So, was the past 8 years of suffering worth it?

[CatWoman]

I never once allowed myself to believe that there was a ray of sunshine at the end of our journey.

I'm so full of emotions. I didn't think we would ever rid ourselves of that jackass.

I look forward to the day in which the past 8 years will seem like a blur -- a dream even.

[nini]

1. I hope we don't forget that fuckhead

because if we do people will decide Jeb is ready in 8 years or so. :puke:


I honestly didn't think I'd feel this way again. It feels good to not be afraid of what they're going to do next.

:hi:

[doc03]

2. Without that bumbling idiot I don't think

a black or a women would have been electable at this time. Was it worth it? We will have to wait a few years, I don't know if anyone can dig us out of this mess.

[CatWoman]

15. True that

:hi:

[MrModerate]

3. Worth it for what? Just so the feelgood jolt we get over the next few days . . .

Can be more intense?

President Gore would have responded in a non-crazy way to the challenges of the past two terms, and we still might have Obama taking the oath tomorrow, with much higher chances of reaching the objectives he's laid out, since he wouldn't be facing unheard-of crises.

I won't even start the litany of what we've lost, has been tossed away, has been corrupted, or has been killed under the criminal control of Bush and his partners-in-crime.

Worth it? Oh my god, no.

[NMDemDist2]

5. hear hear.

:banghead:

there are so many things screwed up now thanks to the last 8 years.

[MissDeeds]

30. I agree

And too many soldiers and innocent people dead because of BushCo's lies. Even if Obama turns out to be the second coming, the horror Bush has unleashed will never, ever make it worth it.

[rwheeler31]

4. No the people who did this to our country should be held

accountable. We cannot forget. These people have to be prosecuted.

[snappyturtle]

6. Yes. nt

[Mz Pip]

7. Certainly, the last 8 years

made Tuesday possible. Maybe things had to get so bad that the country was willing to take a change with a young, relatively inexperienced Black guy. Everything sort of fell into place. It could have been Hillary and we would be saying the same thing about the first woman President.

I watch the festivities and the enthusiasm and wonder what George and John McCain and Sarah Yep Yep must be thinking.

George can put this in his legacy. Maybe that's the one good thing to come out of all of his screw-ups.

[stray cat]

8. We will be paying for the last 8 years for years to come

The devestation of the war in Iraq, loss of a lifetime of retirement savings, jobs lost, no end in sight in Afganistan, an economy in melt down, a deficit that is growing astronomically when we started with a surplus in 2001 that we didn't know what to do with.

[DCKit]

9. Only if "conservative" Republicans are marginalized for all time.

But a hearty "no" is in order. Had we not stood for the theft of the election in 2000, there's no telling how much better off this country and the world would be.

[rug]

10. No.

[G_j]

11. It is amazing to think how dark and ominous the clouds were.

to protest brought threats,
fear, duct tape, orange alerts, freedom fries, torture, Falujah, Halliburton....

Goss, Bolton, Gonzales. ...etc...
:puke:
Rumsfeld!!

and sadly,

The people hurt the longest and worst will be the people effected by Bush's horrendous wars.

[ogneopasno]

12. No. We could be so much farther ahead on so many things than we are now.

[USA_1]

13. Was It Worth It???

F°ck no!!!

[InvisibleTouch]

14. I don't know about "worth it"...

...given everything that has been destroyed that can never be replaced, the lives lost that can never be revived, the suffering that can never be repaid. However, there's no doubt in my mind that we had to reach these depths before we'd have the will and the courage and the resourcefulness, as a nation, to find our way out of it and take a new course. To sweep aside the ashes of the crumbling old structure, and rebuild from the ground up. Because nothing less will get the job done.

[jkserene23]

16. OH YOUR SO RIGHT...

I'M GLAD THAT JACKASS IS OUT OF OFFICE AS WELL...BUT WE HAVE YET TO SEE WHAT OBAMA'S GOING TO DO...

[CatWoman]

18. well, being that we've hit rock bottom

we have nowhere to go but up.

[jkserene23]

32. HAVE WE HIT ROCK BOTTOM YET..?

I MEAN AS SHITTY AS THE ECONOMY IS RIGHT NOW...WE COULD BE IN THE SECOND DEPRESSION...

[omega minimo]

19. I LOVE THE SMELL OF TOMBSTONE IN THE MORNING

:rabidfrothing:

[BlooInBloo]

37. :)

[xiamiam]

48. puhlease...have you ever experienced joy with the entire world for one event?

the election of Obama...
did you ever think of Panetta and CIA in the same sentence?..

Obama isnt even president until tomorrow..

anyway, welcome to DU..

[omega minimo]

17. Ya mean "30"?

the problem with obama "looking forward, not back" is that there would have been no twice stolen bush regime without reagan and no economic meltdown without "voodoo economics"

:popcorn:

[islandmkl]

20. you know, it MIGHT have been worth it...to, in a short (relatively) period of time..

to reveal the inherent lie of Reagan/Reagonomics/neocon government in such a manner that only 20+% of the affected population don't get it...

this debacle of American Democracy has been going on for way more than 8 years...Bush, Jr. is only the poor imbecile that had the bad fortune to be on the end of the chain...

when your 'vision' cumulates into someone as vapid as W, the writing is not only 'on the wall'..it has been read and understood by even the most uninvolved...

was it worth it? in what terms? to re-evaluate the American 'ideal'? to finally wake SOME people who weren't paying attention, weren't asking questions, never thought OUR GOVERNMENT would actually work against US?

it had to happen sometime...thankfully

the last 8 years are much more than the culmination of some bad politics...they are the test of our foundation...

so, i would say that if it gets more Americans involved, which is yet to be seen, in the understanding of what this country OFFERS...and more Americans decide that they don't want to relive THIS RECENT PAST of TWENTY YEARS AND MORE...

it may not seem 'worth it'...but thank () we have the opportunity to grow out of this morass...

the best test of our liberties is the unconscious surrendering of those rights...and the re-awakening, the fight to restore what is the single most precious thing that America has represented AS A COUNTRY:

the freedom of the individual to provide for the COMMON GOOD...

[depakid]

21. Short answer: NO

but it was probably necessary for Americans to finally repudiate two generations of far right propaganda and self-destructive ideology.

[Canuckistanian]

22. It's like asking if a heart attack is "worth it"

You're just glad it's over, glad you survived it and you KNOW that things are going to have to change.

And you'll fight like Hell to prevent it from happeneing again.

[dysfunctional press]

23. absolutely not- there's still no light at the end of this tunnel.

if you thought there was a ray of sunshine- you were seeing things.

[CatWoman]

24. why do you say that?

[dysfunctional press]

26. mostly the economy & the environment- take your pick.

when i see signs of positive change, i'll start believing. so far- nothing meaningful on the horizon.

[CatWoman]

27. i hear ya

[MrSlayer]

25. Not at all. And there is more suffering to come because of these assholes.

Obama is going to need two terms just to get us back to even. So, no it was not worth it. We would have been much better off with 8 years of Gore followed by whomever would take the reigns come tuesday.

[Captain Hilts]

28. No. I've volunteered at Bethesda Naval and Walter Reed. Not worth it. nt

[Skittles]

29. we will be paying for these past eight years the rest of our lives, Midori

some of the damage is irreversible

[jkserene23]

33. U KNOW WHAT SKITTLES...

I THINK UR RIGHT...

[JCMach1]

35. I am afraid you are right

:(

[cynatnite]

31. No. n/t

[closeupready]

34. The last eight years have been horrific.

Just one disaster after another, and I think we will look back at them, one day, and warn our children and grandchildren not to do like those years, as people talk about, say, McCarthyism or even something like the Salem witch trials.

[bottomtheweaver]

36. No, but if we finally whack the moles, it won't have been wasted.

I'm talking about the CIA and the rest of the secret gov't controlled by the Bush family and their clients, the ones big on assassinations and gory explosions they can blame on terrists.

That gang of thugs is the problem, and they are violent and insane. I'm not expecting Obama to be superman, but on the other hand, I'm beginning to think he just might be. So I'm not giving up hope.

[JustAnotherGen]

38. No -

Don't get me wrong - I'm thrilled Obama/Joe will be in the WH tomorrow! :-)

But no - it wasn't worth it.

It wasn't worth my friends murderers getting away with it (lost a friend in 9.11).
It wasn't worth the subsequent loss of military life over lies.
It wasn't worth the TREMENDOUS loss of civilian life over lies.
It isn't worth seeing so many Americans in financial crisis.
It wasn't worth Americans standing on rooftops in New Orleans.



Never forget.
And never this way pass again.

Now comes the difficult part - the work of getting prosperous again.

And making sure that the name Bush forever remains one of the darkest and dirtiest in the history of our country. I'm serious - Stop Jeb now.

[Are_grits_groceries]

39. NO!

Just visit section 60 in Arlington.

[Javaman]

40. Although I'm am beside myself with happiness that Obama got elected...

no, it was not worth it. Why? because during this period we lost such valuable time in combating global warming, in fact moron* has willfully set back regulations to allow more polluting to go on.

now, we not only have to completely unfuck his* colossal ignorance and willful gifts to the polluting sectors of business, but we also, on top of that, work to have a comprehensive plan to cut carbon emissions.

so no, it was so not worth it.

there's only one earth, remember?

[LWolf]

41. Worth WHAT?

Putting another centrist dem in office?

HELL NO, it wasn't worth it. All those lives. Our civil liberties. Our Constitution. Our economy. HELL NO, it wasn't worth it.

The atrocities would not have occurred under Gore, and we might have been looking to elect someone a little further to the left at the end of a Gore administration. The nation might have been a little further left than it was after Clinton to start with.

[Lugnut]

42. No.

My cousin is in Arlington cemetery because of George Bush. I can guarantee you his young widow doesn't think it was worth it.

[Zomby Woof]

43. You and I have met fine friends through DU

About the only thing Bush caused (however indirectly) that I can be thankful for, is the existence of this site - I met my wonderful wife and a handful of good friends through here.

Everything else about the past 8 years is beyond redemption or description. :loveya:

[lonestarnot]

44. Your wife!!!??? How cool is that!

:toast: :cry: :beer: :party: :yourock:

[xiamiam]

45. amazingly enough, we have jumped to an entirely new level...

maybe if the last 8 years hadn't been so brutal, we would not have moved so far..it seems like we've taken two leaps ahead instead of just one...that Barack has been elected by so many is one thing..and the wisdom which he brings to the country is exceptional and extraordinary...we are more united in our diversity than at any time ...ever....it is inspiring ..and maybe it wouldnt have happened if georgie and dickhead hadnt screwed things up so badly ....

[WI_DEM]

46. Nope, we would have been better off today under President Gore.

[Coventina]

47. Yes, I will never forget or forgive the theft of 2000

So many things would be better: no 9/11 attacks, real progress on climate change, no Afghanistan or Iraq war....and that's just the start of the list.

I'm happy to see Obama elected, but he should have been taking over from President Gore.....