Prodigal Son, Returning to DU...

[jackelope72]

Maybe I can make it stick this time. I used to post on here a lot a few years ago, but I left because I could not, at that time, reconcile my personal philosophy with many of the people here; I challenged some people on their stances and opinions, and was accused by a few of being either a Freeper mole or, horror of horrors, a "big-L" Libertarian. Neither of which describes me at all.

So, I left.

Since then, I've grown up a little; thought about things a lot; and come to the conclusion that, even though I'm not in total agreement with some people here, I still hold firm to many of the "big-D" Democratic values that give this nation a great amount of potential.

Events in my life, and most especially this week, have left me seriously demoralized and in need of a community of some sort. I tend to be a bit of a recluse in my daily life, splitting time between work and home, with occasional forays to the grocery store and bookstores to break the tedium. My family--with the notable exception of my mother, sister, and brother-in-law--are serious Fundy Freeper types, so I don't get much support on that end.

I guess what I'm saying is, if you'll have me, I'd like to come back, and maybe contribute something of myself so that I can feel like I'm a part of something worthwhile again.

Thanks for letting me get this out.

[mindfulNJ]

1. welcome back

:hi:

[jackelope72]

10. Thanks! n/t

[skylarmae]

2. I've got a pic of you - but my kid says your not real - I always knew

you were...welcome, whatcha been doin?

[jackelope72]

7. LOL...real as the day is long...

Just watch out for my antlers.

[eleny]

3. Hi

What's the mood down in NM?

[jackelope72]

6. Hard to tell...

Among the few Dems/Liberals I do know, it's kind of resigned, sad. I think everyone has bought in to the whole "Bush got the popular majority" BS. The Repugs and Fundies are gloating it up, big time.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

4. sure, why not?

"Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win."
Paul Heinreid in "Casablanca."
"...men will say 'This was their finest hour'"
Winston Churchill
Folks, let us bear ourselves to our duties. Let us make common cause with every outraged American and join our forces. This is our finest hour.

[jackelope72]

12. Thanks.

After the year I've had, I think I've got some fight in me. In the words of our "fearless leader": Bring 'em on!

[keopeli]

5. Hate to tell you this

Before, you could have been a part of a political movement to change the country. Now that you have returned, you are part of a fringe minority that can do nothing more than complain. Hope you find enough commiseration to get you through the rest of your life in the Holy States of America.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

8. OK< get ready to get flamed

This is precisely the LAST thing we need right now. Suck up your anger, forgive and forget like an adult and remember who the enemy is. This is not the time to kick people in the teeth or to turn down allies. Plainly, grow up.

[jackelope72]

9. Hmmm..."I detect a Negative Nellie in Sector Five!"

Thanks for the, um, welcome, but I didn't come back to have somebody to surrender with. I don't think our country is COMPLETELY done for yet. It's just going through the flames a while.

[fertilizeonarbusto]

11. THAT'S THE FUCKING SPIRIT

Welcome back, jack :hi:

[jackelope72]

14. Thanks! n/t

[keopeli]

18. Dear jackelope

You misunderstood me. I didn't welcome you back. I didn't suggest surrender. And, I don't know what you mean by our country being "done for."

If you're looking for commiseration, then you've come to the right place. But, you're also liable to hear the truth here, and facts are that the truth sucks, but it's the truth. If you want warm fuzzies and lies, try Faux news.

The US is gone as it was for the last 100 years. Disagree if you like, and when you wake up you'll see what I'm saying, though it may take several years (like 5-10 years).

Want to do something helpful? Start by giving up the idea that voting will change things. That was the old world. Voting is and will be rigged for a very very long time. More helpful would be to stop feeding the monster that is the Holy States of America with your money, resources, and energy. They depend on fear. They depend on secular activists to stir up their followers. They put their hope in lies and fantasies.

So, take it for what it is, please. You've come back to DU and everyone here is happy to have you around, including me. As for me, I never left DU. I worked hard the past 3 years. I'm not leaving DU now either. But, I have left the concept of the US the way I thought it could be and am accepting the truth. I suggest that you and everyone do the same. And I suggest we all start getting used to not only hearing lies but telling them. If you want to compete in Holy States of America politics, you will need to be able to lie very well and be able to quote the bible at will.

[jackelope72]

20. Believe me, I've been there

Especially during the past few months, as I've watched the campaigns heat up and seen the shit flying from both ends. I, too, lost faith in the American people and their ability to perceive reality. I can't count the number of knock-down-drag-out screaming matches I've had with relatives and fellow internetters. I've lost friends over this administration. I've received hate mail--yes, actual HATE mail--from relatives. I've broken so many ties over the past couple of years that sometimes I feel like I'm walking in space without a lifeline.

But I am, above all else, a stubborn son-of-a-bitch, and in spite of everything that has happened, I am not ready to give my country willingly over to the Freepers and Fundies. I'm not ready to march submissively into boxcars that will take me to the nearest "happy camp" or "re-education center" simply because the people I tend to be attracted to and fall in love with happen to have the same reproductive plumbing as I have. I'm not ready to swear my eternal fealty to some slobbering idiot who says that a big guy with a white beard told him that it was his turn to rule the world. I am ready to fight the bastards to the death if need be, if it will mean that my 8-year-old brother will have even the slightest chance of living in America the way it should be.

But one thing I will NOT do, is take on the enemy's tactics to defeat them. You don't fight lies with more lies. You don't fight the Bible with the Bible. What you do is dig up and expose to the light every last shred of truth you can get your hands on. I like to think of the truth as a rare metal, an ore that has to be hewn out of the layers and layers of deception and darkness that are trying to hide it. Once you have that metal in your hands, the next thing you do is to take it and use it. The truth can be a powerful sword, especially if, once you start using it, you DON'T BACK DOWN. You can't kill an army of lies with one or two swings, you have to keep swinging, hacking away until the lies are so weak and so worn down that they can't stand on their feet anymore. And if your sword breaks, or goes dull, you make another one, with more of the metal you've worked so hard to dig up. Pass the metal around, let others make swords of their own. Get an army going. THAT is how we're going to lick this. Not by getting as good at the lies as they are, not by quoting the Bible as well as they can.

Maybe I'm more of a romantic or an optimist that I think I am; maybe I'm simply overcompensating for having been so worn down and having such a defeatist attitude for the past year. And maybe I can say all this because I haven't been fighting "the good fight" for the past three, four, ten, twenty, or forty years, and I'm not battle-weary yet. But nevertheless, this is how I feel.

Okay, I'll step down from my soapbox now.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

13. Yeah baby - real nice!

:eyes:

[Reciprocity]

23. That's rich keopeli..

coming from someone who has been a member since 2002 an only has 459 post.



Welcome back. Look at it this way. At least you live in a blue state. Think of us battle weary Texas democrats like me who live in the bible belt. Completely surrounded by fundies.

[jackelope72]

24. Texas...*shudders*

Coincidentally, that's where most of my hate-mail-sending relatives hail from.

[Reciprocity]

29. I believe you. Nothing like good, so called Christian values.

Not long ago I was waiting in line for gas when this car cut me off so I couldn't leave. I waited patiently for the young man to leave. As he drove off he shot me the finger. I almost laughed my ass off as I read the "Got Jesus" bumper sticker on the back of his car.

[HEyHEY]

15. Hey man

word up

[Redneck Socialist]

16. Welcome back

As nasty as it can be, DU is usually an oasis of sanity in an otherwise mad world.

[THUNDER HANDS]

17. welcome back

we're an addictive group, ain't we? :hi:

[hlthe2b]

19. We need each other now.... welcome back!

[bif]

21. Welcome back.

Remember, this is the Lounge though. No serious discussions.

[jackelope72]

22. Oops. My bad.

So, how 'bout them Red Sox?

[Philostopher]

25. Whereabouts are you in the LoE?

I have some family in Dona Ana county -- all solid Truman Dems. I know sometimes it's easier, when you're living out there, to feel detached from the political process. I lived out there for a while back in the '80s, and it genuinely feels like another world.

Which is to say, I sure won't hammer you over being undecided about your political direction, and I won't hammer you about New Mexico ultimately winding up in the red column -- I'm in Ohio, though I am proud to say I live in a blue county. Ohio had its problems ... I'm not so sure I don't live in the only blue county in Ohio that had no voting problems at all, for anybody.

[jackelope72]

26. I live in Las Cruces (Dona Ana County)

Like the rest of the damned state, we seem to be having trouble making up our minds about who we sided with.

[Philostopher]

28. Yeah, we noticed one of the 'color the counties' sites

still had Dona Ana as a 'white' county -- too close to call. Not surprising when you consider you've got a lot of military people and contractors who rely on White Sands, though. The university balances that out -- probably, in your case, almost to a 50/50 split.

One of these days, we may wind up out there. We both like the southwest.

[Breezy du Nord]

27. I also haven't been here in awhile

I've been working on writing and school and crap like that. However, I'm living in the last bastion of Republicanism in Minnesota so DU is necessary.