Out of the 7 stages of grief, are we now at acceptance? Is that the bullshit that's going on around here?

[PeaceWave]

"We lost." "It's over." "I give up." "Any future election is gonna be rigged, so why bother?" So many iterations of the same basic downer message. I'm not having it. And, you shouldn't either. We're down. But, we're not out. And, elections do still matter. We all witnessed that this last November.

That said, there is one thing that sure as shit will take us all down if we don't address it ASAP - attacking one another. I have noticed a decided predilection from some quarters to be downright nasty towards other Democrats simply because their views do not comply with some arbitrary recipe for what it means to be a "true" Democrat. Some might call that a "purity test." Fuck purity tests. Anyone trying to impose one on you is a shit disturber deserving of a swift kick in the behind. We win when a diversity of opinions is allowed to flourish in the garden we ALL choose to build. In some cities, that will mean a progressive mayor. In some states, that will mean a centrist governor. In NO state of mind will that mean that stupidity should be permitted to reign supreme. And, yes, I am looking at those of you who like to take pot shots at other Democrats who don't look like you in one way or another or who don't articulate things using the exact phraseology you yourself would use. That shit needs to stop if we're to have any chance of digging ourselves out of this mess we now find ourselves in.

Through all of the insanity thrown at us from the right as well as all of the nonsense cooked up in our own camp, I choose to remain hopeful. If you want my hope, you'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands. That's my choice. The question for you all is a simple one. Are you going to choose defeat and the messaging that comes with it?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

1. We? You got a mouse in your pocket?

[CrispyQ]

3. There was an "all hope is lost" type post last night.

I don't know if there were more, or how that thread went, but maybe that's what the OP is referring to?

[Scrivener7]

2. Hope is great. Hope with action is the only way we succeed.

[canetoad]

4. Agreed

But I can't help comparing the millions protesting in Iran, who incidentally seem to have attained their goal, with the limited protests over ICE in the US.

I understand that circumstances are different but from past world events it seems that enormous mass protests and continual marches are the way to depose dictators. And I never thought I'd be saying that about the US.

[Scrivener7]

5. I totally agree with this. I don't how to do it but I wish I knew a way to light a fire under EVERYONE's butt.

It feels like we're sleepwalking into fascism, and in some ways we - even we well meaning Democrats - are helping it along.

[Sympthsical]

8. The Iranian middle classes got in the game

The American middle class is not there yet. Yes, these quarterly picnics are nice and all, but the American middle class is nowhere close to uncomfortable enough for that kind of change.

The only way out at the moment is to vote our way out. I know people are saying, "Oh, it's too late for that!"

Pfft. How do we know? We haven't really actually tried yet.

They're not uncomfortable enough yet. All kinds of people lean back on their privilege and their comfort and don't show up.

That'll change eventually unless a critical number of them decide things have gone on long enough. I'm optimistic we do well in 2026. 2028 could be a good year as well. But that is far away, and we are amazingly good at Green Bay Packering ourselves.

People will have to actually vote. Which means politicians will need to motivate them. The self-elected loyalty enforcers will need to zip it. And the Internet needs to take a hammer to their modems, because Left-leaning social media ecosystems are absolutely unbearable to the average voter. And they are in too deep to perceive it. They do not realize how unlikable they are to people who are not 100% like them.

It has been losing us elections for a solid decade now. Imagine how 2020 would've gone without the pandemic.

The self-described political junkies? Are really bad at politics. So this needs to be the year of chill on the zany and pretending the rest of the world thinks exactly like us. Because they don't, and their votes have too frequently reflected that in recent years.

[xmas74]

6. The stages aren't linear

They do not fall in an orderly manner. There's nothing that says " all hope is lost, we accept our fate." People are still very much fighting and many are at different stages. This country is not at one stage together.

[PatSeg]

7. And we all have good days and bad days

Things may seem hopeless one day, but the next could see renewed determination to not give up.

We are all going through different challenges in our lives, I don't think we need cheerleaders telling us we are giving up every time we have a bad day and are overwhelmed.

[3catwoman3]

13. I would suspect, also, that the unrelenting tsunami of offenses from this administration...

..has not allowed sufficient time to come to terms with any one atrocity. We are constantly having to start anew without any resolution or recovery.

[Norbert]

9. What are you talking about?

[orangecrush]

11. I'm at the "fuck these Nazi motherfuckers" stage.

[CTyankee]

12. I am at the anger stage where I will remain for the rest of Trump's term...I know it's not good for me but

that's the way it is.