Hollywood, I Do Not Need (Or WANT) You Telling Me Who To Vote For

Over the last few weeks, I have seen a general trend of virtue signaling among the Hollywood elites, suggesting that we should vote for Hillary Clinton as an alternative to Donald Trump. Anyone who knows me knows that I have been staunchly opposed to BOTH since day one. Needless to say, I was not particularly thrilled with a bunch of actors telling me not just to register to vote, but WHO to vote for. Hollywood "elites", I do not NEED or WANT you telling me who to vote for...or even that I should vote at all. Voting is my own prerogative and I do not want someone, who is widely perceived to be better than I am , telling ME how to exercise MY rights.

The Flash

John Wesley Shipp, perhaps best known for playing Barry Allen on The Flash in the 1990s as well as Henry Allen and Jay Garrick on the CW's The Flash, has been one of many to hop on the Hillary Clinton Bandwagon. One day when I was scrolling through Twitter, I saw a Pro-Clinton tweet from Mr. Shipp and I responded in kind saying there is no meaningful difference between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. To my surprise, he responded. He referred me to a Facebook post by Robert Reich, an economist who campaigned fairly heavily for Bernie Sanders during the primaries. Here is the text from Mr. Reich's post in its entirety.

Can we have a word? I continue to hear from many of you who say you won’t vote for Hillary Clinton because, you claim, (1) she’s no better than Donald Trump, or (2) even if she’s better, she’s still corrupt, and you refuse to vote for the “lesser of two evils,” or (3) you don’t want to reward the Democratic Party for corrupt primaries that gave the nomination to Hillary instead of Bernie Sanders.
Please allow me to respond.
(1) Anyone who equates Donald Trump with Hillary Clinton hasn’t been paying attention. Trump is a dangerous, bigoted, narcissistic megalomaniac with fascist tendencies who could wreak huge damage on America and the world. Hillary isn’t perfect but she’s able and experienced. There is simply no comparison.
(2) Even if you see Hillary Clinton as the “lesser of two evils,” the greater of two evils in this case (if you see the choice in these terms) is seriously evil. You've probably had occasion in the past to vote for someone who doesn’t meet your ideals, when the alternative is someone who falls much further from those ideals. This doesn’t mean you've sold out or compromised your principles. You've just been realistic and practical. Realism and practicality are critically important now.
(3) I understand your frustration with the Democratic Party, and your reluctance to “reward” it for its bias against Bernie in the primaries. But anything you do that increases the odds of a Trump presidency isn’t just penalizing the Democratic Party; it’s jeopardizing our future and that of our children and their children. All of us must continue to work hard for a political system responsive to the needs of ordinary Americans. The movement Bernie energized must not and will not end. But Donald Trump, were he to become president, would set back the cause for decades.
There are just over 7 weeks until Election Day. My request to those of you who still don’t want to vote for Hillary Clinton: Please reconsider. It is no exaggeration to say the fate of the nation and the world are at stake.
What do you think?

1. Mr. Reich, I compare the two BECAUSE I have been paying attention. To quote Ron Paul, “From a libertarian viewpoint, there is absolutely no meaningful difference between Hillary and Trump,” he emphatically remarked. “I mean, they both support [the] military-industrial complex, the federal reserve, deficits, entitlements, invasion of our privacy.” Looking at these, how could someone say they aren't the same?

2. I really wanted to ignore your damage control-esque comment about "selling out". Truth is, you are as much of a sellout as Bernie. That is not my main point though. My main point is the ridiculousness of "voting for the lesser evil". If you are voting for the lesser of two evils, you are still voting for evil. So my question is: Why in the fuck are you voting for evil to rule over you and other Americans?

3. People are pissed off because this is EXACTLY the corruption that Bernie was trying to fight against. I was one of his most staunch opponents during the primaries, but I could at least respect him for his approach and his stand in tackling this corruption. The solution though, is not MORE GOVERNMENT. Why should someone endorse the establishment they are trying to fight against? If someone who supported Bernie now goes on to support Hillary Clinton, then I would say that they have absolutely no principles.

The Avengers, etc.

Recently, a video surfaced of Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Julianne Moore, and countless others not just encouraging voter registration, but it was an ever so tacit endorsement of Hillary Clinton. What was really striking to me was a huge use of actors who are in The Avengers, such as Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Mark Ruffalo, and Scarlet Johansson. To extrapolate on that further, it is especially fitting I think that the actor who plays "War Machine" was in this ad. Hollywood actors, I do not need to be told to use my rights. This ad was nothing more than condescension. Of course the argument could be made that this ad was made primarily for women (possibly gay men too?), as the "promise" was made that Mark Ruffalo would do a full frontal nude scene in his next film. Sure this was likely for comedic effect, but I would hope this fell flat. There's not much that can be said about this video that I haven't said already, but this bears repeating: I do not want or need so called 1%ers telling me how to use my rights.