This place keeps many of us sane.

It's been great having you here with us for these twenty years.


Here's to twenty more!

Kentuck!!!!

Keep the faith.

I can remember meeting Biden here and stood right next him at our ampitheater when running with Obama.

reflections . I started here in March 2004 as well.

All the the crazy stuff too!
I got thrown out of Free Republic pretty quick

people who passed from those years …oneighty was one of my favorite posters from my early years here. It’s been great to be part of this community for so long.

This has been many of peoples spot when life gets heavy!

Seems the Dubya presidency brought a lot of us here to this safe haven of sanity!

Keep posting!

With the heaviest heart ever. All fake democrats.

I'm glad my friend brought me here. We are still very close he lives a few miles from me.

Sherrod Brown is most excellent!

It has been terrifying to see what the Republican Party has turned into & how many family & acquaintances still identify with them because any repub is better than any dem. I've lost respect for the whole lot. I'll be polite but that's as far as it goes. No more birthday wishes or "How ya doing?" messages.

Keep fighting the good fight & painting pretty things!

I'm having a tough day. Had to go vote.

I'm officially an old timer!

I truly enjoy your posts!

Saw a guy from high school who just snubbed me at the polls.

lifeline for many of us. Thank you for all you do as part of that lifeline, including the moments of desperately-needed respite with your art, and, of course, Ms. Scarlett!!!

Somedays I'm just barely hanging.

Mine is coming up in May.

Cheers!

Marking 20 years. Amazing the stuff we have had to endure!

Sometimes o feel like D.U. Is the only family I have.

Your paintings are a reflection of your kind soul and I’m happy you have that as your release to stay positive and to share with us. Looking forward to many more years with you 🤗

I'm so glad we met! Today was awful at the polls te only Democrat to vote for was Sherrod Brown.
They ruined my State

It's been a hard 20 years.

for me it has been 16 years but I come & go. I was most active during Obama's years and did walk door to door here in Texas for him. No clue why - we had no chance here in Ron Paul's old stomping grounds - but I did it anyway because I knew he could win the general if we just kept at it.

I grew up similarly in Wisconsin with my parents both working in factories, and it breaks my heart to see the repubs destroying my home state. At least they have Evers in now, the Walker years were terrible.

DU is the goto site and I've visited them all. We're here if you need us. Keep fighting the good fight.

In ruining Ohio.
He's part of the Republican Taliban

There are a lot of us 20-year anniversaries lately. We must have all been in the same mindset during the early Bush years. I started reading DU about 22 years ago and became a member in 2004. I honestly thought that GW was just about as bad as it could get and nothing prepared me for Trump. I still have trouble believing it was and is all real.

I am cautiously optimistic that we will survive all this and that the many autocratic leaders that have cropped up in the world will have short careers.

Progress has not been fast when I consider 20 years of my life spent in dissappointment.

I really had expected that things would get better faster. I had no idea there were so many "deplorables" in the world. That was especially discouraging.

Meanwhile, we have seen a lot progress in many areas, but the right keeps pulling us in the opposite direction. Same sex marriage and LGBTQ rights were a major accomplishment, but republicans are determined to not just undermine those rights, they want to ban books, abortion access, diversity education, and even birth control. Sometimes it feels like they just do it out of spite, because they are programmed to hate anyone they perceive as "left", not realizing that what they think is "left" is actually quite moderate.

It is a cycle and it won't last, but I am concerned about how much damage they will do before this cycle ends. That said, there still are a lot of sane, reasonable people in the world and fortunately we can interact with a lot of them here!

my part of Ohio ditched every decent Democrat we had. All of my friends that I graduated with all left the area. They must've all become millionaires because they are all trumpers.
Maybe had I left here and moved somewhere else I would've been rich just like them🙄
When I went to the polls today, a guy that grew up on the same side of town as me now lives about a block away from me. He built a huge home and he hasn't rather good, but could've never done that without his parents wealth I'm glad I never forgot where I came from, he snubbed me at the voting pole.

I told him to go in and vote. He's still a loser.
And walked out!

It really breaks my heart that Ohio went so red. I had always thought of it as more of a blue collar down-to-earth state, rather like Sherrod Brown. Fortunately for some reason, Sherrod Brown keeps getting reelected, so there must be some sanity left somewhere in the state.

Years ago we lived in Texas for a short time and I felt so isolated. It was so hard to find someone to talk with where I could have a decent conversation. I wasn't terribly political back then, but I've always been liberal. I was surrounded by Southern Baptists and gun-toting, beer drinking "cowboys".

Our landlord was a Baptist minister - talk about pressure! These people made me so uncomfortable. I was just another notch in their belt, a lost soul to save for Jesus! They always had syrupy sweet smiles on their faces and it could get rather creepy. They were just blessing the shit out of me. They were sure I was going to hell no doubt and gave up on me. I think I really unnerved one of the ministers, a very satisfying experience.

Keep on keepin on samplegirl.

I wish these last years of my life were more optimistic!

you keep us all up on the most important things.
You are a beacon of hope to many of us!

This place keeps us sane.

Most days.

After the stolen election, I went looking for some place to make sense of what happened and to talk to others who felt similar. I first found Smirking Chimp, All Hat No Cattle and some other Democratic place, MoveOn and TruthOut. The Democratic place (can't remember the exact name)went under and it was my main "go to" so I started looking again in June and found this and I "never did leave". I had found my home, my safe place where I can be my liberal left wing self and be ok and others understand and often feel as I do. Of course, there are those that disagree, but there are no thuggist right wingers and we are a big tent for all Democrats.

Glad we both came here, the weather is indeed fine, even when it's so bitterly scary that a person running for president is planning on overturning our democracy and idiots think that's fine.

Our own sanity!

Wonderful post!😍

some days. N.E. Ohio is no longer home but trump land. JDVance land. Dewines Ohio

Bush and that god awful war in Iraq brought me here where I found refuge from the corporate pimping of the war. We all knew it was a lie, but somehow they could not figure that out.

Peace

Was a millionaire from A company called Superior Well. He made all his fortune during the trump years.
Never told a soul. I knew they were republicans and got into a few heated arguments with his crazy fake funds wife.
He loaded up a truck and moved to the second most expensive house in Cave creek Arizona.
No wonder they loved Bush.

and what a ride it's been!

Congratulations - glad you're here.

Your post inspired me to look at my history and I hit my 20th anniversary mark this past year. I read everyday and post every millennium. DU is definitely my most loyal lurking experience.

Just lurking in D.U.
Got thrown out of Free Republican after my second visit!

Long may we old-timers rave!

This place has been a haven of sanity for me, as well. So glad that you are among us.

Today I had to vote which was hard and no one to vote for other than Sherrod Brown!

Slim Pickens as they say but it was worth it to vote for Joe and Sherrod.

in todays world and would Hate Trump!

In your guts you know he’s nuts.

Glad you're here and I've enjoyed your contributions to the site over the years!

Got my politics from my dad too. I remember at a young age him yelling at the TV when Nixon was on it. Same with Reagan. Although I miss him like crazy, I'm actually glad he didn't make it to Trump, nobody deserves that in their old age. He would've had some choice words though, I'm sure!