re: #103 Kragar

I don’t want any politician who says “I’m the next ______”.

I want a guy who says “I want to inspire you to be like me.”

I think that’s the reason I’m leery of Hillary. I don’t want the next Bill Clinton (or Clinton Admin generally).

I want the next inspirational candidate who has a platform that puts all Americans first; not merely fixating on slash taxes for the 1% and burning down the safety net for all those who aren’t making ends meet or stigmatizing those who rely on minimum wage or SNAP with onerous requirements while corporations get handouts without any oversight at all.

I want a candidate who understands that the tax code is a mess, but the fix isn’t a flat tax.

I want a candidate who understands that foreign policy isn’t simply saying America F’Yeah or that isolationism is a panacea, or that bomb bomb bomb is a cure either.

I want a candidate who understands that the health care system in the US provides some excellent care, but the cost structure is unsustainable, and it will bankrupt anyone who suffers from major maladies. As much as GOPers claim to hate Medicare/Medicaid, the fact is that their constituents love it because it controls and contains costs better than individual insurance companies. That too doesn’t mean that those programs can’t be adjusted and streamlined to make them more efficient, but you can’t cut funding to audits if you want to stop bad actors either (same with the IRS).

I want a candidate who understands that global warming is real and it is affecting climate across the US; I want a candidate who understands that water shortages in the southwest are real and require more than piecemeal state action. It means addressing potable water access nationally (and internationally as droughts are likely to increase conflicts in coming years).

I want a candidate who understands that science and religion can coexist, but that religion has no place in a science classroom. Evolution is real, testable and studied extensively; creationism is a belief system.

I want a candidate who understands what the 1A really means and limits the government’s imposition of religious beliefs on others - and that corporations aren’t people.

I want a candidate who understands that the 2A allows for reasonable restrictions and that making sure that purchasers/sellers are legitimate is reasonable. It means addressing mental health concerns.

I want a candidate who understands that officer-involved shootings and excessive force incidents are an epidemic (and have been for a long time). Reforming law enforcement will take time, particularly since the training and tactics are geared towards shooting first and escaping culpability for the consequences later.

And it is for that reason that I’m still not running for the WH. I can’t raise $1 billion to run, but more to the point, there’s a significant percentage of Americans who think that we should continue shifting resources to the 1%, that the poor and middle class should give up their safety net, that science is optional, and that cops should be able to be Judge Dredds, and that everyone should have maximum firepower and the ability to use it with a hair trigger, and that people should be able to impose their religious beliefs on others.