Man, Putin's good.

[cilla4progress]

I bet even he is shocked at how completely and rapidly and utterly he has put this country into chaos. HE'S the one who's pulled back the curtain, and who's exposed the Emperor. And it turns out it 's US. Or the power structure here, anyway.

A house of cards. The thin veneer of civilization.

Fighting an urge to withdraw, to save my health. I thought I was having chest pains during the night. I'm quite tired this morning. My muscles have been tight and cramped for days.

So, what do we think this looks like going forward? We look like Russia? Toxic. Unequal. Minorities harrassed. Opposition journalists and political leaders murdered? The middle class pandered to with cheap trinkets and a superficial lifestyle? Government lies and coverup rule the day?

We are living through a test of the likes we've not seen here before.

I'm sick and tired of being scared and sad.

[5X]

1. Its not all putin

this country has some that are good at being bad.
E.G., GOP.

[JHB]

2. He had a lot of help from conservatives. They're the ones who turned the Republicans...

...into the Lord of the Flies island it is today.

[GoCubsGo]

9. Yep. They propagandized this country long before Putin got his grubby fingers on anything.

They basically softened up the country for him.

[PatSeg]

26. Exactly

There is plenty of blame to go around. This is all so much worse than anything I've ever seen before and the stress is taking its toll. I can't tune it out, as it is real and very urgent.

[gibraltar72]

3. Putitin has had a couple very good years.

[liberalmediaaddict]

4. I know what you mean

The whole Trump presidency is like a nightmare I can't wake up from. It's definitely taken a toll on my health. I have to be careful watching the news because my blood pressure goes up.

Really the only thing that helps is this group, reading WaPo and taking walks with friends. Unfortunately they don't make a pill you can take to make you forget Trump is President.

[rzemanfl]

6. I take time to carefully wash socks. n/t

[yuiyoshida]

17. No pill to make you forget Trump is President --however...

Not sure where you live but many states have now legalized Cannabis. You don't even have to smoke it.. there are plenty of great edibles and some are quite strong, so you will feel chill after a day of work, and news.

I am sure far more people are smoking weed just to get though this period of uncertainty.

[2naSalit]

18. Sure they make a pill to make you forgetthis presidency...

it's made of cyanide.

[Hortensis]

33. This started @1980 with Reagan and the end of the New Deal era,

got a big rev up in the mid 1990s when Pubs got control of congress again, and then accelerated to what it is now with W's administration and has been gathering power and embedding corruption ever since.

Experts warned us back then, including many fine Democrats in congress, but not the MSM, and who reads warnings from constitutional scholars instead of watching sitcoms?

I did some, it took 2016, and then Trump's public acting out of Republican corruption has been teaching all who aren't useful idiots just how far the systematic destruction of our liberal democracy has proceeded. Nothing Trump is doing is new, just out in the open. And Republicans in congress abandoned their constitutional duties to protect our nation to instead team with and serve presidents leading their cabal long before.

Becoming aware only when our national house is in danger of collapse and enemies from R, L and overseas are kicking at what's left of its foundation should be distressing.

Just think, we could be leaping around excitedly right now, happily imagining we were winning.

[Submariner]

5. Putin knows with traitor Trump he can seize Ukraine and get the sanctions dropped

[PETRUS]

7. If someone is standing at the edge of a precipice it doesn't take much effort to push them off.

Forty or so years of misguided public policy made Putin's task pretty easy.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

8. Better deal with your health. Find out about those muscle cramps.

[volstork]

10. I"m with you, cilla.

I'm so tired of waking up with that gut-punched feeling...

[cilla4progress]

11. ...

I tends towards idealism, and the belief that "the universe" craves balance.

I hope there will be opportunity in this.

[Captain Zero]

12. If you can, go get a therapeutic massage

Let them focus on muscle groups that hurt the most.you will be amazed how you feel better.

[abqtommy]

13. Pardon me if I scoff at the phrase "the thin veneer of civilization" when "civilization" refers to

the template provided by the Aryans/Hindus, The Sumerians, the Egyptians, the Greeks and the
Romans. All of those "classic civilizations" had economies based on slavery. What could go wrong with that? It's way past time to get out in the streets.

[bdamomma]

15. Way past the time

to be in the streets, we really got to understand we have the POWER and stop this defeatist feeling, that is what they want us to feel defeated.

We need to push back hard.

[KPN]

14. Oh, he's had a lot of help here from the Koch's, John Birchers generally, Faux News. He also

purchased half the Republican Party it seems as agents. The rest was easy.

[yaesu]

16. its not so much as putins good as our capitalistic oligarchy is greedy. nt

[2naSalit]

20. I see it as equal

like a marriage made in hell.

[Scarsdale]

19. Me, too.

It upsets me that tRump manages to find even more appointees to jobs they are not qualified for. These people seem to appear out of nowhere, to be heads of departments responsible for the safety of this country. Where do they come from, these panderers, who bow to the orange ass? Not a single one of them is aware of Russian interference, or so they claim. They have the gall to go on national TV, spouting their innocence of anything Russian. What's more, they expect us to believe them! They must think we are all as stupid as the Magats.

[ehrnst]

21. He's capitalizing on the successes that he had in 2016. But now no one can deny Putin's involvement

as "Scary Russia Stuff" for certain candidates this time around, and that's causing many to be very, very uncomfortable.

[ancianita]

22. Putin's only a little ahead. He's still got to keep all 63 mill from 2016, which he's not. States

that got his guy to 270 are still in play -- well, maybe not WI. But the other two are.

Young newly registered voters can really make the difference this time.

Obama's network is on it, the party is on it, and maybe even Bloomberg's big bucks can turn battleground states around.

Seriously. Keep your hopes up. This time is looking to be different.

[cilla4progress]

28. Thank you, ancianita

I appreciate your perspective!

The young 'uns GOT to come out and vote. I don't know the numbers, are there more of them than "moderates"? Voting and polling so far would indicate so.

I don't know about Obama....I don't think he's a big Bernie supporter..?

BUT we've ALL got to get on board to get rid of drumpf.

We live in interesting times...

[ancianita]

37. For Obama it's about the party taking over the WH, no matter who. He's said he'll support the

nominee and get out on the stump, which is a big deal.

[Grasswire2]

23. I've been in the ER twice in the past week...I hear ya.

Blood pressure issues.

How do we protect ourselves?

Find community.
Seek out things that provide endorphins ... music, laughter, beauty, dark chocolate, exercise (well, sex is one source, too, even if it is self-administered ....sorry to be graphic, but my doctor says so haha....)
Get a task that occupies you and makes you feel useful. Letters to the Editor. Social Media (but not the crazy stuff). Volunteering. Making signs. Encouraging others who are protesting, if you cannot physically do it.

Consider some supplements that provide calm. Magnesium is one. Almost all adults are deficient, and it is a calming agent. Trader Joe's has pretty good tablets for $2.99 a bottle. They aren't TOP quality, but still useful.

Sunshine!

Work advocating for election security issues. This REALLY MATTERS. It's about the most important thing we can do right now to protect 2020.

[cilla4progress]

29. Excellent, grasswire.

Really appreciate your input.

I do take magnesium, it's actually called "Calm," from the natural foods store.

I plan to GOTV this year.

Take care of yourself!

[AlexSFCA]

24. I'm sure even putin is amazed how dumb half of the voters are

[PatrickforO]

25. Uh, what I think this looks like going forward, for you at least, is a visit

to the doctor. You need to make that a priority.

[cilla4progress]

30. Thanks.

I actually "quit" the local corporate medical facility and am trying to find a new one...WHILE signing up for Medicare, SS and husband's retirement!

Mind boggling for this old fogey!

[Caliman73]

31. He isn't that good.

The US has been at war with itself since its inception. We brutalized Native Americans to settle here and really haven't dealt with it. We brought slaves over from Africa and bred them here like animals and really haven't dealt with it. We didn't allow women to vote until almost 150 years as a nation, and still treat many as second class citizens. We have allowed the highest levels of wealth inequality in the industrialized world.

All Putin did was tell the people in power (a minority) that he might be able to help them stay in power. They ran with it without Putin having to really do anything.

[cilla4progress]

34. Excellent point.

We need a TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION like S. Africa had.

Been saying this for awhile.

Reading Howard Zinn (A People's History) and Dee Brown (Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee) gives one a MUCH MORE BALANCED AND ACCURATE view of American history, to start.

[Hortensis]

32. Yes. The more advanced the society the more fragile

and the more to lose. And we're so far from resilience that most people can't imagine any danger.

As you say, a house of cards. It's also making me think of the World Trade Towers. While we were gaping at the limited holes between the 75th and 100th floors and tragedies there, their entire structures were failing and suddenly collapsed entirely.

In comparison, most people in Russia are already really poor by our standards, have comparatively very limited rights and opportunities, and are accustomed to finding ways to deal with, or do without, frequently inadequate and sometimes failed services, including occasionally localized famine.

[underthematrix]

35. Nah. It seems Americans don't read, are stupid and easily manipulated.

[Grasswire2]

36. home schooling and charter schools should be banned in most cases.

Public school is the great equalizer.

Seriously.

So is public transportation.

[relayerbob]

38. Seriously, get a checkup

and get some Magnesium (good stuff, not magnesium oxide or chloride, those are basically rocks). Most American diets are grossly deficient in water-soluble Magnesium, and muscle cramps are one of the most obvious symptoms. Let me know if you want a link. I learned about it the hard way, by having similar problems.