Maybe if you take a nice long Break you might come back.

I've done that and it worked for me.

I actually feel another coming on..

Don't forget, you're mostly among friends here, who share your sentiment. If you take a break for a little while, you can recharge and come back with a new perspective. We'll be there for you when you return.

Peace and good health.

just different. I have this rule when facing stuff looming at me, whatever it is: I ask myself "Is there anything I can do about it?" if the answer is yes, I pursue a solution or a pathway. If no, then that's it, I stop worrying over it or trying to change it.

The last few elections have taken their toll on me physically and emotionally. I just don’t have any fight left in me.
At almost 80, I’ll be sitting things out for a while. Don’t know if I’ll ever get back in the fray.

She worries about her kids and the grandkids, but she basically has said she's watching the fall of an empire, and she'll probably be gone before the worse hits the general population.
Whether or not it's like the slow dissolution of the Roman Empire or a collapse, she doesn't know.
Dad was a history teacher, Mom was an anthropologist. She's taking a historical view just to keep her sanity.

Haele

she survived German bombs as a child in England, her dad spent a week on the beach at Dunkirk - to see Americans openly embracing fascism would have broken her heart

was in the Corps of Engineers, a West Pointer who lived by their motto of “Duty, Honor, Country”. I’m glad he’s not here to see this.

it makes me sick

made my dad sick, too.

I find the crumbling of our Democracy creates a deep sorrow in me.
As for the fucking empire, good riddance to it. Over extension and meddling, due to manifest destiny and other horseshit and nonsense, helped get us into the situation we find ourselves in

continue on day by day. They pointed out that Trump is unlikely to make it all that much longer and as well know, Vance is waiting, salivating in the wings. Well, the last thing we want is to have Vance and his ilk with an R House and Senate, so the focus is only on that. Two years--midterms. Yes, of course, it is nauseating that we have to do anything at all right now. We all deserve a break. But, for me, I can at least think about taking a little time and then retooling for the midterms.

I'm not saying you need to do so--just that that gives me a more appreciable "bite" and path/time frame to look out into the future.

To your good health and peaceful days.

Starts with a single step.

I appreciate your post.

and enjoy your well deseved rest.

it may help with your depression, we care

Rec

Went through some of the same things as you. Then the big ups and big disappointments with JFK and Bill. Thought Tricky Dick was the villain for the ages, then came RAYGUN and W. Shrub. Did I forget Coup 2000?

But the current one is the apocalyptic a-hole ever that I didn't think would be how I'd wind things up with. I'll keep on with the keyboard, talk up some who cross my path. Have discovered Report/Alert on YouTube wingnut vids and the Comments sections on NY Post, Dailey Mail, and even poor Mediate. Have my "VOTE DEMOCRATIC" decal on my car rear window and go to lengths for vehicles with Drumpf stickers to see it.

She said, I can't believe they elected a Republican!

I so relate now!

election night is one of my first "political"
memories as well.
I must say I broke her record with Kamala and Tim's loss to the beast. It was a few days before I stopped briefly dissolving into tears about the whole damn mess and its gawdawful ramifications.

both defeats. He receied warm responses to both letters, signed by Adlai on
official Governor of Illinois stationery.
The letters are framed and kept by our family.

We sure have missed out on some great ones in this country. I just ache for Kamala and for Tim Walz...
Take care.

Actually, I wrote to McGOVERN during the campaign, saying that I admired him and of course would vote for him but that the most important thing was to beat NIXON and I thought somebody else had a better chance. Yes, he answered and the signature looked original, and he said he thought he had a good chance and hoped he could count on my support. I don't know what happened to the letter.

To make it worse, years later his heroic military record was publicized, which he had played down for the Hippies, and it might have helped if he had played it up.

his book and the part about his military record.

But I’ve done my share of support for our service men n women after protests against those who make war but never serve. What you have to give is experience and respect so after a step back, come back and help steer this ship back on track. You have more worth than you know and we can’t find you if you aren’t in the light. You are much appreciated 🌺

Thank you for teaching history! 30 years is an amazing contribution. I wish your students could come and visit with you. I’m sure it would be amazing and good for the soul! Thank you for your service and standing up for what is right and good. Being on the streets with peaceful people trying to bring change is a great feeling. There’s nothing else like it. Thank you for all of it. I hope you still have things that bring joy. As hopeless as it all feels it’s gonna be the small things that get us through. Peace and love to you. 💗💗🙏🏼💐

For this country and democracy. I can feel your pain thank you hopefully you eill come back in better times

Congrats. I will be shocked if I make it to 50.

I am so, so sick of his fascist ass

I hope I can grow up to be 91!

I'm so glad you're here!

❤️

Pretty much the same set of circumstances for me, too.

I'm done. I never thought I'd see my country so willingly turned over to a Nazi-like dictator.

Peace.

I'm coming up behind you at 79; we have to pass the torch sometime - and hope someone will be there to pick it up.

May your road rise up to meet you, and the wind be at your back.

I don't think I can bounce back one more time. All the bounce is gone. Time for younger generations to take up the mantle. I can't think of a single thing I can do that would make a difference anymore and I'm truly exhausted.

This BS has harmed my health a lot over the past 8 years.

It is just too much constant stress for normal people to live with. Eventually it affects our health. I have to pace myself now. It has been a rough year health wise and at my age, I know life really is short.

other casualties: optimism, joy and sanity.

I miss those.

I'm usually pretty good at seeing the bright side of situations, but right now I think that bright side is way off in the distant future.

Mostly, I am very disheartened that so many people in our world are mean-spirited and self absorbed. There was a time when I wouldn't have thought it was possible. Compassion and kindness seem to have become quaint, archaic notions.

in the 1960's and much of the '70s when our youthful optimism led us to believe we could stop wars, help the people and save the planet with ....... love.

Sounds so quaint now, especially after others remembered that hate is also powerful tool.

and quicker.

or perhaps what we had was sex, drugs, rock and roll, the pill and acid. A perfect storm.

Of course, I know I was young and naive in many respects, but over the years, I've never given up hope that we could make the world a better place.

Now I look around and I see endless warfare, more authoritarian tyrants, billionaires who can't get enough, and self-serving politicians with no courage. I foolishly thought we were evolving with an occasional step back, but mostly moving forward.

Of course, I know I was young and naive in many respects, but over the years, I've never given up hope that we could make the world a better place.

Now I look around and I see endless warfare, more authoritarian tyrants, billionaires who can't get enough, and self-serving politicians with no courage. I foolishly thought we were evolving with an occasional step back, but mostly moving forward.

Last edited Sun Nov 17, 2024, 11:01 PM - Edit history (1)

THANK YOU, SINCERELY, for all your work - since 1964, albacore. Shit - I was just waking up to the Beatles in 1964, and so many ornery instincts hadn't yet awakened within me!

THANK YOU for all you've done, all you've tried to do, and all your "keeping the faith" over the years.

And if you don't check in from time to time, THANK YOU ANYWAY!!! I hope the rest of your days are happy and satisfying, and gratifying, and I DO hope we hear from you again. (Cuz we're gonna want to know how you think we're doing!)

Rec

I'm 12 years younger and I'm exhausted.

Sit or walk in Nature. Know that your life had purpose and meaning, and that what you did was important. You’ve earned your rest.

Thank you

helped many people along the way. You have more than earned a rest.

Take care of yourselves now and keep a support network of friends and relatives to enjoy your time with.

To all the folks who have fought the good fight for so long, thank you for all you've done. If you feel discouraged about what is happening now, take comfort in knowing that many benefited from your work. There will be people to pick up the torch from here, even if they have to be careful for a while about where they shine it. In the end, they will win again.

Let's outlive the S.O. B.!
P.S. I'm 82

We're all getting closer to that ultimate truth. Those who have gone the distance and lived a long tale full of life's experiences, are the ones who are to be viewed in reverence amidst a sea of drifting souls.

That may or may not have hit the right notes, but it was the notes I was hoping for.

have 4 grandkids, ages 4 - 10.

May your days be filled with sunlight and peace.

Go see the movie "Bonhoeffer". There have always been heroes.

There's a right wing interpretation of Bonhoeffer, probably the most widely held interpretation in America, that the Democrats are the Nazis, and that Trump and the January 6 crowd are his spiritual heirs. This is held by leading Bonhoeffer biographer Eric Metaxas (who plugged the movie), and the movie is being distributed by the Sound of Freedom people. Bonhoeffer's family has objected to the movie. While the actors and director of the movie are not at all fans of Christian nationalism/Messianic Trumpism, and I think they're being truthful about that, it does seem to play him up as an assassin and violent revolutionary beyond where the history dictates.


https://vision.org.au/news/bonhoeffer-family-horrified-by-new-movie/

Bonhoeffer used to be consider an anti-fascist icon, but Metaxas and his gang have spent the last two decades selling the notion that, just as he fought Nazism, Christians have a duty to fight abortion, tolerance of homosexuality, and attacks on "religious freedom, using any methods necessary. Also, they've played up the debatable notion that Bonhoeffer abandoned his nonviolent convictions to participate in an assassination attempt on Hitler (although he was a member of the resistance movement that was behind the attempt, it is unclear that he had any involvement in any violent action, and the foiled attempt took place more than a year after he had been imprisoned), so as to portray him as a Christian hero who realized that nonviolence was a mistake, and took up a gun to fight for his faith against its enemies -- anyone care to guess who those "enemies" are presented as today?

No amount of truth sways the nationalists, and they're easier to dismiss out of hand.

More concerning to me are the Christians with good will who interpret Bonhoeffer as what he is, a good guy who stood up to the Nazis, but use his memory to whitewash the truth that Christians, particularly *Protestant* Christians, were the rank and file of Nazi support, both hard and soft, and that Bonhoeffer was outside the mainstream. On a local level, membership levels in the Evangelical Church were one of the best correlates with regional support of the Nazis in the critical elections before the Reich.

Bonhoeffer and a gun lets us avoid the hard work of how we (Christians) got to where we are, it lets us think we're always (and will always be) the good guys, and we'll never have to look at our history, much less look at our scriptures (especially the ones from AD 70-135 like John 8, but also things off most Christians haven't thought about, like who were the Pharisees).

Says it all

Your advocacy, engagement, and fighting for the good causes to make the world a better place are sincerely appreciated. We'll do our best to carry on the fight and and kick a** the best we can

and I feel exactly as you do.

I'll try my best as long as I can. Thank you for everything. ❤️

You know you. We all have a point our inner voice screams "no!"
Best wishes to you and thanks for all you've done and given.

We had planned to leave anyway after all of this. I just wish I had done it before my father was murdered by that psycho. Now we are preparing for it to happen sooner. One set of passports renewal application done already.

There is no way to fight the sheer amount of crazy people here imo, not all on the right either.

Good luck to you and enjoy yourself 🤗

It is a very stressful thing to have to do because I have lived here most of my life. But if I had done it before or insisted my father go back himself he would be alive. My grandmother and three sisters left after WW2 with nothing but their clothes. We have to leave a life and home etc.

He was able to vote for Kamala before he died.

At the funeral we played songs from the 60's that he used to lead at parties, playing his guitar. He was an activist all his life. It felt both innocent and ironic to be singing songs from a time when we all believed we were going to change the world. On the last verse of We Shall Overcome, "We are not afraid," the whole congregation stood up, unbidden, and crossed arms, holding hands like we'd seen Pete Seeger do. People were crying. Not for my Dad but for all of us.

It feels good to be heard. Just as a funeral mourns the death of a loved one, we are mourning the death of an era. And in doing so, perhaps giving it new life. We are challenged to protest again, to resist again, to lift up our voices in song to present an ideal with hearts full and belief that good and love will triumph, as we believed in the 60s. To pick up the baton that the original OP has handed us, that my father has handed us, deserving of stepping down and trusting us with the mission they (and others) pursued all their lives.

The challenges today are more severe than ever, but I believe that sending out the energy of love over fear is powerful. Hate will not win. Trump is running from fear of prosecution/bankruptcy and he thinks retribution is the answer. A man who doesn't understand compassion or love cannot triumph in the end. Our job is to mitigate the damage and suffering on the road to victory.

Don't go away entirely, I hope.

I'm hoping to get more involved with a local Sierra Club chapter.

I'm 75. my wife recently died and trump got re-elected. I'm still trying, but I'm getting tired too. The younger folk who didn't vote will have to live with their choices. I'll be gone.

Yes, this is a fight for younger generations now.

is disinformation and information bubbles.

Hoping to remember who wrote an article I read today about a new method of disinfo- embedding a revolting lie in the middle of what looks like a pro-Harris ad.

I don't have any happy talk for you but hope you can think about Timothy Snider, keep listening and reading and you find your center again. Thank you for being here with us. Also seconding the lounge suggestion though you know your mind. Sending you aloha and a prayer to hold the light.

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-disinformation-defined-the-2024-election-narrative/
There are many reasons for the stunning election victories of Donald Trump and congressional Republicans: inflation fears, concerns about border security, worries about cultural issues related to race, gender, and sexuality, and feelings that President Joe Biden and the country as a whole were headed in the wrong direction. As my colleague Bill Galston persuasively has argued, people’s judgements about inflation and immigration were harsh during this election season, and these views harmed their assessments of Kamala Harris and strengthened the case for Trump.
But we can’t ignore the ways in which disinformation shaped views about the candidates, affected how voters saw leader performance, and generated widespread media attention. As Elaine Kamarck and I argue in our Brookings Press book “Lies That Kill: A Citizen’s Guide to Disinformation,” there are systematic and organized efforts to shape public opinion in many areas, from public health and climate change to race relations.
So, we shouldn’t be surprised that the same thing happened during the 2024 election. Campaign examples this fall include the infamous stories about immigrants eating cats and dogs, hurricane disaster relief funding going to undocumented immigrants, Kamala Harris in a swimsuit hugging convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and the supposed case of Tim Walz abusing a young man 30 years ago. Disinformation flowed into our info-ecosystem from other countries as well. One video featured a Haitian man (although he was not really Haitian) saying he had just gotten to the United States and had voted in two counties—Gwinnett and Fulton—in Georgia, but it turned out to be a fake video made in Russia.
These and other efforts were successful in shaping the campaign narrative because they were disseminated broadly on social media platforms, promoted through funny memes, picked up and publicized by mainstream media outlets, circulated by internet mega-influencers, and amplified by leading candidates during rallies, debates, and interviews. In a situation where public confidence in news reporters is very low and new generative AI tools make it easy to create and disseminate fake pictures, videos, and narratives, the 2024 campaign was rife with organized efforts to sway voters, twist perceptions, and make people believe negative material about various candidates. /snip

81 in less than a month and have also been battling as long as I have been able to, I will STILL continue to fight.

I am a woman who never served in the military. But I did serve my country as a Peace Corps Volunteer, a public school teacher, a USAID contractor, and a USG employee before moving into service in international organizations abroad, where I retired.

I am currently devastated by the outcome of this election and especially by the selfishness, stupidity, ignorance, and outright meanness it has demonstrated among the US voting population.

BUT this election was NO BLOWOUT, such as were the elections of 1972 (Nixon v. McGovern) and 1980 (Reagan v. Carter)!

NEVER FORGET THAT! And, as the votes continue to be counted, the Harris-Walz losing margin grows narrower. Not enough, of course, but it does show that Total Scumbag still has plenty of opposition in the USA. It just needs to be channeled effectively.

I only just received official word today that my absentee ballot has been counted: that's another one in the Harris-Walz column. That's hardly enough to turn the tide and my BLUE state (MD) was already called for Harris-Walz on Nov 05. But it puts my support for them on the record.

I have also contributed to the Harris-Walz recount efforts in an attempt to get ALL votes in House and Senate races counted.

Physically, I may not be able to do much and I live abroad most of the time. But I will continue to do what I can.

I do understand and respect your decision, your service to our country, and your support of Good vs. Evil. Thanks for being on DU.

I also have a sneaking feeling that your own fighting instincts will also return.

in terms of protests, fights/causes, etc
I was maybe more of a keyboard commando I suppose. Seemed like a way I could fight back.
I started young in the 60s. Never seen anything like this

With X and right wing news, expressing our position trying to convince some other citizens in MAGA of our cause seems out of reach - not a plausible option any more. X filters your posts. Right wing media is concerned with their propaganda - not the truth.

This victory by Trump will be used to consolidate the gains made with justices, undo many progressive laws (Obamacare, LGBTQ rights, abortion, climate change, etc) , punish those who stood up to Trump - weaponize the Doj, alter voting rights/rules, tear down hunks of the administration, etc, etc.
I'm at a loss for what means we have to stop this. Most of it will happen before the midterms.
There do not seem to be any checks and balances.

I feel like I'm shadow boxing. Can't land any punches.

I feel the same. It seems futile. I think elections are gamed. Right wing media and the internet nailed the coffin closed.

Last edited Mon Nov 18, 2024, 10:49 AM - Edit history (1)

Bluesky would help. It leans left.

disengage, but I'm too tired to amount to anything. I've been trying to get myself interested in something else . . . anything . . . but I'm in a real funk. Stay safe, albacore. Somehow, we'll get through this mess.

Thanks for the fight. I'm 43 and I'm depressed too. I'm terrified, because I'm black.

But I'm 74 myself, and I'm not dealing with the current situation very well, either.

Enjoy your rest.

in my lifetime, but the chance of that is getting bleaker by the day. It's depressing and scary.

Thank you for all you've done to persevere our democracy.

Your service to this country and standing up for the greater good are deeply appreciated.

Be kind to yourself, live in inner peace, be joyful through it all.

🩵

Now, I'm just tired of politics turning into Show Biz and/or sports competition.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” Charles Dickens/A Tale of Two Cities

Enough.

I will be 90 early in 2025 and I have finally realized that despite being born in the very middle of the Great Depression, being very aware of the invasions, battles and suffering of WW2, the social turmoil of the Vietnam era--I was blessed, compared to what is coming for my country if the MAGA/Trump cult retains power- I lived in the GOLDEN AGE of the USA!

I cannot watch the news. the image of that miserable orange traitor...even his voice makes me sick. I eagerly await his demise.

right to choose, Civil rights, the voting rights act, worker's rights, Healthcare, Social Security, Medicare, the environment, etc. etc., and have been slowing chopped away.

I pretty much feel the way the OP feels.

The only way some people can learn is the hard way. I hope it isn't too late, but I sense it may take another generation before any real progress can be made if at all.

We need everybody.
There is no better way to burn out than fighting for freedom.
As long as you can type you can at least cheer the whipper snappers on!

I turned 82 the day after the election, and believe me I know how you feel. I taught English literature for 30 years and know exactly how what state your mind is in at this moment. Take a time to recover, but my first election was Kennedy - Nixon, and I've voted for Democrats in every election since. The people and the nation need your voice in this continuous battle for sanity and freedom Stay the course. You can find the strength and will to fight for what is right.

As for the young folks, mine voted but apparently ten million sat this one out, that voted four years ago. Not sure how that breaks down demographically.
Take some time but come back. We need experience and wisdom more than ever.

horror, and shame this election dumped on me. But I still have some fight left in me and will do my best to pick up where you left off. I wish you the best and hope we can turn this around over the next four years.

I'm 71 with a 20% kidney function, scarring on my transplanted kidney due to high BP from fighting Trump.

I'm done, too, and will be making reservations to travel in Europe for as long as possible.

So, so true...

eighty the day after the election.

I fought the same fights in SE Asia and on the streets at home.

I am hollow now.

Three days ago I finally hit upon a description for this feeling.

"Heart broken"

The one thing that is keeping me keeping up with the news is that I promised a friend on his deathbed that I would keep his blog going as long as I couls and make arrangements to keep it going after my own death.

Not that it would be smart to drop out of all news, depending as I do on Social Security and Medicare to survive. But it would be possible to pull back some and still watch out for myself - if I could bring myself to do that. I'm approaching tears just thinking about it.

If you do get to a point where you can come back and stay sane, please at least consider it. DU needs people like you and me. Compared to the rest of the Net, I find ir a relatively safe place. But whatever you choose, stay as safe and treasure as much joy as you can.

❤️🫶🥰💋

Thank you for your contributions to our country and as you say it is time for the next generation to step up. They will have to live with the consequences of their actions and in actions. ☮

It expresses exactly how I feel. I'm only 74 and feel the same. I'm terrified for my kids and grand-kids, but I have no more fight in me. I'm doing the only thing I can do at this point which is get my first ever passport. Had my in person appointment today. No plans to leave, but just in case.