This is just a personal reflection. I’m not a writer and I feel like a lot of people on Kos are real writers. If this is a site that requires people’s entries to be more of a journalistic contribution instead of your own personal thoughts, let me know. I haven’t read any diaries aside from the one’s that look like news articles. They seem smart, well researched, like a lot of time went into it. I don’t feel like a very creative person. I’m passionate about a lot of things, but I kind of just want to say what’s on my mind, I guess.
My dad told me about Kos when I was towards the end of high school and everyone was on the Bernie train. It was an exciting time. He kept encouraging me to write something on here, but I am unfortunately a very heavy critique of myself and take criticism to heart. I know I shouldn’t but I can’t help it. I recently wrote a diary for the first time in four years and it just didn’t come across the way I wanted it to. I follow a lot of left leaning people online (Twitter mostly) who criticize Biden, as if to suggest he and Trump are one in the same or that nothing would be different if Biden were elected. I consider myself a democrat, a liberal, progressive, and anything similar, on essentially all issues but I need to be more clear on my stance and condemn this rhetoric because I didn’t the first time. I phrased the Diary as more of a question and as a result had some people who were questioning my sincerity. So to be clear, I don’t agree with far left individuals who believe that the same amount of harm would result from a Biden presidency. I do not believe there is a greater threat to this country or the future of it than Donald Trump. This is just me thinking “out loud” so whatever. Like it or don’t. We won’t agree on everything I’m sure.
I wrote a diary years ago about how I felt Hilary Clinton was the only candidate with enough of a resume and name recognition to beat Trump and at the time I received a lot of hateful backlash from it. Mostly from people who I guess were die-hard Bernie supporters so I guess my assumption was there might still be some “far left” users on here when I wrote my most recent diary. I thought maybe some people who use Kos might be anti-Biden as well but I’m relieved to know that this isn’t the case, at least not as far as I could tell from the comments on my last diary. I don’t know who it was but someone commented saying “Only Democrats here!” and I don’t know how true that is but I’m sorry to those who thought I was saying something I wasn’t. Because I will be unapologetically voting for Joe Biden in November.
If anyone who slammed me for the pro-Hilary post I made back in 2016 actually knew me they would know I voted for Bernie Sanders back then and I still love Bernie. I believed, however, that in a more practical sense that if Hilary Clinton was the nominee for the Dems, it wasn’t even a contest that she should be the one to, not simply run against, but presumably WIN the presidency against Donald Trump. I was completely unashamed to vote for her and was both appalled and confused by those who made me feel otherwise. In my head I thought this whole election was obvious. I thought it was obvious how terrible DT was, how incompetent, stupid, ignorant, racist, sexist, but you know what? It’s sad and scary but that’s Amerika. Amerika in 2020 is STILL all of these things. Donald Trump is ACTUALLY a really good representation of middle Amerikan values. The only thing that gives me hope for the future is knowing that the people did not actually vote for Trump. The PEOPLE voted for Hilary Clinton.
I got a lot wrong in 2016. I could see how heavily disliked Hilary Clinton was, I was surrounded by it, but I didn’t believe if she had done harm to anyone, that it could come close to the harm Donald Trump would create. The right slams her for the same crap they always do (Benghazi, emails, having a vagina, etc.) but even democrats I knew hated her. Most people really couldn’t even give me a reason. This isn’t to say Hilary Clinton is perfect but a lot of people who I’ve debated with in the past about it could NOT give me a reason why they hate her so much. They really had no clue why they hated her so deeply. The bottom line is she was never worse than Trump and the distain for her was rooted in sexism. They are NOT equal, shit would NOT be the same, and I’m sick of hearing it.
It’s been four years and we are about to have another election. We have seen what we get with a Trump presidency and anyone can think whatever they want, but I believe the bottom line needs to be that this monster needs to get the hell out of office immediately. Permanent damage has been done that will take years and a democratic congress to fix. I believe lives will be saved by electing Joe Biden. I resent anyone who wants to claim that absolutely nothing is going to change by removing Trump from office. And I’m not sitting here trying to tell anyone who to vote for either. That’s something else I see people online getting annoyed about is they thing people like myself are like.. telling them they HAVE to vote for Biden. No, obviously do whatever you want. But, like... I’m also not pretending that voting third party, or writing someone in, or voting for Trump as a fuck you to the DNC for choosing Biden is something I understand or support. And I would never encourage someone to just not vote. Ever. I believe a vote for third party candidates are a vote for Trump. There are many people who don’t agree with that so it is what it is at this point. I know people who have said they’re donating their vote? I don’t know much about stuff like that.
I really don’t know if Kos is for me or if my voice fits in amongst this community. I don’t see why people can’t be a little kinder but the responses I received on my since-deleted diary were very quick to dismiss me as insincere. I’m not sure what I would need to do via internet to prove my sincerity on the things I take the time to write about. My bottom line is really I just think it’s insane to suggest that because Biden is a career politician, it means he’s exactly the same person as Trump. And anyone who wants to come at me with anything Biden did as a senator or as VP, I’m well aware that Biden has made mistakes. Mistakes with long lasting consequences. But Trump is still worse no matter how anyone wants to twist the conversation. Moreover, to witness Kamala Harris’s nomination for Vice President is a truly historic moment for women of color and the nation as a whole. I’m not going to diminish the moment by making the conversation about her time as a prosecutor like I’ve seen some people do. She has things in her past she will have to address in order to try and appease some people but the truth is you just aren’t going to make everyone happy. I just hope this is the ticket that gets Trump out in November. There shouldn’t be any greater priority to anyone who gives a shit about this country than making sure Trump does not get a second term. He needs to leave immediately. Yesterday. We have watched the clock turn back more than 50 years in the past four and I don’t know about you... but I’m exhausted.
