I am about to give up.

[gWbush is Mabus]

I am so very disillusioned.

I feel like the individual cannot make a difference in this country.

I have gotten into debates/arguments with my parents, with friends trying to show them the light.
I have donated money.
I have done my own research on the issues.
I have used so much work time (on DU), that I could get fired.
I have boycotted Fox News, etc.


I have come to the realization that it doesn't matter.
The media is so damn powerful that they can take a 50 million dollar, 300,000 person movement and crush it in a matter of days.

There is no way to stop it, b/c the opposition has no voice.


Before you say, "great, you are just going to help Bush get reelected"
I say, it doesn't matter.

I cannot convince people that Iraq was wrong, that Bush was a liar.
I have tried SO hard. The people are all brainwashed by the media. It is like trying to convince a hard-core religious person that there is no god.

I cannot donate any more money. I am broke and it would not make a difference versus Bush's $250m plus tax-payer funded fundraising trips.

I do NOT agree with the views of Kerry nor Edwards. Both come across as phony and opportunistic. They have no integrity with me. They will say whatever the polls say that people want to hear.

While I remain ABB, Bush-lite does not appeal to me or inspire me.

And the main point is this:
EVEN IF I spent all my time going door-to-door, donating more money and campaigning for Kerry or Edwards, it doesn't matter.

The media will show a clip of Kerry licking his lips in an akward way or John Edwards winking at a female supporter and turn a molehill into a mountain... turn it into a political assasination.
they can play ANYTHING over and over and over again with "pundits" saying whatever they need to to get the job done.

and don't tell me Kerry cannot be "Gored" or is too strong to fall like Dean did. The only reason he is popular right now is b/c the media said he is "electable". But what is electable, are swing voters going to vote for an arrogant aloof Mass-Ted Kennedy librul? Not if the media tells them later on in few months from now that he is unelectable.


we cannot compete.


I am losing family, friends, money, etc. for what?
Educating myself on this issues does not make me happy, in fact it pisses me off to no end that a scumbag like bush can get away with all the corruption that he gets away with.
If I cannot compete with the media, what is the point of making my life miserable?
Is it so that I can be part of a noble cause? Is it worth it?

I give up.

[Octafish]

1. One person can make ALL the difference in the WORLD!

C'mon Smirkster! Check out what Robert F. Kennedy said:

Address of Senator Robert F. Kennedy: Day of Affirmation
University of Capetown, South Africa
June 6, 1966

EXCERPT...

"There is," said an Italian philosopher, "nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things." Yet this is the measure of the task of your generation and the road is strewn with many dangers.

First is the danger of futility; the belief there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills -- against misery, against ignorance, or injustice and violence. Yet many of the world's great movements, of thought and action, have flowed from the work of a single man. A young monk began the Protestant reformation, a young general extended an empire from Macedonia to the borders of the earth, and a young woman reclaimed the territory of France. It was a young Italian explorer who discovered the New /world, and 32 year old Thomas Jefferson who proclaimed that all men are created equal. "Give me a place to stand," said Archimedes, "and I will move the world." These men moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of the events, and in the total of all these acts will be written the history of this generation. Thousands of Peace Corps volunteers are making a difference in the isolated villages and the city slums of dozens of countries. Thousands of unknown men and women in Europe resisted the occupation of the Nazis and many died, but all added to the ultimate strength and freedom of their countries. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage such as these that the belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

CONTINUED...

http://www.rfkmemorial.org/RFK/affirmation2.htm

[hang a left]

9. Yep.....and look what happened to him.

"They" will never let anyONE make a difference.


Hey Smirky,

I have been just where you are. I came to DU after spending much time at bushwatch, from their links. When I first got here, I thought it was just bush and family. What I have learned...whew! Now I just hang around for LBN and topics that I am interested in, and to keep an eye on things. It's that horrible feeling of powerlessness, that I have moved on from to one of acceptance. I don't know what your spirtuality level is, but I have turned to my faith for consolation. And these days I just watch.

[BruinAlum]

2. need a hug?

:pals:

BTW, I think you meant to post this in GD04

[JuniorPlankton]

3. I feel your pain n/t

[madmax]

4. Rosa Parks made a difference

And all she said was, 'no'.

:hug:

[trumad]

5. Ahhh..you're just going through a phase...

we all go through it... You'll give up for a few days and then you'll start getting the itch again... Take a break... re-energize, and then get your ass back into the frey... WE need you!

[BigDaddyLove]

7. So did Lee Harvy Oswald...........

.

[Ninga]

6. I know, I know, I know, I know, I know.

Either we live by the sword or die by the sword.

Hang with the good Dr. for now.

You are not required to make any moves or make any decisions for a while.

Relax, go for a walk and please understand that I send hugs your way because there are MILLIONS of us just like you out here.

Once bitten by the political bug, you are inoculated forever.

[Norquist Nemesis]

8. No No NO!!! Please

Take a day or two and get away from it. I feel exactly the same way you've described at times, and find I just need to distance myself. It helps me clear my head and gather my strength ready to fight another day another way.

Please hang in there...it's not just us that needs you. It's our country!

[BillZBubb]

10. Take a break from politics and the news.

You are just suffering a little burnout after an emotional ride. It is a very common phenomenon. There is an inevitable letdown after a large effort.

Once you get back into the political arena you'll realize (I hope) that getting Bush* out of the White House is crucial to the long term prosperity and democratic ideals of our great country.

[Jacobin]

11. Its always darkest before the dawn

Hang in there. I feel the same way sometimes. There is only so much we can do, but I think the tide is beginning to turn.

[CaptainClark23]

12. Firefighters

Ever met a firefighter who hasn't swallowed smoke, or been burned?

They recuperate, recover, and go back to work. Its what they do.


Follow their example, as these other people around you suggest: take a break, recover, find your feet again. If you really didn't give a shit you'd never have run into this burning building in the first place. You'd be standing across the street, watching as a disinterested observer.

You ran into to this conflagration to help, to save lives, to make a difference. You cannot turn your back on what you know to be true.

I know what you're feeling, I've questioned myself over and over. "What the hell are you doing? You can't change the way things are, why make yourself crazy?"

I've even decided to put it aside, to expend my energies elsewhere. But then I will read something, hear something, and my blood will boil. I know I cannot ignore what's happening, and so again rush into the burning building.

Sometimes it feels like you're the only one who can see whats happening. You're not. There are others like you, and sometimes we all need to put down the hoses and just breathe.

Hang in there Smirky...we'll need you back.

[Bandit]

13. You need to watch the TV movie "King"

It can offer a whole new perspective on what "one person" can do.

[YNGW]

14. How 'bout this.

Don't worry about convincing people to see things your way. Just discuss it and let the chips fall where they may.

For example, you could spend all day here on DU trying to make people see it your way, but why bother. Some people are going to believe what they want to despite the facts. Some people just want to post behind you just to argue over nothing or to try and make something out of what you said just to get a rise out of you. When you know you're right and they're wrong, don't respond to them, they aren't worth it. That's what I do.

Also, realize that you have more control over your life than anyone sitting behind a desk in Wash. D.C. does. I don't live my life according to who is in power in DC, never have, and have no intentions of ever starting.

[Moderator]

15. Locking

Rules to start discussion threads in the General Discussion forum.

...

7. Discussion topics that mention any or all of the Democratic presidential primary candidates are not permitted in the General Discussion forum, and instead must be posted in the General Discussion: 2004 Primary forum.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation,
DU moderator