Very random, and very sincere.
There are a lot of posts recently about those who came to DU in 2001. I came in mid-2002, and I find myself thinking about others. Not the ones who are still here to celebrate the 10 year mark, but the ones who are not for varied reasons. Guess that is part of the political process online, some survive, some don't and never know why. The never knowing why must be the very hardest thing of all. Those posters are the ones I remember the most as the talk of the anniversary celebration begins. I miss them.
Someone today asked the question about why there are not more posts of substance here. Two things. First, I think there are a lot of posts with great substance. They just disappear so quickly while posts about "exciting" stuff kick them down the line. Lots of exclamation marks and lols and rofls.
Secondly, writing a post with deep conviction or strong feelings leaves one open to the ridicule of the internets. There are places waiting to ridicule such posts at once, whole forums devoted to showing scorn to those here who post their deeper thoughts.
About 2010:
The hardest part of 2010 was the loss of confidence in our party and country.
I have tried to figure my feelings of discomfort as the year ended. There were personal sadnesses mixed in, but I felt uneasy aside from those. It was not easy to put into words how I felt....but it really is that. A loss of trust and confidence.
I don't trust as I did before. I don't believe even half of what I hear around me in this fundamentalist area, and I don't believe much more of what passes for truthtelling in the news these days.
I don't believe the leaders of the country anymore, and I have never felt that way before. I don't believe the leaders of our state, and I certainly trust them not at all. I do think there is some intentional misleading, but I mostly fear the bubble of leadership does not let through the ideas of the grassroots, the netroots.
I have noticed many of our party's leaders..governors, congressmen..are adopting the "talk tough", punitive, zero tolerance language of the right wing. In their words of warning to teachers to do better or get fired...it shows. This administration began on the note of making teachers feel inadequate. I am having a lot of trouble getting past that.
Oh, I want to believe them, trust me. I would feel so much better if I did. But they are openly misrepresenting the condition of Social Security, they are not listening to those who know the program best. I don't know their full plans, but the fact that they have left seniors hanging, expecting the worst, is indicative that we will not like what is coming.
They are using right wing propaganda about Social Security. It is not true. They don't care if we don't like the idea.
They seem to feel it is necessary to make "the left", the "liberals" upset in order to govern. They never upset the right wing. Yet the right wing will never vote for them, no matter how much they cater to them.
The condescension toward teachers in public schools has gotten worse the last two years, even worse than under the Bush presidents. When our leaders show disrespect toward teachers, so will the parents and children. Our Democrats could stand up for teachers, defend them...but they are not doing it.
Today I read that Governor Cuomo and his staff are expecting the anger from teachers. They just "expect" the anger, they do not listen to their concerns. The feelings of teachers are not a concern. The goals are set, right or wrong. When you "expect" anger from a group like teachers you are equating them with pouty children who don't get their way. I find that inexcusable.
There is a flippancy toward those of us who speak out on education, who believe teachers' unions are necessary to protect teachers from random dismissals based on whims of school administrators.
The worst part has been the continued arrogant attitudes toward those of us whom the leaders consider to be "liberals" or "the left." There is no real set of criteria defining us, so they show their contempt toward anyone who speaks out that the party is failing to take important stands.
Our neighbors were visiting yesterday, and one of them was raving about the seafood at a local restaurant that gets their seafood straight from the Gulf of Mexico. I did not say much until she kept on, and I said I did not eat shrimp or fish now unless I knew it was from somewhere else. She said oh our government says it is perfectly safe now. I said they are wrong and they know it. I talked about the Corexit, and her son agreed with me. The government did not do its job in this case.
I suspect the falling birds of Arkansas will be a similar situation. Already they are blaming loud booms, and I am not accepting that. 5000 birds just don't die from loud booms. If they did there would be more birds falling from skies in other states.
Back to the Social Security proposed cuts..that is most on my mind these days. It is infuriating how they spin it, our Democrats are as bad as the GOP. We are building monster embassies in at least 3 middle east countries quietly....yet the leaders are calling for
shared sacrifices from those who can least afford it. It's outrageous, and it is being done by both parties.
Both parties are unabashedly going after public employee unions. They are not even putting on a pretense about it. And public employee pensions...the powers that be have the ordinary people convinced they are somehow sinful things to have. Undeserved.
2010 was a sad year for our family, but that was personal and ours to overcome and deal with. What was worse was what it meant for our nation.
2010 was the year I realized that the great opportunity Democrats had to begin taking America down the right path again was lost. I finally had one of the hit my forehead with my hand moments...like how stupid have I been. It was the year I realized that both parties goals are basically the same, that we have become a nation in which our leaders answer to corporations and not us.
I won't be taking part in the reminiscing threads about the past of Democratic Underground. I can't right now, because my head keeps pounding with the names of those who did post their consciences, their deep thoughts...and are no longer here.
That's about all I'd better say, but the thoughts keep pouring anyway. I guess I will write another post to clear my head...but I won't post it.