Comments

1
Seriously, if not for the unmissed commenter sgt. doom, I wouldn't even know who Jill Stein is, and if not for Dan Savage and now Rich Smith, I wouldn't even be thinking about Jill Stein.

I suppose Savage and Smith probably get some sort of masturbatory pleasure out of writing about her, but is anyone foolish enough to think that people intending to vote for Stein would be dissuaded from doing so by any mockery of her?
2
If I vote for Jill Stein, can Electors use votes for Hillary?
Like in a coalition government?

I would hate to make protest vote & then give election to Idiot Donald.
3
What the greens outta do is nominate Hillary Clinton. Then people could vote for the Green Party without helping Donald Trump.
4
"You don't defeat neofascism through neoliberalism,"


Smith would rather assert that the above comment by Stein is unsophisticated but she is right on and it is Smith who is completely out of touch. Neofascism rises when demagogues use massive discontent generated by neoliberalism (today) such as inequality unseen in near a century, massive reversal of all progressive socio-economic gains since before the New Deal, and on. How would Smith suggest that we defeat fascism by promoting business as usual that lead us where we are today?

I didn't bother reading the rest for obvious reasons.
5
I don't think it's a good idea to review candidates missteps from the 1990s. Hillary has quite a few of more serious consequence.
6
@4 Good point! Clearly the way to defeat 'neofascism' is to assume a fringe-left stance that appeals to just about 1.5% of the electorate.
7
@4: You also think that one doesn't defeat coal use through natural gas use, so...
8
@6 As if being a sycophant for neoliberal Democrats (aka "liberals" over the last 7.5 years) has lead us anywhere than deeper into their grasp.

Lots of inaccuracies in your comment. It's 1.5% of the 50% that bother to show up in a system that is rigged for the duopoly. It could be different next fall.

Anyhow, contrarily to Stein I am for holding my nose in states where it matters. Otherwise, voting 3rd party to break up the stranglehold of corporatism over society is a necessity.

@7 Strawman. We don't need to burn fracked gas to replace coal. Fracked gas is probably worse than coal for climate because of large fugitive gas emissions. We certainly don't need to fuck up climate some more to get rid of coal.
9
I'm not voting for her (and I didn't vote for Nadar), nor do I think that she stands a chance of upsetting this election, but still the weekly quota of column inches that "The Stranger" devotes to tearing her down is starting to get to the "me think he doth protest too much" level of weirdness. I'm glad the Greens and other 3rd parties are still fighting the good fight right up to the end. I'm conflicted, and anyone who uses a lot of yelling & profanity (like Savage) or unnecessary ridiculing ad hominem attacks (like this author) is insulting the complexity of the decisions that voters have to make -- and they're showing a poor understanding of how effective communication works by badgering us.
10
@8 Here's the deal: the concept, one that is pretty much the most central concept to Jill Stein's campaign, that voting for an inflexible fringe ideologue for president is in any way shape or form doing anything to 'end the duopoly' is completely and utterly absurd. The only way you can believe this is if you are willfully obtuse or if you have never once ventured outside of your hermetically sealed Seattle neighborhood (and know absolutely no one who lives outside of a coastal urban enclave). This is a right-wing country. Ideas like raising taxes on the middle class to pay for universal healthcare (or anything) are completely toxic to the vast majority of the electorate. Never mind the rest of Jill Stein's fanciful proposals. A moderate third party candidate, campaigning say strictly on ending corporate influence in politics, might indeed be able to make inroads against the two-party system. A fringe candidate on the right or left can play no role other than spoiler, and that will never change. If their central message is that they are going to fix Washington dysfunction they are also a laughable fraud.
13
@12: "the devastation Obama and Clinton cause the world"?

oh, right: history began on 1/20/09.
14
This is a kind of petty and mean spirited post. Rich, I think that in 20 years you might look back on the stuff you write here and feel some embarrassment. Hopefully when you run for president, people in the future will assume that you were only 22 at the time, and they won't will give you too much shit about it. (I'm not voting for Stein, by the way)
15
You're not helping, Stranger. Covering Hillary's left flank is not your forte. Please stop helping.
16
@10 "This is a right-wing country. "

standard false conservative talking point. Progressive policy proposals have overwhelming polls majorities (~60-70%) but we need more than 50% voter turnout to get them implemented. I also won't remind you that Democratic primaries had a registered voter turnout in the low teens.
17
@16 what 'progressive policy proposals'? You are high. A middle class tax increase is the third rail of American politics, no matter what the hell it is for. A 'government takeover of healthcare' absolutely anathema to a wide swath of the electorate. If you are going to ask a poll question like 'how would you like a free lunch', not doubt majorities will be for it. Mysteriously that support evaporates into thin air with the slightest hint that some sacrifice or other might be required.
18
@14 Agree. As much as I don't support Jilly Stein's candidacy, 1996's top track was "The Macarena", with Alanis Morrisette and Hooty and Blowfish peppered through the year-end Hot 100. This is barely worse.
19
@14, only literary novelists and essayists look back on what they wrote 20 years ago. Certainly Stranger writers don't. Even those novelists/essayists are often dismayed and disgusted when they look back.
20
@8: "We don't need to burn fracked gas to replace coal."
Um, right now the only reason coal is faltering is because of the natural gas boom. Sure, we can replace coal with other energy sources...but not right now.

"Fracked gas is probably worse than coal for climate because of large fugitive gas emissions."
Holy shit, you're ignorant. Ever heard of mercury? Lead? Sulfur oxides? Nitrogen oxides? Coal burning spews massive amounts of heavy metals and acid rain-producing compounds into the air, even with electrostatic scrubbers on every smokestack. And that's just at the downstream end; coal mining absolutely devastates the local environment, and state governments often end up stuck with the bill for cleanup.
You've beat the fugitive emissions drum before, and you lied like a rug. You also demanded that I consider the fields that were the worst offenders to be representative of the industry as a whole, arbitrarily pushed highball estimates without any evidence that they were more reliable than the lowball ones, and outright ignored the loss-reduction technologies that have already massively reduced upstream methane emissions and promise to do more if widely enacted.

"We certainly don't need to fuck up climate some more to get rid of coal."
If you actually took your ideological blinkers off and looked at the evidence, you'd see that emphasizing natural gas in place of coal is one of the best things we can do RIGHT NOW to minimize harm done.

Can't honestly say I'm surprised, hearing this load of trash from a guy who thinks GMOs are unsafe and should be banned.
21
Oh hey, if we're going to take a stroll down memory lane, does anybody else remember when Dan Savage was an enthusiastic cheerleader for George W. Bush's disastrous invasion of Iraq? I sure haven't forgotten. Good times.
22
Yes... I am voting for Jill Stein.
see why...
http://www.pacificwalkabout.com/#!drjill…
23
I see that invoking single payer health care or free education among many other progressive policy proposal amounts to being high in your book. Were you drunk when you wrote that?
24
@23 Those are the biggies buddy. What else you got? I'm pretty sure whatever they are they've got great poll numbers right up to when you mention that part about say driving/flying less, paying more for electricity/gasoline, letting in more 'terrorists' or brown people who are going to take that job picking fruit that you never thought you wanted until now.

Seriously, unscrew that airlock and venture forth for a day or two. Have a chat with any aliens you happen to meet. They have funny accents but I'm pretty sure you will be able to understand them when they tell you about all the things they love about Trump and hate with startling intensity about liberal liberal Hillary.
25
Once again, it's descended into everyone being nasty and nonsensical in their own little hermetically sealed chambers -- are you happy now, "Stranger"? (Who has the jolly job of previewing this stuff?) Is it all about the clicks? (Is "clickbait" in the OED yet? It's already in my phone's autofill, even though it still has trouble letting me write "vet").
26
Ha! Rich Smitth, your still blaming Nader for the 2000 election results?! There was strong evidence of voter fraud and suppression in the state of FL, but no, go ahead and keep blaming a 3rd party.
27
@ anon1256, you should take the lesson of 2000 to heart. What did voting for Nader, or otherwise not voting for Gore, do for progressivism? It set it back.

You're going to have to accept the reality that Sanders' plan of electing progressives at the local level is the way to go, and that Clinton is the best option we have today.
28
@ 21, I remember when he changed his mind. Do you?
29
Some of us believe that there are better options out there, and we are willing to struggle over the long haul to obtain them. And not just obtain them for ourselves, but for the entire country. We believe this must happen in order to combat worldwide crises, such as say climate change (which is receiving some lip service but no real action). A recent New York Times poll analysis showed that only 9% of Americans were completely satisfied with Clinton and Trump as the two choices presented by the corporate duopoly. Change is coming -- a Marist polls from last week showed that Trump was in 4th place (behind Johnson and Stein) among voters under 35.
30
I see Jill to like Bernie have been in Jill's case (singing) about their passions for change for a long time. One of my reasons for supporting Bernie was that he had preached the same sermon for decades. about social justice and income inequality. Jill apparently has been singing that same tune since the 90s. I agree the system does not benefit all and is not going to be changed by the oligarchy that benefit from it, but Americans willing thru the power of the ballot to demand change.
#JILLNOTHILL
#NOTAFRAID2VOTE3RDPARTY
#DEMEXIT
#GREENISTHENEWBLUE
32
Whining about Jill Stein's band and hippie punching: a great way to stay interesting and relevant in the current political climate. Way to go, cute little Stranger! Soon, you'll be right up there with the NYT and WaPo, whining about the Russians and hippie punching.

On an unrelated note, can someone remind me what used to sound so scary about the looming "death of mainstream media?" Seriously, the only good news this election is, "well, at least everyone knows they're irrelevant now.

Please wait...

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