I miss Bush. There, I said it.

[lapislzi]

I meet monthly with a group of writers. We're all Democrats, mostly hard-core, with a couple of us holding mildly conservative Ps of V on a couple of issues. But Democrats we are, no question.

When Bush was in office, we were ANGRY! Our meetings were full of ire and outrage. We dissed and dissected; we lampooned and lambasted. No topic was off limits and discussions often burned far into the night, fueled by our simmering fumarole of discontent. We voted with our feet. We protested. We wrote letters. Some of us stood for office. We knew who the enemy was, and we howled with rage.

Now, when someone raises a political issue, the others weakly wave it down. We are too depressed and demoralized to even broach the subject most of the time. We feel the shame of having been sold out and disappointed. We cannot summon the energy to speculate about the bleak future we all face.

At 50, I am the youngest member of the group. Some of my elders are working in their 80s. The woman who taught first grade for 30 years has seen her pension dwindle, her children's and grandchildren's futures shrink down to the size of a postage stamp.

I want my anger back. Go ahead, DU. Flame me. The worst that can happen is I might get mad.

[Avalux]

1. No flames. All I have to say is - there's plenty to be angry about.

Feeling depressed, demoralized and shameful does no one any good, especially when you're a writer and can use your words in powerful ways.

What has changed just because Bush is no longer president? Those who put him there are continuing to work tirelessly to take over this country. Don't let them do it.

[jtown1123]

2. I always say it's tougher for Democrats with a weak party leader. Very few feel comfortable

criticizing and there is lack of unity in the party. You see it now. A Republican president at least allows a unified opposition since Democrats are all more than willing to oppose the GOP.

[Itchinjim]

3. 227

[WhiteTara]

4. I found my local candidate today and I am going to help

him win our district and take it away from nasty Womack! Ken Aden is going to be the next US Congressman from the 3rd District of Arkansas.

You don't need anger, BTW. You need steadfast dedication to the goal of setting our country on a sustainable course. No one said it would be easy or happen in 4 years.

The problem that I see with most of the electorate is that they only surface for the 4 year presidential cycle. Presidential politics is sexy and dynamic; local politics is work but the rewards are even greater. By getting your candidate in at the home level, you can affect the scene in Washington. Don't look for a new presidential candidate, we have the one we have (we can't afford to have a primary fight...we are poor) so get out there and get him the people that he needs to do what you want.

Call you county central committee; find out when the clubs meet, go, meet the candidates, choose one and work your ass off just like you did in '08 and we will have a brighter day. Or not and you can live in the reality you are creating by looking for someone to blame and you will get all that and more.

Namaste

[lapislzi]

11. I've been involved in local politics for a decade.

It, too, is exhausting and demoralizing. The other party has bottomless pockets, and we have to make do with nickels and dimes. Our Sunday morning coffees are their gigantic catered fundraisers.

They told me that at the local level, party doesn't matter. Bullshit. It may not matter what a local candidate's stance on the death penalty or Roe v Wade is (for example), but I can tell you this: in my district, if Jesus H. Christ ran on the Democratic ticket against "Steaming Pile of Dog Shit" with an (R) after it, I assure you the latter would win.

Couple of years ago, in the town next to mine a tea partier was elected to Town Supervisor after rolling his Porsche while driving drunk 2 weeks before the election.

[wpelb]

33. That district's not likely to go Democratic

It's been over 40 years since a Democrat won in Arkansas 3. It's not a battleground district. Womack was actually the more liberal Republican that made it to the runoff. His opponent was backed by Sarah Palin and the anti-abortion crowd. He then went on to win the general election with about 70% of the vote.

Now, as to party affiliation in local elections, I would prefer to see candidates run on a non-partisan ballot. That way, you would have to examine their character as well as their stated positions on a number of issues. I grew up in a rural county in the Pacific Northwest where the Democratic Party was heavily in the majority (even McGovern and Mondale won there). The county commission was elected on a partisan ballot, meaning that the winner of the Democratic primary was most likely going to win the general, though Republicans and independents occasionally did prevail. IIRC, in the next county, with similar demographics, commissioners were elected on a non-partisan ballot. Therefore, you couldn't just look for the R or D next to or under the candidate's name to determine whether or not you'd vote for him (or her); you had to do some research.

[Warpy]

5. Be angry about Geithner still being there and preventing any real reform

Be angry about all the Wall Street Democrats infesting this administration. Blast government by Goldman Sachs, no matter which party is in office, because as long as these men are in positions of power, the rest of us have no hope.

[Pab Sungenis]

6. Really? Read this site.

We still have the anger, we've just turned it on each other.

[Hutzpa]

7. "we knew who the enemy was"

based on that, can I ask who the enemy is today?

[lapislzi]

9. Everyone. No one.

Bush was a lightning rod.

Now all that energy is defused. Is Congress the enemy (I'm beginning to think so)? The president? The corporations, the banks? Of course. The party? Me? You?

There is, and was, so much to be angry about. It just somehow felt easier when we could focus a laser beam on one individual.

Right now it just feels exhausting.

[FiveGoodMen]

18. "Bush was a lightning rod.

Now all that energy is defused."

Right wing mission accomplished.

Thanks Obama!

[lapislzi]

27. Gah!

I'm still in the fight, but I feel like some of the heart has gone out of me. Maybe I'm just getting old.

[A wise Man]

48. ok then why don't you

and all your asshole buddies vote for bush again and hand the country over to HELL STREET. Idiot

[Politicalboi]

8. Get mad at Congress

Obama can't get what we want till he has the Congress we need. There are plenty of Repukes to mad at. Use your energy and anger telling them to pass this bill.

[Progressive dog]

12. Teapublicans-pass this bill

Did you actually believe that just electing a new president would fix all that is wrong with this country?
The party of the nasty and ignorant still could stop any action in the senate, with the 60 vote rule and they did.
They're all the same--Right. So now we have only 53 votes in the senate, counting the dwarf from Connecticut, and the nasty and ignorant control the house.
Politicalboi you are right.
The original whining post could have come from a smarter than normal teapublican.

[FarLeftFist]

10. Obama's only been in office for 2 1/2 years. It's OK to still be mad at Bush.

Obama isn't in possession of a magic wand.

[WilliamPitt]

13. I don't.

As a writer, I chronicled every day of the Bush administration, every shitty underhanded little move, every crime, every war, every soldier killed, every dollar squandered, every lie compounded by a lie that passed his lips or the lips of his co-conspirators.

By 2008, I was a bag of ashes inside. It took me almost a year to recover.

No, I don't miss him. Matters are far from good right now, but you're pining for a nightmare, which I have to assume means time has somewhat leavened your recollection.

[lapislzi]

19. Poster # 17 has it right.

There's so much to be angry about, then and now, and having a lightning rod was just...easy. The sheer weight of crushing demoralization and disappointment has disheartened me greatly.

I do not miss the wanton destruction that was Bush, and I didn't mean to imply that I did.

[WilliamPitt]

22. If it were easy

everyone would do it.

:(

:toast:

[lapislzi]

26. Stop being right.

It distracts me from my nebulous rage.

:hi:

[WilliamPitt]

32. 24 business hours.

Feel better?

;)

:toast:

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. Problem is we believed we elected a leader

And the system requires reps, not leaders...

[Kalidurga]

15. I don't miss Bush at all...

I don't miss the anger at all either. Even when Bush was in office I was cautioning people about how little power he really had. But, Bush had a more cooperative congress and the powers that be loved him, so he appeared to accomplish a lot at least for those powers that be...So, yeah he was a lousy economy crippling, soldier killing, corporate flunky, but if he didn't have the cooperation that he had, he wouldn't have been able to do near the damage that he did.

Obama is now trying to at least mitigate some of that damage and he has managed to reverse some of it. Mostly on social issues I think. Keep in mind those people screaming the loudest about the lousy economy are mostly those people that have caused the economy to be in such dire straights. Seriously look at what Perry has done for Texas.

So, I am probably not as angry as I should be. But, I am willing to look at the big picture and just say no to Republicans.

[CakeGrrl]

16. If you're implying rather have a GOP POTUS to rally against,

I can't go there.

As was said above, not even someone considered to be a Progressive darling in the WH will make much headway when the Tea Party is driving the House of Representatives, thanks to how the chambers of government have to work to enact legislation. Congress needs to be taken from GOP/Tea Party control.

They have shown the nation that they will destroy it until they get their way. THAT is what people need to fight against.

[Nye Bevan]

17. Everyone was united against Hitler, too.

And after the war was over, many people missed that unifying wartime spirit.

You don't miss Bush. You miss the unifying anti-Bush spirit. A spirit that united DU, too.

[ileus]

20. you could have up to 30 more years of anger.

[lapislzi]

30. Yeah, I get it.

Boy, do I get it. I'm still in it, but it feels like pushing molasses uphill with a rake.

[Sheepshank]

21. So, are you saying Obama is solely responsible for....the stock market, 401K's and the economy

"At 50, I am the youngest member of the group. Some of my elders are working in their 80s. The woman who taught first grade for 30 years has seen her pension dwindle, her children's and grandchildren's futures shrink down to the size of a postage stamp."

Because this is sure what it sounds like.

[lapislzi]

28. Hell, no.

Where in my OP did I even invoke the president's name? I'm old enough and smart enough to know that the Great Unraveling began with Reagan.

Instead of a laser beam, I need birdshot. There are just too many things to be mad at: Congress, the corporatocracy, the baggers, the nuts, the media. When all of those were concentrated in the singularity that was Bush, it was easier to stay focused.

While I like and admire President Obama, I am disappointed that he has not lived up to his potential thus far. For whatever reasons. I don't blame him for what's going on except inasmuch as he hasn't shown the resolve that I had hoped for. I know I am not alone in my disappointment, nor am I extreme in it.

[treestar]

23. So you want things to suck more because you enjoy being angry?

Seek help. Seriously.

Are you going to vote for some right wing nut so you can feel good again? Good God. Others will get killed in the additional wars or die due to cutbacks in benefits, but you'll get to be angry again.

The very fact you aren't angry any more proves things are better.

[LadyHawkAZ]

24. Or we get told we are disloyal if we complain

Or we get threatened with the GOP bogeyman and much worse horrors if we don't back the President and the status quo.

Or those that are still angry, turn the anger on their own allies, and there's no way to convince them that this is stupid and counterproductive.

Yeah. This has certainly drained away a lot of my desire to get active for the Democrats.

[lunatica]

25. I don't miss him a bit

The knot of rage, frustration and fear in my stomach for years on end was horrible. When he stole the election the second time I went into a deep depression for months. I don't want to ever feel that way again.

[spanone]

29. not for one fucking second.

[Brigid]

31. I get what you are saying.

But still, I don't miss Bush any more than I would miss an abusive husband.

[NNN0LHI]

34. Well, it sounds like you are all old enough to be around during Reagan

Does anyone in your group ever say anything bad about him or do they miss him too?

Or have they forgotten that nightmare already?

Don

[LWolf]

35. It's not possible to forget the nightmare of Reagan with Obama in office.

He's a constant reminder. He's more like Reagan than any Democrat I've known.

[NNN0LHI]

36. Had it pretty rough through the two Reagan administrations did you?

If you don't mind me asking how old were you during that period?

Don

[LWolf]

39. I was an adult.

See # 38 for more.

[NNN0LHI]

43. Then you should remember the Reagan administration laughing and joking about AIDS patients dying

Have you seen anything comparable to that from this administration?

Don

[LWolf]

46. I've seen the president and his SOE praise

mass firings at a high school in RI.

That doesn't rise to joking about AIDS patients dying, but it certainly does show an unacceptable level of callousness towards labor, and a Reagan-like disdain for teachers and unions. Not to mention a willingness to use false rhetoric and sacrificial groups to push harmful education policy.

I've seen Obama allow Donnie McClurkin to campaign for him, which suggests complicity with, or at least full willingness to turn a blind eye to, his gay-hating agenda.

[livetohike]

37. Either your memory is short, or you weren't old enough to

buy a house (11% fixed mortgage rate) or look for a job (11% unemployment rate) during those years. Interesting how the unemployment rate and mortgage rate were the same.

I was teaching elementary school when Reagan called ketchup a vegetable. My kids were inner city and poor and on free lunches.

President Obama is nothing like Reagan. If you aren't old enough to remember, then please read some history.

[LWolf]

38. Ronald Reagan was my governor before he was President.

I remember him too well.

He started the path that has led to the mess we find ourselves in now.

I also remember, quite clearly, that Obama admires Reagan and his "transformational" presidency. He admires the way he put a stop to the "excesses" (civil rights, etc.) of the times. Those excesses that I was, and am, a supporter of.

His own administration can be said to be "transformational" in the same way. Transforming the Democratic Party to the party of neo-liberalism, the party of the "3rd way," the party of compromise and capitulation.

I stand by my evaluation.

[livetohike]

40. I see your points, but I think that trend started with Bill Clinton

and sadly, I don't see an end to it.

Reagan's policies decimated the steel industry - particularly in Pgh (my hometown). Most of my family was affected and the region is still trying to recover. So I bristle when I hear President Obama compared to Reagan - Reagan was heartless and soulless, imo.

[LWolf]

44. Clinton was the DEMOCRAT who followed neoliberal economic policies.

Privatization, de-regulation, general selfishness, greed, and disdain for the have-nots were all jump-started under RR.

[bigwillq]

41. Then vote for a repuke.

I really think you're being a bit dramatic here.

[NYC Liberal]

42. I, for one, never again want to feel the rage I did when he was in office.

I have no desire and do not miss it.

I don't see how anyone could.

[Ganja Ninja]

45. Don't worry you'll get it. n/t

[yellowwood]

47. You Can Still Feel Rage

Go ahead.

The reason that we were so "fired up" during the Bush years is that we still had hope that things could get better if only a better leader could be elected.

Well, we have a better leader, no doubt. But he's not Jesus Christ.

We had not idea of the depth of the mess that eight years of Bush had created for us. We were right to feel rage. We still can and should.

My biggest disappointment has been the expansion of the wars in the last two years. I keep hoping that there are reasons for that that I just don't understand. And I believe that the choice for a Republican ticket would have made things even worse. Remember McCain's "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran?"