Elderly people are scaring the bejeebus out of me

[nonconformist]

In just the last 48 hours, I have had 3 - THREE - separate people in separate instances over the age of 80 tell me they have NEVER seen things this bad before in their lifetimes.

One was my husband's grandmother, another was my lovely neighbor, and another was my step-grandfather. All of them just busted out with it in the course of general conversation. They stated it so matter-of-factly too, with an air of resignation in their voices.

I'm 32 (today!), so hearing that from people who have seen some shit go down in their lifetimes just sends a chill up my spine. I'm trying to raise children in this mess!

:scared:

[hlthe2b]

1. I know what you mean....

So hard to maintain positivity toward the future,isn't it?

[nonconformist]

9. Yes, it is. Ignorance really IS bliss I think. nt

[grytpype]

2. What were they referring to specifically?

I mean, should I be worried that I can't tell what disaster you are referring to?

[nonconformist]

That's the freaky thing

In each case, we were just chatting - nothing really about politics or world events - and they each just blurted out that they've never seen this country in such bad shape. My neighbor mentioned Social Security in her statement, my step-grandpa mentioned the war in his (he's a Koren war vet), and my husband's grandma didn't really go into specifics but I know from other conversations with her that she hates this Administration with a fiery passion.

[kittenpants]

51. not to generalize, but old people are always saying that sort of thing...

[nonconformist]

52. It is generalizing

I know these people, well. They're not "always saying that sort of thing", they're all sharp as tacks and I take their life experience very seriously and with great respect.

Not all older people are curmudgeon coots with messages of constant doom.

[kittenpants]

55. I was just teasing...of course it was a generalization!

and I agree with them (and wish you a happy birthday)

[nonconformist]

58. Gotcha, and thanks! nt

[fasttense]

3. I know it's kind of freaky.

My Mom is nearing 80. She says her friends (about 15 of them all at or over 80) discuss this regularly over breakfast. She says they think this is the collapse of the United States. They think the US will turn into something resembling Nazi Germany. Sometimes I can't even discuss politics with her because it is so depressing.

[Larkspur]

23. I don't think that we will turn into Nazi Germany, but the US will

definitely change and become Totalitarian for a while. We may end up looking more like a cross between Pinochet's Chile and chaoitic Iraq today than Hitler's Germany. Actually, I think we're following the path of Great Britain from imperial power to second rate power.

The Nazis were able to quickly militarize the nation and their early military successes fueled hyper-nationalism. They wanted to supplant Great Britain and become the new imperial power, and they planned for it.

In the US today, September 11, 2001 FAILED to energize Americans to join the military. Bush told Americans that their patriotic duty was to shop. Even the hype leading to war with Iraq, failed to mobilize Americans to join the military, and of course now, thanks to the growing Iraqi insurgency, Army and Marine recruiting is at an all time low.

Bush and Cheney are corporate hacks and their mentality is based on hostile corporate takeovers. That is how I view our Iraq venture. Bush and Cheney treated Iraq as a rival corporation that they wanted to take over. They did, and like in most hostile takeovers, the predator company's execs "fired" most of the workers from the rival company and started plundering the victim-company's assets. Bush and Cheney had the Iraqi army terminated and the Iraqis who were members of that army were sent home.

When Americans are laid off, most Americans don't fight the company that fired them. They are eligible for unemployment benefits for a while and they look for another job. In good times they can find another job fairly quickly, in bad times, they may be eligible for welfare.

Iraqis had no other economic opportunities and when Americans failed to provide the basics of life for them and their families, the Iraqis rebelled.

[bobbieinok]

39. 'hostile corporate takeovers'...an interesting comparison

[shrike]

54. Bingo

Great Britain is the most likely comparison for us.

[Stephanie]

64. Very astute analysis! "Corporate takeover"

You should write that up for publication.

[FreedomAngel82]

41. It is depressing to think about

I caught a little bit of the ending of Alex Jones' radio show and he had some guy on there. I'm not sure who it was since I caught the ending. He bluntly asked the guy if he thought the US would last and the guy said "not without a revolution." How depressing to think about. *sigh*

[babylonsister]

4. Happy Birthday! And that is scary.

Sounds like your relatives and neighbor aren't wearing their rose-colored glasses. Now if only the rest of the thinking people who believe otherwise would wake up!

[nonconformist]

10. Thanks! nt

[tech3149]

5. They're old enough to know

exactly where we're headed. They lived through it and most of us will too. Be strong and share what you know, it might help turn the tide.

[Esra Star]

6. They're right

But have a happy birthday anyway!

[nonconformist]

11. Thanks, and welcome to DU! nt

[Ruffhowse]

7. I'm becoming very pessimistic as well, lately. It seems as though

the growth of evil is progressing unchecked and has now infected most of our government (soon the Judiciary), and the media. Corporate America was lost to evil long ago. Anyway, the future looks grim and I'm going back to bed to hide under the covers. :scared:

[nonconformist]

12. I told my husband a few days ago

That I'm becoming so cynical I'm almost indifferent. Not apathetic, but just to the point where the frustration is so overwhelming I have to distance myself to just try to live as normal of a life as possible.

[MeDeMax]

21. many of us can relate to that...

frustration with the erosion of freedoms we have come to enjoy in a democracy.

Turn on the news and individuals who last year preached the bible, as their principal occupation, are now suddenly political pundits for the right speaking for the "conscience of the majority of americans".

Yes, sanity is hard to come by these days.

[Eloriel]

67. That's about where I am

I see not one place where the good is winning or looks like it has a chance of winning. Not one. Most of our elected leaders are SO out of touch it's appalling (with a few exceptions -- Conyers, McKinney, probably most of the CBC).

I'm just trying to brace for whatever comes. I don't think it will particularly pretty, and I DO believe that we have seen the apex of U.S.
"greatness" and it will never be the same again. Of course, on the plus side, that's probably a damned good thing when you take the survival of the planet into consideration. And good planets are hard to find. :D

[annabanana]

8. The Elders are teachers and sages

Ignore tham at your peril..They have seen this wheel turn before.

[nonconformist]

14. I agree

Their words carry great weight with me, being that I personally think that life experience is the best education you can get.

[LaurenG]

13. My own 81 year old republican mother

stated recently that Bush is stupid, only a really stupid person would do these things and think he's getting away with it. I was so happy I danced. I've been telling her that since he was governor.!!

[nonconformist]

15. That's great

I hear about Republicans that can't stand Bush or are turning against him all the time... but I hope that sentiment doesn't JUST apply to Bush but to the Republican of today. Bush is just the idiotic front-man.

[MeDeMax]

16. where were these * hating repub voters...

six months ago, will they be around Nov of '06 ?

Or, will gay marriage & anti-abortionism & anti-stem-cell & their mind-controlling-preacher, blind their senses to the reality of what is happening everywhere around them ?

[nonconformist]

17. This is my question as well

Those freaking wedge issues are the Republican's wet dream, be assured they'll whip them out and hammer on them incessantly when they need to. They're going to wedge America into oblivion, especially if we keep allowing them to frame the issues and lead the debate.

[FreedomAngel82]

44. I think they were there

Look at all the recent poll numbers. I think they were there. Look at what happened. Tearing up new reigstration forms that said democratic, not having enough voting machine's, the voting machine's being faulty etc. I still think they stole it as well since it was so close. The exit polls were right.

[MeDeMax]

56. they did steal the result...

but the contest was close, it wouldn't have been possible for them to steal the result if the polls prior to the election showed a clear victory for Kerry.

Then if the machines had produced a different winner the entire nation would have been up in arms.

Since the polls were so close no one, but us, gives a *amn :banghead:

[nonconformist]

57. I dunno about that "up in arms" stuff

I'm not convinced anything short of Bush only getting 10% of the vote and ceremoniously beheading all Democratic leaders with a machete on live television and declaring himself 'king of the world' while hanging off the front of an oil tanker would get America "up in arms".

[Eloriel]

70. Nonsense.

I'm not sure it was all that close, but in any case, they padded the numbers EVERYWHERE they could -- in places they were sure to win, and in places they were sure to lose (and who would look for padded numbers in either area??? Few people). That gave them a "3 million vote win" advantage that provided immediate (tho not definitive) innoculation against speculation and charges of fraud.

[MeDeMax]

80. I'll buy that...

you make a reasonable, logical & persuasive argument for how they may have padded the numbers to disparage doubts.

[devinsgram]

18. I may only be closing in on 60

But I totally agree and I'm telling you all right now, it is only going to get worse unless this country wakes up.

[Gman]

19. My 83 year old great aunt says its not worse, just that

things now are just like they were when Hoover was in office.

[Glenda]

53. In what way?

What does she say specifically?

[lumpy]

59. When Hoover was in office

we were in the midst of an economic struggle. There were no regulatory bodies to check corporate greed, banks and business practices(those regulations that FDR put into effect during his subsequent term tha have been degraded over time). We were in a serious economic depression. There is a diffence from Bushco however, the Hoover administration was not in the business of promoting war for poltical/economic gain. Our industrial base was still intact and with FDR administration's regulations the depression was checked. Deregulation and capitalism-gone-wild has decreased our industrial and economic power. The added loss of world respect/support for the US; God only knows how we will continue to survive anywhere close to the comfort we have known in the past. I have been around through several administrations and I agree this is the worst situation we have ever experienced as a country. I am afraid BUshco is the straw that might break the camel's back.

[lastliberalintexas]

83. I'd say Coolidge's administration

Hoover just happened to be in office when the Crash occurred and was inept in his response to the Great Depression. Coolidge was the one who set it all in motion. (in this country anyway)

And Bush is much more like Coolidge- not very well regarded by the intelligentsia, not extremely bright, anti-government, laissez faire capitalist. Though, with how much faster things happen nowadays, one can only hope that Bush will still be in office when the fruits of his economic policies blossom.

[shirlden]

20. I am 70 and I say amen!

I am also a lifelong news and political junkie. We are headed down a tunnel with no light at the end. At my age, I do not expect to see where this all goes, but I know in my heart and head that it is not good. Years ago I studied the rise of Hitler because I really wanted to understand how the good German people could let such a horror happen. Within a year of Bush taking office, I began to see the same trail of evil and fascism happening in my beloved country.
I thank God, I have no grandchildren, but weep for those who do.

:cry:

[Karenina]

25. My elderly neighbors

lived through the Third Reich. For decades this generation has been staunchly pro-American. No more. Boy have I gotten some EARFULS!!! :scared:

[efhmc]

22. Happy Birthday!!. Celebrating with 2 family members today also.

[nonconformist]

31. Thanks! nt

[ConcernedNonpartisan]

24. Damn, I wish you would quit calling me "elderly".

While I am rapidly approaching my 70th year on this earth, I don't consider myself "elderly", rather, "seasoned".

My preteen years spanned WW2, my late teens were spent in Korea and a goodly part of my 20's and 30's were spent in Southeast Asia.

Throughout these periods of my life there were several bright spots.

WW2, I met Harry Truman. History shows (and will continue to show) him as a great man. The world is fortunate that Nixon, Regan nor GWB
were in the "second seat" at the time. Imagine where we would be with the likes of them assuming the reigns at that time.

Korean (Police Action) War, I was able to exit without loss of life or limb. Not an easy task.

Southeast Asia, besides keeping life and limb, I was able to visit nearly every country in that area. Unlike most, because of the type of job I had, I didn't do a "tour of duty". I was there (on and off) for the duration. In this time period, because of the type of "war" we were waging, I was able to "mingle" with the civilians. I saw what poverty is. I saw what a "dictatorship" is. I saw unbridled hate. Fear.

Having said this, I have to agree, things (the world and the USA) have never been in such bad shape.

We could sure use a Harry Truman right now!

[nonconformist]

29. So sorry! Didn't mean to offend.

I appreciate your insight... and I agree, we could use a Truman! We could use an FDR as well.

[Jose Diablo]

26. It's pretty bad alright n/t

[Lannes]

27. Very interesting thread

and comments.Its nice to hear from the older generation even if the news isnt good.Im in a very republican county in Fla with a large elderly population.They dont seem to be as wise about what is happening to our country.Wish all of your grandparents could have a talk with them and open their eyes.

[ArkDem]

28. Yes, what is happening now makes 1929 - 1945 seem like

an extended party. We are slaughtering people around the world while many are starving at home. It's really tragic.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

78. It's not quite the Holocaust.

Yet.

[Gold Metal Flake]

30. But they voted for * because of his morals?

Alright. Sarcastic subject line. I beg your indulgence.

I was in a waiting room about two months ago. An elderly couple came in. They sat a while, the man was reading a newspaper. He pointed out a story about some mega-merger and commented to his wife "everything is becoming monopolies".

I didn't have the nerve to disturb them with questions of what he mean't, not knowing where they stood on issues and just not weanting to disturb them. But, maybe I should have. Maybe he's an old Repug and was quietly gloating. Or, maybe they were veterans of the Abraham Lincoln brigade. My cynicism and pessimistic expectations about humanity get the better of me too often.

[Stephanie]

65. the Abraham Lincoln Brigade is still alive and marching in NYC

It's really awe-inspring when they appear at events. They have a banner and they march at protests. I've seen them at peace marches here, just before the Afghanistan invasion, and I think another one too. I have a thing for old men. Just adore them.

[applegrove]

32. Wow! These stories keep getting repeated and repeated. The greatest

generation know what the gig is. Good on them.

[paula777]

33. Happy 32nd !!!!

[nonconformist]

36. Thanks! nt

[Karenina]

40. In 13 years

you will have earned the right to celebrate for a MIMIMUM of 2 weeks. Anyone checking in with you earlier or later shall be considered ON TIME! HAPPY 'BELATED' BIRFDARS, DU! :party:

[Arugula Latte]

34. To me the worst part

is not even that the presidency, the Congress, the judiciary, and the media are riddled through with an evil, corporate/fascistic cancer. It's that millions upon millions of Americans are either too stupid or too apathetic or too greedy to understand or care or do anything about it.

[Cleita]

35. Here's one that's sixty-five and I can tell you the same thing.

Although, I missed the Great Depression, I heard about it from the grown-ups. I was alive during WWII and remember a lot about it. In spite of rationing, a war time economy, and the fear of invasion, politically things were good.

[cry baby]

37. happy birthday!

I've got kids, too. I'm scared for them.

[Eloriel]

38. It SHOULD send a chill up your spine

I'll confirm things have never been this bad in my 57 years, and not only that, no one ever dreamed they could GET this bad.

[bobbieinok]

42. 65 and agree ...never dreamt things could get this bad

especially, US now known around the world as a country that tortures and pre-emtively invades countries it 'doesn't like' and has so many people who think US should be a theocracy

[Karenina]

43. Dingdingding!!

I was a pessimistic nihlist at 12. Ehrlich gesagt, I did want to be proven wrong.

[fishnfla]

45. I'm sorry, but this is a common refrain of the elderly about evrything

1. I've never seen things so bad
2. Why, back in my day things were so much better
3. I'm really worried about the future


The pessimistic triumverate, hear it all the time down here in God's waiting room.

Thing is, their grandparents used to say the same thing.

I wouldn't put much worry into it.

[nonconformist]

46. There's plenty enough to worry about

Even without the opinions of people with many decades under their belt, even if you think they were just being "old coots" for lack of a better term, it's pretty obvious we're in deep shit. Sometimes I still just sit and think, "I can't believe this is happening".

I didn't get that vibe from them though, and I obviously know the grandparents quite well. The neighbor I've only known for a couple of years, but she's never seemed to be the 'woe is me' type. In fact, most of the older people I've known in my life made it a point to convey how much better we had it then back in their day, with all that walking uphill both ways in the snow and all. I haven't heard those types of sentiments for the last couple of years though.

[expatriate]

48. I have heard similar things from older people in America

and it isn't in the "you young whippersnappers are so terrible, now in my day ..." vein either. It's experience speaking out.

One of the tragic characteristics of many aged people is a tendency to burrow down and to enclave. Many older folks develop a fearful view of the world as their own world gets smaller and smaller. They can become housebound and their only real contact with what's "outside" can be the newspaper or television news. People who approach old age in this way can become very paranoid - but usually about crime. They will often support authority figures blindly, because they believe that those authority figures will protect them from criminals/terrorists/bad people/immorality, whatever. This is the base of the stereotype of the timorous senior citizen, with fifteen locks on all the doors and the windows nailed shut, who is convinced that the badasses are waiting outside the door to rape, pillage and steal. My late father-in-law became this way shortly before his death, and I would never have given much credence to him if he'd told me that things were getting really bad.

But when intelligent, active, vibrant older people in my life, people who are well-educated and who do not "burrow" and fear the evil burglars who are going to get in through their side window begin to say that things are going bad in America, I listen. These are folks who are politically active, mentally alert and quite courageous - and they see the erosion of the Constitution and the Bill Of Rights as terrifying. They remember some bad times indeed - and they are more frightened now than they have ever been. Some have even said that they are glad that they're old, and won't live through much more!

Now that's damn sad.

[Eloriel]

71. Sorry, that's not true at all

If you want to BELIEVE that, however, if it makes you feel better somehow, by all means please continue to do so. There are plenty of deluded people in this country. One more isn't going to hurt.

[sharonking21]

47. My 91-year old aunt just said

this yesterday. The context was us talking about how I had to sign something about the Patriot Act in order to get a mortgage. However I think she was talking about even more than that when she said it.

[sharonking21]

50. PS-I'm 62

so that may qualify me to speak. Also have 4 years work on doctorate in Modern European History. I never expected to see in my lifetime some of the things that have happened since Bush was elected. We really are on track at present towards at least a mild form of fascism. Keep in mind that not all fascism is Nazi-Germany-style fascism, although we do have some political, cultural, and policy parallels with Germany -- if not perfect congruence with military, paramilitary and economic factors. Doesn't matter--fascism doesn't HAVE to be jackboots in the street type of stuff. I just pray that either voters come to their senses soon or that some accident of history unrelated to their fascist tendencies besmirches the far-right Republicans before they come into complete control. The Nazis called it a policy of "Coordination"--meaning get their loyalists into leadership positions in every facet of German life and German institutions quickly so they could then exert iron control. Sound familiar?

[Stephanie]

68. Sounds totally familiar

And I have no doubt BushCO studied up on the tactics. Did you see the comments by John Kenneth Galbraith on the PBS Newshour the other night? He's over 90. He said the corporations are running the govt. He said there are other forces at work that may counter this, but he has no hope of seeing a reversal in his lifetime (a little joke).

[lumpy]

82. John K. is Gilbraith, one of the most

respected knowledgeable economist in this country. Respected, a tower of strength who has been, unfortuneatly, all but deliberately ignored by the greedy corporate powers that be. Sorry I missed his words of wisdom.

[Individualist]

72. I'm also 62

and never would have imagined our nation would become the most hated nation in the world. We lived through the days of the cold war, the Cuban missle crisis, the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK, the Vietnam War, and Watergate. Even in the darkest of those days, we had people in the media with integrity such as Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, etc. Facts were reported, so there was always hope. Now we have a government controlled media and a population obsessed with American Idol and Survivor, neither wanting to know nor caring about what our government is doing.

We see suppression of individual freedoms and violation of the Constitution with little political opposition. Our votes don't count anymore. This government violates international law and is hell bent on invading and occupying other countries.

[Eloriel]

73. "Coordination" -- I didn't know that. What other goodies do you have?

And as for American Fascism, there's this whic I'm told Huey P. Long once said, "Sure we'll have fascism in America, but it'll come disguised as 100 percent Americanism."

[sharonking21]

75. Read this book

"The Coming of the Third Reich" by Richard J. Evans. It is a recent book you can get in paperback about the years leading up to Nazi control--not the period after they took control which is the more popular thing to read but much less illuminating.

You will be able to see what the political, cultural, and political similarities are--Hint: Bushco and Rove must have been studying this as a text for political control.

It also points out major differences (other than the obvious difference of the camps later etc)--such things especially as the paramilitary groups that formed right after the end of World War I. It would be kinda similar here if, say, Clark, Kerry, Dean, Bush, McCain etc had all organized their out-of-work supporters into armed groups under the rubric of defeating Communism and then started fighting each other too. Plus the horrific inflation and the depression.

[amandabeech]

49. My Mom's 83, and she despises Bush.

She thinks that he's an idiot, and she thinks that the Iraq War is a complete disaster. Her best friend thinks the same, and one of her other friends had a real anti-Bush outburst the other day of the type my Mom didn't think she was capable. Her brother, at age 84, also thinks that Bush is an idiot and has made far too many mistakes, and he votes 'pubbie sometimes. Many of the other older ladies in my Mom's community (small-town midwest) seem only to think of recipes and abortion. They've been drinking kool-aid their entire lives.

However, she thinks that the Depression was worse, even though FDR was at the helm and there was no war. Her family situation was extremely precarious, and they were lucky to hold on the family farm.
Nobody in the family is in danger of starving to death, so, for her, all is not lost.

[lumpy]

63. I was a depression kid.

It was a tough time for everyone, even those people who had a faily good economic cushion. It was a time of uniting, neighbor helping neighbor, scrambling to exist with bare necessity. We were still united as a country and integrity was still the most admired moral aspect of our lives. We should always be grateful that the FDR administration had our best interests at heart and squelched the corporate greed that had overtaken the US. We can only hope that we will have such an administration (damn soon), to put us back on the right track. It won't be easy.

[Singular73]

60. Thing have been much worse...

They just didnt report about it in the media back then. They do a piss poor job now, but it has, in reality, been worse.

[Individualist]

61. What has been worse?

Specifics please. As for media, we had freedom of the press in the past. That's history now.

[Singular73]

66. Heh, as an 80 year old?

I dont know...segregation, interment camps, Nixon, Syphillis trials, Kent State, etc...

[sharonking21]

76. In some ways you are right

The more I study history the more I see that what we have done in the past was really awful and there were real abridgments of civil liberties (try Woodrow Wilson's era for example) etc plus a form of imperialism. And, yes, it was considered by the media to be unpatriotic or anti-profitable to mention it too much.

However, what strikes me today about how our situation differs from the past is not the severity of each factor currently but instead how today all the roadsigns are pointing in the same direction at once.

[Stephanie]

62. Wow! What's the political perspecitive in KY? More of a red state?

So they are over eighty, born in the twenties, children in the hard times of the thirties, went through WWII as teens/young adults, witnessed Hitler & death camps, went through McCarthyism, cold war, nuclear madness, Korea, segregation, Vietnam, anti-war movement, assassinations, riots, Kent State, Watergate, gas rationing, recession, Iran hostage crisis, Iran-Contra, AIDS crisis, what have I left out?

And this is the worst? Scary, very scary. And yet there is hope, because the tide of popular awareness is TURNING.

[Eloriel]

74. Stephanie, that's precisely why things ARE "worse" --

NO hope. Awareness will mean NOTHING if we can't vote 'em out (and we can't). Awareness will mean NOTHING if the Patriot Act imprisons "dissidents" (and it does).

And so forth and so on. You of all people know the drill.

[Gyre]

69. They've been scaring me for along time.

And I don't mean how they drive.

After all, they're the ones who vote most consistantly, and look what they did to this country last time. :(

Gyre

[GoldenOldie]

77. I', 70 yrs young and have fond memories of being with my family as a young

child and listening to FDR's Fireside chats. He instilled patriotism and united one and all to work together, both the youngsters and our elders in the war effort. I remember Truman, a man small in stature but enormous in guts to stand up against the bullies. I remember Eisenhower, the magnificent WWII General who became POTUS, my very first vote went to him and whom I campaigned for. I remember Kennedy who was a great orator and asked all Americans to be givers not takers.

I have not always agreed with all of the positions of our past Presidents but I respected them and the office which they held.

I am sorry to say that I cannot say this for this President and his administration. I agree with my fellow elders, this is without a doubt the worst Administration that I have seen in my lifetime and I grieve and fear for my children and grandchildren if changes for the better are not made.

I also understand how easy it has become for this group of PNAC'ers to gain control of our Democracy. Families are so busy trying to make aliving with both parents working and many times more than one job. They are ttempting to give their children all available opportunities and are shuffling their kids from sports, to music lessons,maintain their homelife of homework, cooking, cleaning, etc., etc., that they have absolutely no time to listen and understand what is actually happening in our Government. They have
grabbed the bits of gossip, the Rush Limbaugh radio bits as truth and fact while driving and juggling their daily tasks and believe this as truth.

This administration and the politicians have been able to rely on the misinformation or lack of information that the young working parents receive to support them.

As one of the young elders, I pray that the youngers will take time to actually listen and loook as to what is happening.

[burrowowl]

79. Listen to them

I'm in the late 50's range and had friends who were in the French Resistance and knew a person who was in the concentration camps, etc.
And the bejeesus is scared out of me.
Soon will we be saying: Hail Leader!?!?! (Seig Heil!, Ave Caesar!, etc.)

[stranger81]

81. I just had the same experience with my 62-year-old father

a few days ago, when he admitted that he thinks something scary and fundamentally different --not just SSDD -- is going on in this country. Sent chills down my spine to hear him -- an evangelical, sometime republican-voter -- say that.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

84. My German neighbors are in their 80's and they compare this to

Germany in the 30's