Watching Rachel Maddow makes me want to slash my wrists.

[Pryderi]

she's exposing the end of America.

[dennis4868]

1. THAT SOUNDS LIKE...

Glenn Beck....yikes!

[Greybnk48]

2. That's about right. I don't see how we can overcome

what we're up against. Pass the razor blade when you're done. :-(

[Greybnk48]

5. Maybe Trumpka will make things seem less

desperate.

[Vanje]

3. Dont slash!

Theres WAY too much work to do.

[BzaDem]

4. This shows that elections do indeed matter. But it is not irreversible -- there will be future

elections, after which their damage can be reversed.

[Pryderi]

9. Not if voter caging, black box voting and incredibly difficult voting rules are implemented. An

extremist minority of voters will be deciding our fate.

[Imajika]

14. Yup, elections matter...

I really don't think many people fully realize just how badly we lost on the local and state level in this last election.

November 2010 was a complete bloodbath. We lost, with party switchers (Dems flipping to GOP), over 700 state legislative seats. This has allowed the Republicans to attack us from more directions than we can defend.

The only way to truly reverse this is at the ballot box. Protests help mobilize us, but by themselves they won't stop the Republican agenda from moving forward.

[arcane1]

18. We DEFINITELY need to get more people interested in local races

Too much of the voting public pays attention only to presidential elections, and know far too little about the politics in their own city/town.

[snappyturtle]

16. That's what I thought would happen after 2008. Of course that doesn't

mean that WI can't turn their matters around.

[TahitiNut]

19. Congressional reapportionment hasn't even (yet) been added to the mix.

There's where the rubber hits the toad (squish!) ... and a Texas-like Gerrymander spawns in a dozen states giving the GOPhers even MORE representation per capita.

[martymar64]

46. Not for Michigan if the Governor has his way.

The Governor wants the power to dissolve elected governments and dismiss elected officials by fiat.

That is naked fascism, my pedigreed chum.

Welcome to 1861.

[Lyric]

6. Some context for those of us without TVs?

:(

[JBoy]

7. Sun Tzu's "Art of War" - Know your enemy.

[Starry Messenger]

8. Huh?

[highplainsdem]

10. We have to know what we're up against. I was glad she finally mentioned ALEC, the organization I've

been posting about after finding out just how much influence it has:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x591230

Keith Olbermann mentioned ALEC briefly a couple of weeks before his last show. But I'm not sure if anyone else in the MSNBC prime time lineup has mentioned it, and it needs a LOT of attention.

[bullwinkle428]

11. I said to myself "I'm going to look for a new country" as I was watching!

[Auntie Bush]

20. I'm getting sick to my stomach as I'm reading. Missed Rachal tonight.

Maybe I can stay up and catch it on a rerun.

[babylonsister]

12. Nah. It's good that truth sees the light, and she's very good at that. nt

[charmay]

13. Recall

I liked the polls on the recall of WI Senators Kapanke and Hopper. It looks like there's a good chance to recall these two smarmy jerks. All we need is three to flip the WI Senate back to democrat.

[zane25]

15. It needs to end.

With the division of the parties, and the disparity in the way funds are handed out I say let them fend for themselves. When they see how little they give versus how they spend, it will be too late for them to do anything to fix it. A rift needs to separate us, let them live under the corporate control they desire so much. It seems cruel, but they need to taste what they most wish for before they will ever understand. I say we let them have it, and let them live with it for a while.

[tallahasseedem]

17. I am practically in tears...

I weep for this country.

[zane25]

23. Give them what they want.

I say let them have their piece of the east/southeast. Let them live the way they want. No taxes, private education, corporate control and fee's for everything. Then we will see how much they miss government, and how they can no longer get away with paying in less than they use. It will hurt, but that is all they will ever understand. The fun part is they will try and take back the states that gave them that free ride. But without having to pay for the republichrists, money for defense will be easy to come by.

[a kennedy]

45. I'm with ya tallahasseedem, I've been balling since Russ

Feingold lost his election...... it's so hard to watch any news anymore.....although I felt a tad of hope walking the line in La Crosse, Wisconsin yesterday with my fellow civil servants.

[TahitiNut]

21. I, on the other hand, began imagining a Sharron-Angleism...

:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[femrap]

22. I'd slash rich wrists

before I'd slash my own.

END WORLD HUNGER. EAT THE RICH.

[Left_Is_Right]

24. it's time America...it's way past time...

to storm those disease infested political offices....and drag the bastards into the streets for a good tar and feathering....




http://landwheremyfatherdied.blogspot.com/2011/02/stand-up-americabefore-its-too-late.html

Lefty

[CrownPrinceBandar]

25. She was pretty dark tonight..........

There's some scary shit going on in this country.

[nancy1942]

26. It's beyond depressing....

this show should be required viewing for every single person in the country. But, sadly, the very ones who should watch it with an open mind are the very ones who watch Fox...and of course their minds are snapped shut. No, I'm not a brand new poster; just have been away for a long time and had lost my username and password. Please don't assume that I'm up to no good.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

40. Welcome back, nancy1942!

I hope you'll stick around this time!

:hi:

[pinkkillersheep]

27. Watching Rachel makes me want to be a lesbian.

Haven't seen tonight's episode yet, but I'm glad she's talking about ALEC.

[Pryderi]

29. have you watched it yet?

[pinkkillersheep]

30. Not yet

My conservative roommate is here and we have an unspoken agreement: I don't watch MSNBC when she's in the room and she doesn't watch Fox when I'm in the room. Leaves me with waiting till she goes to sleep.

[Pryderi]

31. Ah. I understand. My parents and I have had an agreement since 2004, though

I'm glad I don't live with them.

[Pryderi]

32. ...and welcome to DU! :)

[pinkkillersheep]

35. Why thank you

I got sick of talking to myself about how frustrating things are and finally decided to find some like-minded people.

[eridani]

44. Did she mention Progressive States? Hasn't been around as long--

--but they are doing all they can to counter ALEC.

[Berserker]

28. It made me think

back to the time I got so depressed I did 3 hits of green microdot and tried to flush my cat down the toilet.

[steve2470]

33. ok, I'm sure the cat was traumatized badly but.... made me laugh nt

[starroute]

36. I hope your cat forgave you

[HuckleB]

34. First, the title of your OP is very inappropriate.

Second, this is the problem with daily talk shows. We all have down days, especially amidst such horrific times. But a show that must put perspective on a week's events, or a month's events, tends to offer much more of a historic perspective, even though that perspective will likely be off base. Maddow is good. No question. However, the current culture insists on a media that must constantly talk, rather than offer thought. That actually hurts thoughtful people like Maddow, and it hurts everyone who is trying to step back and think about historical perspective.

[Pryderi]

37. I'm expressing the way I feel and you telling me I'm wrong to feel this way is wrong.

[HuckleB]

42. Wow. That is some serious cluelessness.

:grr:

You wouldn't posting at DU if that is "the way you feel."

[Pryderi]

47. lol. I can post almost anything I like here at DU. Where's the cluelessness?

:rofl:

[The Doctor.]

38. Hate to say it, but I just had to unrec this.

The notion of suicide and generally giving up in the face of the apparently insurmountable is simply ignoble and cowardly.

I get it, of course, but it's wrong.

What Dr. Maddow is doing is helping us identify not merely the enemy, but the shape and scope of the battle. If that makes you want to run away or otherwise escape, then you are not a champion of freedom or justice.

Chump or Champ, that's the real choice.

We already know that many Americans have been brainwashed into thinking we are the enemy. We must focus on the source of that brainwashing, not the subjects. We can't help them.

We have a lot of work to do, and those who give up have sold out every American. I know it's unrelenting, which is why we must become relentless.

I'm working on it.

[Pryderi]

39. Hate to say this, but name-calling is classless.

[The Doctor.]

41. It would be, if I had actually done that.

The choice to be one thing or another is up to you. I merely helped to delineate it. Suicide is usually cowardice. Are you a coward, or were you just being melodramatic?

[Pryderi]

48. It was definately implied. I've put in 1,000s of hours of work and invested thousands of dollars

to work against the repugs. I've organized anti-war protests, canvassed, phonebanked, attended political trainings, trained others, driven vans full of volunteers, made buttons and anything else I can do.

I'll put up my body of work against anyone here, any day.

[The Doctor.]

49. I have no doubt.

I've not done nearly so much, but I also feel that what efforts I've put in are virtually wasted.

To have put in as much as you have and seen only very small changes at best, and then facing the enormity of the problem, I can understand the sentiment in the OP.

But such an action would only guarantee the futility of your previous efforts. Keep watching, it may be a while, but it may not be as hopeless as you think.

[SoCalDem]

43. Distressing, isn;t it...when you start hearing truth?

We've been spoonfed syrupy nonsense for so long, it;s scary when we hear some "real facts"..

The sad thing is that she's only one small voice on a cable station..