RE: WONDER WOMAN

RE: “It’s Time to Cheer Up About Hillary Clinton” [Feature, Aug 3], Megan Burbank’s valiant effort to get people excited about voting for Clinton. “If you’re not excited to vote for Hillary Clinton,” Burbank wrote, “go ahead and vote the fuck against Donald Trump. A Trump-Clinton contest presents two distinct results: If Hillary is elected, the next Supreme Court appointee isn’t likely to be a frothy-mouthed puritan who hopes to punish women, queer folk, and people of color for existing. A Clinton presidency also means that, at the very least, your nieces will grow up seeing someone who looks like them in the highest elected office in the land.”

Huzzah to Megan Burbank for an outstanding piece. It was incisive, humorous, pragmatic, tuned to history, respectful and congratulatory toward Bernie Sanders, personal, and a damn fine piece of writing. Should have been in the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, or the New York Times, but they would’ve cut the “Fuck It. Vote with Your Vagina” part. Someone buy Megan a Wonder Woman outfit and set up the drinks!!!

John Milliken

Woot! I’m on board. I hung out with a bunch of 70- and 80-year-old women on Friday, and hearing them talk about their decades of political activism, enthusiasm for HRC, and getting to meet her throughout her years of doing hard, thankless political work got me all excited. She’s shown up, year after year, and helped moved the ball forward. I’m far too lazy and scared to do that work. So she’s got my vote. Happily.

catbot

Now that’s what I call a well-balanced piece. While you erred on the side of leniency for her deadly foreign policies, you argued very effectively that she is by far the lesser of two evils, and we’d all rather see “business as usual” (as unacceptably horrible as that is) than a neo-fascist megalomaniac who makes Hitler look like he had a capable hair stylist. I am a boy, but I will indeed be voting with my vagina this November.

Aurelius141

Bernie folks would be helpful if, instead of hiding in Republican states, they get the Republicans out of their legislatures. Most of the offensive laws voted in since George Bush have been in red states where it looks like many stay away to complain instead of getting the job done, piece by piece. Progressives need to stand up, month by month, like Hillary has done for us.

Jacob Hunter

No need to get excited. Just vote for her to stop the psychopath.

Demondog

Megan Burbank has clearly thought about this a lot, but she forgot one crucial thing: the electoral college! Ms. Burbank seems to think that a small number of voters may decide between Clinton and Trump. Under our anachronistic system, only electoral votes really matter. If the majority of Oregon voters support Clinton (which will almost certainly be the case), all seven of our electoral votes will go to her. So, your vote matters in a nonpartisan Portland mayoral primary—but nationally, unless you’re registered in a swing state with a large number of electoral votes? Not really. Feel free to vote for Jill Stein, Gary Johnson, or Vermin Supreme.

Isaac Hudson

Damn it. I am not too happy at the moment with the Portland Mercury.

My work keeps me fully cognizant of current political and social welfare issues, so I rather look forward to my weekly brain dump—which has, up to now, been faithfully facilitated by the Mercury! However, Megan Burbank’s article was not only insightful and well presented, it was—damn it again!—important. Are you recruiting from Rolling Stone or the New Yorker now? Why did you have to do that?

Sure, Trump is threatening our very existence with his campaign rhetoric. And the Bernie Bros are monkey wrenching a prospective Democratic Party slaughter with their temper tantrums. But I need my mental downtime! Get with the program over there, Mercury!

I suppose I’ll just not read past Ann Romano’s column until after the election is over.

Ricardo Elsewhere

Ricardo, we apologize for the inconvenience we’ve caused you—and to make up for it, we’re giving you the Mercury’s letter of the week, along with two tickets to the Laurelhurst Theater, where you can go forget about everything (even the Mercury!) for a couple of hours. Now let’s all join Ricardo and see what Ann Romano’s up to this week.


Letters and comments may be edited for space. Email us at lovenotes@portlandmercury.com.