Ya know, I just don't freaking care anymore

[leftofthedial]

I can't do anything except try to survive each day.

Screw 'em all.

[redwitch]

1. What's wrong?

:hug:

[leftofthedial]

3. this country's privatized political system

[redwitch]

13. Gotta keep working on it.

Sigh. It's going to take awhile.

[leftofthedial]

17. i believe it will take considerably more than time

[mmonk]

69. But that's what you have to fight.

[GodlessBiker]

2. Take your meds. It'll be okay.

[leftofthedial]

4. meds hell

I needs me some drugs

good drugs

[madaboutharry]

5. Are you ok?

n/t

[leftofthedial]

9. yeah

but America isn't.

and there is nothing we can do about by pretending to vote.




thanks, though.

[Sebass1271]

6. take it easy.. Obama is still a Democrat

what we need to do is fight hard in NOvember against MC.

[leftofthedial]

10. I'm less enthusiastic than you about that being a solution to any real problems.

sorry.


this either pure evil or lesser of evils every four years crap yields . . . evil.

it's a losing game that just drains us slow.

I say let's re-elect "100-Years-in-Iraq" McCain and get this bullshit over with. The sooner this cesspool dries up the better.

[sjdnb]

25. 37 Senate Dems(?) voted FOR telecom immunity ....

and, many more have continued to support the war with the only power they have - the 'power of the purse' and they've folded on pretty much everything - even since winning the majority.

Being a "Dem" rep in Washington means little when it comes to principle, these days.

Being a "Dem" appears little more than saving your seat, getting contributions/a fat $$ job after you leave office, or lacking sufficient political will to put principle before being on the 'winning' side when casting votes or all of the above and more.

That is why so many are so discouraged.

The system does not support truly electing representative government anymore. The system is broken when it only represents a handful of the people, supports immoral activities, and undermines the Constitution.

[Neo-wobbly]

64. He is?!

Exactly how does he differ meaningfully from a Republican?

[Sebass1271]

7. let me give you a hug

:pals:

dont' worry!!.. it is our turn.. be positive!! I am trying...:loveya:

[leftofthedial]

11. thanks.

hugs are always good

except sometimes in pro rasslin ;-)

[bdamomma]

8. and we outnumber the repigs voting 2 to 1 do not give up

we have to Congress clean!@!!!!!

[leftofthedial]

12. we have to party clean

why do we believe we'll get anything but more of the same this time?

[karlrschneider]

14. Here is the solution

Deteriorata

Go placidly amidst the noise and waste, and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
Avoid quiet and passive persons, unless you are in need of sleep. Rotate your tires. Speak glowingly of those
greater than yourself; and heed well their advice, even though they be turkeys. Know what to kiss - and when.

Consider that two wrongs never make a right, but that three do.
Wherever possible, put people on hold.
Be comforted, that in the face of all irridity and disillusionment, and despite the changing fortunes of time, there is

always a big future in computer maintenance.

You are a fluke of the universe. You have no right to be here. Whether you can hear it or not,The universe is laughing

behind your back.)

Remember the Pueblo. Strive at all times to bend, fold, spindle, and mutilate.
Know yourself. If you need help, call the FBI.
Exercise caution in your daily affairs, especially with those persons closest to you... That lemon on your left, for

instance.

Be assured that a walk through the seas of most souls would scarcely get your feet wet.
Fall not in love, therefore, it will stick to your face.

Gracefully surrender the things of youth: the birds, clean air, tuna, Taiwan - and let not the sands of time get in your

lunch. Hire people with hooks. For a good time, call 606-4311, ask for Ken.

Take heart in the deepening gloom that your dog is finally getting enough cheese. And reflect that whatever misfortune
may be your lot, it could only be worse in Milwaukee.

Therefore, make peace with your god, whatever you perceive him to be: hairy thunderer or cosmic muffin. With all its hopes,

dreams, promises, and urban renewal, the world continues to deteriorate. GIVE UP!

[leftofthedial]

18. thanks

now I'm gonna

:toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :o :puke:

[bdamomma]

15. I will not give these SOB's the satisfaction of thinking they are getting to us

mentally, we outnumber them too!!!!!!

[americanstranger]

16. Right there witcha.

After that vote today, it's obvious that whoever we elect to go to DC gets corrupted in short order, and they start looking out for themselves instead of us.

I don't want to sound like a Naderite, but I'm not seeing a whole lot of difference between the parties these days.

Sad, but true.

- as

[blues90]

19. That's where I am at , surviving each day

The way these primaries have become a race for the moon I can't look at it anylonger . We have a year of the madmen still in office and even if they do leave we have years of work to do and this requires level heads and working for a common cause . I don't see either of these things right now .

Perhaps if one is 3 years old you may see a different world if you are lucky .

This crap we face has been building up for decades , the last 7 years has pushed it near the edge .

[leftofthedial]

20. and me near the ledge

LOL

[blues90]

27. Every once in a while even as sick and twisted things are

I have to laugh at the irony , it may be I am going insane but I can't take it as serious as I do or I will leap off a cliff as a first time hang glider . I realize there is nothing at all funny about this insane world at all .

[LiberalHeart]

33. Wish I had a handful of hearts to give you.

[leftofthedial]

34. thanks.

hearts are good. but I'm okay. Just fed up with the "democrats" and the capitalists and the fascists and the money that has drowned the last trace of actual democracy in this pissoir of a country.

[LiberalHeart]

41. I'm probably deeper into this despair than you are.

I actually UNregistered to vote the day Edwards dropped out. I think the candidates we're left with will damage the party long-term if either wins because their election will send the message to the party that this is what Dems want. They need to quit taking our votes for granted -- but if they continue to get away with this, there's no reason for them to change. And they'll point to the most recently won election to support their argument that this is what we want, and to shape what they'll serve us next time.

I've been bummed out in a major way since Edwards' exit. And I've been re-evaluating all the years and effort I've poured into campaigns and activism. It feels like it has all been for nothing and I'm just plain tired and beaten down and afraid that my current view is the realistic one.

While all that sounds like a whine, and like I'm just focusing on my own petty feelings, it's really about the country. It feels very much like a death. I think I'm in mourning. Really.

[leftofthedial]

44. don't despair. life goes on (at least for the moment! :-) )

but boy do I know what you mean by "feels like it has all been for nothing and I'm just plain tired and beaten down."

the system is utterly corrupt and continuing to vote for "our" candidate because he or she is incrementally less awful than "their" candidate has just incrementally worsened our country and our government, our culture and our planet.

the corporate oligarchs who really own everything make damned sure all we ever get is a choice of getting worse fast or getting worse slightly slower.

I've come to the conclusion we need to get it over with as fast as possible. It's gonna get inexorably worse anyway. There is an absolute bottom somewhere down there--Darfur?--so let's go for it.

but don't despair! LOL

[LiberalHeart]

49. Oddly enough...

In a speech a few years back at a book show, Bill Clinton talked about how the country has a history of performing corrections when things swing too far off track. He was encouraging us to have faith in that happening again eventually -- and I came away from that speech with the notion that "getting on with it" was a grand idea. Hurry up and hit bottom, already, so we can rebuild. Little did I know that his wife would be one of the bottoms we might have to hit. Well, not her bottom, but...er, you know...

[Lorien]

59. I'm right there in the hole of despair next to you

:hug:


I don't see how any real change can come after a new election. It'll still be more handouts to the mega corporations, more climate change, more species extinction, more of a gap between rich and poor, and more war. All I can be grateful for is that I don't have kids (though I've always dreamed of having a family, it would be madness to bring another life into this mess). I often think of moving-but to where? And how? I can barely make ends meet now. Growing up in a liberal college town in the 1970s I never could have imagined America as it is now, but here we are. :-(

[femrap]

50. I take comfort in the bumper sticker:

End World Hunger. Eat the Rich.

[leftofthedial]

62. rich pig fat rules!

sorry Emeril

[lonestarnot]

21. Nope. Never surrendering. I'll fight as long as it takes. I intend to see this country's

Constitution reclaimed!

[bdamomma]

26. right on!!! we need to get our Constitution back

and we need to clean up that Congress, we really do, we need to get more Dems in there.

[lonestarnot]

29. At least a few more that represent the people that elected them.

[scarletwoman]

22. I hope you will take heart from the fact that there is a number of us who feel the same way.

I'm serious. The sooner we "Screw 'em all" folks get together and support each other, the sooner we'll get started on REAL change.

We are NOT going to get REAL "change" through electoral politics -- not the way the System is set up now. We've got to organize outside of electoral politics and stop letting our strength be drained away in futile efforts to petition the Ruling Class to have some small mercy on us.

Screw 'em all. When we turn our focus away from the Kubuki theatre of electoral politics it's not only a matter of looking after our own survival -- doing so helps us understand how to initiate real change from the ground up.

sw

[leftofthedial]

31. bingo

what you said

[scarletwoman]

35. Thank you. I think it's vitally important that we change our focus.

Important as in: our survival depends upon it.

sw

[leftofthedial]

39. I've gotten zero traction trying to frame the issue as one of survival

but I totally agree

[scarletwoman]

46. The thing is, if we really dig in and focus on survival, we free ourselves of alot of delusions.

And, as human beings, a naturally social species, we will find -- as our ancestors before us found -- that our best chance of survival lies in communal support.

We have to start building new self-sustaining community-based institutions outside of electoral politics. The political system in this country is utterly and unredeemably corrupt. That's why we feel so much despair -- we are beating our heads against walls -- layers and layers of entrenched power that has no reason to yield whatsoever.

Survival is about tapping into our life force, instead of letting it be sapped by playing a rigged game.

sw

[leftofthedial]

47. here's to community

:thumbsup:

[femrap]

52. I agree....my head really

really hurts from banging it up against this election bullcrap. It just saps my energy and leaves me so frustrated and angry.

Are you aware of the website Solari? I just want to get off of the gird and not have to be dependent on f*cking greedy corporations. Maybe have a little straw-baled home with some solar panels. I think America is over...greed is killing her.

I wish I had some good herbal medicine right now.

:smoke:

[scarletwoman]

54. Turn on, tune in, drop out.

:D

:hippie:
sw

[femrap]

57. I remember that....

I don't care what anyone says....I liked the excesses of the '60's and '70's.

[scarletwoman]

70. Those "excesses" were the best thing that ever happened in this country since the 18th century.

Unfortunately, the powers-that-be made damn sure that all those "excesses" were quickly suppressed and co-opted.

sw

[Lorien]

58. Our survival and the survival of every other species on the planet

we've all been abandoned by the ruling class/ megacorporations. They try to justify what they are doing to the rest of us by saying that it's THEIR survival that they are looking out for, but it's not. They want profit, power and control, and they'll crush whoever stands between them and the objects of their greed. They have left the community of humanity and every living system on earth. It's well past time that we all see who and what they are and treat them accordingly; by not playing their games, and by not buying the propaganda.

[bdamomma]

68. yes, we have to regroup and think things out, but I will not

throw my hands up and give these thugs the satisfaction of treating us like crap, no it doesn't work that way, we are much more than that. This is our country, and we can take it back, we need a strategy to beat these suckers.

[NuttyFluffers]

65. very true, too many people are invested in theatrics, not concrete works

it's interesting because we sound very much the same, even though i come from a passive destructive view (to give space to new birth) and you an active constructive view (to crush the calcified into natural decay). either way we know that "charity starts at home" meaning get your own self together so you can later help others; and pouring so much energy into election politics, aka kabuki theater, is the wrong way to "invest in yourself."

real change comes from, *gasp*, real change! getting that desperate neighbor in need a better gov't program is wonderfully important, but putting all your hopes that the officials you elect will enact your will by proxy is mere dreaming. the better thing is to invest in yourself, get yourself in a better position, then work with your neighbors to create social networks. you've stated before that gardening, community day care, etc. is a great way to help the people from falling through the cracks.

i agree with that; and i also believe people walking away from things and letting them collapse is also fruitful. i encourage capable younger people to escape the country and develop networks outside america. i believe tapping into the apathy and revolt to ignore media and mass merchandising to death is a wonderful way to smother mass communications control; they can't narrow cast into every single niche, especially with the internet about. choosing to gather at people's houses and watch a borrowed indie movie from the library attacks the mainstream film world of homogenized narratives. enjoying a day without shopping helps starve the beast, while reconnecting with humanity. et cetera, et cetera.

it's time for people to reinvest in themselves -- we have to be our own "saviors."

to end the tyranny of Preservation one must turn to the powers of Creation and Destruction (but the wheel naturally turns anyway, doesn't it?). om namah shivaya.

during the Decadence, we must find our escape hatches/safety nets. because at the end of the 'slow dive' comes the reckoning. so now is a premium time to build networks, learn skills, and plan outside the system.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

23. Here's a suggestion for the "I can't do anything" blues.

It actually does something to change the world without politics or politicians. It works for me and my wife every time the politicians convince us that they and the game they play is useless.

http://kiva.org/

[lastliberalintexas]

28. What a great organization

I was going to post something similar, even if on a local level. Whenever I get the screw the politician blues, I get more involved in our local food bank or shelter, since you actually get to interact with the people you are helping.


And for the OP, if voting could change anything it would be illegal. :)

[leftofthedial]

32. thanks

they are terrific.

[LiberalHeart]

43. Thank you! This is just what I needed to find...

Gonna put up some money tonight.

[NuttyFluffers]

67. love KIVA. i can't invest though. not enough $

can't wait until i can, though!

i wish there was a version for USA. there's so many areas in the US that are absolutely destitute, from NA reservations, abandoned inner cities, and neglected rural towns. but then that raises the question: would they just be the next people fleeced by this corrupt system? i'd like to think not. but after this latest housing bubble scam i'm beginning to think people's investments in people might be safer in places like Liberia... too small to bother strip mining their middle class' capital.

[GreenPartyVoter]

24. Amen to that.

[radfringe]

30. I'm with ya on that

tired of giving myself a concussion from banging my head on the wall

at one time a post like "Call John Conyers - Support Impeachment" would have had me on the phone dialing as fast as my fingers could move...

now - it's "yeah right, and after the hoopla - what - nothing, he'll lock the powder room door again"

the FISA vote today - no surprise considering none of those b*stards have balls or spine

I am just so disgusted with the Baboon-BUTT-We-don't-have-the-votes congress, I don't even want to bother to vote (but I'll hold my nose and do it anyways)

http://www.dsphotographic.com/g2/12647-3/Baboons+-002.jpg

[femrap]

55. I see those 2 Nelson Senators

are bringing up the rear of the red butts.

Would someone explain to me how the Repugnants ALWAYS vote as one? What makes them do that? Why can't the Dems do that?

IMHO, if campaign financing is not changed to ALL PUBLICLY FINANCED with NO CORPORATE DONATIONS, nothing will change.

[radfringe]

66. Would someone explain to me how the Repugnants ALWAYS vote as one?

elephants are herd animals...

once in awhile you get a "rogue" or "maverick", but if it's deemed destructive then the Reich-wingers put it down...

[Matariki]

36. BOTH my Senators voted against telecom immunity today

Both voted for a withdrawal timeline in Iraq. One of them voted against renewing the patriot act. One is consistently on the right side of issues. The other one is spotty but mostly good.

It gives me some hope, although I really empathize deeply with what you are saying.

There are some good Senators representing us. We just need more of them. And that include replacing certain democrats.

I think continuing with Dean's 50 State strategy would help, national help targeting specific states. Helping new and more progressive candidates challenge Democrats that have betrayed us, and so forth.

on edit: wish I paid more attention when i typed

[mdmc]

37. I hear ya bro... keep on keepin on ... peace and low stress

Take pleasure knowing that you are one of my favorite reads here on DU.:toast:

[leftofthedial]

40. thanks!

I have to keep on. My knees are too old and messed up to stop.

[bobbolink]

38. I hear ya....

:hug: :hug: :grouphug: :hug: :hug:

[leftofthedial]

42. now *that's* a group hug!

:D

[XOKCowboy]

45. I'm about there myself..

0ur "leadership" keeps giving the country away to the fascists, our only true Progressive candidates aren't anointed by the MSM and have to drop out. Heck even if someone ends up with most of the popular vote, the party has it rigged where the SuperDelegates will put their "preferred" camdidate in.

I know of a very nice place down in Belize. It's looking better and better all the time.

[Cleita]

48. I feel your pain.

Money, lies and back room deals have always been our politics, but now changing the rules as we play the game seems to be the new politics.

[leftofthedial]

63. now the whole game is a sham

they lie to us, cheat and steal from us, just to keep up the *illusion* that we live in a democracy.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

51. Keep caring

and find allies. Be angry, it is justified.

Solidarity.

K&R

[unkachuck]

53. yep....n/t

[davidthegnome]

56. It's damn hard

Just to survive these days. Hang in there, you're not alone. No matter how screwed up things get, there will always be better times ahead. I wish I had greater wisdom to share than that. Things will get better, it's hard to believe when you feel like everything sucks, but they will. And then they'll get worse again.. and better again. Those of us who care the most, suffer the most for it.

This too shall pass.

[Catchawave]

60. I totally understand, I no longer have a dog in the fight ....

:cry:

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

61. 'NUFF SAID,...on behalf of all America!!!

That is all.