You have not been given an excuse to quit.

[jobycom]

The ruling yesterday did not give you that excuse.

The Health Care fiasco does not give you that excuse.

Any broken promises or frustrations or dissatisfactions with the current administration, real or perceived, did not give you an excuse to quit.

The fact that it is all so hard does not give you an excuse to quit.

If you quit now, blame yourself, not anyone else.

We all knew they wouldn't quit fighting, didn't we? Bang your head against the wall, and get back to work. We're in this for life, no matter what they do.

[Cary]

1. Quit what?

Quit on the people we entrusted to do these things for us? Quit caring?

Personally I think that those who quit on the people we entrusted to do these things for us are disgusting. Work to get as much of our agenda done as we can and when these people are done elect more who will get more done.

If that's what you're saying, I approve.

[jobycom]

8. Fighting.

We can't quit trying to get candidates who support us. We can't quit trying to force the candidates we elect to do what we tell them. We can't quit trying to convince people that we are right. Basic stuff like that. We just can't quit doing what we do just because the other side wins.

I heard Granny D speak once, and she talked about doing everything we could even if it all seemed hopeless, because one day the situation will turn, and we will be the ones ready for it.

[Demeter]

2. For Each Time He Falls, He Shall Rise Again, and Woe to the Wicked!

--Man of La Mancha

[proteus_lives]

54. Great quote.

:thumbsup:

[peace frog]

3. No excuse is necessary to do or not do anything

and definitely, I accept my share of responsibility for wanting to believe and allowing myself to be fooled again.

[Cary]

7. So you're working to spread discord and discontent to make up for it

That makes sense.

Oh, wait. It really doesn't make sense. It makes no sense at all.

[peace frog]

13. No comment

The sneering behind your words says it all.

[bigmonkey]

49. And the smugness behind your words says it all about you.

Discouraging others is contemptible.

[peace frog]

58. We're in agreement

that discouraging others is wrong. I discourage no one.

[MineralMan]

50. Actually that you brought it up says it all.

You need do nothing to drop out of the fight. Nothing. You don't have to post here. You don't have to do a damned thing. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

[peace frog]

57. I'll post if I wish

and thank you in return.

[MineralMan]

59. Posting ain't Quitting...

[peace frog]

60. Please re-read

You won't see the word quit.

[jobycom]

10. If you wre that apathetic, you wouldn't bother posting. You don't fool me. nt

[peace frog]

12. You are kind to say that

but really, I'm all in right now. That may change in the future and I wish it may be so. My faith is shot, but I do appreciate your kind words.

[jobycom]

15. Meh. A little rest and a Red Bull, and you'll be ready again.

:)

[Wapsie B]

4. I agree with the fact that the gop doesn't quit fighting.

Hell, if they were down to 20 members in the Senate and a proportionate number in the House they'd still find a way to control things.
I just wonder what will it take for the Democratic Party to be a true party of opposition to them?

[jobycom]

19. Actually, they do. Frequently. They are a party of quitters.

Look at the number of militias and white supremacists and others who have dropped out. Most of them are on the right. They quit. The ones who don't quit are the moneyed people who make a fortune off the Republican Party. They are the ones who keep fighting, because they can pay others to fight for them.

They fear us. We just don't realize it enough.

[T Wolf]

5. By not quitting, do you mean we are obligated to continue to "support" the sell-outs who lied

to us about their intentions?

I do not intend to quit trying to effect positive, progressive change.

I have quit supporting pukes who pose with "D"s after their name.

[jobycom]

11. Whatever it is you believe is right, that's what you shouldn't quit.

You aren't obligated to support anyone. If you feel the best way to get the change you want is to oppose those you no longer trust, do that. Others feel it is better to try to force them to be what they implied they would be. For them, that's what they shouldn't quit.

I've mostly stayed out of the whole "Obama tricked us" battles because first, he didn't trick me--he's just what I expected, and that's not a compliment. But also I hate fighting people who want the same things I do just because we don't agree on how to get it.

That's my thing. You do your thing. That's all I meant.

[T Wolf]

24. I was not fooled - at least, not totally. But after a year, I am convinced that Obama and the Dems

in DC do not "want the same things I do" and only differ on how to achieve them.

I see them as running a con whereby they get to have "power" a little while and enjoy the bigger offices and committee chairs, as long as they do not rock the puke/corporate/fundy boat. After these four (or maybe eight) years, they will calmly go back to being the disloyal opposition that rubber-stamped everything that the GOP and George sent up.

They cannot be trusted and need to go away. If that leads to a quick puke return-to-numeric majority (as opposed to the operational control they currently have), I really do not see much downside.

Maybe, after a more severe depression, more people will get fed up and demand real change.

I feel the same way about the wars. As long as the impact (dead bodies) remain few and out of sight, Idiot Amerika will go along. Most do not see the economic impact of flushing trillions into the desert (minus the vig that DOD contractors skim off the top). What made more Americans rise up against the Vietnam War? It was tens of thousands of dead kids! Until that level of impact is felt here, the wars will continue, and spread.

[jobycom]

34. That's not how I see it, but you may the smarter one.

Some politicians get elected just for power, but most really want to change things. What I see are a lot of leaders who have to form a majority, and so they compromise enough on some issues to get that majority on other issues. We get frustrated because we don't get what we think we should, but we get more than we would have otherwise.

But some compromises go too far, and I'm probably one who is willing to accept more than I should (though there are definite lines I won't cross). It takes people not willing to accept any to keep pushing those who do.

That's how I see it. Everyone on this board is trying to push the government to the left. We differ on how far left and on what we see as the best way to do it, but if we all keep fighting our fights, eventually we get something going right. At the very least, we stop it from going more wrong.

That's why I voted for Obama in the general elections. I didn't expect him to move us much, I just knew we'd get less worse under him, and maybe he'd even surprise me. He hasn't so far, but he's still better than what McCain would have done.

The good thing about electing people who just want power is that sometimes they will decide that their best way to stay in power is to make us happy. THAT's why I think we should keep fighting.

[T Wolf]

43. I appreciate your response - different from the usual "fuck off cynic" and the like.

I also voted for Obama - partially because I could not face another four years of Bushism and partially because I fell (again) into the deep well of hope that Obama so effectively exploited.

But, after being politically aware for over 40 years (my first Pres. preference was Dick Gregory in '68), I am not going to give anyone more than ONE chance to deliver. Fail and someone else gets my support. That extends to primary and general elections both.

[peace frog]

76. Jobycom has shown compassion and humor

in response to the downhearted among us, myself included, and it is greatly appreciated.

[crispini]

6. KR

[elocs]

9. It's hard not to be disillusioned and disappointed with the fecklessness of our party.

Ultimately if anyone really wants to quit no excuse is really needed, but there are currently a good deal of excuses available and the seeds of some of them were sown years ago.

(Having been at DU for awhile I have found that lecturing people does not really work well.)

[jobycom]

14. I'm not trying to lecture. I'm trying to be an annoying pep-talk person.

People have been disillusioned with the party since it began. That disillusionment made them elect FDR, JFK, and LBJ. It made them fight for women's suffrage and equal rights. Helen Keller fought to get Wilson elected, and by the time he left office she called him a major disappointment. But she fought the whole time, and helped pave the way for FDR's reforms.

Disillusionment is sometimes just the motivation we need.

[elocs]

17. You're right: there really is little more annoying than a pep-talk person.

I generally just shut them off.

[jobycom]

21. Then why did you respond?

Al Gore at the 92 Democratic National Convention said that we had all become cynics, but a cynic was just an idealist waiting for a reason to believe again. If it was good enough for Al Gore, it's good enough for me.

[elocs]

64. Because this is an open message board, and I can. n/t

[Shell Beau]

42. Not really. More annoying is someone who nitpicks shit to death

or is an ass for the sake of being an ass. In a time when people are so upset and wanting to just quit fighting the fight, pep talks actually come in handy.

[jobycom]

52. Nah, face it. I'm annoying as hell.

:rofl:

[Shell Beau]

66. Only most of the time!

;)

[elocs]

63. Fortunately, I don't give a shit as to how you feel about what I say.

If you don't like it, please put me on "ignore" because I would do it to you in a heartbeat.

[Shell Beau]

65. You are so lovely.

Thanks for being a little ray of sunshine in all this rain.

[Hekate]

68. Okay

:eyes:

[Tailormyst]

32. I, for one, thank you for trying.

Unlike others in this thread you have chosen to try and inspire, rather then kick those who are already feeling down. Posts like yours are more of what folks need to hear. Thank you for that.

[Doctor_J]

16. No, but we were given stark evidence that continuing to fight

is futile. We have no power at all any more. None.

What does "in this for life" mean? Am I going to continue to spend my time and money fighting the Roberts Gang? The Beck Gang?

why would I? I have a better change of beating up Mike Tyson than of overcoming the SCOTUS/Big Media cabal. When enough people are ready to do something more than post rants on the internets, I will be there. Until then I am done

[jobycom]

27. Enough people to do what?

To elect a leader who promises change, even if he hasn't brought it yet? To take over Congress?

Christ, we're almost there. We've almost won. Why do you think they are pulling out so many big guns? It's because they're terrified of us. We beat everything they had in 2008, and they are trying to deflate us because they are terrified of what we will do next.

Corporations won a very minor victory, and it wasn't even one sided. It allows us to do the same things now. Hell, now Democratic Underground could pay for an ad supporting our favorite candidate, and run it the day before the election. And here you are, a regular poster, influencing the people who would be approving that ad. That gives you a louder voice than many people, all by yourself.

If we weren't hurting them, they wouldn't be fighting this hard.

[Doctor_J]

47. We've almost won?

One reason we're in the shape we're in is that many are unwilling to accept the direness of the situation. Minor Victory?

what is it that we've almost won? Nothing has happened in favor of working people over the last year? 9 years? 30 years? If this is what winning feels like, maybe I should try losing. It can't really be much worse. 80% of the people want health care for all - we can't even get a vote on it. A majority want clean air & water, but corporations keep winning pollution legislation.

Wow. I can contribute $5 toward an ad! maybe if every single DUer does that, we can match Pfizer's ad budget for 2 minutes.

The reason they're fighting so hard is because we are defenseless and can't fight back. There are simply no repercussions for any manner of crime perpetrated by the right. As another DUer pointed out, if the Obese Pedophile were to be Berg'd, the dialog might begin to change.

[Hekate]

18. How is it I'm only the 4th Rec?Good rant. We need to borrow some stiff upper lip balm from the Brits

Stiff upper lip balm. That we do.

Hekate

[jobycom]

28. Recs are for beauty contests. We're the trench fighters. Who needs them?

:)

[Ryano42]

20. I am rather heartened and motivated...

I heard a local radio shock doc telling people to fight. A Libertarian sort and not progressive at all.

I think this travesty will unite a lot of people to fight...

[TreasonousBastard]

22. I agree, but it's seems to be a lot easier...

to post on message boards that the world is ending because there are bad people out there.

(And even worse people pretending to be our friends.)

[jobycom]

29. Even that serves a purpose.

You get people scared, then they get mad, then they fight, then we win. And if not, it's just fun to complain. At least we're staying involved when we show that much passion, even if the passion is dispair.

[The Doctor.]

23. They can be felled by their own machinations.

Not easily, but this country wasn't founded by quitters.

[jobycom]

30. You say can, I say will.

:)

[The Doctor.]

41. It does not give great comfort, but it is nonetheless heartening to know...

That they must fail.

The forces of avarice, fear, and insecurity will either be destroyed, or will destroy themselves along with the rest of us.

It may take 100 years, it may take 1,000,000... but the human race cannot evolve, cannot master time space and consciousness, until the forces of insecurity, fear, greed, and ignorance are burned away.

Until we, as a race, learn to look forward to the next thousand years, rather than the next fiscal quarter, our survival as a species is in dire jeopardy.

They will either die because of us, or they will die when we all do.

[jobycom]

53. Darn.

Well said! :thumbsup:

[femrap]

25. I gotta say that

I am glad to have reach the stage of 'Acceptance.' I had no doubt that the SCOTUS would side with Corporations having free speech. Those 5 boyz are pure evil.

They will get theirs though....I have no doubt.

[Lifelong Protester]

26. I'm with you

We need to buck up. Maybe it's because I am old(er) and would have been buried into a hermit's existance LONG ago if I just gave up everytime things looked the darkest for our country.

For cryin' out loud folks, we've been through worse! I personally lived for two days in a bomb shelter through the Cuban missile crisis; then my president was shot; then cities became battle grounds for riots; then a major civil rights leader was murdered; a presidential candidate, brother of the president, was murdered (Don't stop me, I'm just getting started; all this happened in 6 year's time)

Then we elected the Imperial President, with only ONE state dissenting; then he nearly stole the government; called out troops to shoot at our own citizens; kept a long and nasty war going; had to resign....

Ok, I'll shut up and quit the history lesson, but folks, get some perspective. The only way we rose above those disasters was to NOT GIVE UP.

Enjoy being disillusioned for a while, if that gets you through, but then get in there and FIGHT.

I know not what course you will chose, but my path is clear.

[jobycom]

33. Don't you dare shut up. I needed that history lesson.

:applause:

[T Wolf]

46. The question is how to fight. That can range from just dropping out and not actively

contributing to the corporate domination through political activism to violent revolution.

Each must choose for themselves.

[FailureToCommunicate]

48. Ahh, the bad old days. 'I love the smell of tear gas in the morning' Your summary

is my memory too: Our young years clouded with fear of nuclear war, our school years spent seeing our friends get killed in a country on the other side of the globe, then decades of Republican administrations cutting taxes for the rich and siphoning incomes from the middle class we thought to possibly join and racing pell mell to ruin the environment...

I hope our generation, and this next one coming up behind us, will continue to heed your advice to NOT GIVE UP.

[Lifelong Protester]

56. Criminy, I forgot to mention being OTD (older than dirt) means

remembering when newspaper "help wanted" ads were segregated by GENDER! Oh yeah, that fight was a big one, baby. It had worked for a long time to keep women in jobs that paid less and held less 'prestige'.

Wear the bastards down, I say. Women didn't give up. Hell, it took us a long time, too long, to get the vote, and the path towards stepping out of the kitchen and into colleges and the work place was rockier than all get out, tough, road blocks and debris thrown in our way (Coya Come Home!)


Did you know that this year for the first time there are more women with college degrees than men? And that isn't a :thumbsdown: to men, just an illustration to my point that WE can GET THERE, but we have to keep on.

[Birthmark]

31. Don't be absurd.

I don't need an excuse to quit. Quitting is my right, even my duty under certain circumstances. In the unlikely event that a true opposition (to coporatocracy) party arises, count me in. Until then, I don't really care which brand of pro-corporate numbskull gets into office.

[jobycom]

35. Fine with me.

America needs more quitters. Especially more on the other side.

[Birthmark]

40. The other side of what?

That's my point. There doesn't seem to another side. There is only the pro-corporate side, represented overtly by the Republicans and somewhat less overtly by the Democrats. So where is this other side of which you speak?

[jobycom]

51. Hogwash. That's just an excuse.

If you don't see the difference between Bush and Obama, as flawed as he is, then you were never in the fight in the first place.

[Birthmark]

78. And that is just a straw man argument...

...what with me never claiming that there was no difference between Obama and Bush. It's not the differences that bother me. It's the similarities.

I'd like to see lots more differences, preferably substantive differences.

[jobycom]

79. So they are the same but different?

:shrug:

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

36. I assume this is addressed to our elected leaders?

[jobycom]

38. We are the leaders, when we remember that. nt

[Forkboy]

37. Every time I think about quitting I realize that I don't know anything else to do.

I wish I did, but I don't. Sadly, for me, this is the only game in town.

[Dogmudgeon]

39. I'm fighting

The word "quit" is useful when talking about drug and cigarette addiction -- not political activism.

I'll only give up thirty seconds after my last heartbeat. Then I'll reincarnate and fight again.

--d!

[fascisthunter]

44. Aside from a couple posts, I don't think people are quiting

[Joe Fields]

45. I told you yesterday that I don't play in a rigged game.

what part of that can't you understand?

[jobycom]

80. With my memory, I don't even recall that conversation

so I'm not sure what part I wouldn't understand if I did recall it. The part I don't understand now is what game you think is rigged?

[TheKentuckian]

55. Hadn't crossed my mind

but I have grave concerns at this point of winning by playing their game, by their rules, on their terms. We'll have to shift the dynamic.

[Hekate]

67. "We'll have to shift the dynamic." Exactly! So have you/we/anyone got any ideas how?

Day shift -- night shift -- I'm working on the paradigm shift.

Hekate

[TheKentuckian]

71. My "best" answer is to default our way to a crash

[proteus_lives]

61. When it looks like all hope is lost-that's when you start fighting harder.

Quitting is not an option. You get knocked down, you get back up and keep swinging.

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Saints are sinners who kept on going."
~ Robert Louis Stevenson

"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop. "
~ Confucius

"A champion is someone who gets up, even when he can't."
~ Jack Dempsey

"If you are going through hell, keep going."
~ Winston Churchill

"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on."
~ Thomas Jefferson

"It is said an Eastern monarch once charged his wise men to invent him a sentence to be ever in view, and which should be true and appropriate in all times and situations. They presented him the words: 'And this, too, shall pass away.'"
~ Abraham Lincoln

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."
~ Helen Keller

Fall seven times, stand up eight.
- Japanese Proverb

How long should you try? Until.
- Jim Rohn

~ Never give up. And never, under any circumstances, face the facts. ~ Ruth Gordon

Defeat never comes to any man until he admits it.
-- Josephus Daniels

If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
-- Frederick Douglass

"I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying."
-- Michael Jordan (1963-) U.S. basketball player

“Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul.”
-- Douglas MacArthur

“It always seems impossible until its done.”
-- Nelson Mandela

“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value."
-- Thomas Paine.

" There are two kinds of success. One is the rare kind that comes to the person who has the power to do what no one else has the power to do. That is genius. But the average person who wins what we call success is not a genius. That person is a man or woman who has merely the ordinary qualities that they share with their fellows, but has developed those ordinary qualities to a more than ordinary degree."
-- Theodore Roosevelt

"If you are tired, keep going; if you are scared, keep going; if you are hungry; keep going; if you want to taste freedom, keep going."
-- Harriet Tubman

[peace frog]

62. These are great!

Keeping to savor them later. Thanks!

[Hekate]

69. Those are inspirational. But one request...

Please remove the attributions to Thomas Jefferson and General MacArthur. Those particular slogans come from motivational posters, not those two giants. I mean, by all means leave the slogans in this really good list -- just remove the attributions next time. Thank you.

Hekate

[proteus_lives]

70. Going to need some links.

I've seen the TJ quote attached to FDR but not a motivational posters.

I'm not saying you're lying but I would like some context.

[Hekate]

73. I don't lie, but I was mistaken it seems

The rope thing turns out to be attributed to TJ everywhere I look. Just because it sounds colloquial and has been overused as much as "Amazing Grace" (a hymn I really used to like) doesn't mean he didn't say it.

Same thing with MacArthur.

You have my apologies.

Hekate

[proteus_lives]

75. No worries.

I just wanted to make sure.

Source-checking is never a bad thing.

:hi:

[LynneSin]

72. I keep remembering I felt pretty doubtful about Clinton around this time in early 1994

He managed 8 years.

[gleaner]

74. I have no plans to quit ...

I'm in for the long haul. Only now I am going to add to my list of red flags candidates who advertise a lot. Instead of wiping the drool of my chin and muting the sound, I'm going to be wondering where the money for that advertising came from. Who is he taking money from. I'm going to consult my blogs and progressive forums more often and listen religiously to Maddow and Olbermann and others who have been pushing back all along.

I'm going to try to let my elected scumbags know how dispensable they are. We didn't always have limits on corporate contributions and even when we did the corporations were expert in forking it over in secret. It is bad, but it isn't new. We on the other hand have to toughen up and stop running home with our marbles every time the going gets tough.

A blogger whom I respect explained how the conservative tactics against us could cause depression, inertia and feelings of helpless. She recommended a book on the subject. The gist of the book is don't let people bully you. Stand up for yourself. Tell them to shut up and give back the depression and feelings of helplessness. And as the book pointed out, you don't get extra points for not raising your voice.

[merkins]

77. Onward Through the Fog

Tally Ho!