General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFor Longtime DUers - say class of 2000/01......
are you more or less cynical today about our politics then back then? I'm about the same.*
* To add.....Cynicism might be like the boiling frog syndrome. As my cynicism increases, my outrage reaction decreases.
Devil Child
(2,728 posts)underpants
(182,271 posts)They are nothing like they used to be and are just so far gone...but people still follow them. Just amazing.
GusBob
(7,286 posts)it seemed as if EVERY election was " the most important in our lifetime"
Trump proved that to be true for his, for the other elections....not so much, hey?
Since he lost I am less cynical and more casual about politics
Thtwudbeme
(7,737 posts)Trump and his followers threw me off the cliff
Chautauquas
(4,434 posts)I never thought we'd see anything as bad as the Trump admin. Thought Reagan, Bush, Cheney was as bad as it would get. Boy was I naive.
jpak
(41,741 posts)Yup
Crunchy Frog
(26,548 posts)OAITW r.2.0
(23,812 posts)Shared many good comments with that poster....
MuseRider
(34,057 posts)She and I talked on the phone a couple of times. I did really like her.
hlthe2b
(101,708 posts)Crunchy Frog
(26,548 posts)hlthe2b
(101,708 posts)Thtwudbeme
(7,737 posts)I'll email her and ask her if I can post something for her on DU. I DO miss her here-
We don't keep in touch on a regular basis- she's a west coaster, and I am on the east coast, so we don't get to see each other.
OAITW r.2.0
(23,812 posts)hlthe2b
(101,708 posts)BlueTsunami2018
(3,461 posts)I was a little more optimistic when I was thirty. 2009-10 really soured me with the waste of the short filibuster proof majority and its only gone downhill. The GOP has always been bad but theyve become far worse, theyre open fascists now. And dont get me started on the two greatest Democratic senators ever.
I see very little reason to hope things will ever get better.
Pantagruel
(2,580 posts)vote negated and then again in 2016, I remain angry and even more cynical.
jaysunb
(11,856 posts)I'm not sure what to think anymore.
Response to OAITW r.2.0 (Original post)
jaysunb This message was self-deleted by its author.
meadowlander
(4,358 posts)I thought the backlash from Bush's first term would mean Democrats controlling the executive and both branches of the legislative for most of the rest of my working life at least.
So much for that...
OAITW r.2.0
(23,812 posts)his legacy. Also, another $2TT taxcut for the rich.
hatrack
(59,439 posts)The next year the roof fell in on the Republicans.
D gains of six in the Senate and 31 in the House to win both chambers.
rurallib
(62,343 posts)much, much more cynical especially about repugs. But also some Dems.
And really cynical about the intelligence of Americans. We seem to set new lows daily.
madinmaryland
(64,920 posts)JudyM
(29,122 posts)Crunchy Frog
(26,548 posts)That whole thing was absolutely devastating for me, but I still thought the country could be salvaged.
I can no longer see an end to the country's downward spiral, so I would definitely say more cynical now.
I still had a little naive idealism back then.
OAITW r.2.0
(23,812 posts)We didn't lose, but we could not win. And we burned trillions following the Project for a New American Century.
Crunchy Frog
(26,548 posts)I finally went looking for a discussion board with others who thought the same way I did, and found my way here.
I lurked without registering for several months. I was too shy to post for a long time.
It was a big relief to find DU since it seemed like people everywhere else online were super gung-ho, and buying the lies hook line and sinker.
OAITW r.2.0
(23,812 posts)Still do.
sprinkleeninow
(20,133 posts)lindysalsagal
(20,434 posts)Half the country voting for a failed casino money-launderer is pretty tough to forget.
OAITW r.2.0
(23,812 posts)Obama is in my LBJ, JFK, Jimmy Carter (why can't I remember his initials?), WJC orbit of best Presidents in my lifetime. And now Joe Biden, the President 1/2 of American don't know that we need. Sadly, no Republican (OK, maybe Ike) made the orbit in my time.
Saboburns
(2,807 posts)2000 Florida was stolen and the Conservative Supreme Court fucked us. Somehow this has been lost to time.
2004 was my epiphany, when Americans re-elected W. after watching 4 years his buffoonary .I knew then that anything was possible. Anything.
Watching them denigrate Barack Obama, a man in which we will never see his like again, showed where were going. And Donald took us there.
And now I'm left believing that there will be some great tribulation, and truly evil times before things get better. I wish I felt differently, but I don't.
DemocraticPatriot
(4,170 posts)that was the conclusion of CIA analysts. Too many Americans were just too gullible to be influenced by the 'reverse psychology' of our enemy.
Before that statement of Bin Laden the weekend before the election, Kerry had it won...
onethatcares
(16,130 posts)was such a corrupt mess. Didn't realize how much it looks like organized crime. So I guess I'm more cynical.
OAITW r.2.0
(23,812 posts)Not "government".
ProfessorGAC
(64,413 posts)Remember, this site attracted us long timers due to our anger & disgust over what amounted to a stolen election in November 2000.
So, many of us who came here then were quite cynical. Finding like minded folks is what brought us here.
And, the T***p era didn't reveal any unknowns. It just made manifest what I was already certain to be true.
In 2001, I might not have been able to prove that there were nutjob and fascist big money behind the Rs.
The last 5 years isn't a revelation. It's evidence.
FSogol
(45,355 posts)Gary Hart got busted.
madinmaryland
(64,920 posts)Would not stand up to Reagan and let him destroy unions, working people, healthcare, and the free press.
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)compared to the orange asshole
demtenjeep
(31,997 posts)compared to the orange asshole
Aristus
(66,076 posts)In 2000, the GOP used the Supreme Court to throw an election to the loser. The true winner was a Southern white man. We have since elected an African-American man to be President, and a woman of color to be Vice President. Despite the horror of the mere existence of TFG, the nation rose up and threw him out of office, and secured majorities, however tenuous, in both Houses of Congress.
Same-sex marriage is the law of the land, and LGBTQ people can serve openly in the Armed Forces. Women can now serve in combat roles. There is an openly gay man serving on the President's cabinet. The Religious Right has become a paper tiger, roaring away in right-wing-friendly media, but holding nowhere near the political power they used to.
It's water wearing away stone, and we need positive change much faster than that. But change is still happening...
OAITW r.2.0
(23,812 posts)Think if we had built on Jimmy Carter's vision wrt to solar power. Instead of investing trillions in oil energy wars that we couldn't really "win"? I trust a Naval nuke engineer to give the best power investments for this country. Instead we got the Bush Family....what is their oil portfolio really worth?
roamer65
(36,739 posts)WAY more cynical.
The stench of dead empire is pretty strong now.
GPV
(72,377 posts)OAITW r.2.0
(23,812 posts)I wanted to believe in a 3rd Party....then I realized how it was funded.
hlthe2b
(101,708 posts)Trump has taken even more from me.
I will always fight-- because we have to. But damn if I don't need some MAJOR wins and that includes JUSTICE wins.
OAITW r.2.0
(23,812 posts)Last edited Tue Oct 19, 2021, 10:47 PM - Edit history (1)
of this country. How much reality do you need to see before your mindful head clears?
zipplewrath
(16,646 posts)The situation in the senate is not repairable an is only going to get worse.
Solly Mack
(90,740 posts)mcar
(42,206 posts)but more concerned about our Democracy.
berni_mccoy
(23,018 posts)Between Citizens United, the undoing of McCain-Feingold, the loss of two Presidential elections to bullshit cheating and misdeeds and after the most corrupt presidency in the history of the US
I gotta say, I have little hope for humanity.
Yet, I still persist in my efforts to make things better and for progress because that is the only way I can live in this reality.
neverforget
(9,433 posts)immoral, racist, misogynist, lying, criminal grifter but here we are. And I thought January 6 would change the Republican Party, but instead, they are all in on the Big Lie. The hold Trump has on the Party is incredible because his base is loud, violent and extremely dangerous.
Texasgal
(17,029 posts)Definitely more cynical. I am also outraged of the state of where we are, more so than ever.
SharonAnn
(13,766 posts)OAITW r.2.0
(23,812 posts)this thread can't help pretend reality is what Reagan/Bush/Trump tried to make us believe.
PlanetBev
(4,098 posts)America is breaking my heart so I need the support of our DU community. It keeps me sane.
argyl
(3,064 posts)Got turned on to DU via BartCop, as many other old timers here.
After Bush's election by way of a really whacked out ruling by the SCOTUS I thought we'd hit bottom.
And then came The Dotard. Never thought he had a chance of winning; he probably didn't either. I'm living overseas right now, have been for a little over three years. Cast overseas ballots in 2018 and 2020.
As a Texan, I really wanted Beto to beat Count Chocula and I sure as hell was voting against The Dotard.
But if The Dotard or one of his sycophants wins in 2024 I'll probably only come back for visits. If it's as bad there as it looks to be here, God help us all. And hell, I'm basically an atheist.
dweller
(23,559 posts)A bit more day by day 😕
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