So, why are YOU here? What do YOU believe in?

[TayTay]

There are times for all of us when the political shit-storm gets pretty bad and you can't see through all the the stuff that is flying around. We all feel this at times. I think it's helpful at those time to remember why you, you in particular, are here, still in this group, still believing that Sen. Kerry is worth listening to and worth trying to fight for out there in the big bad web-world.

I like the Senator and his family and wish them well. I like the staff people I have met and wish them well also. But I'm not here because of them.

I love the people in this group. I feel like I have been through some sort of battle with a lot of you and we have these bonds now that are so strong and so sustaining that they have actually changed my life. But that is not why I am still here.

I am not here because of others. I am here because of what I believe in. There are core, central beliefs that I have that are that light in the darkness, that promise that if you just hang on long enough, you can affect positive change. This is why I am here. That is the cause of my optimism, my inability to let the naysayers get me down and so forth. See, it's not about them, it's not about all the ways you can say things won't work. It's about those beliefs. That is sustaining.

I am here because of what happened in the years before '04. But I am STILL here because of what happened in 05 and 06. I am here because of the generous and caring response that Sen. Kerry and his staff made to the Gulf area, including New Orleans after the disaster of Katrina. I am here because the Senator made that speech in Sept 05 and called this Admin out in no uncertain terms for their abandonment of a whole region of America that was in desperate straights. I believe him on that.

I am here because of that Alito vote. Samuel Alito holds views that I think are dangerous to civil liberties, the right of the people to seek a redress of grievances through the American court system and that he grants too much dangerous power to the President. That filibuster was a courageous thing to do. Sen. Kerry got ridiculed and called out by his own party for doing that because some people think that standing up for principle is a needless waste of effort and will be 'controversial.' I thought it right and courageous to do that.

That forum at Harvard in March was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It remains my single most indelible image of 06. We saw Sen. Max Cleland there, heard his humor and optimism and heard about how hard his life is because of his war injuries and how deeply hurt he was by the lies of the Rethugs in '02. Yet, somehow, he gets up again, he motivates himself to somehow go out and do it again, even with the odds against him and the physical hardships he has to endure. If ever I needed a role model to remind me that you don't quit, it's Max Cleland. I also saw the bond in that video between Sens Kerry and Cleland. That is something to behold. That forum also showed Sen. Kerry in what I think was the midst of a change of mind about Iraq. He saw Max, he saw that heartbreaking video about 'Hidden Wounds' and the pains of Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome and saw some of the families affected. There was just something there that night, something that came across even on a tiny internet video screen that was amazing to watch. It's part of why I'm still here.

I'm here because of that April speech and the unbelievably powerful words that touched me to my bone. I'm here because of that view, articulated in April and restated the rest of the year that we need to 'send our heroes home' and get out of Iraq. No one else is saying this with the moral clarity and the sense of urgency that Sen. Kerry is employing. No one. No one else talks about the soldiers like that. No one else talks about the delays and the deaths that result from that. No one else has said what is in my .sig, that the names on some future Memorial Wall to the Iraq Conflict will be there even though we knew the war would not achieve any American objectives.

There are other reasons. There was that amazing speech before the Council of Foreign Relations last Dec that spelled out what the US has to do and how we have to stop propping up dictatorial regimes just because dictators make better trading partners for our energy needs. There was that wonderful speech on Energy and the Environment at Faneuil Hall that asked for a real plan to make America far less energy dependent on foreign nations. There was the other speech that talked about a good, sane proposal for getting 27 million more Americans some decent health care. (This is the plan that the Big 3 Automakers went to the White House and said they wanted. Bush doesn't like it though because it came from Sen. Kerry. )

I am still here because I believe in those things. I am still here because I know that a lot of Big Democrats don't want to push for those things because they are hard to do and might be 'controversial' and they resent John Kerry for making them take stands on these issues. They used every opportunity to distance themselves from him and these difficult stands and some have gone to great lengths to put him down as retribution for his actions.

I'm here because of what I believe in. I am here because those beliefs have a home here. That makes all the difference in the world. It is easier to bear the DU whining and mud-fights and naysayers because I know what I believe in and they can't touch it. It's easier to be out on the liberal web and take the 'slings and arrows' put out because I can respond from my beliefs. That is what it's about for me.

[whometense]

1. You have good timing.

I've been asking myself that question a lot lately.

I'm here for my children. I am deeply distressed by the mess out country is in, by the terrible fall we've taken in the world's eyes from beacon of hope and freedom to the lying, cheating, f*** you playground bully Bush has made us. I feel like I have a responsibility to them to do whatever I can to make things better than they are now.

And the best thing I can think of doing is to help get John Kerry elected president. Because he is antimatter to cynical. Because he is honest, earnest, and believes the world can be a better place. Because he is enough of a man to admit it when he makes a mistake, and because he learns from those mistakes. Because he is a real adult who believes he has a job to do. Because he thinks about the larger repercussions his words and actions will have in the world and tries to do what is good and honorable. Because I trust him.

What commenter Charles said on the Kerry blog perfectly expresses how I feel:

I'm not a young person. This ain't my first rodeo. I've been around awhile and I've always paid a lot of attention to politics. I'm cynical as hell and I'm not easily impressed.

And your guy here is pretty much just about the only nationally-ranked politician out there today that doesn't peg my built-in b.s. meter way into the red zone.

Maybe that doesn't sound like much of a compliment to some folks. But as far as I'm concerned, it's a really big one.

It is a big one.

Being online is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, you get to meet some truly wonderful, committed, intelligent people like you lovely people who congregate here. On the other hand, you are exposed to the narrowminded idiocy of certain other communities that echo very loudly in the blogosphere (if nowhere else). Mark Barrett covered this beautifully tonight.

Not to go on for too long, but I am here because John Kerry is still fighting, even though the media, the Bush administration, the republican party, and wayyyyyy too many of his fellow democrats treat him like shit. In the long run, no matter what lies are told, the truth of his courage will outlast the cynical attempts of others to trash him for short-term political gain.

A letter at Salon yesterday repeated the crack about how Kerry won the nomination in 2004 because people perceived him as electable (see Mark Barrett link above). The truth is that the people of Iowa and New Hampshire got to know John Kerry in person, and so were able to penetrate the fog of disinformation. That's why he won. He won because he was, hands down, the best man for the job. And he still is.

[ProSense]

2. Two wonderful posts! Thanks!

I'm here because the world is suffering from destructive, if not evil, influences:

Digby:

There are huge problems awaiting the next president. Unbelievably huge problems. If this country elects another Republican he will be just as beholden to the same interests that spent five years getting filthy rich off the backs of dead people in Iraq and Afghanistan --- and New Orleans. If over the next two years the Democrats can peel back the curtain on the deals that were made, the American people might just recognize that we cannot afford to allow any more of these con-artists and screw-ups to run the country.

I'm here because in an era of heightened political posturing I am determined to give my support to a man who stands on principle and can rise above it the posturing to do the right thing, no matter how steep the hill or insidious the forces.

I'm here because integrity and intelligence matter:

, addressing his former comrades-at-arms, on Iraq:

It's over, guys. Your beloved Bush administration botched this so badly it's irrecoverable. You enabled them. You never fully took them on when it would have counted - and you trashed those of us who did. You knew this before the 2004 election and still cynically played the anti-Kerry card for all it was worth, telling yourselves you could sway Rummy after the election. Well, you couldn't and you didn't. Your policy was sabotaged by a defense secretary who never believed in it and by a president too weak and out-of-it to rein him in. Get over yourselves and recognize that this dream has died. And we have to fight the nightmare we now face rather than pretend your dream is still even on life-support. That's the patriotic responsibility at this point. And no, I'm not impugning your patriotism. I'm asking you to place it before your shattered dreams.

I'm here because I hope for change and I know Senator Kerry will work as hard, if not harder, than anyone to bring about real change. I'm here because I trust him and am inspired by his vision.

I'm here because I love this group and believe that it's one of the most interesting in the entire blogosphere.

[wisteria]

3. I came here to find a connection and some consoling after the

04 election. Even though it was over and done with, I just couldn't let JK go. There was something different and very special about this man.He was genuine and perhaps a little gawky on stage,but that made him real and not unlike what I had read about Lincoln. But it was that genuineness, that wanting to connect to the people that really stayed with me. I sensed it right away. No other presidential election or candidate I had an interest in, Gore,Clinton, or Carter, effected me the way JK in 2004 did. At first, I thought it had to do with my dislike of Bush and his policies that has turned out to be incorrect. It is that Senator Kerry is a great man, and I want others to recognize this fact. It has been a long time since our country has had a great president. Think about it, I don't consider Clinton a great president. The last great president IMO, was Kennedy. Some may argue Reagan, but then again Reagan "played" a president well. I still find it difficult to measure his effectiveness and his impact on our country. I truly believe that Senator Kerry could be a great president and that is something our country really needs now. I am here for Senator Kerry, to defend and promote him as a caring man of the people. And I am here because in one way or another we are all kindred spirits. We all want the best for Senator Kerry and our country.

[Inuca]

5. I am not very good...

... at explaining these kinds of things, but what you said perfectly applies to me as well even including the comment about his endearing gawkiness :-)). I first got here a few days after the 04 elections. Took roughly a year if not more, I do not remember exactly, to start posting every now and then, but I was a consistent lurker. I came to truly appreciate JK late in the 04 campaign, but once I read and especially saw (there is an authenticity & intensity of spirit that often transpires through his not very expressive, in the usual sense of the word, face that eventually won me over completely) enough of him I realized that he is truly "special" and a breed apart from the run of mill politicians, whether they belong to the camp I mostly agree with or not. I am mostly a cynic as far as politics is concerned, but I am not cynical about him. Shortly after 11/04 I remember somebody describing him as an "old soul", it stuck with me. Look at his eyes in the Rolling Stones cover (the only picture I have on my drive, though I so much enjoy the occasional picture threads!), a depth of understanding, wisdom, tingled with pain for all the hurt and foolishness in the world around. Or as so often mentioned here recently, an "adult", a good and caring one. As for all of yo guys, though I never met any of you, I am very grateful that there is this place where I can spend a few minutes every day, and occasionally drop the odd and mostly irrelevant post. I am going through a rather tough time in my "other life", and the time I spend here is a very welcome and helpful oasis.

[fedupinBushcountry]

4. I am here:

1. because I wanted to keep the conversation going that JK started in '03.

2. because there is something about JK supporters that bring out the gut heart felt feelings. We speak what's on our minds and we can agree and disagree but in the end we all want what is best for this country and for the future of our kids and grandkids.

3. because in all my years since the Kennedy's, I have never been inspired by any other politician and when I went and did my research on him in '03 to see who I would support, he brought out what I had seen missing in so many politicians, truth, honesty, integrity and courage and the feeling of hope. He got to my gut and my heart, and he is a true blue Democrat, something that is lacking in the Democratic party today, and that is why I am proud to be a Kerrycrat.

4. because I am a mom, and my fight was always to do what is best for my kids and bring out the best in them. This forum keeps me informed and on top of things and I feed this info to my kids so they can think about what is best for their future, and keep on believing in their dreams.

5. because in the media frenzy of tabloid news, I want them to be held accountable for the mess they have helped induce. We need to be on their tails each and every day, and say "enough is enough, we are not going to take it (BS) anymore".

6. because I would have never been here or anywhere else fighting the good fight without John Kerry, he has given me a voice and I will never be silenced again.

:grouphug:

[rox63]

6. I'm here because I won't let them steal my hope away

Thank you TayTay and everyone else, for your eloquent statements about what keeps you coming back. I am here for several reasons. But first and foremost, I am here to keep hope alive. The last 6 years of the madness of King George has brought this nation down a dark and dangerous path. It has sometimes led me personally to a place of despair and hopelessness. Senator Kerry's voice has been a beacon of strength, intelligence and hope shining through that darkness.

And then there are the people here. You are a wonderful group of smart, funny, politically-savvy people. and all of you are reaching for that same beacon in the darkness. And we can throw a hell of a good party when we get together, whether virtually or in-person. :grouphug: :toast: :patriot:

[ray of light]

7. wow! such great replies. I agree with all of you.