I am feeling restless as summer draws to a close

[beachmom]

Summer starts earlier here, and ends earlier as well. School starts in middle August, so I only actually have a couple more weeks of true summer vacation. With that as a background, I cannot tell a lie that I am beginning to be truly burned out with politics, possibly in a lasting fashion. If health care reform fails, as it did in 1993, then I may end up reverting back to tuning out the news and politics. If it fails, that means the system is still a failure, and that too many people can't be bothered to understand basic truths about "socialism" and "capitalism". That the government sets the rules no matter what, and it is whether those rules favor corporate profits alone or whether it is in favor of the overall common good, which would not be anti-corporate per se, but would also benefit American citizens.

We have already discussed and fretted over leftist extremists who together with Blue Dog Democrats seem intent on stomping their feet so that health care reform never happens. Nobody wants to compromise so we sit here, while the GOP takes pot shots at the President in the most petty and sometimes racist ways.

There is also the fact that foreign policy is not going very well either. Afghanistan is in bad shape, and Iraq may get worse, thereby jeopardizing the plan to get out of there as planned. I am very depressed by internal politics in Israel, and there is an extremist right wing element there as ugly as here, which has been attacking Obama (sometimes, at least, in a very racist way). So many things have gone wrong, and could get even worse in the future.

Here at the Beachmom household, the hammer of unemployment will hit probably by the end of the year. Oh, more joy.

I think John Kerry is doing very well, and doing a great job, and reading about his goings on has been a nice balm. But apart from that, when I go on line I no longer find it fun to read. It is just bad, bad news all the way around. I suppose my "news depression" is different from when Bush was President. Back then, I felt like there was a solution: elect more Democrats and take back the White House. Well, we did that, yet I am still seeing little progress. And the Ugly Right is still given a big megaphone (so much for the theory that the reason why Democrats weren't given more air time was because they were out of power.) I am at the point where I just delete BBC America from my DVR, unwatched. I just don't want to hear it anymore. I avoid cable like the plague, of course.

As my news consumption wanes, I have found myself watching more movies, reading books (novels, not current events), or listening to music. I wonder if this will be a trend.

Perhaps what I am feeling is impotence. I strongly believe in the principle that only constituents should call their Congressmen/Senators. I have no one to call. I am not going to waste my time calling Tom Price, Saxby Chambliss, or Johnny Isakson. They are conservative (or right wing nuts) and will vote no to everything I am for. And I have not been impressed by any of the liberal organizing I have seen. Frankly, I feel I did my part. I helped get Webb elected and Barack Obama elected. Now it is their turn to do their job!!! Just DO IT.