I am consumed with sadness, rage, hopelessness...

[cry baby]

I was optimistic yesterday. I was hopeful that the truth will come out in the photos and videos. I believe that if they do, the end will come for this evil empire. My optimism has faded today.

Every day I drive around town taking my kids to their music lessons, to the bookstore to get summer reading books, or making a run to the grocery store. I find myself looking out the window and I don't see my America. I can't find it. I don't know what country I'm looking at any more. I remember what America was. I don't see Americans in the cars or stores. Who are we? What country are my kids growing up in? Is the great experiment called The United States of America a failure?

I am writing LTTEs, calling senators and reps., emailing info, and trying to educate myself so that I can be persuasive if the opportunity comes to change a heart or two. I am doing everything I know to do and that I can do except going on a hunger strike on the steps of the capitol. Will that kind of step be necessary? I would do that if it would raise awareness. Sadly, I think I would starve to death without notice in today's America (or whatever it is).

I am in mourning for my country.

[peace frog]

1. Bring on the sackcloth and ashes

You have plenty of company in your grief, cry.

[cry baby]

4. I know...

:cry:

[bvar22]

29. winding barbed wire around my chest, and glass in my shoes

Thanks, Vonnegut

[cry baby]

46. owww, that would hurt...

[wli]

2. I am, too

You have plenty of company.

[cry baby]

20. Maybe that's why I have spent soo much time on DU the last

couple of days. Misery loves company!

[iconoclastic cat]

3. I suggest taking a break from it for a little bit!

I know that when I've stayed away from the Internet and TV that my gloom tends to wear off a little.

[cry baby]

6. I just got back from vacation in Mexico...

had a news-free week and good family and friends time.

I guess part of my frustration (to put it mildly) is that I feel like nothing will help. Not that I'm giving up, mind you! I just would like to see some progress, and by that I mean impeachment!

[AlCzervik]

8. i was away last week and it was nice to get away from the news for a bit

i go through moments where i just want to give up but then i look at my daughter and i refuse not to be optimistic. A good cry every now and again sometimes really helps.:hug:

ps. don't give up-thats what they want.

[peace frog]

10. I'll be taking a much-needed holiday

next month. I plan to ignore newspapers, TV, radio and really relax. Perhaps I'll return with a renewed sense of spirit... but then reality returns when you get back to real life. "No matter where you go, there you are."

[iconoclastic cat]

12. I understand completely.

It seems like the fundies and the fascists have us in a headlock. But keep in mind: even the Soviet Union fell under its own weight. I think they might have had it worse than most DUers.

[cry baby]

13. Yes, but look how bad it had to get for that fall to take place.

Are my kids in for that?

I know that you guys here understand how I feel. That is why I wrote my op, thank you for your understanding and comfort.

[rumpel]

17. Look. that's a great newspaper clip. There are many of us. I found the

original (since I have not seen it myself either, thanks iconoclatic cat)

http://www.macon.com/mld/inquirer/12150250.htm

When it comes to U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, you have to wonder about the Wacko Factor.

That's my name for that nagging suspicion among voters that an elected official is a little... well... wacky.

In politics, to be seen as a wacko is nearly always fatal. If it happens to Santorum in the 2006 election, my bet is that the coroner will rule it a suicide.

Make that an assisted suicide.


Cheer up!

[cry baby]

23. May the fate of "wacko" santorum fall on many repubs in 2006!!!

[bvar22]

32. Go to the "Pet Forum" or Photography Forum" for a while.

The Pet Forum always reminds me that there is still and abundance of love in the World".

The Photography Forum reminds me that there is still BREATHTAKING Beauty in our World.

[proud2BlibKansan]

33. I was out of town last November

for a week starting the day after the election. I can't tell you how relieved I was to be able to stay away from TV and radio and the internet. The timing was just perfect.

[dogday]

5. Take a look at this post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4202222&mesg_id=4202222

[cry baby]

7. I thought that one was very funny!

There is no drug (real or made-up), however, that will make me see my beautiful, strong, respected America again.

[bonito]

9. Remember this from Kansas

Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion
I was soaring ever higher
But I flew too high
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
I can hear the voices when I'm dreaming
I can hear them say
Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man
It surely means that I don't know
On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about I'm like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune
But I hear the voices say
Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
No!
Carry on
You will always remember
Carry on
Nothing equals the splendor
Now your life's no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you
Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more

Cheer up!

[cry baby]

14. Ha, my son is watching Anchorman...

he loves that song which is at the end of the movie!

I'm carrying on, will it do any good?

[bonito]

26. Well your good, Of course it will,

You're will ... will make it so!

[Emendator]

11. Cheer up

Don't fret. This is all temporary and they will be gone someday. Sure, they'll cause a lot of damage that will take a lot of time to fix. The country is strong enough to survive its leaders. The government is not representative of the people. You still have to be happy.

[cry baby]

15. It won't be strong enough to endure fixed elections and corporate

greed. I will be happy when I can look out my window and see America again.

[Generator]

16. Something is in the air

Last two days..I had zip to say. I was overwhelmed with it. Today I'm letting the rage out. And I think the rage and despair I see here lately from many is because it's staring us right in the face. Open admitted treason by the top government. Open lies obvious to anyone about a war, A WAR! that didn't need to happen. A supreme court nominee that was part of the reason we have this nightmare in the first place. (don't read LBN whatever you do..it will cause your blood pressure to go way way up)

And it's just another day at the office. (Wake up Hillary!!)

Pat yourself on the back for having the courage to not delude yourself. It ain't easy.

[cry baby]

18. Thanks for the LBN tip...

I was way better yesterday...I guess I just saw too many "W" stickers today.

[existentialist]

19. Go ahead and cry

Have yourself a good cry, I've done it too, over these issues. But then get up and keep working with us.


("He who lay down with intent to die finds himself willing and able to go on." Nietzsche)_

[cry baby]

22. Yeah, I'm still emailing through my tears.

[existentialist]

25. And when you're done crying, please,

for your sake, find a cheerier handle.

To a large extent you do make your own reality.

[evolvenow]

21. Eventually, these Evil, Unhealthy, mostly OLD men will pass and not be re

placed. Ultimately oil will run out, or enough people will get smart and refuse to pick up weapons and cause harm.

I hear you and feel OUTRAGED today at all of the abolute cruelty and STUPIDITY of just a few individuals, MURDERERS that have too much money and power.

They will end up behind bars...soon, I hope.


Hang in there. THe majority of the people on the planet are aware....and yes, it is agonizing.




Take extra good care of yourself. Take a break and NEVER GIVE UP!

[cry baby]

24. I feel like a Stranger in a Strange Land...

I WILL NEVER GIVE UP!

[bonito]

28. Nether did budda !!

[evolvenow]

30. That is our Mantra!! When you need a lift look on craigslist at the free

section. All of these people giving things away, they take photos and post the emails.

Think of all of the good people, feeding people, helping children, saving animals...there is so much goodness, but you do not hear about these stories, but they are everywhere.

Do not hurt yourself, feel whatever you feel, and then channel those feelings into something that you can do, something little can make a big difference.

:grouphug: :cry: x( :yourock:

[bonito]

37. Yes! it's all that goodness in you that builds up

When the tears swell up it just a sign to realize the goodness within yourself has to be released, and guess what happens next! well thats not for me to say, because I really don't know for you, but, but, but, go for it!!!

[cry baby]

41. I am very empathetic, as most progressisves are...

I guess foremost on my mind the past couple of days are the tortured and raped children in Abu Ghraib. I haven't thought about my tears being a sign of my goodness. I will think about that...I must be pretty good to have so many tears!!;)

[bonito]

47. Nobody taught me this

We teach the 3 r's, and we all know when to poop or pee. But beyond this it seems were on our own. trust me, when we are full of tears, it is a time to give, and the void is renewed with a new energy thats there just for you.

[cry baby]

38. I love me too much to hurt myself...

except, of course, if called on to begin a hunger strike. I could stand to lose some weight!

Thank you for the hugs!

STILL NOT GIVING UP!

[evolvenow]

40. Take action. Call your local TV channel, send them some 9/11 videos

It is free, everyone can do this in their area. Find out what formats the channel can air. Buy video's/films that are telling the TRUTH, there are sooo many now, and get as many playing on air as possible. Someone has several playing, one after the other every Frid and Sat night. It is fantastic.

for me, action helps. I rescue/ adopt animals when I can, that helps too.

You are a great parent, that is the biggest action possible. Anyone raising their kids with truth and integrity is a true hero/shero !!

[cry baby]

48. My kids are exceptionally great if I do say so myself.

My son (13) became concerned about the environment when he was about 4 or 5. He was, and still is, worried about the disruptive encroachment of humans into nature. He's very smart. Daughter (17) is a closet newshound. Since I spend lots of time reading about current events, she hides the fact that she likes current events, too. You know how teenagers are.

I am proud that I am hopefully providing the world with 2 good citizens.

[evolvenow]

49. Your children +millions more will shift the world towards sustainablity.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

27. Do you listen to Air America Radio?

If not you really should. You won't feel so alone. And yesterday during the Jerry Springer radio segment, I felt very strongly about a subject he was talking about and I emailed the show with my opinion. Within seconds one of the producers had answered my email with a personal response telling me that a caller was coming on in minutes who would be discussing my email concern as well. Made me feel really good, like they were truly interested in my opinion.

Anyway, AAR and DU and my local Democratic Party functions meke me feel involved and doing more than just casting a vote a few times a year.

If you can spare the time, get involved with your local party. I know they will welcome you with open arms. I joined ours right before the last election because I had just had it, and it has been a wonderful experience. We worked very hard canvassing and holding up posters and throwing special events. I went to the Jefferson Jackson dinner and with my new friends to see Kerry speak. When Kerry carried our county, I really felt as though I had had quite a bit to do with that. It was a good feeling, took the sting off the rest of the story. I rode in the last two July 4 parades on the democratic float, and I had lunch with Bob Graham on his last day in office, and quite by accident ended up on the front page of the Miami Herald standing next to him. And this December I will be going to the state convention as a delegate. I'm no longer weepy because I really feel like I'm making a difference.

[cry baby]

34. I am lucky enough to get to listen to AAR every day.

I love to hear the passion of the hosts and it fires me up, too.

Very good advice, to join the local party. I live in the reddest county in the red state of Tennessee. There wasn't enough support to even keep it open during the 2004 Presidential election. When my kids, who are now teenagers, graduate and go off to college (or work camp if things keep going the way they are) I plan to work for this county Dem Party even if I have to open and run it myself. There have to be at least 5 or 10 Dems in this county!

[tinfoilinfor2005]

36. I'm in the south too, and unfortunately it isn't always easy

to find a group to join. I finally ended up calling our voter registration office in our county seat and they gave me the numbers to call. But in the meantime I found other groups on the internet that were meeting in nearby towns. It really doesn't take up a great deal of time, since the meetings are pretty much monthly unless there is an election nearing.

But they are always sooo happy to see new people that I guarantee you will be warmly welcomed. Now quit the sniveling, and go get em, girl!!

[cry baby]

44. OK, let me snivel for 10 more minutes...

I'll get a banana popsicle and go to work writing another nasty letter to bill frist! :hug:for you

[G_j]

31. you have done well, thank you

I'll just offer a few words that have had significance for me in these difficult times:

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, and kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places-and there are so many-where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility to send this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. This future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."

-Howard Zinn
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Letter To A Young Activist During Troubled Times

http://www.newconnexion.net/article/01-05/activist.html

by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

My friends, do not lose heart. We were made for these times. I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered.

They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world right now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.

You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking. Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times.

Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement. I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind. Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on the waters with you. Even though your veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy roil, I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless.

In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that. There is a tendency to fall into being weakened by dwelling on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails. We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear. Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?

..more..

~ ~ ~ ~

Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.
--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.
--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[cry baby]

35. OK, those quotes are simply beautiful and I thank you.

I have bookmarked my own thread so that I can read and enjoy the spectacular imagery and strength in these words.

Just one snippet of Clarissa Pinkola Estes' piece for everyone:"- to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity."

[G_j]

39. because I hold these three people

in the very highest esteem (and love) their words mean alot to me.

For those interested, make sure to read Clarissa's whole letter at the link. It is very powerful. :-)

[evolvenow]

43. Magnificent GJ!! Thanks so much!!

[applegrove]

42. Yes it is very tough when people try and destroy your world piece by

piece. Take care of you & yours. Plant a garden. Volunteer. Pace yourself on the boards.

[cry baby]

45. I might try watching ferrets play, maybe some of their joy will

inspire me. I am taking care of a neighbor's 3 ferrets - they are hysterical!...after my banana popsicle...

[shugah]

50. we all feel that way sometimes, i think

i know i do. not always, and not as often as i did - i think the kerry concession wreaked such havoc on my emotions, both personal and political, that i have since built enough scar tissue to deflect most of the emotional reactions to the horror that occurs daily around us. i see it happen, and i'm certainly still pissed off about it, and doing what i can to counter - but it's more auto-pilot now. i don't want to cry every day, i don't want to live in despair. it's an easy void to fall into, and i've certainly done it in the past - but i have reason to both fight, and to maintain equlibrium - sons, one of whom is 17.

keep writing letters, making calls, gathering and sending information. but add meditation and a walk in the park and a trip to the nearest lake with your kids to feed the ducks. indulge in frivilous book or re-read an old favorite. sometimes escaping from reality is good :-) necessary, in fact! ;-)

we don't really know how much worse it is going to get before the pendulum swings back, and we don't know how long it will take. one thing that semi- gives me comfort, we live in an "instant gratification" culture - the descent has certainly been speeded, perhaps recovery might be just as quick!

[cry baby]

51. I think I was maintaining before Andy passed away,

then the collective breath was knocked out of many of us. I just felt better knowing he was doing something and I had faith that he would get it done. I know there are many others that are working on the election fraud, but I miss him. I just do...

[welshTerrier2]

52. sadness is the struggle turned inwards ...

motivation and combativeness is the struggle turned outwards ...

and neither is of value without the other ...

don't worry about any given battle ... the photos, Rove, Iraq, bush, even neo-cons ... each of these things is obviously important but the real struggle for justice never ends ...

think like a marathoner ...

[cry baby]

53. you're right...marathoner mentality!

:pals: