Are You Mad Yet?

[KingOfLostSouls]

I know my last post was a bit inflammatory, so I'm gonna try to bring it back here

ladies and gentlemen, it is the year 2008.

we have 4000 plus brave troops who have died in iraq alone. sons, daughters, mothers, husbands, family and friends. people we know, people we love, and people we miss.



we have almost 500 brave troops who have died in afghanistan. osama bin laden runs free and they have become the forgotten casualties to an administration that views troops not as people but as numbers on a spreadsheet.



we have a nearly $10 trillion dollar deficit which will not just affect me and my children, but my children's children


we have millions of innocent iraqi people who have become victims in the crossfire of the lunacy of one tiny man and his fragile childish ego, surrounded by administration members of either unmitigated lunacy or unmitigated lies.


we have an administration who has used our Constitution as its toilet paper



we have seen our political system turned into the mockery of the free world



we have seen the news media go from unbiased agencies to propaganda bases to spread lies, spin, and hatred against us and the american people


we have seen our troops come home from a war not of their choosing, to be tossed away, to be mistreated, lied to, cheated, and called "phony" by those who did not serve, will never serve, and have no respect to the basic dignity they deserve


we have seen the so called "free market" used as a weapon against the middle class that has built this country from the days of harry truman to bill clinton.


we have seen entire families lose their homes to unethical business practices by those who would exploit the same said market for gain without any inkling or care for the consequences of their actions


we have seen our beautiful mountains and streams, our woodland areas, the very natural essence of what makes america great turned over for a tax free benefit for companies who do not have any care about this country

we have people dying from the lack of the very basic health care, the very basic right to be treated for sickness and kept in health to live full lives and contribute to our society

we have seen our jobs shipped overseas

maybe you have lost your job too

we have seen religion and faith, the things that should unite us, used as a tool of hate by those who would seek to divide us.

and last

we've been told we're not "American" enough because we support our country over one failed presidency.



so now i ask you, in spite of who you support, that we have alot bigger issues that face us.


are you mad yet?


edit: here's 487 plus reasons you should be mad

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2004/oef.casualties/



and 4004 more

http://icasualties.org/oif/

[Perry Logan]

1. Republicans out of our country NOW!

[KingOfLostSouls]

2. THANK YOU!

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. Boy, it's been a night for you, huh?

Happy Birthday.

Here it is, in a nutshell. Yes, all those things are happeneing and a year ago I would be just as sick about it as you. But my world has sort of narrowed itself down to these four walls and the children who live within them. Yes I'm angry...that fate would take my husband from me. I don't have time to get mad about anything else.

[KingOfLostSouls]

4. yup, its been a night

I have had insomnia for about 3 weeks now but meh, whatever.

its just sad to me, and I actually sat and thought about this, that I've turned 30 and theres so many young men and women who have yet to even make it to 20 who have lost life and limb.


its a damn shame. now I know what my parents felt when they told me about vietnam and how they felt. the sheer helplessness and sadness about it.


democracy shouldn't be about young men and women killing each other.

[gateley]

6. Again, my heartfelt sympathy, MrsGrumpy -

:hug: When you shake your fist at the heavens and demand "WHY?" and there's no good answer forthcoming. I understand and I'm so sorry.

[gateley]

7. Ooops - DELETE - ((Posted a response to myself. How embarrassing.)

[KingOfLostSouls]

5. my other post got locked

I just hope my fellow DU'ers stop acting like whiney...well yeah.


maybe then we can beat that jackass mccain.

[bdamomma]

11. a republican strategist has said today for mc cain, that with

all this fighting between our Dem Candidates, we are giving McCain a gift. Now do we really want to give these thugs who have ravaged and abused this country and us, along with other innocent countries a free pass to sit behind that desk????

We need to unite, our survival depends on it......but I am only preaching to the choir here.

[gateley]

8. Well damn, I missed your previous post,

but you certainly paint an accurate picture in this one of the state of our country and it's infuriating and emasculating. I can't think of a word that portrays the anger, frustration, hate and helplessness to describe how I -- and I assume many of us -- feel.

It's like a horrifying nightmare. We see the scariest monster we've ever seen, and things just keep rolling along, until the NEXT monster appears, and on and on.

It's not that we're not angry, we're insignificant. We wield no power regardless of the assurances that we do. They've taken our country and our sons and daughters from us, and we're viewing the world as though it's our own personal clump of clay to mold into what we want.

We hear of the progress being made on the environment, then read a little article about thousands of acres of trees being mowed down in Alaska. We're lied to about the economy - a "possible" depression - when our wallets and late notices tell us it's here and we're hurting. When told that We The People want to bring our soldiers home and stop the havoc we're wreaking in the Middle East, this administration says "so?".

Our elected reps tell us how they'll make it better. But they don't. Joe's Iraq plan was voted on and passed TWICE, and was even signed by Bush -- what has happened with making strides in that direction? Nothing. He also fought tirelessly to get MRAP funding included in the funding budget for Iraq and against great odds, was successful in getting approval. Then we learn that the MRAPs aren't being delivered because "they cost too much".

MrsGrumpy speaks of her world constricting to her four walls and her children. And for those who haven't lost a loved one, the world has also sort of narrowed itself down to the four walls and the people who live within them.

It's hard to become angry when all available energy and emotion is expended on worrying about being able to pay for the gas to allow you to keep your job. It's hard to become angry when you're SO SCARED that you might not HAVE a job in the near future. Having to buy crap food for your kids because you just don't have the dollars for the fresh foods at today's prices. How can we care about "all that other stuff" when we're not sure how we're going to SURVIVE?

I don't know what the answer is. I fear our country will collapse and we'll have to build it back up from scratch -- which might be a good thing -- IF we've learned our lessons and don't take precautions that this won't happen again. But that's what this country was founded on -- those precautions were put in place just so we wouldn't get to the place where we are now, yet here we are. How the fuck did that happen?

I've heard that all great civilizations fall after about 200 years. I'm not sure how historically accurate that is, but I think it applies to us right now.

And it's not just our country - it's the world. The problems seem insurmountable and infinite.

I'm so mad that I've learned to hate. They've taken my soul.

[livvy]

15. Nice post, Gateley.

I feel many of the same emotions, anger, frustration, and a little bit scared. I can relate to the feeling of powerlessness. It's like talking to the wall, or fighting an invisible enemy. When I start feeling more powerless than usual, I remind myself that as bad as things are, they could be worse if none of us had taken any action.

I have to feel that by what we all do does make a difference, that we are somehow keeping the very worst at bay, at least for now, at least for the country at large, if not for every individual, for some.

I was doing some reading today on the Rockridge Institute website, and I came upon this little story, that has been told in many different ways, by many different people. Here is the version as I remember it from earlier today.

A man was walking along the beach early in the morning, just as the sun was beginning to rise. Way down the beach he saw a figure that appeared to be dancing. He thought how it was a wonderful way to greet the new day. As he got closer he saw that it was a young man, who was not dancing, but walking along, stooping, rising again, and throwing out his arm toward the sea.

He approached the young man and asked, "What is it that you are doing?"

The young man replied, "I am throwing the starfish back into the sea."

"But why?" asked the first.

"Because the tide is going out, and if I don't return them to the sea they will die."

"But, sir," said the first man, "There are miles and miles of beach, and starfish all along the way. You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely, smiled, then stooped and picking up another starfish, tossed it into the sea and said, "It made a difference to that one."

One starfish at a time. NGU

[Muttocracy]

9. mad and frustrated and trying to figure out what to do about it all.... nt

[BeFree]

13. Do?

Well, if we didn't sit back and let them steal the election in 2000 and 2004, we wouldn't have to ask that, now would we? We didn't do it then, now we are screwn. EH?

[Muttocracy]

14. I mean me personally, which specific things I'm going to do nt

[bdamomma]

10. are we as people who love our country going to let these

bastards ruin us?? would anyone consider protecting this country and ourselves from these thugs, if was between us and them who would you choose? The tree of liberty sometimes needs the blood of patriots and tyrants. just food for thought.

[wiggs]

12. I really hope some of these words and feelings make it out into the open during

the GE. I think words like outrage, and rogue, criminals, thugs, tyrants...should be used by main players. The public is ready to hear them.

[marions ghost]

16. "So?" ...

said the Vice President on the anniversary of the 4000th American killed in Iraq.

I don't think anything has made me angrier in awhile than seeing that unvarnished arrogance displayed so nonchalantly. He doesn't even bother to try to cover it up for the sake of appearances.

The two fools at the top are criminally insane madmen. They have no business being in those offices.

[timtom]

17. Since 2001

I've STAYED mad to KEEP FROM GETTING mad!