Petition of over 450 writers on Trump

[herbertwest]

Including King :

AN OPEN LETTER TO OUR FELLOW AMERICANS

Because, as writers, we are particularly aware of the many ways that language can be abused in the name of power;

Because we believe that any democracy worthy of the name rests on pluralism, welcomes principled disagreement, and achieves consensus through reasoned debate;

Because American history, despite periods of nativism and bigotry, has from the first been a grand experiment in bringing people of different backgrounds together, not pitting them against one another;

Because the history of dictatorship is the history of manipulation and division, demagoguery and lies;

Because the search for justice is predicated on a respect for the truth;

Because we believe that knowledge, experience, flexibility, and historical awareness are indispensable in a leader;

Because neither wealth nor celebrity qualifies anyone to speak for the United States, to lead its military, to maintain its alliances, or to represent its people;

Because the rise of a political candidate who deliberately appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society, who encourages aggression among his followers, shouts down opponents, intimidates dissenters, and denigrates women and minorities, demands, from each of us, an immediate and forceful response;

For all these reasons, we, the undersigned, as a matter of conscience, oppose, unequivocally, the candidacy of Donald J. Trump for the Presidency of the United States.

>>> http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/WritersOnTrump

[mattgreenbean]

Um, shouldn't this be addressed to all politicians. haha

[Kingfan24]

Because the rise of a political candidate who deliberately appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society, who encourages aggression among his followers, shouts down opponents, intimidates dissenters, and denigrates women and minorities, demands, from each of us, an immediate and forceful response

I love this for a couple reasons.

1) denigrates women - oh really? Is that why men are paid nearly 38% more than women while working for the Clinton foundation?

2) badest and most violent of society - huh? Didn't know I was part of that. I'm a peace loving American who likes trumps ideas of putting America first. Whether or not he will deliver On his promises is another story.

3)can someone please explain how the democrats help minorities? The minorities are becoming acutely aware that voting democrat doesn't really get you much.

King should chill on the politics for awhile.

[St. Troy]

+1.

Yes, we are now told that "America first" is synonymous with "hey dumb rednecks, let's go round up all the non-whites" despite it always having been the implied job description for the office of the presidency.

Trump is far from perfect (no one is perfect, but he's further away than most ) and was never my first choice, but why distort his message? Politics, that's why...whether listening to a Trump speech or reading this petition, remember to think for yourself.

While you can vote for or against Trump and still be intelligent and sane (this has nothing to do with taking sides; I agree with some, and disagree with some, of most candidates' positions), I have to say that these writers (as well as many of Trump's critics) have embraced the fictitious narrative of hostility supposedly underlying his goals, and charges like "encouraging aggression" are best leveled at his opponents at public events (yes, Trump said something dumb once, but his opponents have been bringing violence and intimidation on a regular basis). If someone had stolen an Obama lawn sign 8 years ago (or 4), it would have been considered a hate crime, but with Trump it's practically considered a heroic act of protected speech. Oppose the guy, but let's be fair. [Note: of course I'm not blaming these writers - or King - for those specific acts; I'm addressing the overall anti-Trump hysteria.]

Vote your conscience, but enough about Trump = antichrist etc. He's just another candidate that may or may not do a terrible job. If he gets in, we can kick him out in a few years. Unless there's a real life Johnny Smith out there that knows he's going to blow the whole thing up, let's be a bit smarter about this than this petition wants us to be.

[Kingfan24]

St. Troy gets it.

[firemonkey66]

Because the rise of a political candidate who deliberately appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society, who encourages aggression among his followers, shouts down opponents, intimidates dissenters, and denigrates women and minorities, demands, from each of us, an immediate and forceful response

I love this for a couple reasons.

1) denigrates women - oh really? Is that why men are paid nearly 38% more than women while working for the Clinton foundation?

2) badest and most violent of society - huh? Didn't know I was part of that. I'm a peace loving American who likes trumps ideas of putting America first. Whether or not he will deliver On his promises is another story.

3)can someone please explain how the democrats help minorities? The minorities are becoming acutely aware that voting democrat doesn't really get you much.

King should chill on the politics for awhile.

The petition just said they oppose Trump; it didn't say anything about them supporting a democratic candidate or the Democratic Party in general.

[Kingfan24]

So are you trying to tell me that King doesn't support liberal democratic politics?


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[firemonkey66]

So are you trying to tell me that King doesn't support liberal democratic politics?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

No, I'm saying that the petition only speaks to not supporting Trump for President.

[Tommy]

Both Candidates are nightmares. This is an extreme, reckless idea, just a thought, but I really wish that NO American whatsoever vote in this election. Zero turnout for each candidate. THAT would send a definite message. This will never happen of course so we are left to vote for which one we think is the lesser evil. Some bullshit...

[Joe315]

These kind of petitions are, imho, just asinine. There are petitions to get Clinton and Sanders to drop out too. It is just ridiculous.

The majority of the republican party have voted to make Trump their candidate and the majority rules. And I imagine most of the signers are supporters of the democratic party which makes this petition even more ridiculous and self serving, seeing as they won't be voting for a republican/conservative anyway.

[mtdman]

The petition is irrelevant. The fact that they are authors and have political opinions is also irrelevant. It holds no more importance than if 399 random people and I got together and signed a petition. The fact that they think this somehow matters to anyone, or that it even should matter what they think about politics, shows how disillusion they are. I don't care about their political opinions. Their votes count exactly the same as everyone else's. That's the great thing about democracy.

How obnoxious.

[Joe315]

Both Candidates are nightmares. This is an extreme, reckless idea, just a thought, but I really wish that NO American whatsoever vote in this election. Zero turnout for each candidate. THAT would send a definite message. This will never happen of course so we are left to vote for which one we think is the lesser evil. Some bullshit...

That would be something. This is only the third presidential election I will be able to vote on and I am so sick of all the campaigning, ads, and wall to wall media coverage, I may just walk into the voting booth and blindly stab at the machine until it accepts my votes. I don't think I could do worse then actually picking one of the candidates.

[Tommy]

Both Candidates are nightmares. This is an extreme, reckless idea, just a thought, but I really wish that NO American whatsoever vote in this election. Zero turnout for each candidate. THAT would send a definite message. This will never happen of course so we are left to vote for which one we think is the lesser evil. Some bullshit...

That would be something. This is only the third presidential election I will be able to vote on and I am so sick of all the campaigning, ads, and wall to wall media coverage, I may just walk into the voting booth and blindly stab at the machine until it accepts my votes. I don't think I could do worse then actually picking one of the candidates.

It's been quite the shitshow, that's for sure...maybe they should just flip a coin and be done with it.