Anyone else been taking a little break from politics lately?

[meldroc]

I have.

I know, every person who can at all work to bring some common sense to our government is sorely needed, but I'm burned out on politics.

Before the election, I was really concerned. With Bush in power, the GOP controlling Congress, and every dirty trick being used to try to keep control, I was very stressed. I volunteered with my local Democratic party for the first time, ever, to try to throw out our GOP representatives and replace them. I worked as a poll watcher, because I was concerned about GOP using the DRE voting machines to cheat (and rightly so - I'm now convinced they did put the fix in, right before the Foley scandal broke, and stole about 3% of the vote, which thankfully was not enough to let them keep Congress.)

But now, the election's over. Rumsfeld's out, Bolton's now out, and on January 9th, we finally get some new blood in Congress, with investigations, oversight, new legislation, which may introduce a little more common sense to government. Bush is still President, but we took away his rubber stamp.

I'm tired of reading the news and getting angry enough to hit things all the time. I'm tired of the very real physical, mental and emotional strain that comes with hearing about the fucked up things that the sociopaths in charge are doing. There's still lots to do - we have wars to stop, a nation that's being bankrupted, and millions of people in this country who are working hard and trying to make a decent living, but have no health insurance, and aren't making as much money as they should. Still lots of things to do. But if I don't take a long break from politics, I'll end up having a nervous breakdown.

So I'm taking a break. I don't know how long it will be, but it'll have to be long enough to let me relax for a while. See you when I get back.

[jarab]

1. That's necessary and healthy ..

I take breaks quite often.
...O...

[warrens]

2. I've slowed down

It's all inside baseball until next year, anyway. I'm watching KO and some CNN, and I was all over the Carter interviews, but the day-to-day is just irritating sometimes. What I AM doing is watching a lot of documentaries on the Doc channel, and listening to a lot more international news. But I'm sick of all the snarky Repuke crap, all the little meaningless garbage they throw out there. Maybe ratings will show there are a lot of people like me sick of these fascist operatives showing up on gabfests to poison the well.

[truebrit71]

3. Yes. It was such an emotional release after election night...

...that for my sanity, and that of my family I had to take a break....I suspect I will be ramping back up as we get ready for the new Congress in January...

[Ian David]

4. I was thinking after January 20th, I'd spend a year taking care of house, home & World of Warcraft

I don't actually have a WoW account yet.

Do we want to start a Democratic Underground clan to attack Republicans and Conservatives in WoW?

[Skarbrowe]

5. A big loud YES!

It's ever vigilante and all that, but like so many others I am emotionally exhausted. Have to keep a calm eye on what the Democrats do over the next year or so and gear up for the wide open 2008 mind blower.

[catabryna]

6. I definitely have stepped back a little...

since the election. Obviously, I still come here, but politics was becoming an obsession for me and my anger was so intense that I'm sure I was probably a good candidate for blood pressure medicine. I'm still reading quite a bit and keeping up on things, but I am taking a bit of a breather. Anger can be a good catalyst for change but it can also cause early death! I still have things to get done in my life and I need to continue to suck oxygen to get it all done.

[AlCzervik]

7. yes, i'm going to Maui this month and i will get back in to things on the 1st of Jan.

i'm just worn out.

[Lexingtonian]

8. same here

The war was long and exhausting, and now it's very close to over...and the better guys prevailed. Now it's about tracking down the last clumps of organized resistance, snapping up a few high rank holdout dead enders, and taking surrenders as the demoralized drift in a try to get the best deal they can. Sort of like the end of the Civil War, which dragged out.

Yes, until early January the real game is in the inner circles in the Beltway. It's wierd amusement to watch them push out one scumbag after another and the lower level ones resign as they realize their political cover is disappearing (and exposure is around the corner).

I think by March or April we'll have a hollow Administration- just a lot of no-names left, with Bush and Cheney hanging on at the top- and a Republican Party that is only hoping to avoid a total demolition in '08.

I suspect some element of the spying-and-torture program will lead into the Oval Office and end in resignations. As for residual organized GOP support and motivation, that's a matter of the 'Christian Right'. I imagine Nancy Pelosi will send a committee in to expose them fully, and they'll start leaving the political arena. It's over in the abortion rights fracas, as it stands, and the anti-Latino/anti-Indian racism game is a loser for them outside the Deep South. The air is slowly going out of opposing gay marriage legalization- one more big ruling or vote against them, and the game is hopeless.