I Ask Myself Will I Ever Feel Good About Anything Again After This Election.

[TheMastersNemesis]

At 73 based on everything I know and have experienced in this country I just do not know if I will ever feel good about anything again. Personally this election has been devastating because I understand what madness we are facing. Ever since Reagan fucked the country all I have seen is a slow slide to where we are right now. In actuality we have a raging psychopath now in the White House. Sorry Trump will prove more than a sociopath. And the GOP will prove itself to be the reincarnation of the Nazis. And right wing Christians will prove they are as bad as the Islamic terrorists.

Of course we have to fight all this insanity because we have no other choice. At 73 and retired why do I have to fight this insanity at all. Thanks to racism and mass determined stupidity and apathy on the part of 46% of people who did not vote we are in a crisis as far as I am concerned.

Each day with each tweet Trump proves how incompetent and vicious he is. And it is not even the beginning of the administration from beyond hell actually. Even hell won't be as bad as what I fear.

I am no mood to say merry Christmas and I am even in a worse mood to even think happy New Year.

ADDENDUM
I am working on finding hope when I see little. And I am working on being optimistic. There is another aspect of this situation that I have not shared. I lost my foot to staph 3 years ago and have been doing pretty well resuming most activities including winning a flight in a golf tournament where I was the only golfer with a wooden leg LOL.

However, my spouse has developed a health condition that is scary. It is such that it leads to all sorts of possibilities that are worrisome. Until we can see a cardiologist after a echocardiogram we won't know what is going on and what can be done.

[cilla4progress]

1. I'm so so sorry

I know...

[SharonAnn]

5. Yes, at 71 I feel something like that. Fighting the battles of a lifetime all over again.

I'm generally optimistic but am really struggling for purpose and focus. The violence simmering under the racist and misogynist statements does give me fear.

I truly don't know how to deal with this yet.

This article seems to describe what I have experienced living in East Tennessee (Appalachia). But really don't know how it can be overcome.

http://forsetti.tumblr.com/post/153181757500/on-rural-america-understanding-isnt-the-problem

[shraby]

2. I'm 74 and feel the same way. Seems everything is upside down.

"The Boys from Brazil" and the "Odessa Files" were not fiction it seems, but documentaries.

[yallerdawg]

3. One small consolation.

The title of your post is the exact same one posted 8 and 4 years ago by every partisan Republican who could type!

The pendulum is swinging. You know it is. You've seen it over and over.

Happy Holidays!

[csziggy]

35. Yes, the pedulum is swinging but more to the right than to the left

Every time it swings to the Republicans it seems to go more and more to the right wing of their party. When it swings back to the Democratic side, it seems to stop closer and closer to the center and not as far to the left as it did 30-40 years ago.

I refuse to believe that most Americans are more racist and less religiously tolerant than they were when I was a young adult. Maybe I am in a bubble, living in a liberal enclave,but even the people who claim to be right wing believe in being fair and getting along with others no matter their national origin, skin color or religion.

Maybe I am wrong and the world has turned so that the pendulum is not swinging on the same arc.

Best watched from 2:20 when the "pointlessly dramatic music" starts:

Since Reagan got elected I have been waiting for the pendulum to swing back to the left and it hasn't gotten back to where it used to go in the 1970s. Yes, President Obama has been a wonderful president but he is still more centrist than I would like.

[bekkilyn]

54. This mythical pendulum

If there is a pendulum, it's been almost consistently swinging right for many decades. Obama just slowed it down a bit, but it's persistently moved right and right and right and ever more right until it will inevitably move completely into fascism. (And Obama has never exactly been left to begin with.) There has been no stopping it.

I don't believe in the mythical pendulum, or at least not one that will happen in my lifetime as it will take over a generation to recover from Trump, if we ever recover as a free nation.

Telling me to believe in the pendulum is like telling me to believe in the easter bunny, and I personally think I'd have better luck with the easter bunny.

[SHRED]

4. I'm 60 years old

I had hoped our country would not devolve into a state of "Idocracy".
I had hoped it would never come true when I saw that movie.

It did devolve, and worse.
My hopes are gone.

[cilla4progress]

8. I'm 61

and we just watched that movie. Laughed our asses off, for one. Could see that world is here now, not 500 years distant, for two.

I hope y'all have things that make you feel good? Pets that need you and smile when they see you? Walks in nature to remind you how small we are and great she is? Descendants who we need to protect this world for? Good works and people who rely on us to put more love in the world.

Consider that this has strengthened our resolve, clarified our commitments, let us know what we really care about and what we will do for it.

I still believe LOVE trumps HATE. Sometimes it just takes a little longer...

[CousinIT]

6. Unless you're under 40, you'll never see the US be anything resembling a decent country again.

I'm in my 50s and now with NO hope of ever retiring or having SocSec or Medicare.

[TheMastersNemesis]

11. I Really Hear You On That One.

People who voted for Trump and GOP committed personal economic suicide. I guess their racist is really going to pay off for them.

[whathehell]

41. I'm 66 and often feel the same way..

but I will be DAMNED if I'll let them take away my social security or Medicare...Il leave the freaking country and take at my SS with me before I tolerate that...I would much rather stay in my own country, but if they try too steal what you and the majority of us have worked for -- I'm outa here!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. Lots of Eeyores on DU these days.

Yes, it sucks, bigly. But you'd feel a whole lot better if you spent less time at your keyboard metaphorically hanging crêpe and telling us how horrible it all is (yeah, it's a mess; we f*cking KNOW that!), and more time out there DOING something. Get involved. There are dozens of organizations that already exist or are forming to resist the craziness. Try this one: https://ourrevolution.com or this one: https://www.aclu.org or https://www.splcenter.org. If you can't participate, donate if you can afford it. Talk is cheap; sitting at a keyboard moaning into the Internet is cheaper. "It is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness." Stop cursing the darkness; get off your hiney and DO something.

[CousinIT]

16. Just FYI - people in their 50s, 60s 70s and 80s spent a lifetime "DOING" something.

And it resulted in THIS. So now it's up to those younger - many of whom either didn't vote, whined about Clinton and voted 3rd party or wrote in someone, or voted for TRUMP, to fix the mess they've plunged the country and the world into.

OF COURSE we will DO SOMETHING if we can and many of us already ARE 'DOING SOMETHING'.

To sit there and suggest we have not or do not (how the hell do you know?) DO anything and should just "stop whining" after a lifetime of FIGHTING LIKE HELL for Democratic/progressive principles is at once dismissive and arrogant.

Don't preach to us. WE DID ALL WE COULD to prevent this.

But we're STILL STUCK WITH TRUMP in 2016 and WE and YOU are STILL losing your healthcare, Medicare, and Social Security not to mention your civil and human rights (especially if you're Hispanic, AA, Native American, Female, LGBT, or Muslim or any combo of the aforementioned)

So yea, preach about how "whiney" we are and tell US to "DO SOMETHING" when we've spent AN. ENTIRE. LIFETIME. "DOING" something.

I don't think so.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

23. I'm pushing 70 myself, and I participated in the antiwar movement of the '60s

as well as other political/social endeavors. I, too, have spent an entire lifetime "doing something" and I am continuing to do something. I've already volunteered at https://ourrevolution.com/ as well as helping to organize a local group. My point is that just sitting around and moaning about how awful this is will not prevent it from becoming more awful. The OP does a lot of that, and it doesn't help; in fact, it just depresses people and makes them feel more hopeless. My comment was directed to the OP, who complains that he will never feel good about anything ever again. And my response is to that is, if you want to feel good about something, take action, even if it's a small thing. Turn off the computer and help your immigrant neighbor learn English, or donate to the ACLU. If you are already doing something, good for you. Keep doing it.

I'm not thrilled about having to refight the battles of the '60s either, but here we are.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

65. I agree with you wholeheartedly...

Same age group, I'm 64. Baby boomer, the "entitled" generation. Many of our generation felt very entitled, probably not most that are on this board, thinking the previous generation did the work for them. Time to sit back and enjoys the rewards. I know many of my friends that feel that way even now.

I worked to stop the war, got thrown in jail a few times. Did that stop any of us in that crowd? Hell no we got our asses up and fought even harder.
Some need to take a little time and shake it off and get to work. Find a cause. The Velveteen Ocelot gave great examples.

Mine is climate change. If we do nothing now, we really don't have to worry about down the road the road will end before we get there. This is a forgotten cause in America today and Trump plans to make CC even worse. Watch "Years of Living Dangerously" on the Nat Geo channel it will pump you up to do something, anything.

Learn a little about it and just mention it to people everyday make people aware. Easiest thing stop eating beef. Raising cattle and the cattle themselves are causing huge amounts of carbon dioxide and methane.

We need to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and do something it will make you feel better.

TVO I posted to your post so this didn't get lost downthread.

[whathehell]

42. 100. nt

[Dr. Mullion Blasto]

28. "sitting at a keyboard, moaning into the Internet is cheaper."

Yikes- what side of the bed did you get up from today?

Such hurtful comments. Wow

This is a forum - you know, for airing our feelings?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

31. Airing our feelings is fine, except that if it's nothing but gloom and doom

nothing will get done. Bewail the disaster if you want, but then try to do something about it.

[Duppers]

44. Some of us just need to vent.

It helps to lighten the load and we all carry different size loads you know.

[steventh]

67. ...a time to vent, a time to mourn, a time to act

There's room for all that here and more imo. Thanks for the links. The Southern Poverty Law Center hate map was eye opening. In a nauseating way.

[Alex4Martinez]

75. I feel for them but also wonder how people didn't see this coming.

I do two things, I manage my expectations and that keeps my blood pressure down.

And on election night I did not have cable or news on (I don't have cable anyway), I just listed to my S.O. share the occasional state outcome and I did peek at a few Facebook pages and was able to see that it was tight, at best, for Secretary Clinton.

But that she lost does not surprise me one iota. I was among the people who believed the polls that showed Sanders having a better chance of beating Trump and from my own community and circles of friends and associates, I just didn't see anybody who felt strongly supportive of her.

With as much angst and disappointment as there is out there, and given our society's fascination with celebrity, Trump's win should not be a surprise to anyone.

That said, I can feel sympathy for the OP and I hope that there's a way to look beyond this moment to other parts of life that bring us joy and warmth. Not even Trump can spoil these if we don't let them.

[Island Blue]

9. My parents are 78 and feel the same way.

I feel so bad for them. My mom is the sweetest, most upbeat Southern lady you'd ever want to meet and I've never heard her talk negatively about ANYONE like she does about Trump. Both of my parents are very concerned now about what the future holds for their children and grandchildren. I think about their only solace is that my SIL is originally from Thailand (she has dual citizenship, as does my nephew), so my younger brother and his family can escape to there if things get too bad.

[RKP5637]

12. I feel so bad, I feel like I need an escape plan from the US. Events like what happened can drag a

country down fast. It's not just Trump, but also the cast of characters he's giving power to and moreover, Trump, has no idea what he's doing. I feel like I'm living in 1930's Germany.

[Generator]

58. Exactly an escape plan

I am not in any minority but dammit at some point I won't want one cent of my money going to this insanity. I want a mass revolt-will never happen-but are we just going to sit here? Or go to jail? Those seem like the only options. We are 60 days from all of us being labeled "terrorists" or in Hitler's day "political". The lucky will be able to leave. I don't want to leave and I don't want to be a part of an America that is a joke and a lie. It just burns. HOW THE FUCK can we ever look ourselves in the mirror or look at American Flag and think yeah sure Trump is president just like Kennedy was president? This is a fucking joke reality and I don't want to give it any weight. Fuck this shit. It's stupid, wrong and immoral. I will not consent to my mind being raped.

[RKP5637]

64. We're in the same boat. I'm really fed up with spineless democrats who whimper along as they

pander to the RW. The democratic party I joined long ago has left me!!! I got so po'ed with this last election I changed my registration to unaffiliated voter. Yep, I voted a straight democratic party, but I'm fed up with the DNC. I let my membership lapse there too.

[RKP5637]

10. I'm saddened, because with the election of Trump it's clear the country is now

fully headed into Idiocracy. It seems much of my life has been fighting the right wing fools of the US.

[trof]

13. I'm 75. Last night I found out my best, closest friend voted for Trump.

Several of us gathered at his house to watch the Alabama-Auburn game.
He is a self professed Alabama redneck with not even a high school education, but loaded with street smarts and business know how.

He's been in the timber business since he was 16 when his dad died and he had to take over. He's also been in the debris cleanup business and his company has worked all over the U.S. cleaning up after all manner of natural and man-made disasters.

I suspected he might have voted for Trump, but I didn't know, and I didn't WANT to know.
He knows my politics and I don't think he would ever have brought it up.
But someone asked him and I heard him say 'Trump'.

I found my wife and told her I was ready to go home. I got a raised eyebrow, but she didn't ask. In the car I told her.

This couple are our closest friends. I don't know how she voted.
We're just lost now. I don't think I'll ever see them again without thinking about this.
I don't know if I want to see them again.
I don't know what to do.

[TheMastersNemesis]

17. It Is A Hard Choice. I Know People Who Probably Did.

I am pursuing a don't ask strategy. Not knowing is better at this point. The one's I would be inclined to diss are the rabid ones that challenge you on your choices or the ones who have to make snide comments. If anyone questions my choice when I have not brought anything up then it is probably over for me.

Now at the golf course where I play the pro I have know for 19 years is a Trumper as are some others in the pro shop. I would be foolish to diss them because I am there to play golf. Knowing them helps me get out on the course easier. So I just ignore Trumpers in some cases.

Perhaps they will get buyers remorse at some time.

[cilla4progress]

18. I am staying away from Trump supporting

Friends for now. One day at a time.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

24. I have been avoiding a long-time friend who I'm positive voted for Trump

because of his self-professed libertarianism (about which we have argued in the past). I don't want to know for a fact that he did, so I've been avoiding him altogether.

[redwitch]

26. That is awful trof and I am really sorry.

This election was deeply personal to me too. Surrounded by Trump voters here in rural upstate NY but thankfully my dearest friends and immediate family loathe Trump as much as I do.

[mopinko]

14. i feel the same way, but

i have my eyes on another prize, and that is doing what i can for the planet. i own a couple pieces of property, not a lot, in a big city.
i am doing everything i can to improve these little ecosystems in the most lasting way possible. along the way, not that i wanted it that way, many discussions have been sparked.
i am doing something that few people are doing, but something that goes a long way, something w an outsized footprint. something that others can learn from me, and apply where they are. (funnily enough, it is something that another du'er turned my on to.)

i have become a bit infamous, the mad chicken lady to some, the fighter of city hall and the stupid powers that be to others.
i have made an incredibly warm circle of friends out of this adventure, all who share my goals.
and because it is about the earth, i receive so much in return. sustenance, joy, hope, and pride.

i have another source of joy, also, and that is doing for others. my big bulldogge and i do pet therapy. that there is pretty much the closest thing to magic i have seen in my lifetime.
lord knows animals, but especially dogs, have worked a great deal of magic on my poor soul in my 62 years.

i guess the message is, grow where you are planted, and work to make things better from the inside out. the ripples will touch off other ripples, they cant not do so.
(and in my long life, i have seen the ripples i made as a younger person that rippled on beyond me, to have an impact i never dreamed of.)

but i do get it. i am sick to my stomach that my daughters have to fight the same things i fought at their age. but at least i raised 5 good people, who will brook no bullshit when it comes to their rights, and their duty as citizens.

[cilla4progress]

21. Exactly what I was trying to say, above

We have a small acreage bordering national forest, and we steward it with maximum concern for its health, see it as an oasis for wildlife and native plants. We also paid off our mortgage just this month! Which is good because I intend to opt out of Trump's economy as much as possible.

Only frightening part is that it is in the dry west. We lost our home to wildfire in 1994. Although we have taken all steps to protect it and prevent this in the future, I am aware we are still vulnerable.

[heaven05]

15. I hope things work out

for your spouse. My expectations of this country staying away from fascist thinking, bush and cheney, PNAC, worried me. Reagan of course, have been totally dashed since I see what 48%+ of ameriKKKans think of PoC, immigrants, both Hispanic and Muslim and women. DARK, DARK road ahead. No light to be seen. May you and yours stay safe and healthy.

[TheMastersNemesis]

19. I Served In 1st Cavalry Division 11-67 to 11-68.

I noticed you are viet vet.

[heaven05]

25. 114th Aviation Support

590th Maintenance Bear Cat, a fairly large base camp lots of Cobras and gunship Hueys, Long Thanh , I had shotgun duty on convoys to Long Bihn, Zuan Loc, Saigon and Vung Tau. Parts picked up and delivered. And berm duty when not going somewhere---11-68 to 12-69...9th Infantry was in base camp for a while--then Thais moved in, glad to see you here.

[Ligyron]

38. The Bear!

Ours was used to carry 175mm SP when they broke down a very large and extremely looong gun. Man, that engine was powerful ... and loud. What was it, like 12 cylinders? You knew when the Bear was coming.

[flamingdem]

20. We need to have strength for fighting

I'm sure you know this. Please treat yourself well and prepare, because we can win.

[alarimer]

22. I feel the same.

I am not anywhere close to retirement, but are certainly thinking about relocating when we do. Costa Rica looks good. We speak Spanish so really anywhere reasonably stable is okay in my book.

I know I won't collect SS or Medicare because the wingnuts will have finally gotten their way by then. But alternate between abject despair and a sort of bizarre glee that the chickens will come home to roost for Trump voters, sooner or later. They will realize they have been played for chumps. But I've said elsewhere that that may not happen until the body bags start coming home. They will turn on him when that happens. I don't want it to happen, but I fear it will.

[UTUSN]

27. I'm having a hard time comforting myself, but I feel as much for you. n/t

[gulliver]

29. Don't connect the Trump wires directly your emotional circuitry.

That's a waste of good circuitry.

Good luck with your spouse.

[Paladin]

30. I'm with you.

I'll continue to be a law-abiding citizen at age 66---will pay my taxes, etc. But my essential post-election outlook is: Fuck this country. If this is what we end up with at the end of the electoral process, then just fuck this country, and all the dimwitted citizens who allowed this to happen. God help my children and grandchildren.

[RKP5637]

32. Same feeling here, I've just gotten damn fed up with the US. It's a sinking country filled with

so many damn fools and deplorables.

[Ligyron]

40. I agree although on paper we slightly outnumber them.

Unless a lot of people in the D column smarten up and toughen up and quick the US will never be the same or it will take so long to recover most of us will never see it..

[RKP5637]

45. I'm not knocking Obama here at all ... I sometimes think TPTB in the Democratic party

are clueless as to the demographics of the US and what is going on in many parts of the country. This last election was very telling. Democrats need to better unite and move forward, otherwise, I fear we are going to see RW rule in the US like we've never imagined. IMO the democratic party needs a real house cleaning. Also, IMO, many democrats pander to the republicans and are often spineless!!!

[Ligyron]

55. Yup, and we'll no doubt see more spineless pandering now.

Hope I am wrong but I'm taking notes, who's a real Roosevelt D and which are GOP lite. This next year will be telling.

[RKP5637]

63. When I was young democrats were really tough. Now, many seem to blow with the wind. I'm really

fed up with democrats who can't stand their ground and pander to the RW, AKA, Blue Dogs and DLC, whatever they call themselves now, the whole herd. Now, we'll probably hear the same old spin and BS.

[cwydro]

33. It's horribly disappointing.

I find it difficult to watch the news anymore, and I was always a news junkie.

I'm just keeping myself busy with running, bicycling, hiking, and of course work.

Congrats on the golf tourney! I never could get interested in that sport, though both my sis and my mom love it.

[Dr. Mullion Blasto]

34. I agree. I'm 72 and scared s-less.

What's really driving me crazy is the recent backsliding I see from my political cohorts.

We all began with our "hair on fire" regarding the election - filled with fury and fight but every day I see people cooling down. Is this the beginning of normalization that Masha Gesson spoke of?

First it began with my friends became "tired" and "overwhelmed" -had to "get away" from political discussions "for Thanksgiving" but its continuing every day since then. Now they have upped the ante and complain about "too many political comments" on their newsfeed - they threaten to delete them.

To me that's like walking away from a burning house- its "too hot"- 'I can't stand to watch" - they don't want to "think" about Trump, they're "sick of him" just want to forget about the election and "MOVE ON" with their lives. "We lived through Bush and Reagan" -its 'only 4 years.." OMG - don't they realize the damage this dangerous man can wreak on the planet in that time? We have to fight him every step of the way - never let up - that's what he thinks - he will wear us down. Not me!

[BigDemVoter]

36. I feel EXACTLY as you do.

Trying to be optimistic, but have seen all that has happened since the "Reagan Revolution." We all thought REAGAN was a big, fucking joke, but this isn't something we'll recover from during MY lifetime. It IS depressing.

[shenmue]

37. Hug

[lark]

39. I'm 64 and feel the same way.

I'm wondering if I am watching the slide in the abyss of total fascism and an updated Nazism under the orange fuhrer, I really wonder if there will ever be another election, or maybe there will be one more and by then all their social engineering will have lead to it's ultimate conclusion where working poor can't afford healthcare and are dying in scores and seniors are also in the same spot because of the thefts of both Social Security and Medicare, minimum wage and child labor laws have been rescinded and all clean water and clean air acts done away with as well. Even the trumpers, in the face of their own abject poverty and horrible living conditions would vote against the rw, so elections are outlawed and drumpf or his designee (drumpf jr?) takes over as permanent dictator.

I just hope Brazil gets better so my daughter and her husband could move there if things get too bad here and maybe we could then move there too?

[aikoaiko]

43. I don't think I've ever seen you post a non-angry or happy OP.

Good luck.

[TheMastersNemesis]

48. If You Understood The Situation As I Do You Would Understand.

There has been a lot of erosion before Trump. He just may be the final straw. I watch things being dismantled ever since Reagan. Today's job market is a culmination of the erosion. The Reagan Revolution has been about "wage parity" with the third world. Our wages are down for a lot of Americans because we are competing with low wage countries.

We have a president elect who thinks minimum wage is too high. Wages are not likely to improve.

So I do plead guilty that my posts are mostly negative. There are a lot of negative posts on this site. Just look around. I am not the only person.

[panader0]

56. "a lot of erosion before Trump" what?

We just had eight years of the best POTUS in my lifetime (I'm 66).
A Trump presidency, while it will be difficult to bear, will NOT be the end of our party
or our country. The sky is not falling, it's just clouding up.....

[Paladin]

57. TMN, you don't need to justify your negative feelings to ANYBODY.

Anyone with any pretenses to being a Democrat who doesn't feel negative about the current situation---or who offers up any gratuitous criticism of such a viewpoint at this point in time---should be disregarded.

[TheMastersNemesis]

61. I Agree.

I was in a unique position when I was at DOL. As I interviewed workers who lost their jobs, worked in various employment programs I did not need statistics to see what was going on. What most people do not understand is that Reagan and the GOP scuttled the employment contract and converted employees into expendable commodities. The GOP promoted the destruction job security, continuity of employment and income, career ladders, pensions, benefits and all the labor benefits that made this country great.

Now we have a task rabbit economy with fewer benefits, work at will and right to work for less all across the country. Now we have workers competing against wages as low as $1 a day in other countries. We are in an era that takes back 1900 and before when it comes to workers rights. Under Trump labor laws will languish due to no enforcement.

I could go on. Sadly the future of the children is gone. They are likely to inherit a dystopian world like you see in the Robocop movie.

[aikoaiko]

69. I totally agree, too.

[lapucelle]

60. I've never understood the crawling cockroach.

Does it mean something? How do you add it?

[aikoaiko]

68. The crawling ant is symbolic of different things to different people

I won't go into detail here. but suffice to say that for me it represents speaking inconvenient truth to power.

Right click on the crawling ant avatar in my post and save it to your computer.
Open your DU profile by clicking My Profile at the top of the page.
Scroll down until you see avatar and click edit and then click Upload Your Own.
You can probably figure out the rest.

[liquid diamond]

73. From what I hear

it's a way they pay homage to a Hillary Hater and Bernie zealot who was banned earlier this year. He had the same fly in his avatar. I won't even mention that asshole's name. Bernie supporters had a platform here to spew their hatred for a year. However, this person went too far when he encouraged other Bernie supporters not to vote for Hillary and got tombstoned. That might not be the case for the person you are addressing though.

[MineralMan]

46. I'm a couple of years younger, and understand completely.

Like you, there are big challenges ahead. Both my parents are alive and are 92 years old. My wife's mother has Alzheimers and dementia. We just moved her to a new facility and she is not a happy camper. I live in Minnesota and my parents live in California. We'll be there over Christmas.

I'm horribly disappointed with what voters decided in November, and bitterly angry at those who enabled Trump by not voting for President or voting for a third party. However, I have far more important immediate concerns to deal with. So, I'm going to have to shrug off our stupid decision to put Trump in the White House and deal with those concerns first. That's stressful enough, so I'm not stressing more about the upcoming Trump administration. There will be time for that when he begins to take this country apart, one thing at a time.

I don't know what will happen. In the meantime, I'm trying to deal with my own advanced age and parents who have far more severe challenges than I do. That's going to take up my energy. I have no more of it to spend on stress over politics, frankly.

As a nation, we screwed up big time by electing Trump. I did what I could to prevent it, but there it is, looming on the horizon. For now, though, I have to switch focus. It's the only way to keep going.

[jimlup]

47. I'm 59 and I am also starting to feel the same way you do now

I realize that we may be facing 8+ years of this shit too as people reelected Reagan by a landslide and Bush II by a (perhaps stolen) squeaker.

I find hope in seeing the young people begin to mobilize. They are starting to wake up. It may take awhile or it to come become a serious challenge to this rightwing shit but at least many young people are aware and active.

[marlakay]

49. Sending you a online hug

Try mindfulness, I have had a tough 6 months with husbands depression at its worst last summer.

I finally joined a program called unlearn your pain, because I believe in mind body and as a result of his anger and depression my body was having all kinds of pains and anxiety.

When the election hit, I thought wow on top of what I just went through now this!

I thought no way would I want to stay present, with pain, with Trump, but fears about the future just pull you into deeper anxiety.

It's helping me a lot to forcus on today not tomorrow and I use a note app on my ipad to get out feelings and to write down things I am grateful for. Focusing on the negative as we know makes it worse.

Most of us are going through grief about the election so be nice to yourself, anger is okay and a part of it.

[TheMastersNemesis]

50. I Am Working On Being Ticked Off. There Are Other Issues I Have To Deal With.

[marlakay]

53. When your ready to move on from anger

You will know. It may take days, weeks, months, or rest of your life.

Everyone is different and no one is living your life but you.

[Ligyron]

51. All I know is that what actually happens is never precisely what one would expect.

I mean, who would ever have imagined Trump? Even many of the GOP and their stars like the Bushs and even Ryan were against him, and yet...

As an older, cis, white male, one part me whispers that probably nothing will happen to me personally considering, but then I think about my brown friends, women and my kids and yikes.

All the wonderful possibilities of a year ago, they way thing were breaking with marriage equality, a twice elected black President, the decline of that horrible religion and the acendancy of science and reason, the relaxation of drug policy and the growing, acknowledged failure of the for-profit prison system plus the for sure certainty of a progressive majority in the SCOTUS for a generation - I really felt like people were waking up and realizing that the lies told and sold by the GOP and RW Cons were just that and that their decline was at hand.

I looked forward to watching the news and gloating. Fuck.

We could have been a contender

[Generator]

52. All we say in this household

is one day at a time. Some moments I forget. Then I remember like remembering a death. We have no idea what will happen. It is the scariest time of my life and I won't ever need an abortion-too old-I'm not Gay or Hispanic or Muslim or disabled or poor or Black or Jewish-but I plan to be a political protester to the best of my middle aged abilities. And anybody in the streets will soon be in danger. What is orangeHitler going to do about standing rock protesters for instance? What is he going to do about protests on 1/20? Will America hold? Is it over? We are about to see.

And I agree with you 100% it's one straight damn line from Reagan to Trump. Reagan Democrats how I hated that term-he was anti-abortion anti-gay and an enemy of the poor. Trusting a Republicon is like trusting any con man and now we have elected one of the worst in history.

[classof56]

59. I am 78 and asking myself the very same question.

Grew up in Colorado, moved to Seattle in my mid-20s and soon became fully aware of the travesty that was the Viet Nam "war". Have been sick about many things going on in our country through the years, but right now I'm sicker than I've ever been--heartsick and despair seem to best describe my state of mind. All I can see when I look toward the future is a long dark tunnel with no glimmer of light at the end. I am deeply sorry for what you and everyone else of our age is going to be dealing with from now on. I am focused on taking action aimed at saving our planet. Don't really know what else to do. Grateful for DU--long may we endure!

Please let us know what you find out about your spouse's health condition. Good thoughts and wishes are headed your way from your fellow DUers. Stay strong and stay with us--we need you!

Peace.

[liquid diamond]

62. I'm very sorry about the hardships

that you are facing TheMastersNemesis. I feel the same way you do. Trumps victory hasfucked up the holidays for me this year. If we can weather this storm, perhaps the public will see the republican party as the nazi reincarnates that they are. Trump talks a good game, but I seriously doubt he'll be able to deliver on the promises he made to the stupid white racists in the rust belt. You know...those people we are supposed to reach out to according to some DU members.

[downeastdaniel]

66. I'm 68 and I feel that things have to improve after tRUMP...really...we just gotta support a good

Defense and make like a Repuke and block all or all we can. And the fun starts with the 2018 MidTerms where we capture both houses, then Route the tRUMP on his re-election bid. So, I'm full of optimism and vinegar. I welcome you to a dose of this good stuff.

[Faux pas]

70. At 67

I never thought that I'd EVER see anything (yes, I mean thing) worse than raygun or the bushie boy. I'm healthy, knock wood but, don't know how much longer with all the stress caused by what they have reaped and we will sow. Tired of we Boomers carrying the load of responsibility. We fought the battles and the wars, we've earned the right to age in Peace.

There has to be a way to take the buffoon down....Please tell me there is.

[Dems to Win]

71. We can't move forward without hope

Many people didn't buy into the media's characterization of Trump as a racist bigot, so they did not believe they were voting for bigotry when they voted for Trump.

If you'd like to have a more sympathetic understanding of 60 million of our fellow Americans, I suggest this article:

http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/11/16/you-are-still-crying-wolf/

4 paragraph quote, much more at link:

I stick to my thesis from October 2015. There is no evidence that Donald Trump is more racist than any past Republican candidate (or any other 70 year old white guy, for that matter). All this stuff about how he’s “the candidate of the KKK” and “the vanguard of a new white supremacist movement” is made up. It’s a catastrophic distraction from the dozens of other undeniable problems with Trump that could have convinced voters to abandon him. That it came to dominate the election cycle should be considered a horrifying indictment of our political discourse, in the same way that it would be a horrifying indictment of our political discourse if the entire Republican campaign had been based around the theory that Hillary Clinton was a secret Satanist. Yes, calling Romney a racist was crying wolf. But you are still crying wolf.

I avoided pushing this point any more since last October because I didn’t want to look like I was supporting Trump, or accidentally convince anyone else to support Trump. I think Trump’s election is a disaster. He has no plan, he’s dangerously trigger-happy, and his unilateralism threatens aid to developing countries, one of the most effective ways we currently help other people. I thought and still think a Trump presidency will be a disaster.

But since we’re past the point where we can prevent it, I want to present my case.

I realize that all of this is going to make me sound like a crazy person and put me completely at odds with every respectable thinker in the media, but luckily, being a crazy person at odds with every respectable thinker in the media has been a pretty good ticket to predictive accuracy lately, so whatever.

[jmg257]

72. Grab a few beers, and go watch some football. You sound seriously way too depressed. :(

Everything will never be as bad as you consistently think it will...seriously.

[lonestarnot]

74. Fuck football.

[Warpy]

76. I always have the vision of a newly elected president

being shown into a richly paneled office, handed a Cuban cigar and snifter of fine brandy, and sitting there while he is told what he will and will not be able to do. I especially saw that with Obama when he appointed Geithner and Summers.

With Trump, I can see him dissing the brandy as inferior to his own, listening to the quiet voices telling him the limits on his presidency, and just as quietly telling them to go to hell. In that, the idiots who voted for him were correct.

However, the man is petty, narcissistic, and spiteful. I think what will happen is that he will be constantly distracted by minutiae like the cast of a Broadway play to the point that his administration will work independently of him. That's both my hope and my greatest fear because we all know who he's appointing as his administration.

I'm also seeing a lot of shocked people on the right who didn't expect him to win. They're also afraid of what this man child will do in office. That won't stop me from reminding them that they're getting just what they voted for, outrage after outrage.

[catbyte]

77. I found and bought a vintage needlepoint kit that sums up my entire life. At 61, I feel like

everything I've fought for my whole life has been a colossal fucking waste. The needlepoint, which is the one thing I am looking forward to working on, says:

THE RAT RACE IS OVER. THE RATS WON.