the below was initially posted on my political blog Twist The Knife.
Dear Dr. Jill Stein: Welcome To The Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
Dear Dr. Jill Stein,
I am an admirer of yours who had the pleasure of voting for you in 2012 and will likely do so again in 2016. I agree with you on more things than I do not, and we are especially aligned on the issue that is most important to me: America’s unjust use of military force around the world for the purpose of making money and securing power for the global corporate elite.
With that said, I’d like to welcome you to the vast right-wing conspiracy that I have found myself involved in during the 2016 Democratic Primary election. You see, I never realized I was right-wing, let alone a right-wing disinformation operative until I dove in to Democratic Party politics and became an active supporter of Bernie Sanders. Prior to this year I was always something of an Independent who leaned Green, having voted for Nader in 2000 when I was first eligible and then volunteering for his campaign in 2004. And while in 2004 I was routinely insulted and once even spit on by liberals angry at me for supporting Ralph Nader, back then they at least had the sense to not accuse me of being a right-wing operative designed to steal votes from John Kerry.
Oh, how the times have changed. In 2008 I was merely sexist for preferring Obama over Clinton (hold your criticisms, I realized my mistake right away). Perhaps because Obama was an acceptable establishment Democrat they weren’t yet primed for the ‘right-wing conspiracy’ model of obfuscating legitimate attacks on Clinton from the left. Perhaps they needed that Obama Presidency to gear everyone up for the idea that any and all criticisms of Hillary Clinton are inherently ‘right-wing,’ as if the Clintons are the walking embodiment of leftist/liberal/progressive philosophy and thus can not and will not be challenged from within the general circle of what we call ‘left’ thought. No, attacks on Hillary are from the right and that’s that. Her believers can not even bring their little minds to think otherwise.
So, welcome Jill. Welcome to the absurdity of mainstream liberal thinking in 2016, where being anti-war and standing in opposition to neoliberal trade deals that destroy working people are ‘right-wing’ positions for some weird reason, and support for a warmongering, corrupt, lying criminal stands at the pinnacle of progressive thought.
Sincerely,
Rob Cotton