Does anyone else just feel profoundly depressed today?

[Mike 03]

This is my worst fear realized, in my own state. I don't even know what I am thinking, or how to state it clearly. From the day that Palin did her gun-sight graphic, I just had this terrible feeling that people would die. And then after the passage of the affordable health care bill, when Tea Baggers spat on revered African American and Gay members of Congress, chanting "N-word", and "F-word," I had this feeling of dread that this was going to spin out of control, and it did today, and I am profoundly, profoundly sad, in ways that it is hard to even articulate.

I cannot ever remember feeling this sad.

[cry baby]

1. yes, very sad.

[JustFiveMoreMinutes]

2. It is a strange day for me..........

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. My worst fear realized was the death of my husband. I do not feel that

depressed today. Sickened? Yes. Saddened? Yes. Profoundly? No. Watching my son grow up without his father is the basis of my profound sadness and grief.

I'm just issuing a little perspective.

[Mika]

21. I'm so sorry. I lost my wife in a sudden accident in 1991. My life has never been the same.

I buried myself in my work and didn't come out of the daze for over a decade.

Then, I fell in love with a wonderful woman in a cycling club. I began to see light.

She died in 2008 in a bicycle accident in Georgia. I wasn't there. This picture was taken about an hour before Daniella died,

http://www.flickr.com/photos/x376/3141094494/in/set-72157611658942277/lightbox/

I have never recovered. I never will.

Nothing will seem as bad to me. Nothing.

---

[ScreamingMeemie]

22. Mika...I am so sorry for your loss.

My heart breaks that you have suffered what no one should have to, not once-but twice.

There is nothing as bad as losing your soulmate, and having to somehow find a way to "move on".

I am around if you ever need someone to talk to.

[Mika]

35. Thank you so much.

I have dedicated my life in the name of the loves of my life by doing charity cleft palate surgery with Smile Train and Operation Smile (links in my sig).
Daniella was a nurse and accompanied me on a surgical mission in Nicaragua not long before she died. It changed her life. We found a bond that was not of this world through helping children in-need.
Not sure I'll ever recover, but I soothe the wounds by treating children as often as I can. The tears of joy and gratitude in the eyes of the children's family are more than enough to sustain me, and I share their tears in memory of of both of my soul mates.

Thank you for reaching out to me, and please know I am here to be reached out to also. :hug:

---

[lukasahero]

40. I'm very sorry for your loss

And I'm very sorry for the parents who lost their child today. Perspective is probably a relative thing.

[roguevalley]

41. My parents died ten months apart and that was my lowest point.

this makes me terribly sad but in some weird way its shoved something evil and vile into the light for consequences. It has made a vile woman and her psychotic followers have to be under real scrutiny and the t-party assholes in congress stripped of their fearsomeness because they can't continue to blow smoke out their butts.

This was inevitable and it is beyond tragic. But it was coming. The only part that was unknown was when, where and who. I remember when it depressed me, public life. 1968 when JFK and MLK got killed. All of this is so wrong but I am not without experience in this sort of thing. I hug everyone for whom this shit is something new. I hug the dead and dying, the suffering families and everyone who is in turmoil tonight in my heart.

[Drale]

4. I feel terrible as well

I was not around in the 60's but if I feel this depressed now, I can't imagine how you all felt when Bobby Kennedy or MLK was killed.

[northernlights]

6. this is a dim echo of when JFK, RFK and MLK were killed

Those assassinations were the end of hope for a young generation.

To me, this felt more like the first shots in a civil war. Except it seems that the shooter is schizophrenic. So probably not, after all.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Nope, but that is because I have been expecting this

and I expect this to get far worst still.

They COULD STILL ROLL IT BACK, but that requires the kind of leadership not present at the time.

So my fears are far worst than yours Mike... to me this is just ratcheting up of all this.

[Paladin]

24. My Sentiments Exactly. I Was Afraid This Would Happen.

I think as the days go on, the sense of inevitability will grow. Hope some good comes of this, but like you, I'm not very optimistic.....

[nc4bo]

7. Brought in 2011 depressed. Today adds to it if that's possible. nt

[CountAllVotes]

11. same here

:hug:

I hope this might help. I just don't know what to think any more. :(

:dem:

[nc4bo]

13. Same to you CountAllVotes...

:hug:

[Ineeda]

8. Sad, yes. But more enraged...

at the enablers of this horrible crime/criminal. (All of whom will oh, so sincerely, decry the tragic events of today but be back in business in a week spewing their violent rhetoric.)

[Initech]

9. I'm more angry than depressed.

And that's because the right-wing pukes have been out of control for years and no one has done anything about it. Hateful fucking assholes like Hannnity, Coulter, O'Reilly, Limpballs, and now Palin have been making threats against dems for years and they don't get punished for it. And now the worst thing that could happen as a result has happened. Will there be consequences for these spinless pieces of shit? Probably not.

[bluestate10]

29. Same here. My face is red, I can feel it, will not look in a mirror.

Why do democrats allow people to get slaughtered by the Right and still allow people like Palin, Beck and Limbaugh freedom to spew non stop hate.

[Initech]

31. I don't get it either.

We have waited to do something about this long enough and now there is blood on *THEIR* hands. Now we have to address this issue.

[Shagbark Hickory]

10. That's the problem with us. We don't get scared. We don't get mad. We get sad.

You don't win battles with sadness. You win battles with gun sight graphics.

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. Shit, takes 2 to battle.

I am still waiting for something other than empty words, broken promises and strongly worded letters from OUR side.

[Shagbark Hickory]

17. They tread all over us and threaten us like bullies. Now it's propaganda that leads to murder.

[bluestate10]

32. The left-wing anarchists sure went silent today.

Normally they are out in force calling moderate democrats everything but children of god. But, I did not expect much from that crowd. Right-wing anarchists at least have killer nuts among them that kill only the other side. The moral is if you become a target, protect yourself, else you will have the Left singing Kumbaya at your funeral.

[eridani]

39. Oh, right. Lefiies call for Blue Dogs to be assassinated all the time

Got a link, maybe?

[bluestate10]

30. Yep. Classical Liberals.

And they look for reasons why a political killer and his encourager's should not face maximum penalties. Any wonder why the Right does not respect the Left? There is no reason for fear in the minds and hearts of the Right, they can act out, kill and will be forgiven.

[Historic NY]

12. I'm more angry that political discourse has sunk so low...Are we still a Democracy?

[Ptah]

15. It breaks my Tucson heart.

[XanaDUer]

16. I feel pissed

and I have a feeling that, no matter how this is spun, it is bad, bad news for teabaggers and rw-ers in general.

[bluestate10]

34. We must make it bad news for them. There is no other logical outcome. nt

[XanaDUer]

36. Yes, this should not be allowed to be spun as anything other

than what it is. Okay, he's mentally ill, which he does seem to be. But, we don't want this turned into him being some type of left-wing lone gunman, (shooting at a Democrat, right).

I just heard on the news that, reading his writings and watching his YT vids, he uses language similar to "patriot movement" about world control, gold standard, etc.

[InvisibleTouch]

18. I'm too stressed for my own family's survival to be depressed, quite honestly.

I'm 2 months behind on my gas & electric payments and I've been expecting the knock at the door for weeks, to shut off the heat and power. Scrounging what I can here and there to keep us afloat. So no time for depression. I'm shocked at the news and I send good wishes/condolences to the victims and their families, but it's from a place of distance. And it occurs to me that this is why there's so little protest and activism anymore - because people are so busy just plain surviving that they don't have the time and energy left over, even with the best of intentions.

[Fuzz]

19. Nope, I'm pissed.

[Gregorian]

20. Very sad, yet very optimistic. Like a boil that bursts.

Like instead of wondering if you're sick, you know it. You're sick, but you can now do something because you know what's wrong. This gives me great hope.

I am affected by this shooting like very few things. I think it's because this was the week I realized that life is temporary. And that realization changes all other decisions. When one's goal is all that matters, then wild behavior can be expected. But when one realizes that once that goal is achieved, then all can still be lost, and even that goal can be meaningless if one doesn't have health, then there is a much more rounded approach to life.

You see, I've been buying and selling ranches all up and down the west coast. I've been in a crazy state as cheap money was being handed out to people. I did it without loans. And I just couldn't figure out where everyone was getting the ability to buy good property right out from under me. Well, now I know. But the point is, I got myself into a state of anxiety over the quest for beauty that took a decade off of my life. It nearly killed me. Then this week I got a call from a friend. His beautiful physician girlfriend just died at 50. Then my mother called me to say my dad was finally slowing down. Gardening in the morning, and then falling asleep at noon. Not my dad. It means it's his final stage in life. And suddenly I realized things are going to be different soon. And that my dream, without my father, will just be mine, and not something I can share.

All they want is some dream that doesn't even exist. And they're willing to kill to get it. Ignorance of the highest. Blind and unconscious people. They are a danger to our society like no Osama Bin Laden could ever be.

Oh well. I'm sad. But at least I see now.

[Smarmie Doofus]

23. Rec. I know how that feels....

But that's not exactly how I am at the moment.

I'm in NYC... different political climate.Not many ultra RWers around. Lots of corporate RWers. They depress me , but in a different way.

Also, waiting out the news on Rep Gifford; more nervous than sad.

Peace.

[Lars39]

25. No, I am Very angry.

[tabasco]

26. Another sad day in the decline of America.

The military-industrial powers and their propaganda machine will completely destroy her.

[bluestate10]

27. I am close to homicidally pissed. When will democrats take on the Right? nt.

[Odin2005]

28. I am very, very fearful for our country.

[Maat]

33. I can't get rid of the profoundly-sad feeling today, either.

I'm just praying for the victims and their families.

[Catherina]

37. Yes. Very, very sad. We're political footballs in the elite's game

Some are used, especially the more vulnerable, as they divide to conquer and the rest of us end up very hurt.

Our country is so fucked up right now, fault of both parties, that it's simply unbearable.

Bury my heart at Wounded Knee.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

38. Very, very depressed!!! n/t

[Carolina]

42. I felt this sad when JFK was killed

and then had a sense of lost hope when MLK and RFK met the same tragic end. The nation has been spiralling downward since the late 1960s and this is just reflective of that. So very sad. But I am more numb and mad.