America, We Need to Talk About Math

Listen, if you're friends with me (and if you're not my friend, why are you reading this, you creep?) you're probably not going to like this. So, you know, apologies in advance. Actually, not really. I like you, but you probably need a bit of a shake up, right now. We all do, if this election season is any indication.

Here's the truth, Bernie Sanders was never going to win the nomination, the math was pretty clear from the beginning, and the reason why had nothing to do with the rigged election system, or unequal air time, or reverse sexism, or whatever you're blaming it on. It's just because more people voted for Hillary Clinton.

No, they really did. In "popular vote" primary states, Clinton tended to sweep, and it was only in states that have that bizarre caucus system, that Sanders did relatively well. We can agree that the whole clusterfuck is out of order and was originally designed to prevent a fully democratic process from prevailing, but that's really beside the point. The point is that, in as close to a democratic process as we have, Clinton won.

And here's why it's important that you look that fact in the face and accept it for what it is: democracy isn't going to always make you happy.

If you hate Clinton (and let me tell you, I'm not a huge fan), you might be tempted to tell all those people who voted for her that they screwed up, and that they need to do what you think is better.

But that's not democracy. Sorry.

Democracy is what everyone else wants, and it was so scary to the founders of this nation, that they carefully crafted a fail safe into the system to prevent weirdness from happening. That's why we have the electoral college with a delegate system, and a separate election for the executive branch. Other countries just vote for individual seats and the majority party chooses a leader. (Can you imagine Paul Ryan as president? That's what THAT looks like.)

So yeah, maybe Bernie Sanders would make a better candidate, or president, or whatever, but that's not how this works.

If you want democracy, you have to be ok with the fact, that sometimes you won't like the results.

So, hold your nose and vote for her, because your alternative is not acceptable. 

Kai thanx bai.

PS You might also be tempted to vote for a third party candidate, and that's probably fine. You're probably a resident of a blue state, and Clinton will probably win your state anyway. But if you live in a swing state, please don't. I'm really too scared not to beg about this. Basic arithmetic says that any non-partisan vote will count as a vote for the majority candidate. As much as we might not like it, this race is far too close for comfort, and it's better to err on the side of the lesser evil than principled abstention. In fact, if you can't stomach voting for Clinton, please don't vote at all. It really is that important this time. We cannot have that man in the Oval Office. Please