This lesser than two evils meme..

[Peacetrain]

is a load of horse hockey.. if a person who makes the claim to be a Democrat or an Indy Liberal.. or Progressive.. and thinks that there is no difference between the republicans and Democrats.. are nuts..

[Skink]

1. When Nader said that I disagreed

Now However it is coming down to Social issues only

[gollygee]

8. First, social issues are a big deal if you're in an affected social group

But second, as much as people here like to paint Clinton as anti-Social Security and all that, it just isn't so. She would keep social security as it is or strengthen it, and she wants to raise the minimum wage. I feel pretty confident that neither of those things will end up being the case with Trump.

Bernie being better than Clinton on economics doesn't mean that Clinton is as bad as Trump.

[Lizzie Poppet]

22. I don't disagree...but for me, neither manage to cross the "acceptable" threshold.

And that's despite being part of an affected social group...

[Eric J in MN]

2. The idea is that they're not the same

...one is the lesser evil.

[emulatorloo]

9. Correct. It is a metaphor. Some are taking it literally. Which is wrong headed IMHO

[Electric Monk]

57. The OP seems confused about the difference between the words "of" and "than"

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/of

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/than

"Lesser of" and "lesser than" mean two very different things.

[seabeyond]

3. Clinton is not evil. It is a stupid statement. It stops all conversation.

[Peacetrain]

4. ^^^^^^^^^^^

Exactly!

[Eric J in MN]

11. The expression doesn't mean Trump or Clinton is evil.

It means horrible things will result from the presidency of either, but less horrible things in one case.

[seabeyond]

12. No. The words are very clear. You do not get to make shit up.

[Eric J in MN]

45. The expression isn't 'The less evil person.' NT

NT

[thesquanderer]

48. The words are being used metaphorically.

It means picking the less undesirable of two undesirable options. The people in the comparison are not literally evil. You're barking up the wrong tree. (Not literally, though. See, words don't always mean what they literally mean...)

[opiate69]

14. LOL...

It only stops the conversation for those who are so simple-minded that they must parse every phrase, idiom, and colloquialism to it's most strict, literal end.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_of_two_evils_principle

[seabeyond]

16. Or those being played in a con, sham. ....

[opiate69]

24. Huh?

[seabeyond]

26. Anyone buying lesser of two evil, is being into a con.

[opiate69]

32. Oh, pray-tell....

Do tell me just exactly what con I would be "being into"???

[seabeyond]

34. I believe you are clever enough to figure it out all by yourself.

[Gore1FL]

36. Explain it for us anyways!

Thanks!

[Henhouse]

49. Nods...like Weaver and his "deal with the devil" bull...

Sanders and his campaign are not conning anyone....

[TwilightZone]

23. Bingo

And Trump clearly is.

[goldent]

25. Agreed - it is just an expression

Neither Trump nor Clinton on evil. Neither will destroy the country. People don't like either from an emotional viewpoint, but from a practical viewpoint more will choose Clinton. And if they can't get over the emotions and choose a 3rd party, more power to them.

[seabeyond]

27. "They are the same". Another stupid ass comment without the word evil, saying the same thing.

[Henhouse]

51. "Neither Trump nor Clinton on evil. Neither will destroy the country."

Alert on me if you want but, anyone who does not see the evil in Trump's xenophobia, racism, sexism....etc...and does not believe he will destroy this country is in the wrong forum....

[Armstead]

29. Not the best choice for the presidency

better?

Slight expansion. She epitomizes an approach to politics and government that is not suited to present times.

You are free to disagree of course, but in a country of 318 million people, she is not the best we could have done....(Bernie or no Bernie)

[Perogie]

53. You don't seem to understand the idiom

It's not meant to be literal.
Same as Catch-22, you don't actually catch a 22

Talk about stupid posts.

[hrmjustin]

5. It is about excuses and peer pressure on a message board.

[Gore1FL]

37. Your graphic is obnoxious.

Obnoxious behavior makes DU suck.

[hrmjustin]

38. Obnoxious but accurate.

But if it bothers you.

[Gore1FL]

40. Not accurate.

Don't make DU suck.

[hrmjustin]

41. Very accurate.

But if it bothers you.

[Gore1FL]

42. Parrot Much?

Don't make DU suck.

[hrmjustin]

43. Lead by example.

[Gore1FL]

46. I am. I call out people who post obnoxious graphics that make DU suck

Don't make DU suck, Justin.

[hrmjustin]

50. No not leading.

[emulatorloo]

6. The problem is that people are taking a figure of speech literally

The metaphor describes the calculus every voter has to make in any election.

Unless I run for office, no candidate is going to match me 100% ideologically.

So I am gonna vote for the candidate that matches me closest.

[gollygee]

10. +1 million !

Exactly! No candidate is going to agree with me 100% about everything. We always have to vote for the best choice out of those candidates who are available. I don't understand why people are acting like this is new.

[annavictorious]

7. I remember when Gore was the "lesser of two evils"

and progressives encouraged democrats and independents to vote for Ralph Nader.

Although the progressives did manage to get George W. Bush elected, they could do nothing to stop the Nobel committee from awarding Albert Gore the Nobel Peace Prize for his environmental activism.

Thanks progressives! People are dead all over the world and the Supreme Court tips conservative due to your foresight and judgement.

[Jack Bone]

17. Bullshit!

The Supreme Court appointed Bush...he was never elected

Katherine Harris cheated and made the FL contest close enough for them to steal.

please, in the future, stop trying to rewrite history.

[Bluenorthwest]

18. That version of history comes from the same book that says Ronald Reagan was the first AIDS

activist. A history revised for agenda.

[Jack Bone]

19. Had Bill Clinton been able to keep his pecker on a leash...

Al Gore would've had a landslide victory.

[Armstead]

30. Um, the "progressives" did not vote for the Iraq War

[Shadowflash]

13. Well, to be fair,

If people thought they were the same, they wouldn't say the LESSER of two evils. That saying implies that one, by default, is not as bad as the other, meaning that they are NOT the same. Though, not the same, BOTH can be unacceptable. Which is certainly the case if it's HRC or Trump.

So 'The lesser of two evils' IS an accurate saying.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. I prefer the lesson of two weevils.

The boll weevil is known for its ability to destroy cotton crops, while the species Austroplatypus incompertus is known for being the only beetle which is eusocial, exhibiting a high level of social organization featuring cooperative care of the young and that sort of thing.

Which is the greater of the two weevils?

[Hydra]

21. ...

Good one!

[Hydra]

20. The party itself is pushing the meme

"We're better than the Republicans!"

Such a low bar.

[Gore1FL]

39. It's right up (down?) there with "but it's legal!"

I remember when we aspired for greatness.

[opiate69]

28. It's a good thing, then, that the Lesser of Two Evils principle doesn't claim equivalence.

First clue may have been the word "lesser", for those thinking-type folk...

The lesser of two evils principle (or lesser evil principle) is the principle that when faced with selecting from two unpleasant options, the one which is least harmful should be chosen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_of_two_evils_principle

[Armstead]

31. The lesser of two Weevils -- Russel Crowe in Master and Commander

[Scuba]

33. It isn't that there's no difference between the parties, it's that the differences are too small.

"If the Democratic Party would fight as hard for the Working Class as the Republican Party fights for the Ruling Class, the Republicans would be a powerless minority party within a few election cycles.

The Democratic Party knows this, the Republican Party knows this, the Ruling Class knows this- and they've been astonishingly successful at making sure the Working Class never learns this." ~ Anonymous

[gordyfl]

35. It the election were held today,

[B Calm]

44. Then tell the DNC to stop pushing out conservative dems!

[elana i am]

47. political party is beside the point

both of them are what's WRONG with our democratic system. neither of them have any business being the "leader of the free world" as it were.

there is no "lesser evil." there's just WRONG. and there's no, hell no and fuck no!

[Perogie]

52. You don't seem to understand the idiom

It doesn't mean both are exactly the same.
Both are "evil" but one less so. It comes from Greek mythology.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Between_Scylla_and_Charybdis

Thanks for playing

[cantbeserious]

54. The DNC And RNC Are Both Captured Interests Of The Oligarchs, Corporations And Banks

eom

[Buzz cook]

55. When ideological purity is a festish

Anything else is evil.

But if that's what they need to get it up and vote who are we to criticize?

[GRhodes]

56. Anyone that doesn't live in the bubble

and is not well off, and has some knowledge of the decades long macroeconomic numbers, knows damn well why people see the choices in front of us as two evils. Decades of deindustrialization, a large increase in inequality and private debt, institutional corruption, crumbling infrastructure and countless environmental issues that are now at the crisis stage, that is what the Republicans and Democrats like Clinton have led us to.

By the way, the two likely candidates are the two most unpopular nominees in polling history, by a mile. I find arguments like this to be tone deaf in the extreme, someone completely unwilling to step outside of their sheltered bubble. So much so that I think your argument is an argument against Clinton and people like her, it just shows how little they understand the struggles of most of the country and how little they appreciate what is coming for us environmentally.