The principled vote

This might be helpful for some of your more "principled" Republicans. If this doesn't at least get them to think a bit more about their decision then you just have to accept there is a part of them that is intrigued by what a new "Trump America" will be.

Let's clarify a few things. If you're writing in Ronald Reagan's ghost, you've obviously done the calculation that either way, you and the people you love will be fine. That's the only conceivable way any logical person can equate the "evil of Kamala Harris" with Donald Trump.

What people are asking you to do by making an actual decision is to think about the rest of us for one minute, because not everyone will be just fine. If you've spent even a small amount of time studying what this movement wants to do, a few things are obvious.

So let's talk through the scenarios:

1. Transgender people just will not be safe. I'm not even sure if VP Harris wins will they be safe, but at least there's a possibility. If I had a transgender child, I would leave the country - no doubt in my mind.

2. Political enemies and journalists - gone. But that may not move you because who knows, they probably deserve it.

Now here's where it gets interesting - who exactly is the "enemy within"?

This is where Republicans do what they do, hiding behind plausible deniability. How are we to know? It's utterly impossible to predict.

If I can just be honest for one minute, please cut the bulls**t.

Here's who is next:

3. Sexual and gender minorities

4. Outspoken, non-married women

5. And what I like to call the "Obama class" - Black upper middle class professionals. We have got to go, because we give truth to the obvious lie underlying white supremacy. This is especially true of Black women whose work disproportionately focuses on advancing social justice. This has been a truth throughout American history: pockets of Black professionals rise and acquire wealth, and then are systematically wiped out.

Now, I want to clarify this doesn't mean (but it could) we will all be killed.

This is the critical thing that Republicans have refused to accept - when you have the power of the state, you don't need violence. So what will this look like?

Professional licenses taking a long time to get renewed, new tax levies, spurious fines, creative lawsuits (I am particularly worried about that in my line of work - but I digress), some mild police intimidation, and before you know it, these people cease to be obstacles.

We don't have familial wealth that can effectively fight this. All we really have is society's sense of fairness because despite having orders of magnitude of advantage, there are some white Americans that sincerely believe that minorities have more advantage. (If you want to argue this point, I am happy to schedule a seminar where I will give you so much data supporting this point - otherwise let's not waste time arguing about this on a message board, and for the sake of this discussion just accept this as true).

Now let some time pass, massage a bit of history, and in 20 years they have the society they want. The best part is that no one questions it because it fits perfectly within the construction of what is the natural order.

Now to bring it back to the original ask - what people are asking is that in your moral calculus, please take this into account. If you still then decide that Kamala Harris is "just as bad" as Donald Trump, do it with the full understanding of what you implicitly are responsible for.

Now on a brighter note - listen to the album "What's Going On" on repeat - it does indeed make you feel better.