Why I Will Never Vote for a Democrat Again & You Can Take the Progressive Label & Shove It, Too!

I have spent my entire adult life doing actual work to assist the downtrodden, whether the chemically dependent, mentally ill, victims of abuse, etc. I am pro-choice, believe the right course of action in the war on drugs is complete decriminalization, and if two adults want to enter a marriage contract, the biological sex is irrelevant. As long as you are not disrespectful towards me, I will call you by any name, pronoun, etc you prefer, no matter how ridiculous I may personally find it. Police brutality and corruption is a real problem needing addressed, and the educational system is failing those most in need of a helping hand. The prison-industrial complex profits off of the labor of non-violent offenders. I am against imperialistic wars. Multinational corporations exploit workers and utilize special favors to gain unfair advantage in the market. All of this should place me on the ideological left, correct?

I was one of the many Obama 2008 voters who bought the NAFTA reform, immigration amnesty coupled with a reform of the system to minimize entry of malevolent beings and allow for beneficial immigrants to enter, and his call to end the horrific wars in the middle east. However, none of this happened. We went from significant military involvement in 7 nations instead of 4, the Obama administration obtained FISA 1 warrants on journalists (both ideologically left and right), and imprisoned whistleblowers for 11 x the amount of time of all previous administrations combined (more whistleblowers were jailed under Obama than every other president combined). A health care tax was passed to benefit the corporate insurance providers, forcing those in the middle-class who do not have employer-subsidized health coverage to choose between thousand of dollars in tax penalties and health services, or no health services but having high deductible, worthless coverage, and no penalty. Obama openly joked about the droning of Syrian children, engaged in numerous unethical acts (i.e. Operation Fast & Furious), and utilized executive orders instead of congress to get his agenda through. I was a victim of his administration's IRS targeting, as were numerous other critics.

Bernie 2016 emerged as a possible opportunity for actual progressive reform. Even though his questionable voting history on wars (see 1990s Serbia attacks and his voting to fund the Iraq War) and seemingly lack of clear strategy for funding his educational and Medicare for all programs, at least he was advancing a platform with consideration of the oppressed poor and working-class. Bernie would have won the DNC primary. However, funding designated for him went to the Clinton campaign, Clinton staffers were appointed to positions within the DNC, and as admitted in the class action lawsuit against the DNC, the DNC chose Clinton despite what the people wanted in the primaries. Rape apologist Clinton; Secretary of State Clinton who oversaw the Libya regime change plans (how is Libya doing now, post-Gaddafi?); Clinton of the Clinton Foundation, where over two billion dollars in money for the Haitian people is unaccounted for; Clinton -- the person who provided legal assistance to child trafficker Laura Silsby (her first appointed attorney was quickly arrested for child trafficking). I watched high-level Democrats say that white people need to shut up (I need to shut up? Where was my privilege for the past five years of the IRS harassing me? Where was my privilege when the police beat me unconscious and claimed it never happened after internal review (video cameras just happened to be off)?) and utter other race-baiting nonsense. Clinton supporters have threatened my family and have attempted to threaten my livelihood, for taking such "far-right" stances as the government was complicit for standing down in Charlottesville and should be required to pay damages to the Heyer family. The Clinton campaign was funded Saudi princes, large banks, and abusive multinational corporations.

I thought being progressive was about empowering the downtrodden, not beating every one else down to a lower status? I thought being progressive was about standing against the abusive power structure, regardless of who may be in charge? I thought being progressive was about standing for labor? I thought being progressive was about standing for the right to express any idea, because terrible ideas will be beaten down as a result of us having better ones? I thought being progressive was about standing for education, not the educational-industrial complex? Standing for the individual patriots in the military, against the military-industrial complex? I thought being progressive was about standing for a free press, not maligning individuals like Julian Assange when the information released fails to meet partisan agendas? I thought it was about standing with the majority of peaceful Muslims against oppressive Islamists, helping them reform their religion? (Look at how Ayan Hirsi Ali is treated by SPLC and other "progressive" groups).

Obviously not. Being progressive appears to be about race-baiting, utilizing any means necessary to take over the power structure, and forcing those who disagree to comply through violence if necessary. I thought progressivism was about something else. I apologize for the misunderstanding, and you can have the label back. You can market your imperialistic wars, pro-multinational corporation, and anti-free speech garbage somewhere else.

I will continue to utilize my skills where best suited to help tackle societal issues. You can continue your "standing" and "walking" against whatever you want, while you block people on Facebook in the fight against Trump. Call me conservative; call me "far-right wing"; call me a "racist" or a "homophobe". Contoinue to abandon decades of loyal friendship to virtue signal to others.

I will continue to utilize my skills where best suited to help tackle societal issues. You can continue your "standing" and "walking" against whatever you want, while you block people on Facebook in the fight against Trump. Call me conservative; call me "far-right wing"; call me a "racist" or a "homophobe". Continue to abandon decades of loyal friendship to virtue signal to others. One day, you will find yourself on the wrong side of the one issue that is important to you, and will find yourself abandoned too. That is what happens when your ethical framework is not founded on solidly-held values, but is simply a parroting of propaganda and a list of what you hate.