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Timothy thank you for taking the time to share. I greatly appreciate it. So many valid points here. Thank you for seeing the power of the vote along with intersectionality and how dire of a state we are in. Keep being amazing!

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Agreed. The stakes are incredibly high. I agree a lot needs to change but we need more time. Harris will give us more time. And thank you for sharing your identity as we have shared intersectionality with hidden/non apparent/invisible disability 🤗 With that said instead of using "blind" replace with word with unaware or unseen. Keep being amazing!

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I appreciate your message. It touches on me a bit, because in 2016, I voted for Bernie Sanders as a write-in on my ballot. I was frustrated with the Democratic Party, and their gatekeeping of the political process and issues that fester year after year. I reasoned as the Stein voter did, that since I lived in California, which was overwhelmingly going to support Clinton, I could register my dissatisfaction on my ballot. I similarly did not support Scott Peters for Congress (whom I still do not support).

I have reflected on that vote many times since. I fully expected Clinton to win, as most of us did. I lobbied those I knew who were in swing states to support Clinton (a small smattering of relatives and acquaintances). I felt trapped by the system, to do anything more than a protest vote, and engage with groups post election to pressure Clinton to broaden her vision.

Trump showed me things about this country that are nightmarish, things I presumed to be more relic than modern threat. Harris is many things Clinton was not. A much easier, and, frankly, enthusiastic embrace for me. Stein has toxified the Green Party, and is more a personality cult servicing her vanity at this point.

The phrase “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me,” echoes loudly in my mind when I look back. It was naive to think that this country had not retreated so far from ideals it never fully reached. Or that the arc of justice couldn’t snap back. My choice back then could probably be forgiven, but today? Knowing the threat Trump is? I see Palestinians living here, and I acknowledge their right to protest and vote however they do. I don’t have dead family in Gaza that died from American bombs. I can’t imagine the trauma of their vote. I only pray they can put that aside for the rest of us. And for them.

We can’t continue having our country dancing on a knife’s edge every election. This is no way to run a democracy, other than into the ground. But there is no sane choice other than Harris this time.

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I'm right there with you! I'm mixed (Swedish and Ojibwe) and have hidden disabilities. Not only do I think Jill Stein and her running mate are woefully unqualified and will not be able to get a damn thing done, but I also don't like their attitudes; using shame, insults, and judgment to earn votes in a race you know you have no shot in Hell to win and knowing that by running you're all but ensuring Trump gets into the White House disgusts me. That aside, it's upsetting when people are so unbelievably blind to their privilege that they just waste it and use it selfishly. While people say it's not "okay" to shame people for how they vote, I believe voting third party in this election is selfish and angering when the stakes are this high for so many. (Side note: if someone thinks Trump or Stein will be able to do more for the Palestinians and others suffering around the world, they are sorely mistaken.) I hope you are healing and feeling well! ♥️

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