I see our country falling apart right before my eyes...it just keeps

[movonne]

coming and coming...More money for Iraq, war with Iran, our jobs going overseas,our money hitting new lows, our corrupt government,the loss of our rights, and on and on...I believe there has been a coup in this country and just I just don't see any light.

[Ron Green]

1. I've found it helps to go to the Farmers' Market as much as possible,

do something (canvassing, precinct work) at the local political level, and remember to breathe deeply 4 or 5 times a day.

[grilled onions]

2. Focus

It's easy to wring the hands,fret or just give up. But that is what "they" want us to do. Channel that energy. Every time you see something negative try to do something you consider positive. For example eery time you think about jobs overseas try to find goods made right here on U.S. soil. Shop local. Head for those shops where people make things on consignment. If things like pollution get you down(it does for all of us) buy green, use canvas bags for shopping. Plant trees, use rainwater for outside watering. Conserve on water use inside. Walk,ride a bike,carpool--whatever you can , whatever makes you feel you are doing your part---do it.
There is much out of our hands but if each of us can do one little thing it can and will make a difference.:)

[blm]

3. Aggression against Iran and Syria will be the last straw for me.

Because I know damn well that it wouldn't have happened without some powerful Democrats in on the fascist agenda.

BCCI gave us the blueprint and even many DUers still want to deny what sweeping that operation under the rug has done for this country and the world.

Who wants to come back and say "I told you so" - not me. I'll have quit talking to brick walls by then.

[Warpy]

4. You know, there's nothing you can do about it at this late stage

but some of the more talented writers at DU might consider keeping journals of just what is going on, and I'm talking about pencil and paper type journals. You never know what will be dug out of the wreckage years from now to become the basis for written history.

It's fascinating to be at the center of the perfect storm of religious insanity, economic bungling, and imperial warmongering. Being able to give a sense of it to people down the line is a great gift.

My grandparents had a trunk and it in were diaries written by a barely literate man who was building the railroad through the Midwest in the 1800s. I didn't get to read much of it (fingers permanently sticky with jam, my mother had a fit), but the little I did read was fascinating, even though his language was sparse and his misspellings many. His hours were long, deaths and injuries on the job many, and trips to town for a drunk relatively few. I don't know what happened to them, but I hope someone has them who appreciates what they are.

Sometimes the best you can be is a witness to disaster.

[DesertFlower]

5. unfortunately, i think we

are going to become a "third world country". so many technical jobs are gone -- been outsourced to india, china, brazil -- anyplace they can get cheap labor.

what's going to be left for our kids? what can they look forward to when they finish college? i would advise them to go into medical or dental. so far they haven't found a way to outsource medical assistants, lab workers, dental assistants, hygienists.

of course, there's still teaching jobs -- but they don't pay much.

[rasputin1952]

11. Welcome to DU sweets...

:hi:

[DesertFlower]

12. thank you. nt

[Forkboy]

13. You could always tell the kids to get into the jackboot industry.

I see that going strong for awhile. x(

Welcome to DU!

[pretzel4gore]

6. the busheviks are TERRIFIED!

never forget this; the fictionalising of history has been going on for a long time, and while there are vast numbers of busheviks supoorters, they only onside because they believe fictions (the war on terror, the islamic extremist dominate Islam, bush=god {lol} the economy is strong, taxes too high, our leaders are sincere, even if mistooken etc) ...the fictions are slipping and certain ghastly truth are FORCING the hard men who really run the country to fidget- which makes the busheviks sheet themselves hahaha.
so enjoy what is the beginning of something fabulous, although it might be too darn exciting for most peace loving people. You can help by calling pigmedia/bush supporters/fascists and telling them 'your name on the list for trial and execution, unless you stop abetting the bush criminals right now' etc..:rofl:
the diehard bushevik/fascists are relatively few in number, and are cowardly punks by design...
i scare hell outta the pigs everyday, if i can...lol
"what's it like to be a rightwing bullyboy on a doomed planet" sorta shuts the goofs up...

[Arugula Latte]

7. I agree. I can take no comfort in the loomin '08 election -- Hillary will be more of the same.

It breaks my heart. What a squandered opportunity.

[nancyr]

8. I sadly agree.

Nothing will change. The same powers will rule. The names may change, but the policies won't. Hilary has already been chosen. We are merely playing along with the game of "let's pretend." I think I am very tired of the entire charade. Our elections make me think of a Roman circus.

[Dragonfly]

9. The "Roman circus" metaphor is apt,

yet I can't agree entirely with the theory that "we are merely playing along with the game of 'let's pretend.'"

Rumor is of large bands of non-violent, win-win "French-resistance-like" soul operatives moving amongst us within both cyber and face-to-face realms. Many American citizens with a yen for truthful representation of world/U.S. history know that our international counterparts stand with us today to offer a more creative variance on the "globalization" theme.

I seem to recall that 10-12 million people around Earth came out to declare a decidedly emphatic "NO!" to a Pandora's-Box-opening invasion of Iraq on February 15, 2003. That same planet-wide foundation of deeper realization of the dire implications surrounding Cheney-Bush-Rumsfeld's assault on the Constitution has only been growing mightily since then.

Don't count out the proponents of the bumper sticker that states: "If You Are Not Outraged, Then You Haven't Been Paying Attention" and their drive to build bridges to those open to understand what is happening to us at the deepest psychological level, then transform the whole enchilada together.

[Forkboy]

14. Bread and circuses is EXACTLY what this is.

[Golden Raisin]

10. But impeachment is off the table!

[Tesha]

15. I hope it does fall apart.

For years, I've looked forward to the emergence of the
Republic of New England here in the Northeast and the
emergence of Ecotopia or Cascadia in the Northwest.
Either of those countries would be far sight better
than the current composition of our "United" States.

Tesha

[thomasak]

16. I know how you feel...

Movonne, I know how you feel. Here's something I wrote last night that kind of spells it out for me:

As is my usual habit, this started out as an ill-tempered screed against some perceived right wing hypocrisy. And, though I understand that one could hardly be more vague (considering such a vast category), the truth is, I am tired. Yes, I feel tired and defeated tonight

What is the point? They’ve won. The neo-cons, the bible wheezers, the bullies, war –mongers and religious zealots of the world have won. We were told they hated us for our freedom so we gave it away. We were told they were going to come here and terrorize us and they have. They didn’t even have to cross the ocean. I am terrified of our willingness to sell out our own freedoms so “foreign” terrorists won’t come here and take them away.

No matter what happens to the presidency of W now, to quote the Ficus in Chief himself: “Mission Accomplished.” Bush and Cheney should both be impeached, but only for historical reasons; to nullify the appallingly bad precedents that they have orchestrated. And for what we might call “Giuliani Insurance.”

Indeed, make no mistake, as horrendously bad and anti-democratic as Bush and his handlers are, they would absolutely pail in comparison to a Giuliani Presidency. What little is left of our Constitution would be utterly and completely mangled within 6 months in the hands of an historically over-zealous and blindly ambitious former prosecutor like Rudi.

So, the bad guys win. And, ironically, the proof that they are the bad guys will be their own dissatisfaction with victory. As will quickly become obvious to anyone who doesn’t already know it, the corporate greed-monkeys and power addicts NEVER get enough. There is no such thing as “enough” power or control. There is always a perfectly good reason to demand more.

This is why, ultimately, they will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It is inevitable. Corporate America will continue to demand more power and money until it is forcibly stopped by government (teehee!) or revolution. They will never stop of their own accord. They are not able to. It is not in their nature. A junkie is a junkie is a junkie; and for a junkie there is no such thing as enough.

Don't give up, they'll bury themselves yet.

Thomasak