“Let’s be open-minded and not talk about it…”
“I don’t want to offend anyone…”
“Politics shouldn’t come between friends…”
“Discussing your vote is rude…”
“We should honor everyone’s opinion…”

Here’s my thoughts on sentiments like these, they’re bullshit.

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I wasn’t going to discuss the presidential election but it’s become unavoidable and I apologize for not doing so earlier. As parents, we are shaping our children’s future every day and the vote we cast is an extension of that. It echoes the values and principles we teach to them and that vote should be consistent with those messages.

“Public discourse community”, that was the definition of college that I was given as an introduction to academia on my first day, in my first class, by my first professor. He expressed his belief that it was our responsibility as the next educated generation to be willing to state our informed beliefs, defend them intelligently, and be willing to argue them. That willingness I respect and extend to others by listening to their opposing views to my own but that doesn’t mean I accept their opinion or condone it by the act of listening to them. It means I keep myself from calling them stupid but I call their opinion stupid. (See “debate”.)

It’s your civic duty as a citizen of this republic to vote. I would hope that people do so in an informed manner but I would just settle for doing it at all. Like they say, you can’t win unless you play. The lottery isn’t won without a ticket. And, you know what, you won’t have a voice in the world unless you speak your mind. A vote is a good start.

Sharing that opinion, your vote, because you’re compelled out of a sense of duty to bring to light what isn’t being discussed is not unseemly or impolite, it’s responsible (see any number of articles about Drumpf). If someone doesn’t want to hear your opinion then they can turn their cheek or scroll past your post but silence is dangerous because it is assumed to be acceptance.

Personal offense is preferable over shared delusion and silence when historically that mob gag mentality has allowed for genocide. (See excerpts of the fun editorial by Louis C.K. or Dietrich Bonhoeffer.)

I’m all for sharing your opinion about how politics and religion shouldn’t be discussed and here’s mine. If you’re voting for a hate mongering, misogynistic, dilitante and don’t want me saying so then please “unfriend” me. A friend to me is someone who looks out for you and points out the proverbial booger on your face and Drumpf is a booger on the boil, on the ass of humanity. (I still believe someone is paying him to run and be as reprehensible as possible to pave the way for a Democrat.)

If you believe in aliens, fantastic. Fetish for unicorns? Interesting. I support you and would love to hear about it at length. But if you believe I don’t deserve equal rights, access to health care, or citizenship as a woman then fuck off. If you think it’s harmless to vote for someone spouting hatred, inciting violence, and invoking threats then please goose step away from me.