I used to be in love with Hillary Clinton.

Well not “in love”, but oh how I used to love her.

I used to talk trash about how amazing she was when I spoke to Republicans.

I used to say

“If you hate Obama, wait until you get a load of Hillary!!”

I had a Hillary Clinton bumper sticker on my car.

I idolized her.

…

Let me be completely honest.

I voted for Obama in 2008.

But it was an extremely hard choice.

What did I know about her back then?

Well it’s kind of embarrassing.

All I really knew was that she was a woman and that she was a Democrat.

And she was (and still is) an excellent speaker.

And honestly that was enough for me at the time.

And up until a year ago I felt the same way.

So what happened?

…

I have always been a politically active person.

I fought for immigration reform, went to Planned Parenthood rallies…

I was recruited to be the head of my college’s feminist group (they said I wasn’t like other guys, whatever that means) and I was a member of The Sierra Club and Amnesty International.

I protested both Persian Gulf wars (alone both times).

I’m a vegetarian.

I go to Pride every year.

I’m kind of a huge bleeding heart liberal.

My Democrat friends make fun of me.

I don’t have very many Republican friends.

I voted for Bill Clinton twice, Obama twice and even voted for John Kerry (honestly I wasn’t hugely excited about Kerry, but would have voted for a ferret over Dubya)

I have been a loyal Democrat my entire life and yet I can’t bring myself to vote for Hillary Clinton.

…

Why?

Here’s a short list.

And before I begin, I want to say that this has nothing to do with Bernie Sanders.

Let’s assume for a minute that Bernie Sanders loses the nomination and I have to choose between Trump/Cruz/Rubio/Kasich or Clinton.

Let’s take Bernie Sanders completely out of the equation and imagine that I have to vote for her just to keep the GOP out.

I still struggle to do it.

It’s like asking me to choose between death by burning or death by drowning.

I choose neither.

I would choose to vote for Jill Stein if it comes to that.

At least then I could live with myself.

But I cannot feel good about myself, if I vote for Hillary Clinton.

Here’s why.

…

The TPP and Her Lying About It

The TPP would be an absolute disaster for America. We would lose millions of jobs overseas. The Internet would fall under control of multi-national corporations and our own government would be at the mercy of these corporations.

It’s a disaster.

Hillary Clinton helped write it and toured the planet for five years selling it to the world’s governments.

But then…

When she found out that Sanders opposed it, she publicly stated that she opposed it too.

That is a blatant lie and you can check that for yourself.

Emails to high ranking Democrats show that Hillary is pressuring them to pass TPP.

She is lying until she gets into office so she can pass it.

That alone would be good reason not to vote for her, but there’s more.

Hillary Clinton Receives Money From The For-Profit Prison Lobby

This is beyond wrong.

In fact, it’s downright Republican.

For-profit prisons have quotas to reach.

They make money from keeping their cells full.

They then turn around and charge the tax-payers money to incarcerate people.

But violent crime has been on the decrease in America for 30 years.

So for-profit prisons lobby our government to pass stricter laws and pressure police forces to make arrests where no arrests are needed.

They pass three strikes policies and mandatory minimum sentences.

But, it gets worse.

The prisons then force prisoners to work for .02 per hour (that’s right TWO CENTS PER HOUR) and then sell the products and services to bidders at a markup.

In short, for-profit prisons target poor minorities.

They are, in effect, modern slavery.

I cannot support a candidate who takes money from prisons for profit.

Hillary Cut Funding To Low Income Families

Hillary likes to talk about how she headed the Children’s Defense Fund.

What she fails to mention is that while she was head of the CDF she actually cut funding to the Welfare programs that were in place and replaced them with weaker programs that caused immense suffering for poor American families.

I am not holding Bill Clinton’s Welfare Reform bill against her (although she did speak out religiously in favor of it).

I am talking about Hillary’s choices.

When I was a Hillary Clinton supporter, I used to talk about how experienced she was.

What I didn’t know was that nearly everything she has touched has become worse as a result.

Gutting Aid to Families with Dependent Children was, quite frankly, a Republican maneuver.

I do not know how one can do this and call themselves a Democrat.

Wal-Mart and Union Busting

Hillary Clinton spent six years on the board at Wal-Mart, a company notorious for using sweat shop labor and for treating their employees unfairly.

Wal-Mart has also knowingly been responsible for the destruction of the American small business.

Wal-Mart has made it their strategy to pop-up in the middle of a small town and set their prices to drive mom and pop stores under.

I would be willing to overlook this as a past indiscretion if it weren’t for the fact that Hillary had a previous history as a union busting Republican lawyer and still receives hundreds of thousands of dollars from Wal-Mart to this day.

The Democrats I know won’t even shop at Wal-Mart.

They certainly would not support a candidate who has an ongoing relationship with such a corporation.

In a Word, Monsanto

Hillary Clinton receives money from Monsanto lobbyists and has spoken out in defense of Monsanto on numerous occasions.

Hillary is more than just a little involved with Monsanto.

In fact, Monsanto lobbyist, Jerry Crawford, is her senior adviser.

Monsanto’s Roundup has been linked to childhood cancer and there is some evidence that it may be linked to autism and other diseases.

Monsanto was instrumental in destroying family farming in America.

GMO’s are a serious issue and Hillary’s ties to Monsanto alone are enough to disqualify her with many liberals, myself included.

But there is so much more…

Climate Change

Hillary Clinton simply does not have a plan to deal with Global Warming.

This is undoubtedly related to her ties with Big Oil.

Hillary talks a good game, but upon inspection of her plan you see that she has no actual plan.

If we do not address Climate Change now, then there will be no planet for our children and grandchildren to inhabit.

It is absolutely the most pressing issue facing our planet and I cannot support someone who takes money from entities who contribute to this crisis.

Hillary Clinton Sold Arms to Countries That Sponsor Terrorism While She Was Secretary of State

When I first heard about this, I thought it was a Republican smear campaign.

So I looked into it.

I was shocked that Hillary traded arms to countries secretly for hidden donations to The Clinton Foundation.

You cannot say that you oppose terrorism while you arm the terrorists.

This alone is enough for any Democrat to reconsider supporting Hillary Clinton.

Just think how we would feel if we found out that a Republican did this.

We would want them thrown in prison.

Why should we feel differently about someone who calls themselves a Democrat?

Are we hypocrites?

Getting Money Out of Politics

Ask any American and they will tell you that the biggest problem in American government is that our government represents corporations and not people (and no, I’m sorry, but corporations are NOT people.)

Hillary Clinton is not equipped to get money out of politics as she continues to take money from lobbyists.

Talking out of both sides of her mouth, claiming to be a candidate of the people, doesn’t hold water when you see that she continues to hold her hand out to anyone who will drop a six figure check into it.

Until we have a President who will stand up to corporate lobbyists then our government will not represent The People.

Hillary Clinton represents corporate interests.

Hillary Clinton does not represent The People.

You simply cannot represent both simultaneously.

The DNC

Hillary Clinton’s manipulation of the Democratic National Committee to deprive the American people of a fair election in 2016 have been deplorable.

She knew she had the nomination wrapped up so instead of giving a fair shake to the other candidates, The DNC and Hillary colluded to have only six debates and they put all of the debates on at inconvenient times, against popular programs, so that the American people would not watch.

From a strategy standpoint I understand, but this is America.

Hiding your competition is not fair to the American people.

The front-runner should be bold and take on all challengers.

You should win because The People want you.

Not because you manipulated the election process.

But it did not stop with simply refusing to have debates.

Time Warner, who owns most of the mass media, is one of Hillary Clinton’s largest donors.

They have a vested interest in her winning and it shows in how they report “the news”.

Hillary also receives money from News Corp (aka Fox News).

Rupert Murdoch, half-owner of Fox News is a longtime friend and supporter of Hillary Clinton.

This is unfair to the American people and I cannot support a candidate who tries to manipulate our election process.

Once Sanders had caught her in the National polls, Hillary stopped hiding and demanded more debates. Sanders, a respecter of Democracy, complied.

More debates are good for Democracy (there were 28 Democratic debates in 2008).

Trying to cheat the American people out of their chance to see their options is anti-Democratic.

Furthermore it is apparent that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is working together with Hillary Clinton and Third Way Democrats to ensure that the deck is stacked against her opponents.

And recently it came out that many of the pro-Hillary pundits were actually on her payroll.

This means that when you see someone on “the news” telling you why you should vote for Hillary, that you are not getting an impartial opinion.

And that is not what The Democratic Party is supposed to be about.

We are supposed to be better than the Republicans.

The Podesta Group and Child Labor

Much of Hillary Clinton’s campaign money comes through the chair of her campaign, John Podesta, head of the Podesta Group.

Podesta gets money from Merck which uses child labor in India to farm Mica for their products.

Hillary Clinton knowingly takes money from child labor.

Many of these children are as young as five years of age.

I cannot feel good about myself, supporting a candidate who profits from child labor.

Wall Street

Yeah, yeah…

I’m sick of hearing about it too, but the fact of the matter is that you cannot represent The People if you are being controlled by The Banks.

America has dropped from the world’s top economy to 23rd overall.

The rich are getting richer and the middle-class, which was the backbone of our economy, has all but disappeared.

This is all a result of Wall Street manipulation.

Furthermore Hillary is keeping secrets about what she said during her Wall Street speeches, where she was paid $153,000,000.

When challenged to release the transcripts she said that she would release them when the Republicans did the same.

I do not want a President who waits for Republicans to set her morals and ethics.

I want a leader.

Hillary’s refusal to release the transcripts, which are in her possession and solely her property, is enough of an implication to make even the most die-hard Clinton supporter wonder what she is hiding.

I could talk about Hillary’s conflicts of interest for hours, but the bottom line is…

You cannot represent The People, when you are beholden to The Big Banks.

A Repeated Pattern of Racist Comments and Actions

From her implication that black teenagers are “Super-predators that need to be brought to heel.” to “Black men in hoodies are scary.” to her relationship with racist, genocidal war criminal Henry Kissinger, to the way she treats Black Lives Matter protesters, there is a repeated pattern of racism that seems to seethe out from Mrs Clinton.

When you back this up with some of her questionable policy decisions and support of her husband’s crime bill that targeted black Americans, you start to get an overall picture of a woman who at the very least, does not understand the problems facing black America.

DOMA

Hillary Clinton toured the country speaking out in favor of Bill Clinton’s Defense of Marriage Act, a bill that legalized discrimination against gays and lesbians.

DOMA devastated hundreds of thousands of lives.

But that was the 90s, right?

She’s evolved since then, I used to say.

Hardly.

She continued to speak out against gay marriage and is on record as recently as 2013 as stating that “marriage is between a man and a woman”.

Then suddenly, when the tides in the country had shifted, and marriage equality became inevitable, Hillary changed her position and became an overnight ally.

Sorry Hillary.

As someone who has been fighting this battle since I was 16 years old and lived through DOMA, that just doesn’t work.

You were against us, then you were for us, when it was convenient for you.

That doesn’t fly.

Which leads me to the next reason I cannot vote for Hillary Clinton…

Which Hillary Clinton Will We Get?

Hillary seems to change her policies based on what suits her best at the time.

It seems that she says what people want to hear, then later does what suits her corporate lobby interests.

While this might make her an excellent politician, it makes her an untrustworthy leader.

America is in a very perilous place currently.

We have an economy that is devastated.

We have enemies, both foreign and domestic, who seek to destroy us.

We have a fractured government.

We cannot have someone in office who lies to us.

I cannot vote for someone who puts their own best interest ahead of our country’s best interest.

The Iraq War

It is not just that Hillary voted for a war that killed 175,000 innocent people and created Isis.

It is that she actively spoke up for it and sounded like a Republican while doing so.

She not only spoke up for this unjust war, but was front and center speaking, convincing others to vote for it as well.

We will spend our entire lives trying to recover from the worst foreign policy blunder in American history.

I cannot vote for someone who has repeatedly shown a tendency to go to unnecessary war and repeatedly shown a lack of judgment and capable leadership.

Honduras, Libya and Potential War in Syria

Clinton’s role in the regime change in Honduras and Libya has lead to the slaughter of innocent people in both countries.

It would take hours to outline the full scope of Hillary’s deceptions in these situations, but when she talks about the conflict in Syria, it is clear that if she is elected to office than many more innocents will die.

As a Democrat I cannot vote for someone who will send American troops off to die without just cause.

As a human being, I cannot put someone in charge of the world’s most powerful military, considering that on several occasions she has already used that military to strike down the innocent.

Quite honestly, Hillary is similar to most Republicans in her approach to war.

Underhanded Campaign Tactics

In 2008, Hillary Clinton suggested that perhaps Barack Obama would be assassinated so she could win the Democratic nomination.

In 2008, Hillary Clinton circulated a photo of Barack Obama in a turban and started a campaign against him, stating that he was not a Christian.

This turned into the Birther movement which haunted Obama and detracted from his effectiveness as our nation’s leader over the next eight years.

In 2015, she took an excerpt from the first Democratic debate, where Bernie Sanders said “We have to stop shouting at each other (referring to Americans) over gun control.” and used it in campaign ads to say that Bernie Sanders was a sexist who wanted women to be quiet and know their place.

In 2016, she stood on a debate stage and lied about Bernie Sanders’ voting on a bill that her husband actually introduced.

These are Republican tactics.

These are just a few examples.

There are many more.

I cannot in good conscience vote for someone who spreads lies about good people like Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders.

I just cannot trust someone who does that.

A Pattern of Silencing Victims

From Bill Clinton’s sexual assault accusers, to a huge list of people who have crossed the Clinton’s and ended up in dire straights, there is a growing number of people who say that Hillary Clinton has threatened them into silence.

When I was a Clinton supporter, I chalked this up to opportunistic people, trying to get a cut of the vast Clinton fortune, but there are just so many and they all say the same things about her.

Couple this with Hillary’s seeming inability to tell the truth (remember when she bragged about landing under sniper fire in Bosnia and then the video emerged of her elaborate celebrity greeting) and you have to at least wonder if there is some credence to the claims that Hillary Clinton silenced sexual assault victims.

As a feminist, that is a deal-breaker for me.

Which leads me to what is perhaps my most important reason…

I Have a Daughter

I took my daughter to vote for Barack Obama both times that I voted for him.

I wanted her to experience, what I felt, was a huge step for our country in the area of race relations.

I openly wept the first time.

I was excited to vote for Hillary for similar reasons.

I wanted my daughter to see that when she grew up, that she too, could become President.

I wanted her to grow up in a country where women were treated equally.

Having a female President would be proof that we were, at least, moving in that direction.

You can imagine how heartsick I was when I found out that Hillary was not a good example for my little girl.

America is long overdue for a woman to be President.

Indira Gandhi lead India fifty years ago.

Why has America been so slow to give equality to women?

I don’t understand it.

But I now realize that electing someone who is a poor example for my daughter is actually a step backwards for women.

There is a growing list of powerful women in government.

We can only be a few years away from electing a female President.

When we do, I want it to be someone my daughter can be proud of.

Hillary Clinton is simply not that woman.

…

When I started this, I was determined to fit all of the reasons I cannot vote for Hillary Clinton into one neat little article.

I have failed.

There are just too many to cover.

But I have one more that is of great concern to me…

She Is Not a Good Candidate Right Now

The numbers show that she would lose to three of the top four Republicans and would beat Trump by only one point (she loses to Cruz and Rubio by seven points respectively and to Kasich by three points in historically accurate Quinnipiac polls).

Once you include the fact that she is clearly hiding something in her 38,000 deleted emails and that her IT person, Brian Pagliano, has been given immunity by the FBI and DOJ, it is clear that Hillary is not a good candidate to support in this crucial time for our country.

With this indictment hanging over her head she will most certainly lose to the GOP.

Can you imagine the ways in which they will use this information against her, over and over and over again?

She is facing federal indictment during an election.

Democrats deserve better than that.

The next President of the United States will have the opportunity to appoint either two or three Supreme Court Justices.

The GOP has control of The House and Senate.

If they gain control of The White House and The Supreme Court as well, then Democrats are effectively locked out of government entirely.

A woman’s right to choose will be gone.

All LBGT+ rights, GONE!!

It’s too crucial.

As a Democrat, I need a candidate who will beat the GOP.

Not a candidate who is facing federal indictment during an election.

…

I used to be in love with Hillary Clinton.

These days, not so much.

It always hurts when you allow yourself to be duped.

I didn’t really know Hillary.

I projected my wants onto her.

I believed that she represented me and when I found out that she didn’t it hurt.

I’ve moved on and I sincerely hope others will learn the things that I did.

I do not believe that Hillary supporters are bad people.

I believe they are just like I was.

Life is busy.

Who has time to research politicians.

Pretty lies are more fun than ugly truths.

But I can’t support someone who has done the things she has done.

Maybe you will think I am just a scorned, former lover.

All I know is that the more I learned, the more it hurt me to see someone with so many people looking up to her, do things that hurt so many.

I cannot vote for Hillary Clinton.

I cannot live with blood on my hands.