FEMSHEP Guest Series: Voice of the Electorate, Part One

In the week since the Presidential election, tensions and division have been high. As FEMSHEP aims to cultivate peace and understanding in any way possible, this series will feature first-person narratives written by guest writers explaining why they voted how they voted.

Dear readers, please read these unedited* stories from fellow Americans. Please understand the humanity behind the monumental decision we all were presented with on Election Day. Please allow these stories to open a window to peaceful, respectful discussions between you and your friends and neighbors.

*Text is completely the author's words; FEMSHEP may have edited formatting and links ONLY. Sources and data are original to the author of each piece and will be verified, if needed, in subsequent posts.

Voice of the Electorate: Part One, a Gary Johnson voter
author has asked to remain anonymous

"I voted for Johnson. Here’s why.

A) Clinton is rabidly anti-2A*. She has tons of other political baggage, but frankly I never researched it at all because the anti-2A thing is a deal breaker by itself.
(*FEMSHEP here: 2A here refers to "Second Amendment" for those not versed in abbreviations)

B) Trump is a reprehensible human. I could not in good conscience vote for him.

C) Colorado has become a blue state. I predicted correctly that its electoral votes would go to Clinton, so my vote would be effectively irrelevant anyways. May as well vote for Johnson so that maybe his party will start getting federal funding.

If the above is taken at face value, many people would call me an idiot, single-issue voter redneck who compensates for a small dick with guns. This is not the case. (My inability to satisfy women has nothing to do with dick size and everything to do with my personality, so ha! Wait, I just burned myself.) I’m all for gay marriage, abortion, equal rights, and all that sort of thing. I also believe very strongly in responsible gun ownership. And I’m tired of being associated with fools and racists because of it. I’m tired of being compared to serial killers and mass murderers in a condescending, scornful way.

This is where I can understand (though not condone) the motivations of many Trump voters and their anger at the establishment and media. Being scornful of people and treating them with contempt will never sway them to your side, regardless of whatever facts you may have. The media has been, by their own admission, guilty of this.

To say this is all because of some racist undercurrent in the US is more of the same black and white, tribalistic smugness. Clinton, being an unpalatable establishment candidate, failed to draw votes the way that Obama did. Raw numbers here.

One last article.

Is it a shitty situation we’ve found ourselves in? Yes. Did I see it coming? Hell no. My previous realistic best case scenario was that more obstructionism in congress would keep Clinton from passing any ridiculous gun laws.

So what do we do now? Hyperbolic hand-wringing and rioting aren’t going to change the facts. We need to step back, take emotion out of it, and assess what we can do from here in a practical and pragmatic sense. If that means waiting it out and biding our time for the next election, then we should do that and stop getting unnecessarily upset about things.

If the new regime turns out to be a tyrannical despotism, well, that’s what the Second Amendment is for. And people said I was paranoid, that a maniac could never be elected in the US, only in third world countries. Do I want it to come to that? Hell no. Having to shoot other humans, seeing carnage and families crying is horrible. But as history shows, there are worse things.

Getting upset doesn’t change anything. Getting upset because your family/friends aren’t as upset doesn’t change things. Only action does. Face the facts, analyze, break them down, and act. Act in a meaningful way."