredly can't be persuaded to change.

You'll be expected to go door to door and apologize to all the people who will lose their health insurance when President Trump dismantles Obamacare. Access to medical services may be important, but they'll need to understand you were expecting free college.

You'll be requested at several LGBTQ events, where we'll patiently listen to your reasons why you voted for a President whose party just stated they'd work to reverse marriage equality. I would do this one quickly however, before we get too comfortable being treated as human beings, worthy of equality.

Of course, you'll also need to offer your time checking genitals at bathrooms around the country, as your vote ensures the Right has the political power to continue punishing and demonizing transgender people who simply want to pee.

Sexual assault survivors will want to know why their attackers walk away with a slap on the wrist, after being found guilty, but all the failed investigations and fruitless legal hearings in the world will never prove Clinton's innocence.

Your African-American friends will most likely expect a solid reason why you supported a party that sees no problem with police brutality or the militarization of their local law enforcement. Black Lives Matter, but not nearly as much as sticking it to the 1% percent. I suppose this seems like a problem we can continue to kick down the road.

I'd also prepare a few remarks for officers who go to work everyday terrified that they'll be the next ones punished for the ignorance of those who share their uniform, an ignorance that's been encouraged, normalized and weaponized by a news cycle that rewards the loudest jackass in the room and punishes the thoughtful introspection of empathy.

You'll also want to start growing your own food, because once President Trump sends his goons to deport "All dem illegals", you'll find a remarkably non-existent workforce of Americans willing to pick the nation's food for pennies a day.

This would also be the best time to pick up a few stuffed animals. It's the least you can give to the immigrant children whose families will be ripped apart by your anger. What's Spanish for, "You'll get a new mother ,but I won't get another revolution."?

I imagine a few mosques would love to sit down with you as you poetically pontificate on the ills of "Crooked Hillary" and all the crimes she's mysteriously never been convicted of, even if it means the Muslim community continues to be targeted and blamed for the actions of 0.0001% of their religion. (You won't need to do this for the white "lone wolf" shooter, as it's clear they're acting alone and clearly don't represent Christianity. He's just "sad and depressed.")

Skype will be a great tool when you need to video chat with the Syrian refuges who have seen their homes and entire lives destroyed by both American and Russian carpet bombing. Language barriers aside, I imagine they'll understand that your frustration is a fair trade for their entire lives and continued homelessness while we scramble to fix the mess we created, the mess Trump is happy to abandon.

If you could set aside some time to sit down with your fellow Americans with disabilities, I am positive they would love to hear the many reasons you helped empower a man so fond of mocking them. A man who delights in stepping on the weak, struggling and often forgotten. A coward enriched by rolling over people who many of us don't bother to recognize and even fewer take the time to empathize with or relate to. I imagine their daily struggles pale in comparison with your need to label a Mother and Grandmother as a "Lying whore."

In the end, you won't have enough time to meet with all these people and it's probably for the best. Once you start humanizing those most affected by your flippancy ... you risk seeing the bigger picture, which only assures your eventual return to reality. Once that starts to happen you'll be forced to accept that Bernie Sanders was ONLY able to get the DNC to change, because of the tireless efforts of his supporters.

Supporters like myself. Supporters like you.

You'll soon realize that few "Berners" love Hillary, but they understand their support of her is necessary to ensure this country survives long enough to give Bernie's policies time to take root. Suddenly you'll be forced to admit that political revolutions don't happen in a year and that dramatic changes are going to take time, time that will not be afforded to a country torn apart by an egotistical madman with a penchant for indifference, pettiness and revenge. By the time this realization solidifies, you'll find yourself looking around at this beautifully diverse country, your family, and loved ones and you'll wonder why you ever considered risking it... all because your hatred of a woman was more powerful than your love of country, freedom, humanity and basic decency. You'll question your friends who are cursing the man they just recently considered their savior and you'll have to look at yourself from the outside in.

There it is. Perspective.

This is bigger than you, or me or Bernie Sanders. This isn't your typical Left vs. Right political nonsense. This is real, this is happening and you can join your fellow men and women in opposition or you can damn the country to trillions in debt, a shattered NATO, racial hatred, homophobia, war, isolationism and a world destroyed by Trump's assurance that Climate Change is a "hoax".

What world will you leave for the next generation? What amount of anger is worth destroying everything and empowering the proud intolerance of the know nothing base? Which politician can be pressured by environmentalists and those who wish to foster peace? Which candidate will listen to the professionals, experts and leaders in their field? Which politician adapts and evolves their political opinions based on the will of their constituents and presentation of new evidence?

We all get to choose how to shape this world and your choice will forever define the person you are and the America you want.

Pragmatism can be a terribly bitter pill to swallow, but change can be found in compromise, progress in patience. As a gay man who only recently felt the embrace of equality, I know all too well the hopelessness of frustration and the righteous rage of disappointment, but I refuse to abandon progress or those still waiting for their seat at the table, because I dislike the host of the party.

I am not voting for her, I am voting for them.

Don't burn down the farm, because the crop wasn't what you had hoped. Enrich the land, ensuring an even better crop next season and help his supporters secure a world welcoming and willing to see Bernie's goals come to fruition.

-Justice Blaine Wainwright