I'm with Nicola

There are people who are critical of Nicola Sturgeon for issuing a statement in support of Hillary Clinton's candidacy for the US Presidency. I think she was right to say what she did.

These are not normal times. Were it not for the pressing need to stop Trump I would probably advocate voting for Jill Stein, the Green candidate, to the extent I expressed any opinion at all. But Trump represents a threat to democracy and common decency that must be stopped, and at the moment only Hillary Clinton is capable of that.

For all her shortcomings, Clinton represents a rational actor who operates within the constraints of a democratic system. She scores relatively well on fact-checking services. She seeks to persuade us with evidence and reasoning.

In contrast, almost everything Trump says is demonstrably a deliberate lie or, at best, an uninformed and irresponsible improvisation. He offers the mirage of a strong man with easy answers based on finding scapegoats among the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in society. He has expressed contempt for the law and due process, which he seems to regard merely as instruments of his own ego. The exploits of which he has bragged reveal a deeply misogynistic and abusive character.

Most of the criticisms of Sturgeon's endorsement cite easily debunked myths about Clinton that are part and parcel of the febrile atmosphere of conspiracy theory cultivated by the Trump campaign. Clinton said she would start World War III? No, she made some bellicose noises in 2008 about Iran as part of a diplomatic process which has been superseded by a nuclear framework deal signed in 2015. She got a child rapist off and laughed about it afterwards? No, she reluctantly took a case appointed to her by the court which ended with a plea bargain.

Of course there are many of Clinton's policies and decisions which one might contest. But there is no way the election of a rambling incoherent demagogue drunk on his own notoriety addresses these issues. There is no way you can draw any equivalence between his fascist braggadocio and her fallibility.

I would have loved it if Clinton had established a commanding lead in the polls. Then there would have been a chance Jill Stein could secure the 5% needed for the Greens to benefit from federal funding in future campaigns. At the moment this is a luxury we cannot afford, and I have accepted that the Greens will be squeezed as the possibility of a Trump presidency is averted.

And, like Nicola, I think at times like these we have a duty to speak out.