“Put yourself in their shoes. Look at the world through their eyes.” ~ Pres. Barack Obama

I don’t like politics. And yet, politics is everything. Love it or hate it, it rules our lives, our society, and the world we live in. We can tune it out, engage it with passion and compassion, watch it like spectator sports, or ignore it at our own peril. The 2016 Presidential Election is like no other else in the history of U.S. politics. Veteran and long-time political pundits are in a collective jaw-drop as they witness this election season unfold.

I dubbed it as the Shittiest Presidential Election Ever™, because it is uber-shitty and then some. As I write this, more and more layers of shit are being revealed – like peeling an onion made of shit. By the time this election season is over we’re all going to be buried in deep shit from the aftermath of political shit-storms. And yet, I feel fine. I have no fear. I’m just witnessing, observing, engaging, trolling, as I navigate the landscape of the U.S. political theater. Heaven help us all.

That said, I try to embody different perspectives to understand why people make their choices. As Baruch Spinoza once said, “I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them.” The best way to understand other people is to put ourselves in other peoples’ shoes and look at the world through their eyes.

The following is my attempt to embody different perspectives. Needless to say, my attempt at perspective taking is colored by my own bias and psycho-social development. So be it. The point is to not fixate on any point, but to honor and acknowledge the partial truths of all perspectives that arise in this body-mind-field of awareness.

To keep up with social media trend and the latest Pokémon Go mania, I’ve labeled my perspectives with hashtags after the names of my Pokemon characters. It’s more fun and appropriate that way. LOL.

#Trumpy

Liberals have taken over and are destroying the Republic. Those damn commies and socialists will make everyone lazy bums. We’re being overrun by immigrants. First, the Mexicans took our jobs. And now the corporate elites have taken our jobs overseas. And then there’s ISIS! Muslims are taking over and bringing their Sharia law into our land. Obama doesn’t even call out the terrorists for what they are, “radical Muslims!” He’s a weak President. And then the government wants to take our guns away? Fuck them! Over my dead body! And gay people! My fucking God! (Shit, forgive me for cussing too much.) They are now getting married! What would happen to the future of our kids? What would happen to the future of America? Family values is dead. And now we have to share bathrooms with those freaky transgenders? What the hell is happening here? Are we in the Twilight Zone? Christianity is being attacked from all sides. Liberals are winning. A Republican President is our only hope to turn this ship around, to restore law and order in this country. That’s why I’m backing Trump. He’s not perfect. He lies just like all politicians. But at least he’s not the establishment. We’ve been screwed and hung out to dry by RINOs. They are in cahoots with the Democrats. My first choice was Ted Cruz. But he’s out of the race already. So Trump is the best chance to prevent Hillary from being President. The Clintons are the most corrupt politicians ever. The liberal media has been covering for them all these years. They should be rotting in jail now. But instead, they’ve made millions from that wretched money laundering Clinton Foundation. They took bribes from Saudi Arabia. They have enriched themselves from the suffering of others by taking dirty money from our enemies. They should be tried for treason. And yet, they keep getting away! There’s Benghazi, extreme carelessness in handling classified materials with use of private email servers, perjury, and that damn Clinton Foundation again! There’s scandal after scandal after scandal! And still Hillary has a chance of becoming President?! You got to be kidding me?! Why is the rest of America blind to this? They are all drunk with the Clinton Kool-Aid. So as a proud Patriot I will perform my civic duty and do everything in my power to prevent Hillary from becoming President. Not only will I vote Trump, but I will also gather all my family and friends and convince them to show up at the polls on Election Day. So help me God!

#HillaryBot

I’m so happy that we’ll finally have our first female President! Hillary is an amazing and strong woman. She has weathered all political attacks and Republican witch hunts all these years. And yet, here she is, still standing strong! I’m so proud of her. She’s not perfect. A lot of people don’t trust her. But I believe that she’s the most qualified candidate in this election. And most importantly, we need to defeat Trump. Trump scares the shit out of me. He is Hitler incarnate. I don’t understand where all his supporters are coming from. People supporting Trump are idiots. They’re uneducated, weak-minded fools who are voting against their own interests. The Republicans have brainwashed them with fear and religion. But I’m optimistic that those idiots are in the minority. Hillary will win this election by a landslide. If only those Berniacs would get in line. But never mind them. Those Bernie or Bust people are special kind of idiots too. They’d rather bring the entire system down just to feel good about themselves. Fuck them. They’re no different than Trump supporters. They don’t think about the long game of politics. They don’t care about the Supreme Court. They don’t care about the disaster that would happen if Trump becomes President. God forbid Trump getting his small hands on the nuclear codes. I just can’t imagine President Trump being in charge of Foreign Policy. He’s a bigger idiot than George W. Bush. He will isolate our country and make a mockery out of the Foreign policy gains made by Pres. Obama. So I will do everything in my power to ensure that Hillary becomes our next President.

#BirdySanders

I love Bernie. I #feeltheBern. He made me care about politics. He’s a once-in-a-lifetime candidate. He made me believe that politicians can be honest and good. He educated the masses on the reality of plutocrats, greedy Wall Street bankers, crony Capitalism, and the corruption of money in politics. He genuinely cares about all people – young and old. He wants our tax dollars to be used for everyone’s benefit – free education, universal healthcare, infrastructure improvements, equal pay for women, and raising the minimum wage. Why would anyone vote against that?! Yeah, sure, it will require for some people to pay more taxes, but at least it will benefit everyone. And is it too much to ask that billionaires who have enriched themselves on that backs of the middle and lower class to pay for their own fair share of taxes? That’s why I don’t understand why people are supporting Hillary and Trump. Those people are idiots. They’re greedy selfish pigs who don’t understand that we’re all in this together. They are voting against their own interests. They’ve all been brainwashed by the establishment. Bernie is our only hope to get us out of this mess into a more promising future. He may have been an Independent all his political life before jumping into the Democratic Party to have a fighting chance in this election. But he is a real Progressive, a real FDR Democrat. Hillary is a moderate Republican. The Clintons have destroyed the ideals of the Democratic Party by embracing Third Way politics and playing friendly with Big corporate interests. The Clintons are corrupt to the core. Hillary is an embodiment of what’s wrong about the government. She is the most hawkish ever. She’ll probably lead us into more wars in the Middle East, and even usher World War III. She should’ve have been indicted for her extreme carelessness in handling classified materials through her use of private email servers. Obviously, her intent was to escape FOIA and hide the corruption of the Clinton Foundation. But even the FBI and Justice Department were powerless against the Clintons. Maybe because they’re all part of the giant web of corruption that is the Clinton Foundation. But never mind. Justice is swerved. I’ll just leave it to the Republicans to go after Hillary and her damn emails. Maybe one of these days they’d get her for something. Good luck with that. The bottom line is: the DNC backed a weak and corrupt candidate. The Democratic primary is rigged. Shocker. Everyone knew this already. But the Wikileaks dump provided the smoking gun. Are you happy now, Hillary-bots? Are you so proud that your candidate, after all the rigging, Super PACs, and media bias, is still tanking in the polls? Are you happy that you have a candidate who is virtually tied in the polls with your Bogeyman Trump? Wake the fuck up! If Trump wins the Presidency, don’t you ever dare blame us Bernie supporters. That will be on you! I will never fall in line! I will never vote for the lesser evil! I will do what is right and vote with my conscience. There is still hope that Bernie will do a Ted Cruz maneuver in the Democratic Convention. I still hope that Bernie will extend his big middle finger at the DNC and say, “Fuck it, you can have this convention and shove it! I’m now running as Third Party candidate for the Presidency!” But alas, Bernie doesn’t want to destroy the Democratic Party. He already endorsed Hillary, even if he hasn’t officially conceded yet. So in the event that Bernie officially concedes on or after the Democratic Primary, I will just write his name on the ballot. Or better yet, go with Jill Stein. She is amazing and awesome. She’s like Bernie Sanders with BIGGER brass balls. I will do everything in my power to get her name on the ballot on all 50 states. It’s going to be tough. But Bernie laid out the ground floor. If the millions of people who voted for Bernie collectively shift their support, then Jill Stein would win. So onward with the political revolution. This general election has just started. There’s still time to save America from Hillary and Trump!

#ImWithJill

Jill Stein was right. Bernie never had a chance. He should’ve run under the Green Party from the very beginning. And look at him now. He’s being perceived as a “sell-out” by his most passionate supporters. Poor old guy. He got screwed by his own party. He’s in a bind. He probably signed legal contracts and made agreements in return for him running as a Democrat. That’s why he has no choice but to fall in line. If only he would have the courage to bolt out and join the Green Party. Heck, even Jill Stein offered him the top ticket. As for me, Bernie or no Bernie, I’m with Jill. I already voted for Jill in the last Presidential election because choosing between Obama and Romney was like choosing death by firing squad or death by drowning. The establishment Democrats and Republicans need a rude awakening. Awakening starts when people vote their conscience and not be scared into voting against what they despise. This is a long fight. But this election season is different. There’s a good chance for Jill Stein and the Green Party to be recognized by the masses, same way that happened with the Bernie phenomenon. This is a good opportunity to raise the consciousness of the electorate. Jill Stein supporters must seize this moment and ride the wave. If Jill Stein rises above 15% in the polls then she’ll be included in the general election debates. When the majority of Americans hear her message, it will be like Bernie 2.0. This will break the spell of the political duopoly which has plagued our country. So I’m doing everything in my power to help Jill. I’ve even come up with a cool hashtag, #NetflixAndJill. LOL. Seriously, Jill should be in the debates to give the Democrats and Republicans a run for their dirty money.

#FeelTheJohnson

Here’s Gary! He’s almost at the 15% polling threshold. Just a few more points at the polls and he’ll be included in the general election debates. Once he’s there he’ll definitely bring in disgruntled Bernie supporters and Never Trumpers. He’s the#GiantMeteor2016 in this election season. Some say that he’s backed by the Koch Brothers. Whatever. He’s still better than Hillary or Trump, or that old hippie socialist, Bernie. Gary would never take people’s guns away. He’s even backing the TPP. What’s up with that? Whatever. He’s the voice of the libertarians in this election. Us libertarians have been ridiculed and marginalized enough. Some even call us selfish gays. Fuck them. Whatever. We just want full autonomy. We want to keep Big government away from our lives. Yeah, Gary is not the ideal libertarian. There’s no such thing as a perfect libertarian anyway. It’s a truism that “organizing libertarians is like herding grumpy cats.” But we have to start somewhere. And Gary Johnson is a good enough libertarian. He’s going to do more good by spreading the libertarian message when he makes it to the general election debates. So I’ll do everything in my free time to support the guy.

P.S. Bonus perspective: #NotAllConspiracyTheoriesAreCreatedEqual

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The Republican Party has collapsed under the weight of Trump. The Democratic Party is ripe for a quickening. Meanwhile the Neocons have already flocked to Hillary while the sheeples are distracted and entertained by the #ShittiestPresidentialElectionEver.

Look at all those sheeples debating, arguing, and fighting over their political puppets. Bunch. of. Idiots. Voting is for suckers. Sheeples always fall for the illusion of choice in the stupidest ever political theater. Don’t they fucking know that the Globalists are laughing at their faces? The #DeepStatedoesn’t care whoever wins. It always wins! Once this election season is over it’s going to be business as usual. Wars. False Flags. Problem-Reaction-Solution. Controlled Opposition. Useful Idiots: That’s what they are for the Powers That Be. When will these sheeples ever wake up?! And then there’s fucking Pokémon Go master-minded by the CIA to monitor everything. Watch those lemmings play, spend money, and give their privacy away. People are idiots. Now excuse me while I eat a tub of GMO popcorn as I witness everything fall into Chaos in this beautifully-cursed kaleidoscope world.