In the past, I’ve covered Jill Stein in a roundabout way, through her celebrity endorsers like Viggo Mortensen and Susan Sarandon. Just days before the 2016 election, Sarandon made a big public Jill Stein endorsement, calling Stein her “vote of conscience.” A few weeks later, Sarandon claimed that she’s not responsible for Donald Trump’s victory, and that was where I talked about the actual data of the election: Jill Stein and her Green Party voters did make a difference, particularly in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, three states Hillary Clinton lost by slim margins, and three states where Jill Stein’s voters “outperformed” those slim margins. Add to all of that the simple fact that there are still some questions about Jill Stein’s tangled relationship to Russia, and we’ve got another conspiracy. Jill Stein would like you to know that it’s all fake news though. Seriously. Stein gave an interview to Politico which I would suggest reading in its entirety. Some highlights:
Does Stein have regrets? “I don’t think so… I consider it a great honor that the party and our prior campaign for president is suddenly being attacked outside of an election season.”
The Russia connection. Some Democrats would like to see Stein hauled in front of Congress to explain mysteries like what, exactly, she was doing at a 2015 Moscow gala thrown by a Russian state-owned broadcaster—the same RT event that got Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, in such trouble… Stein didn’t just attend the gala—dressed in a shimmering silver shawl, she sat at the same table as Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has barely disguised his glee at the political chaos that what he calls “patriotic” Russian hackers have unleashed in the United States. And she recorded a video from Moscow’s famous Red Square, in which she talked about “the need to rein in American exceptionalism” and replace “a U.S. policy based on domination”—words that sounded like they were ripped from Putin’s talking points.
She isn’t sorry: Stein isn’t sorry about any of it. She says she’d welcome the opportunity to testify before Congress and dismisses the idea that she was a spoiler or that her campaign was co-opted as a tool of Russian influence as Democrats’ “pathetic excuses” for losing the election.
She doesn’t think she took any money from Russia: “I am certainly not aware of any ties whatsoever, financial or otherwise, to the Russian government.”
How she feels about Putin: Stein has also hit back at “fake news” claiming she has praised Putin. For the record, Stein says, “Putin is an authoritarian and has a very troubled, disturbing record.” But, she adds, “It’s important to look at where Putin comes from. … It was Larry Summers and the guys from Harvard who basically privatized the public domain [in post-Soviet Russia] and created the oligarchs.”
Stein really is close to Kremlin-backed entity RT: Shared opposition to the bipartisan U.S. foreign policy consensus has led to significant intermingling between the Green Party and the network. Stein’s vice presidential shortlist included RT host Chris Hedges, a former New York Times journalist who has become popular on the left for his jeremiads against war. Her eventual running mate, Ajamu Baraka, who has slammed the “gangster states of NATO,” has long regularly appeared on the network.
Another Russian connection: Three months before she traveled to Moscow in December 2015, photos Stein posted on Facebook and her campaign website show her meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at another RT gala in New York. Stein says the encounter lasted only a minute or two, and that she used it plug the Green Party’s nuclear disarmament plan. “He was, like, very skeptical that that could happen,” she says. “That’s about as far it went.”
Stein still believes the world would have been sh-t under Clinton: “There are differences between Clinton and Trump, no doubt, but they’re not different enough to save your life, to save your job, to save the planet. We deserve more than two lethal choices.”
Stein believes the election was hacked, she just doesn’t know if Russia is behind it: “Most people are saying, ‘Oh it’s the Russians,’ but there is not a lot of evidence for that,” Stein says. She also rejects the contention from some on the left that her recount efforts made her a vehicle for Democratic Party interests, calling it “fake news.”
There’s a bunch of other stuff in there about how the Green Party encouraged the wedge between the Bernie Sanders faction and the more old-guard Clinton-supporting Democrats, how the Green Party cozied up to Julian Assange (Wikileaks was weaponized by Russia) and how Stein’s presidential run got financing from a “libertarian” who also gives a lot of money to hard-right conservative groups. Yeah, I f–king hate Jill Stein. I’m fully prepared to don a tin foil hat and figure out what the sh-t is going on with Stein’s Russia connections. The thing about it is… I kind of wonder if Stein really understood that she was being manipulated by outside forces? It seems like she still doesn’t get that. Her obliviousness is not an excuse, obviously. Also: to all of the people (including Stein) still whining about how Hillary still would have been just as bad as Trump… shut the f–k up. Just stop.
Speaking of Jill Stein and Russia, funny story… pic.twitter.com/eglAg7yr88
— TrumpsTaxes (@TrumpsTaxes) June 2, 2017
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I’m not surprised Stein has no regrets, trolls usually don’t regret anything they have done.
But what happened to all the money she got from donations to do a recount? Where did it all go?
It’s becoming pretty clear to me that no one gives an actual shit about the American people, the future of our country, or the 300+ million individuals who rely on these asshats to protect us. Protect us from adversaries, protect us from corporate interests at the expense of our lives and health, protect us from manipulation and false information. No one cares. The thing about people like Hillary and Obama is that they did care. Obama did all he could within the framework of our corporate thug owned and oppressive system, to do what was in the best interest of the American public. I have no doubt in my mind Hillary would have done the same. She spent her life in public service trying to do things like her health insurance for low income babies. But the American public was sold out a long time ago. We live in a country that is owned by the meat and dairy industry, big ag, big pharma, the healthcare industrial complex, the military industrial complex, ad infinitum… Jill Stein and Bernie had this right. Did Jill Stein know? How could she not know? Her ass was sitting at a gala in Moscow. You know who I think didn’t know and could have never known about this whole mess? Bernie. And yeah. I trust no one in government right now. I mean no one. Except a few Democrats. It’s not Tim foil hat conspiracy stuff anymore there are documents, there are studies, there are investigations, there are whistleblowers it’s just… Ugh. I don’t know what happened to our country or if it’s always been this way but if the Russian goal was to end American exceptionalism and create doubt and conflict… congratulations. Mission accomplished. Well done Jill Stein. Conflict created. Fake news established. Distrust in everything government says and does achieved. You really brought it home. And I would like to second that anyone who says Hillary couldn’t have done it better needs to shut the f-ck up immediately.
I loathe third party voters.
Me too. Just as much as I loathe trump voters. They have screwed us all.
Yep
I loathe the concept that we are sheep and must align with 1 of the 2 primary parties. Some of us can think for ourselves, don’t have s herd mentality, and believe the 2 party system is ineffective and wrong, This country is roughly divided in 3rds anyway……give or take a few percentages, Its those of us in the middle that decide elections ultimately, Loathe us all you want — but if you want your candidate to win, you better listen to us and compromise a bit.
I’m a big supporter of The Centrist Project. Recommend it as a leaning point.
No I didn’t vote for Stein.
Well, we have trump now. Not sure we are going to recover from this.
That’s nice. I’m sure all the people who are dying because their civil rights are being stomped on by the current regime care about that questionable political theory. Oh wait, they are dead. Never mind they are black and brown people, who didn’t matter at all to the third party voters.
As I mentioned down below, the system is not set up for third parties. But if the third parties want me to take them seriously, start local, don’t just show up at the Presidential level and expect me to take you seriously. Start from the bottom, not the top.
Keep up that attitude and you’ll keep getting what you get. Elections swinging to and fro wildly because of those in the middle. Both parties desperately need to listen to what those in the middle dislike the most about their ideology and look for ways to compromise to court the middle voters if they want sustaining success instead of this firmly entrenched, no holes barred, take no prisoners political warfare that swings back and forth.
We need to remember how to compromise for the whole and get something the eff accomplished.
As far as start locally — start every freakin’ where and do what you can, where you can. HAck the Senate is a huge effort with The Centrist Project, 3-4 independent senators will make a HUGE differce, To get something passed in this partisan environment will require those independents’ support, To get their support — partisan compromise will be required. So nope — it’s not just a local first issue, HAcking the Senate will make a huge impact more quickly, But start everywhere.
Seriously, you guys??? This is NOT Stein’s fault and it’s not any third party voters’ fault.
And I am so effin tired of people distilling down a perfect storm of factors that led to Clinton’s loss into one overly-simplistic and frankly #fakenews explanation.
JFC. Stein went on Intercepted and explained IN DETAIL why she was at a table with Putin and Flynn. She was in town for the UN Climate Conference and decided to attend the RT reception where she was sat at a table with people she doesn’t know. She said there were no discussions aside from casual introductions.
Like I love this blog but this is complete BS, COMPLETE BS to make it seem like Stein was there meeting with Russian officials or some sh*t.
“Stein tells Scahill that she did not know she would be seated with Putin or Flynn, and that her interaction with both men was minimal. Putin and his companions, she says, ‘stormed in’ and ‘really weren’t at the table for very long.’ She thought the other members of Putin’s party were his bodyguards—in fact, they were Putin’s spokesman, chief of staff, and deputy chief of staff. Beyond a perfunctory handshake with the Russian leader, she says, ‘Nobody met anybody. I didn’t hear any words exchanged between English speakers and Russians.'”
This is literally no different than what the Bernie Bros did to HRC: spreading false information in order to divide. So sick of this sh*t.
No one will listen to this because it’s not coming from a Dem source but this is the truth (exit polls show that yes 36% of Stein’s votes would have gone to Trump and 61% likely would have not voted at all).
https://theintercept.com/2017/06/07/intercepted-podcast-the-woman-democrats-love-to-hate/
@kitten: It’s not Stein’s fault, but frankly she makes it easy to go after her because she’s basically a troll. Do I think she was there colluding with Russians? No, but she’s also totally clueless about Russia and it was useful optics for them.
MOSCOW, DECEMBER 1, 2015 – To mark ten years since its flagship English-language news channel aired its first broadcast, RT will host an event bringing together prominent politicians, foreign policy experts, and media executives from around the world.
Among the speakers and panelists will be Ken Livingstone, mayor of London during the 2005 terrorist attacks and recently appointed co-chair for the UK’s opposition defense review; Cyril Svoboda, former- deputy prime minister, minister of foreign affairs, and interior minister of the Czech Republic, who led the negotiations on Czech accession to the EU; Jill Stein, a US politician and the Green Party’s 2012 presidential candidate; Willy Wimmer, German statesman and ex-VP of the OSCE; Patricia Villegas, president of pan-Latin American news network teleSUR; Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, former head of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, the country’s main foreign military espionage organization; noted CIA whistleblower Raymond McGovern, and RT’s own editor in chief, Margarita Simonyan.
https://www.rt.com/about-us/press-releases/conference-rt-10-years/
@Cr-I agree that at times she sounds Sarandon-ish but the difference between Susan and Jill is that Jill has an actual record of meaningful activism and advocating for important progressive issues.
I just don’t understand why she’s such a fave target around here…truly just don’t get it at all. She’s not going to fall in line with a party she doesn’t belong to nor should she have to. This is her platform: equally critical of both parties. Do I agree with her about that? No, because I don’t think both parties are equally awful–not by a longshot–but I absolutely DO agree that the Dem party has plenty of issues that need to be worked on.
ETA: @cr-Thank you for the additional info that you put up there while I was rage-typing lol.
I don’t doubt that Stein was clueless and I think she would admit as much and this is why I would never vote for her. But I also would never use her as a punching bag for HRC’s loss either.
@Kitten, while she may have history of activism, she’s still all that’s been mentioned. It’s not about her falling in line, but I find her simplistic and trollish. You like her enough to overlook what we’re not. She’s not a good candidate, and what good she could do is now overwhelmed by the rest of her personality.
She was in Russia to attend the anniversary party of RT, at the behest of RT, thinking she could do some good. That’s naive.
“You like her enough to overlook what we’re not.”
Or maybe y’all just hate her enough to not extend the basic level of objectivity and fairness that you easily grant Clinton on the daily. FTR, I’ve defended HRC and Sanders on these boards too when I thought people were being unfair and I’ve also criticized both for areas in which I thought they fell short.
Why? Because I value impartiality and detest hypocrisy and partisan bullsh*t.
But again, I’m an Independent not a Democrat.
@Kitten: I read up on her last year, actually reading what she says and tweets turned me against her.
“it’s not just a local first issue, HAcking the Senate will make a huge impact more quickly, But start everywhere.”
My problem with the US Green Party is that they don’t do much of anything except at the Presidential level, that’s stupid and does nothing for your party. I’m all for more Independents/3rd parties, but you also have to build that party organization and pool of potential nominees, and that’s local, mean starting at the city/state level, including Congressional races.
@Kitten
Given Stein’s history of talking out her derriere, I’m not inclined to believe her explanations. One does not randomly end up at Putin’s table. She can try to claim otherwise but that is a lie.
Stein is proof that her party has no interest in protecting the environment. The only green they care about is money.
“exit polls show that yes 36% of Stein’s votes would have gone to Trump and 61% likely would have not voted at all”
But isn’t part of that because Stein had been framing Hillary as equally bad as Trump, possibly worse? Stein has said that Hillary and Trump would be the same on the environment, for example. We know that is completely untrue. So I can understand why Stein supporters’ alternative would be to vote Trump or stay home, as they were fed a lot of BS from her.
@ Tiffany- The thing is that there is absolutely no way to know that or to know what the outcome would have been if Stein or Johnson were not options. I know plenty of people who are just angry about the two-party system, people who would have just not voted at all or written in a fake name if they didn’t have a third party to vote for.
Even if we assume that Clinton would had won Wisconsin and Michigan by obtaining all or most of Jill Stein’s votes (again a HUGE “if”), Trump still wins.
Dump picked up an additional blue state, Pennsylvania (as well as states that were deadlocked in the polls or where he had led slightly: North Carolina, Ohio and Florida). If Clinton had won Wisconsin and Michigan the electoral college map would be Clinton 258 and Trump 280.
As far as Stein being part of the vilification of HRC well, she certainly didn’t do Hil any favors but she was speaking to her constituents at the time, most of whom are simply NOT HRC people, they are anti-establishment politics and anti-neolib. Of course she’s going to be critical.
Yet when it came time, Stein supported the recount as well as Sanders’ decision to publicly endorse Clinton and she got DESTROYED by many progressives for it. So maybe it all evens out in the end. The truth is that the smear campaign against Clinton has been happening for over twenty years, it didn’t just start in 2016.
I can’t take this phony. If she was so concerned about serving why not run for mayor. The only thing the Greens have accomplished is give us 2 terms of Bush and now Tangerine. She appeals to people who believe they are progressive and against the mainstream but actually know very little about her. People who have known her said she isn’t some fired up activist unless there is some media attention attached to the issue. She loves being the darling of the limousine liberals but if she cared about all she claims she would be out there fighting the fight like Jerry Brown. She is the epitome of the clueless progressives that harm real progressives with their condescension and self righteousness.
She probably is more a Communist and should take her agenda of self over to their party. She could feel like anarchist she imagines herself to be. But then they are too small to get loads of attention so she probably won’t.
I am a proud liberal progressive and I believe many of the ideas liberals have would make for a better country but people like her hurt the cause and we all live with the consequences.
The Green Party should be called the arrogant feel good and liberal in my cozy privileged life that isn’t touched by government policies so I don’t care if we lose I can still afford Whole Foods and my Prius Party.
I am an Independent. I know there are going to be people suffering but where is she now? Certainly not organizing a resistance.
I’m sorry anyone who defends this opportunist is obviously not a POC, an immigrant, an environmentalist, dependent on Medicaid or the ACA, not pro choice and not pro PP, thinks the rich needs more tax cuts and was fine with another conservative judge on the Supreme Court. Jill Stein joins Nader as giving us another republican administration determined to role back our civil rights and make the country safe for CEO’s and white people afraid of change. And trump is literally the worst man in America and she sees no difference? I live in a reality based world where every voter needed to make sure that this terrible man wasn’t elected. Ugh.
I’ve been voting tactically all my adult life, but then I live in a country with a multi-party political system (with a 2 party voting system).
If I was in the US, I’d do anything to keep the GOP out.
I live in NY, reliably blue in my life time, and this is only the second time I have ever NOT voted 3rd party for president ( I voted for Gore). The democrats since Bill Clinton are too centrist for my taste and since I can cast a protest vote in NY with no effect on the election, I do it. When it comes to other elections that may be close I always vote democrat. I voted for Clinton this time because I feared exactly what happened, an electoral college win for trump, and I wanted to contribute to her overall number of votes. Until the electoral college is abolished and my vote actually counts as much as a vote from someone in a swing state I don’t feel pressured into picking from the two established parties.
Exactly. It isn’t ideal but it is what we have at the moment.
I understand their is more hate and frustration than the president can adequately receive as jsut one person, but please, TRUMP is responsible for the problem of TRUMP, not any one else who bothered to exercise their rights in a democratic system- be it as a voter or candidate or “troll”.
It is a known consequence that Stein was a default vote to Trump in the election but PLEASE, dont blame anyone but trump voters for trump and trump himself!!!
Are you serious? There’s a whole network of bullshit responsible for getting Trump elected and as much as he would disagree, he’s at the very bottom of that list.
Omg! Stop w the lesser of two evils bs. I can’t even. I just feel like punching someone in the face anymore when they’re like “I voted with my heart” or “I just couldn’t bring myself to vote” f-ck your heart! You just sold the country out, beyond what huge stakes lobbyists already have, to a bunch of corporate gangsters and morons.
Oh, Jill, don’t make me drive over to Lexington to sit you down for a good talking to. Clinton would have improved the ACA, saving lives and jobs by doing so – and you KNOW this. Trump is trying to obliterate the ACA and go beyond that to destroy Medicare and Medicaid, destroying lives and wiping out a large chunk of our economy, taking hundreds of thousands of jobs with it.
The mental gymnastics of somehow blaming Larry Summers for Russia’s oligarchs is really something.
Yes. That made me say: “what?”
She is a delusional conspiracy theorist. Why anyone would vote for her is truly beyond me.
A case could be made, and has been made, that the economic shock treatment post 1991 made things worse for Russians, not better. However as much as I can’t stand Summers I can’t blame him solely for the oligarchs.
That, and she’s not that bright, despite that MD from Harvard.
That was … dismaying at best. Plus, does she not have any understanding of Russian history? That system was always based around oligarchs and autocrats. Before, during and after the Soviets. She’s pathetic.
She has no understanding of Russian history or she wouldn’t spout that crap. It is a system of autocracy and has been for hundreds of years. Brilliant in her own mind.
“There are differences between Clinton and Trump, no doubt, but they’re not different enough to save your life, to save your job, to save the planet”
Yeah I was about to say, Clinton wouldn’t have pulled the ACA, which is healthcare ffs, without which people cannot get medical treatment and may die as a result. And wouldn’t have pulled out the Paris agreement either.
What a stupid, delusional comment to make. But then she’s an anti-vaxxer so she’s ignorant af anyway. She’s a Green and she’s effectively dismissing the damage by climate denier Trump.
Are the Russians blackmailing her as well?
And I had some respect for her last year when she was raising funds for the investigation into a recount.
Didn’t the money not get fully used and yet not returned to donors? I recall seeing something questionable about her use of the funds raised. How did someone so marginal get such visibility?
@WATP – apparently under FEC law, money raised for a recount can only be used for recount-related expenses and a campaign must reach out to donors to either refund their excess donations or ask them whether the funds can be used for another purpose. It appears she’s going to re-purpose any leftover funds into the creation of a new voter integrity project, Count My Vote.
It was pure and simple grandstanding when she pushed the recount. I would like someone to research her history of how she spends campaign funds and if she lives off any of it.
Dear God – Please send us reasonable, rational and electable candidates with real plans and love for this country in 2020 so we can undue the Trump years (hopefully months). Amen. Signed, America. PS. Please do the same for our brothers and sisters in the U.K. Double Amen.
Thanks for that, thanks for thinking of us. I was going to hijack the thread and bring up the attack on the Muslims at a prayer meeting in London where one man was killed and several other injured – by a far right racist lunatic who drove a van at them – but this is not the place and I’m honestly so distressed and ashamed by this I can’t even find the words anymore.
I can’t even get myself in the right frame of mind to comment on here, so you’re not alone, my lovely.
Yes, all of this and more. And please, lord, though I am a big fan of active aging, please let all candidates be at a maximum age 62 at the start of their campaigns.
I can’t stomach this smug woman. Go away.
This ought to make your day….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp0OEZwjmMM
The US wouldn’t be the laughing stock of the Western world had Clinton won the election. Full stop.
So the US is not the laughing stock of the entire world now with Trump at the helm?
But that’s what I said?
Oh oops, my mistake, my apologies. I saw “would” instead of “wouldn’t” earlier. Moving too fast, no enough caffeine. So sorry!
No worries, I’m not a native speaker and thought I might have said something confusing (:
I wouldn’t say we’re laughing at you. We’re laughing at him. But it’s not a ‘ha ha this is so funny’ laugh-it’s more of a nervous, hysterical giggle.
As my hubby says, “Funny strange or funny ha-ha?” Trump: definitely funny strange.
I don’t have anything to add other than this woman is a loopty doop. She is a dangerous loopty doop at that. People actually voted for her. A lot of people. And yeah, stop imagining that Hillary Clinton’s presidency would be as bad as Donald Trump’s. In other news, any of you care about the GA special election?
Yes, I am paying attention to GA.
Yes, I donated to Jon. Fingers crossed.🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
Interessting to say “I am certainly not Aware” instead of “There are no ties”. Sounds like she is already protecting herself…..
i caught that too. The wording is indeed strange.
That’s a real CYA remark.
That is not exactly a denial. It Sounds more like an “I did not have sex with that woman” sort of statement.
BYE FELICIA!
Ditto. I’m way past being sick of this heffa. She’s always trying to eek out another 15 minutes of notoriety.
I’ll be concise. FU, Jill. And you, too, Susan.
Maybe she was being manipulated by outside sources and didn’t know. What she did know is that she was going to change the narrative as quickly as possible from “Jill Stein is a spoiler nobody who helped to give us Trump” to “JIll Stein is protecting democracy by suing states to force a recount and investigate fraud.”
As if Michigan has millions sitting around to throw away on covering her name. It sounds like it was the worth the cost to her. To me, not so much. The state could have spent it on literally anything else: homeless services, street lights for Detroit, foster care, emergency heating, job investments, basically anything else. She is a gross opportunist just like Trump.
Wow! This is an angle w/Russian influence I hadn’t heard! Stein come across as dim witted enough to be a complete stooge…
And f~^k you Sarandon!!
Her Russian connections came out a long time ago. I remember having FB fights with friends of friends who were Stein supporters who didn’t want to hear about Russia, or her dog-whistling for anti-vaxxers, or that fact that she seemed unable to understand basic policy. Which isn’t good, considering this was her second run for president.
Homegirl is going down with all of them…
Canada has a number of political parties in Parliament; Green, Liberal, NDP and the conservatives. We have a approximately 15 fringe groups, some who focus on singular issues..the Rhinoceros Party, the Communist, Libertarian, Marijuana, Pirate, The Bridge Party. They generate votes..not enough to be elected but nevertheless people vote for them. We all need more Pirates..More political engagement has never hurt democracy – the NDP became the official opposition in the previous election – and the liberals were in third place and the Greens maintained the one seat – its a colliope of policial beliefs and voices but they represent us. Canadians have long celebrated the cultural mosic – our Parliament reflects us..filled with colour, filled with young, old, straight, gay…so for Americans to be so upset by the votes for Stein..I am stumped. Democratic freedom means we have the choice to run for office based on our political beliefs and like the Rinos I want to nationalize Tim Hortons…
The problem is the US is not a parliamentary system, it really isn’t geared toward third parties, especially at the national level. I’d love to have more parties, but that’s not the way our system is set up. But both the Green and Libertarian parties could do more to get their nominees elected at the local level, instead of basically going for the Presidential nominations.
I’m Canadian and appreciate our greater diversity of parties, but the Conservatives, not the NDP are currently the official Opposition at the federal level. (I wish it were the NDP, but they blew it by running way too far to the right for some strange reason. That, and people were sick of neocon Harper so they voted strategically just in case.)
If we abolished the first-past-the-post system and moved toward proportional voting things would get even more representative.
However, the US is a binary system, always has been, and people have to pick one of two viable political candidates. In the US there can be no such thing as a protest vote or a vanity vote, as we have learned many times, including with the 2000 election (Ralph Nader: made it so close that a few hanging chads had disproportionate influence) and the 2016 election (mostly Jill Stein). And given the power of the electoral vote system, American voters in swing states just don’t have the luxury of “throwing away” their vote that way. They have to pick. That’s why they talk so much about voting for the lesser of two evils.
I despise Jill Stein. She did nothing to help her country.
@Who: I can’t remember what thread it was, but shortly after the U.S. presidential election you wrote some sympathetic condolences and encouragement to your Celebitches south of the border. It cut through some of the shame and horror I was feeling and moved me to tears. I’ve been meaning to thank you ever since. Sending sincere gratitude northward!
Are we really surprised by her thoughts?
She’s like all the other white women who voted for Trump and gave him the win. All about herself. Ready to hang Hillary, but willing to give Trump a pass when he showed his ass during the election.
Sorry, Jill Stein is TRASH trying desperately to hold on to the tiny shred of relevancy she still has.
And one of the most bitter ironies is having to hear her sanctimonious supporters blather on about how they couldn’t make themselves vote for Hillary Clinton because “there is no difference between her and Trump” (the same baseless, dipshit argument Nader voters made against Gore) when the reality is that there in fact appears to be little difference between her and 45 instead. Self righteous blowhards that refuse to hear criticism and dismiss anything they don’t like as fake news. And just like the orange faithful, her supporters absolutely refuse to hear that she or they could have possibly done anything wrong.
This is why I have lost so much faith in the American electorate. We can barely be bothered to participate in the process, even when so much is on the line, and when we do, way too many of us behave like spoiled children that have decided that if we don’t get what we want, then no one else does either, no matter the cost.
People need to grow the f**k up and start understanding the importance of participating in the whole process so that one day we can actually have a balanced, viable third party candidate and not losers like Stein and Gary Johnson.
Hear, hear, grabbyhands.
Preach it everyday and all damn day long.
:::Gives Grabby a standing ovation:::
So many on this thread have it right: she’s a smug, trash conspiracy theorist who helped give us the Trump disease. May she rot along with Clan Orange.
Of course she has no regrets. It’s exactly that personality type that has no problem running in the first place. Go away Jill Stein.
Look at what Trump is doing to the EPA and environmental policy (not to mention dismantling science boards at NSF and the head of DOE denying CO2 affecting climate change)-and tell me again how Clinton would have been just as bad. That’s COMPLETE BS.
Hundreds of State positions and federal posts are empty because Trump hasn’t bothered to nominate anyone. TELL ME AGAIN HOW CLINTON WOULD HAVE DONE IT.
This woman and her supporters are insane.
She’s “trash”? Whoa boy…not touching that one.
Stein is an easy target because she’s a woman on the Left. Gary Johnson has gone on record multiple times talking about how we must ally ourselves with Russia going back to his RT interview in 2014. And that’s not to stoke the Russiaphobia because the guy had every right to talk to Russian media but Stein’s so-called “Russian connection” compared to Johnson’s is effin non-existent.
Just ridiculous that Green Party and third party voters are the current de rigueur scapegoat. Mostly, I AM SO EFFIN TIRED OF PEOPLE RELITIGATING THE ELECTION. Seriously. Don’t make me sound like a Trumpster: WE LOST GET OVER IT.
That being said, Stein is not someone who would ever get my vote simply because I don’t think she’s right for the current political climate both in personality and political experience. But I greatly admire her activism and I think she’s smart, genuine, passionate and caring and no, I have ZERO f*cks to give about being an outlier on this thread.
Very disappointed with the comments here today, honestly, but this is why I will always be an Independent. I just can’t with the hypocrisy on both sides of the aisle.
She’s an easy target not because she’s a lefty woman, but because she’s a troll, Johnson was barely better.
Stein isn’t smart politically, she doesn’t know policy, she’s a dog-whistler for anti-vaxxers and she’s a conspiracy theorist. And yes, she’s arrogant. So that’s why she’s gone after. If this is what the Greens have to offer then they need to do better.
She’s an anti-vaxxer because you say so? Sorry but I’m going to take her word for it and not the lies perpetuated by people who don’t care enough about Stein to do a 5 second Google search.
She has gone on-record saying that she is unequivocally NOT an anti-vaxxer.
“As a physician, she says she both favors vaccines and enforced them in her practice. She praises vaccines’ role in eradicating diseases, and she has not linked it to autism.”
Here’s what she told the Washington Post in July: “I think there’s no question that vaccines have been absolutely critical in ridding us of the scourge of many diseases — smallpox, polio, etc. So vaccines are an invaluable medication,” Stein said. “Like any medication, they also should be — what shall we say? — approved by a regulatory board that people can trust. And I think right now, that is the problem. That people do not trust a Food and Drug Administration, or even the CDC for that matter, where corporate influence and the pharmaceutical industry has a lot of influence.”
I don’t think that sounds like the unreasonable, hardline approach of a wacky anti-vaxxer.
And sorry but as an Independent who generally gives my vote to Dems, maybe Democrats need to do better too. SMDH.
I didn’t say she was an anti-vaxxer, I said she dog-whistled for the anti-vaxxers. That’s in her statements. She may claim she’s pro-vaccine, but she’s dog-whistled for the other side, even if she’s blissfully unaware of it:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/jill-stein-may-not-be-anti-vax-but-shes-pushing-a-dangerous-anti-vax-theory_us_579f885ce4b0693164c1fab4
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danthropology/2016/07/jill-stein-may-not-be-anti-vaccine-but-i-am-furious-about-her-position-and-comments/
http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/01/scientists-obliterate-jill-steins-anti-vaccine-stance/
So she’s responsible for other people’s fanciful interpretation of her comments?
Because you linked to opinion pieces and I’m sorry, but most of them read as a bit of a stretch to me. Ultimately I disagree with the idea that Stein is somehow responsible for people’s personal interpretations of her language. Again, seems like the binary line of thinking where if you don’t come out 100% unequivocally in favor of plentiful vaccines, that somehow you are against them.
Personally, I’m in favor of vaccines but I also think that as a society we are over-vaccinated and over-medicated as well. I also completely agree with Stein that we are fooling ourselves if we ignore the powerful role of Big Pharma in both the over-prescribing of drugs as well as the opioid addiction.
Whether you want to take my opinion at face-value or accuse me of dog whistles, that’s up to you.
In the end, I stand by my opinion that Stein is an easy target and I also stand by my assertion that THIS, along with Bernie Bros, does nothing to unite the fractured Left. If you want to hate on Stein, have at it, but I do hope eventually the left can get past the petty in-fighting and unite in a way that will ensure a win in 2020.
Kitten, what vaccines do you think are not as essential as others?
Serious question, I’m not from the US and there might be vaccinations being done in the US than over here:)
Kitten, we don’t always agree on an issue.by issue basis. There is much diversity among independents too, BUT………..
YOur last paragraph. YOur last sentence.
#Everything,
Thanks, MT..just so effin sick of it. Why I’m an Independent: at the end of the day I don’t belong with any of these people lol.
Lol @ Jill Stein being smart and passionate. At best, she’s earned her nickname as Tofu Palin. She’s made so many dipshit, uninformed remarks, it’s actually pretty sad.
She’s an easy target because she makes herself one. Sorry if that’s an inconvenient narrative for you. If third parties are going to be an actual thing, they need actually smart, passionate people in the leadership. I’m also an Independent and would love a legitimate alternative to the Corrupt Right or the Milequetoast Left, but Jill Stein and her ilk are dead ends.
No third party of any leaning will get anywhere on a fully national level until they do the grunt work of building a substantial political infrastructure starting at the local level in every state. It will take them years before they get beyond the position of splitting the vote with any rivals and actually winning the presidency. What will likely happen first is what happened in Maine: 3 candidates, 2 of whom were liberal and split the voters enabling LePage to stay in office.
She is super sketchy.
Well, there’s this and lots of other fascinating photographs of Stein with Flynn and Putin in Russia, so…:
https://twitter.com/walterSobchak45/status/877253789006389248
I find it disturbing when people refer to her as a “meaningful activist.” This women has zero real world experience beyond sitting on the town council of one of the wealthiest suburbs in Massachusetts. She was elected to the position in a year where there were seven open seats. She wasn’t even the top vote getter. She’s an entitled, out-of-touch jerk, who lives in a very protective bubble.
Wow. Look at Kitten go. Best be careful girl or the mods will censure you. Keep it up and you’ll be blocked.
That doesn’t happen, does it? 🙄 🙄
Gee shocking.
Kitten is an anti vaxxer , just a more eloquent one. Just look at her comments in the Robert DeNiro anti vaxx threads. She wants anti science people like him to be given a chance to spread their stupidity in the so called civilized world. Maybe you need to come out of your 1st world country and visit a S.Asian country to see the implications of not having children vaccinated at the right time. Of course she is going to post a bunch of BS links to justify her misguided beliefs. Please go ahead.
I’m not sure what her motivation is for saying there is no evidence that Putin orchestrated the U.S. election hacking. We now have Comey and others on record in hearings testifying that Russia is indeed responsible. It isn’t in question.
I certainly disagree with her that a Clinton administration would have been “lethal.” I get it that U.S. political parties are in thrall to corporate interests. That’s true, and it’s a huge problem our country must address. Stein always sounds like a professor in a cool grad school class–of which I have attended many, and so I find her thoughts interesting. Of course we do need to deconstruct our assumptions and be creative thinkers to improve society. But as a lesbian who now has to seriously consider whether or not to move my family to a safer area of the country to avoid political violence, the Tr*mp administration’s actual, real-life lethal nature isn’t a theoretical issue for me at all.