I saw a meme today. It was four identical pictures of a fighter jet that had just blown up a building. The only difference between the four was that the first was labelled Clinton, the second Bush, the third Obama and the fourth Trump. I had a brief thought along the lines of, “That’s just stupid,” and moved on. I had basically forgotten about it, but I was looking for something to write about today, and couldn’t think of anything better. I’d share the meme with you, but I can’t remember where I saw it and it’s not really worth looking for.
The point of the meme was that Clinton, Bush, Obama and Trump are all the same. It’s utterly ridiculous, but not an uncommon idea. There are a lot of people on the left that believe that any president we have is just a manifestation of the military industrial complex or a puppet of Wall Street. It doesn’t matter if they’re Republican or Democrat. All the politicians are the same.
These are the people on the left who couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016. And it’s the sentiment that kept Bernie from actually supporting Clinton after he lost the primary. It’s also the attitude that makes people say that the US is just as bad as Russia or China.
I’m not trying to say that Clinton or Obama were perfect. But they were worlds better than Bush or Trump. Trying to equate them is unconscionably stupid. We live in a messy world. No one is going to be perfect, but that shouldn’t stop us from supporting those who are better.
