I'm in a bad place.

[Atticus]

I have voted and contributed and marched and protested and canvassed and worked my ass off at times to elect common-sense people-oriented progressives. I have spoken in public, written countless LTE's and guest editorials and argued face to face with people who were threatening me with imminent harm.

And, none of it seems to have helped at all, long-term.

The Ernsts and Cruz's and Gohmerts just keep getting elected by a populace that is apparently more interested in Dancing With the Stars than what abominations their good ol' boy Congressperson has planned for them. Shutting down the government, gerrymandering, voter suppression and government policy for sale to the highest bidder are all apparently OK with "Joe Six Pack".

Seared into my memory is the Kentucky woman interviewed on TV before the last election (auction?). She wore a big smile as she gushed about how "wonderful" it was that she now had health insurance through her state's "KYNECT" system. And, when asked who she'd vote for in the Senate race, she---still wearing that big smile---replied: "McConnell---I ALWAYS vote Republican".

I think we are past the political tipping point: I don't think our democracy can be revived by the normal political means. We just can't fight the money and the power assets already seized by voting for new leaders. Hamilton described "the people" as a "great beast" and I think that beast is now so co-opted, coerced and distracted that it cannot pull itself out of the plutocratic quagmire into which it has waded.

I think that the PTB are afraid that we will revolt, literally. That there will be blood in the streets and, worse, much property destruction. But, I don't think they need to be concerned. As long as beer and a little weed are kept available and most have access to cable TV, the billionaires can do whatever amuses them or further enriches them, including killing our planet.

That's where I'm at.

[kentuck]

1. You are not alone.

We are beyond "politics as usual".

[roguevalley]

24. agreed but you cannot give up hope. People this low on the food chain learn

from pain. It will change but we have to help it. It may seem dark now but it will only get better if we keep marching. In the end, good will triumph. I am old. I believe that in spite of the things I have lived through. Don't give up. THis is your life at stake, my friend.

[TheNutcracker]

2. I spoke to a group about all of this in Sept. of 2005! "Our work has changed"

We need to stop doing the same thing, because our 'party' insists...as they run things instead of the people. We need to come together, both sides and present a real alternative.

In Florida, Crist was not an alternative for the republicans, while they do hate Rick Scott. But they could not vote for Charlie. They asked for ANYONE ELSE on the dem side, they said they would vote for them. The Florida party shoved Crist down the dems throats.

Now, JEB is going to be the nominee. So....people, especially republicans want an alternative cuz they are tired of the Bush's too. But Clinton, is NOT an alternative for them. They will stick to voting repub. So IGNORE the party, and work for a real alternative candidate on our side.

Republicans are counting on us for that. Hillary's numbers have stagnated within the party, but I'm already hearing the party talking points...'only she can win'. That is all bullshit! You'll be looking at another Bush in the WH if you listen to this shit.

[yeoman6987]

3. You got that right!

Picking Crist for the nominee on the Democratic ticket was the biggest mistake the Democratic Party made in years. It was almost a joke. How do you expect the Democratic voters to vote for a guy they hated as Governor????? I know he was supported here for some reason, but not to the voters in Florida or at least not the needs to win. Rick Scott was the easiest win we had except for Pennsylvania Governor and somehow the DNC screwed it up. A shame quite frankly.

[hfojvt]

9. How can the Florida party shove anybody down throats?

If some magical candidate X was going to win in November, then why couldn't he/she file and beat Crist in the primary?

And as for Hillary. Well, she makes ME sick, personally, and I never liked Bill either (although some of his speeches were very good), but nobody is forcing her on us, except the millions of registered Democrats who will vote for her in the primary, just like they did in 2008.

[1StrongBlackMan]

26. Here we agree ...

I was going to ask whether the Democratic Primary was cancelled and I missed it. If, as the OP indicates,

In Florida, Crist was not an alternative for the republicans, while they do hate Rick Scott. But they could not vote for Charlie. They asked for ANYONE ELSE on the dem side, they said they would vote for them.

Then, such a candidate would have won the primary.

[hfojvt]

33. I have seen party leadership take a side in a primary

and I could see then how supporters of the losing candidate might be complaining about how the Democratic Party machine kept them from winning.

And I am thinking, well if this candidate cannot beat the Democratic Party machine, then how will he/she defeat the much more formidable Republican Party machine in the fall?

Not that I think the party should take sides. In both cases that I have seen, it has led to the losing candidate leaving the party, and they both were former state senators.

[Whiskeytide]

38. Not without the money the...

...State party brings to the table. In a state as populous as FL, you don't reach enough people without $. That's how the party "chooses" the candidate. In a perfect world, you would be right. But FL....?

Crist issued a lot of IOUs to win the primary. He was a bad choice for the Dems in the State, but his friends would have made out quite well if he had won.

[deutsey]

4. Unfortunately, I have to agree

I feel pretty much the same way and you do a good job of articulating my frustration.

I think we still have to continue the fight, though, however beleaguered we are. I think about the African Americans, for example, who kept their struggle alive after Reconstruction failed to integrate them into American society.

But, as that example shows, our struggle will likely be long and difficult and may not bear much fruit during our lifetimes. The forces arrayed against us are huge and powerful and quite determined to keep us down and prevent another "century of the common man" from ever happening again.

That sucks, but giving up entirely sucks even more.

(We need a "solidarity" smilie, but that one will do).

[hfojvt]

5. I am not sure it is all about the billionaires

I mean, it is not the billionaires who do most of the automobile driving. It is we the people. It's not the billionaires who cannot seem to figure out how to either a) not litter or b) recycle. It's we the people.

The richest 1%, most of whom are NOT billionaires, get about 20% of the national income. The bottom 99%, all of whom are NOT billionaires, get, and largely consume, the other 80%.

But otherwise, I get what you are saying, and the really depressing part, to me, is how little was accomplished in 2008. We had President Obama, we had the House, we had 59/60 in the Senate.

And we couldn't even really get rid of the Bush tax cuts.

Worse yet, to me, is that there's only about me and six others on DU who even care that Obama basically betrayed us on that and then lied in our faces.

I find THAT to be really depressing.

The Cruzes and the Gohmerts? Heck, who is the one who is filed those TWO amicus briefs against the workers of Amazon saying that they should have to work unpaid overtime?

It's Obama.

[deutsey]

8. +1

[lark]

18. I do think it's about the billionaires

Who is Obama helping by going against Amazon workers - why he's helping the billionaires. Who did he help by giving the Repugs what they wanted before they asked (killing single payer for example) - the billionaires. Who is behind all war all the time - you guessed it - the billionaires and their sycophants.

[shenmue]

6. Would this help?

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[samsingh]

7. you are not alone

we're all there with you.

[Savannahmann]

10. All the money doesn't seem to be buying much

The most expensive midterm election in history. Yet, the lowest voter turnout since World War II. Money doesn't seem to be winning, or losing massive voter turnout. You could argue that if the Republicans had record turnouts in all their races, or even any of them. But you can't, so all the ads, all the flyers, all the robocalls, all of it was wasted.

So if the money doesn't matter, what does? This is the age of the Internet. Most people look things up, they don't ask friends, family, or co-workers what is going on. They get email messages with news stories. They visit sites to see what is going on. Fox news has fewer than a million viewers most days. So even Fox isn't reaching very far when you consider most states had more voters than Fox has viewers.

So what does matter? Performance. Let's say you buy a car you expect is going to be really fast. You go to the line, confident that your expensive car will totally smoke the other car. The light goes green, you stomp on the gas and the other car pulls away from you. You are furious, disappointed, and you feel betrayed because your efforts got you nothing in return. The same analogy can be applied to any sport. Look at the sports writers who mention the incredible salaries that the players make when the team is losing. The idea is simple, an investment of time, or money, should result in some sort of return.

The Democratic Party is a coalition, by necessity. We have Environmentalists, Womens Rights Activists, Labor Union supporters, Privacy advocates, Civil Rights activists, and any other group you care to imagine. The problem is we can't please them all, and we've made too many promises to all of them. Civil Rights activists expect the Justice Department to reign in the police involved shootings of unarmed individuals. Instead the Justice Department provides additional funding for the departments, and more weapons and additional training. Privacy Advocates expect the NSA and FBI spying to be reigned in. Instead, it is covered up and those who speak of it with knowledge are persecuted.

Then there are those who by helping, we betray another group. The environment needs help, we all know that. Yet, honestly the coal and oil industry is unionized. So those unions want to know what you're going to do to help the members who turned out and voted for you. If you are too kind to the unions, you help destroy the earth, and the Environmentalist movement departs and takes their support with them.

So what can we do if we aren't going to appeal to certain groups? I mean, it's obvious now that by placating one, we offend another, and that diminishes our support to the point where we lose badly.

We must begin to watch the polls, and identify the things that people actually care about. Core issues that are populist in nature, and give us the political power to nudge those other things along the way. We can't just cut coal, because doing so destroys several unions we need. But we can't let it go on. So we make it possible for job retraining, and bringing in alternative employment to areas that will be affected by the coal reductions. We have to present more complete, better thought out plans. Because if we don't, we're going to continue seeing an erosion of our core support, and it's going to be the death of our party.

One poll may not be a good indicator of public opinion. But many polls showing the same thing means you're an idiot if you ignore it. Politicians are temporary employees. The public can and does fire them with little or no warning. We have to work to get hired, and we have to work just as hard to keep the job when we get it. We can't take votes or voters for granted. We have to earn every single one of them with hard determined and focused work. Finally, we have to remember that we represent them, we don't command the voters. Our elected leadership works for the voters, and can be fired by the voters too.

[RoccoR5955]

32. What happens when

They throttle down the Internet, and have a "multi-tiered" system?
The big corporations will get all the bandwidth to feed you their pointless ads, and places like DU will have slow speeds, making it painful for the average Joe or Jane to get the information that they need to keep this experiment in democracy going.
Sorry, I feel it's over also, and the oligarchs have won.

[man4allcats]

11. I am of the Darwinian view

that we will ultimately and inevitably be victims of our own folly, that folly being not the failure to adapt to ever encroaching right-wing conservatism but rather the failure to adapt to recognizing that encroachment for what it is and dealing with it. Sure, many of us know, but many more like the woman you mentioned who "always votes Republican" just don't get it and never will. As you note, the plutocracy will of course keep us pacified with cable tv and the intoxicants necessary for the narcolepsy of our addictions. And in that state we will drift off eventually into the loss of our freedom and finally into the loss of any sort of sustainable society following the destruction of our ecosystem. I sometimes wonder if earth's distant future will be that of a world where only plants and cockroaches survive.

[Dustlawyer]

20. I feel the same way, but I will not go down without a fight!

Bill Moyers had Jim Hightower (longtime Texas legislator) on his show awhile back and they discussed what it would take to get the money out of politics and publicly funded elections (PFEs). Hightower said it will take people protesting on the streets that are prepared for police assaulting them. I agree, it cannot be done without violence on their part and will take many more people fed up with what is going on to hit the streets. Our empire is failing and to have any chance of getting back on track in time to properly address Climate Change is slim. Our biggest hurdle is the media and its complicity in keeping the public distracted and misinformed. One of the first things that would need to be done if we could accomplish PFE's is to bust up the media and banking Oligarchies!

I spread the message of Publicly Funded Elections in almost every post because this is the only thing that attacks the Root Problem, corruption of our politicians with the need for ever increasing amounts of campaign money! We all need to be spreading this message and educating anyone who will listen. It shouldn't be hard to understand that campaign money is a bribe and a threat. If the politician doesn't do what the Lobbyist demand for the contribution, they will run someone who will do their bidding. Our Representative Democracy has already been lost.

It is imperative that we get Bernie Sanders to run as he is the only politician advocating PFE's. If we could recruit Elizebeth Warren to run with him we may have a chance!

[dixiegrrrrl]

31. So let's say Warren and Sanders get the Pres and VP..in whatever order...

How do we wrest Repub. control of the Senate and House?
And states?

It's gonna come down to either threaten the money train of the rich ( and now that would have to be a global proposition)
or
bypass them.

Sadly, I think THEY have learned the lesson of the Trust Busting days of Roosevelt,
And political reform took decades, to go from the Gilded Age of the 1880's to the late 1930's.

The Corpocracy has been at work since Reagan, has taken them about 25 years to reach this point of controlling N. America, Western Europe.

Worse yet, to quote the best line of The Newsroom from last night:
"A person has already been born who will die due to catastrophic failure of the planet to support life."

[Dustlawyer]

39. Unfortunately, I cannot argue with this. My hopes are a long shot that depend on "We the People"

being fed up enough to support Bernie and hit the streets in mass. Currently, people know our system is corrupt, but are content to bitch without action.

[dixiegrrrrl]

41. Well, FWIW..

One of the good things is that people are getting fed up all over the globe and communicating about it.
Starting with Egyptian Spring, more and more people are organizing.

And...look at Ferguson now. People who are protesting in other cities tonight are also carrying signs about other issues as well.
And are hearing and seeing this no matter where we are.

One thing we can do pretty easily....help people learn of alternatives to the MSM, esp. on tv.

[Katashi_itto]

35. I completely agree. Cultures/societies are subject to Darwin's laws too.

[RoccoR5955]

12. I feel your pain.

And am debating whether or not to leave the country when I retire in a few years.

[lark]

19. I'm with you!

My husband and I are continually searching for a good place to retire other than in the US. We're presently considering Portugal, Ecuador, Peru and Belize.

[Katashi_itto]

36. I am looking at those places too. Along with Japan.

[DinahMoeHum]

13. Join the club. . .

. . .unfortunately what I have to say in terms of further measures to take is not fit for public discussion.

[Mr.Bill]

14. If our current Media has anything to say about it,

I figure we are about two elections away from President Kardashian.

[CanonRay]

15. We're in the same bad place

I think the system is broken beyond repair. It has to be torn down and rebuilt from scratch, and our electorate is not capable of rebuilding it (although they could tear it down) and our leadership certainly is not on a par with the leaders we had in the late 18th Century. In short, we're fucked.

[Scuba]

16. One cannot fix everything in one's lifetime, or even come close ....

... but if many of us can move the needle just a little, make this earth a better place where we walk, then in the long run we will prevail.

[gordianot]

17. I donated money and was insulted that I was not doing enough.

What I donated most likely went to media ads to convince voters unable to consider their own interests. Party strategy in the Democratic Party sucks! My pocket book is closed, panic and guilt does not work.

[CrispyQ]

21. This: I don't think our democracy can be revived by the normal political means.

The entire electoral process is corrupt & compromised.

Gerrymandering
Electronic voting
Money = speech
A corporate media with an agenda
Dumbed down, disengaged population

Lower the price of big screen TVs & iPhones & put more mindless shit on the tube & there will be no revolution.

[Stonepounder]

22. The Revolution usually comes

when parents can't feed their children. And Corporate America seem to be hell bent in that direction. Repeal minimum wage laws, cut food stamps and ADFC. Keep wages low, cut benefits, schedule people so they can't possibly work a second job. And then tell people that if they just give up a little more to the 'job creators' everything would be better.

In the immortal words of 'Me and Bobby McGee', Freedom just another word for nothing left to lose. When the middle-class shrivels up and blows away, then folks have nothing left to lose. When parents watch their children sicken and die from drinking water from the tap that has been poisoned by pollutants. When even two-income families can afford to feed their children decent food because climate change has decimated harvests, then folks have nothing left to lose.

Yes, Atticus, I believe the Revolution is coming. However, beer and weed and TV isn't going to stop it. because parents will choose feeding their children over cable TV (which is currently pricing itself out of the market).

[Cleita]

23. I'm with you. There is that comedian that says,

"You can't fix stupid."

I now believe it.

[Warpy]

25. The PTB know full damned well they've gone too far

and that people sick of misery and with little left to lose will rise up.

They think they're prepared for that.

They are wrong, of course. They always have been, over and over and over.

Dunces like your KYNECT lady will always be with us, blind and pig ignorant and feeling some sort of kinship with power. She's largely irrelevant when the shit hits the fan.

Right now, most of us have warm houses and enough to eat. That's not going to be the case much longer as labor is strip mined by the obscenely wealthy.

People with nothing left to lose will always rise up. And they will win.

[CK_John]

27. The first sentence outlines your problem you have been concerting on individuals

who have common sense, etc. When none of that matters if you don't have an electable candidate, you're just another I want a pony supporter.

If you don't vote the party, your vote is wasted. Like the lady said I always vote the GOP. They understand the process.

We are a 2 party system like it or not, or you could spend your time building another party. It can be done but it's a slow process about 30yr.

[nruthie]

28. I'm right there with you.

We are doomed. Period. Most people are too busy with their phones to even notice, much less sit up and take action to protest our sorry situation. We are a nation of brain-washed dolts. The last sham election removed any doubt that we perhaps hadn't
all been royally screwed. Silly me.

[ctaylors6]

29. I look to local politics and issues

I don't feel so small when it comes to local or even state politics. Many important things in our day-to-day lives are not so directly controlled by the federal government.

Do what you can to change what you have some control over. Many big changes start with lots of small ones. Think of an issue like marriage equality that has changed over time in a positive direction.

[upaloopa]

30. The way I see it is that we can over come.

But the last election has shown me that we need to lead instead of follow.
It is said here that the low turnout was because there wasn't anything to vote for and our person was no better than their person.
Well we have to vote even if the above is true. We will wait forever if we are waiting for the right candidate. If we out vote them we can at least keep them out of power until we develop a platform. We then raise money on that platform and spend it on those candidates we want to run.
No despair. Take action be proactive. Vote organize raise money. Use the social media. We can change things but we have to work together.

[Initech]

34. The billionaires have declared themselves god, Caesar, and Jesus.

And it's getting scary. We've given the Fortune 400 way too much power and they've just become obscenely corrupt. Unless we reverse this trend they'll just keep buying election after election.

[Atticus]

37. Apparently, this OP hit a nerve. I am astounded at the # of recs. It apparently is too much of a

"downer" for some as it quickly fell off "trending now".

I would apologize for being so negative if I could think of an honest alternative assessment of our situation. Maybe I'm just in a funk, but I think the problem is bigger than my attitude.

[roody]

40. There is a crack in everything.

That's how the light gets in.

Leonard Cohen song

[ZombieHorde]

42. Many seem to feel this way.

Maybe the police are getting military equipment for a reason.

[rhett o rick]

43. It's past time to revolt. Peacefully. But most, even here, are not ready.

They are slaves to their Comcast, ATT, Apple, and Walmart. We had a democracy people are choosing materialism and the slavery that goes with it. Some here in DU that claim to be "politically liberal" disparaged Occupy because they were afraid Occupy would upset their materialism and authoritarianism. Most Americans turn their backs on the injustices around them. We are allowing the banksters to steal our resources while we have a very high infant mortality rate. In other words the banksters are killing our children indirectly and we, as a society, won't sacrifice or even risk our excess material processions to fight back.

If you support a Sen Warren or Sen Sanders for president, there is no guarantee we can recover, but if you vote for H. Clinton, you can bet this will continue.

I hope there can be justice for Michael Brown, but violence works in the favor of the Oligarch Rulers.