The Huffington Post referred to me in an interview as “the biggest Bernie Sanders booster on the internet.” The Washington Post called me “the unofficial scribe of Sanders’s most hardcore voters.” I’ve been blamed for the “fall” of Salon by POLITICO because I dared compare Clinton to Dick Cheney, even though Paul Wolfowitz, Robert Kagan, and other neocons prefer Clinton over Trump. My over 200 articles in The Huffington Post, The Hill, and Salon advocating Bernie Sanders have been up-voted thousands of times on Reddit, although my recent Reddit AMA was overrun by Correct the Record trolls.
While I was one of the few people predicting a Bernie Sanders presidency, there’s no way I could have predicted WikiLeaks DNC emails showing massive corruption. This bizarre election has resulted in my YouTube channel gaining over 27,000 subscribers and one of my Huffington Post pieces earning over 816,000 Facebook Likes. I’ve also been on television numerous times, from CNN to MSNBC, advocating Bernie Sanders for president.
Overall, this election has brought out the true nature of the Democratic Party. As TYT’s Jordan Chariton explains here, Sanders supporters were unfairly painted as privileged Bernie Bros. In contrast, Hillary voters were seen as pragmatists who ignored Clinton’s FBI’s criminal investigation, various cyber hacks and Clinton Foundation controversies. The playing field was always tilted towards Hillary Clinton and the DNC helped raise over $60 million for the Hillary Victory Fund. Five top DNC officials (including Debbie Wasserman Schultz) resigned because of WikiLeaks, and instead of acknowledging the fact Democrats cheated Bernie Sanders, the DNC has blamed Russia. I explain in this YouTube segment why Democrats are already blaming Putin for the next WikiLeaks revelation.
However, progressives still have an alternative to Clinton or Trump, even after Bernie’s endorsement of Clinton. Dr. Jill Stein represents everything championed by Bernie Sanders and provides even more energy to the political revolution fostered by Vermont’s Senator. Below are ten reasons to vote for Dr. Jill Stein in 2016, without fearing a possible Trump presidency, and with the understanding that structural change must begin during this election.
1. Jill Stein is against perpetual American counterinsurgency wars.
Like Bernie Sanders, Dr. Stein and Ajamu Baraka are against an overreaching foreign policy that inevitably creates new enemies and unintended blowback.
Although critics claim a vote for Stein is akin to voting for Ralph Nader in 2000, the reality is that Al Gore was never advised by Henry Kissinger or Bush’s neoconservatives. George W. Bush’s neocons have shunned Trump and The Intercept’s Rania Khalek explains that Robert Kagan and Other Neocons Are Backing Hillary Clinton:
AS HILLARY CLINTON puts together what she hopes will be a winning coalition in November, many progressives remain wary — but she has the war hawks firmly behind her.
“I would say all Republican foreign policy professionals are anti-Trump,” leading neoconservative Robert Kagan told a group gathered around him, groupie-style, at a “foreign policy professionals for Hillary” fundraiser I attended last week. “I would say that a majority of people in my circle will vote for Hillary.”
As the co-founder of the neoconservative think tank Project for the New American Century, Kagan played a leading role in pushing for America’s unilateral invasion of Iraq and insisted for years afterward that it had turned out great.
Despite the catastrophic effects of that war, Kagan insisted at last week’s fundraiser that U.S. foreign policy over the last 25 years has been “an extraordinary success.”
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s know-nothing isolationism has led many neocons to flee the Republican ticket. And some, like Kagan, are actively helping Clinton, whose hawkishness in many ways resembles their own.
When the same people who advised Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld prefer Clinton over Trump, it’s time to vote for Jill Stein.
Half to two-thirds of all the Americans killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan were the victims of IED blasts; the hallmark of today’s counterinsurgency warfare. Jill Stein will work to end this madness, while Clinton will appease her neoconservative allies.
2. Like Bernie Sanders, Jill Stein will break up Too Big to Fail banks and reinstate Glass-Steagall.
Jill Stein wants to break up Too Big to Fail banks and implement structural reforms to prevent the next global financial collapse. In contrast, both Trump and Clinton will either leave these banks alone, or implement minute and “vapid” reforms. Robert Reich explained in 2015 why Hillary Clinton’s economic plan fails to address true structural reform:
But, if you hadn’t noticed, Wall Street’s investment bankers, key traders, top executives, and hedge-fund and private-equity managers wield extraordinary power.
They’re major sources of campaign contributions to both parties…
Key members of Congress, especially those involved with enacting financial laws or overseeing financial regulators, have fat paychecks waiting for them on Wall Street when they retire…
And why even the fines imposed on the banks have been only a fraction of the banks’ potential gains.
And also why Dodd-Frank has been watered down into vapidity…
But no big bank has come up with one that passes muster. Federal investigators have found them all “unrealistic.”
That’s not surprising because if they were realistic, the banks would effectively lose their hidden “too-big-to-fail” subsidies.
Given all this, Hillary Clinton’s proposals would only invite more dilution and finagle.
The only way to contain the Street’s excesses is with reforms so big, bold, and public they can’t be watered down – busting up the biggest banks and resurrecting Glass-Steagall.
While establishment Democrats focus on Dodd-Frank to prevent the next collapse, Reich states it’s been “watered down into vapidity.”
Acknowledging Clinton’s policies won’t prevent the next collapse, and that breaking up Too Big to Fail banks is desperately needed, Reich’s support for Clinton is rooted primarily in a fear of Trump. For many Bernie supporters, this fear isn’t enough to vote for Clinton. Jill Stein is the only politician left standing who’ll address the structural issues highlighted by Reich and other progressive economists.
3. Jill Stein opposes the TPP.
Hillary Clinton picked Tim Kaine and pushed for the TPP 45 times as Secretary of State. Do you trust Hillary Clinton to continue her opposition to the TPP? Do you trust Clinton on any issue?
In contrast, Donald Trump is actually against the Trans Pacific Partnership.
4. Jill Stein isn’t beholden to donors or corporate money.
Bill and Hillary Clinton earned $153 million in Wall Street speaking fees since 2001. Eighty-five Clinton Foundation donors who met with Secretary Clinton donated $156 million dollars; the relevance is the money, not the total number of people she met as America’s top diplomat. I explain in this YouTube segment the consequences of U.S. foreign policy being influenced by Clinton Foundation donors.
From prison lobbyists to foreign donors, Hillary Clinton has taken hundreds of millions. As for the oil and gas lobby, “Greenpeace has tracked $2,650,580 in bundled and direct donations from lobbyists currently registered as lobbying for the fossil fuel industry.”
5. As president, Dr. Jill Stein will abolish all student debt.
There’s no need to even discuss Clinton or Trump on this issue, since neither will abolish all student debt. If you feel this goal is unattainable, I explain here why almost all of Trump’s policies will be blocked by Congress.
6. Jill Stein will push to legalize marijuana.
Trump and Clinton won’t advocate federal legalization of marijuana and Clinton will only take incremental steps to legalization.
7. Jill Stein has never used racism to gain votes.
From spreading a photo of Barack Obama in African attire to running a 3 a.m. ad with a racist sub-message, Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign utilized racist undertones. There’s no need to even discuss the racism used by Trump.
8. Stein and Ajamu Baraka are fueled by progressive values and principles.
Clinton and Trump are motivated by many things; progressive values and principles are undoubtedly absent or on the bottom of the list.
Hillary Clinton evolved on gay marriage in 2013. Do you know any Democrats who were against gay marriage by the end of 2012?
9. Jill Stein isn’t linked to FBI investigations or constant scandal and controversy.
There’s no need to discuss the endless scandal and controversy associated with Trump and Clinton. I explain here why three FBI field offices were blocked by the DOJ from investigating the Clinton Foundation.
10. Fearing Trump isn’t a valid reason to vote for Hillary Clinton.
If Jill Stein represents your value system and vision for America, then vote Jill Stein.
Four years of Trump will lead to eight years of a Democrat or possibly a Green Party candidate. Four years of Clinton will undoubtedly lead to eight years of Paul Ryan or Ted Cruz. Jill Stein represents honesty, integrity, and structural change. If you voted for Bernie Sanders, Dr. Stein offers you not only a continuation of his movement, but a vibrant and even stronger Green Party platform.