On top of whatever is going on in our daily lives.

Most were moderate Republicans, the one who is still alive is now a Democrat.

Patriotism meant, among other things, being against most of this.

I'm lucky, I have an out and am finishing up a move to a country that still holds the values that were considered American values when I was a child..

flowers are coming out and leaves are budding

are packed! Last year you could sit in the driveway surrounded by crap you wanted to sell and nobody stopping in to buy. This year the cars are lining up and down the street by 8am on a Saturday. Everything is gone by noon.

I don't think changing weather will help with the creeping fascism

(and btw, it has been Spring since March)

ever read Being There (or see the movie)

We have to remember to look in on them making sure they are not being run over or crushed by daily life.

It seems we are going backwards into a fascist, religious theocracy and bigoted country.

All because known conman fooled a lot of dumbass people and the oligarchs became richer and screwed over the American people.

I am not proud to be an American at this time in our country!

have been waging a giant class war on the American middle class and the poor to line their own pockets since 1935.

They are now making the mistake oligarchs always make in the end - they are squeezing TOO HARD. And the Epstein files are showing all of us how depraved, vile and immoral these billionaire parasites actually are.

Tax them out of existance, change the rules of corporate governance away from shareholder primacy to a stakeholder approach, reverse Citizens United and raise corporate taxes so corporations are paying more than the 4% of federal income tax revenue and bring that back up to around 35%, which was where they were before the snake Reagan slithered into the White House.

Right now we working schmucks pay in 50.4% of the governments income tax revenue (not including Social Security and Medicare - just income tax). That is fucked up.

And start enforcing the anti monopoly laws.

And encourage unions forming. Like Biden was.

but I don't see what we can do about it. Our elected politicians mostly aren't cutthroat enough to take on the politicians owned by the billionaires.

All the things you said, should be done. Who can do it?

it feels like it did the day after I was violently assaulted in 1969. Haven't felt that way since. Until now.
It's getting awfully crowded here under the bus.


.

yes, trauma can fundamentally change people to the point it cannot be fixed, only managed

and Trump is doing it to the entire country

I can see how you can feel that way - it's a trigger.

by the fascist rightwingers. They're so sure of themselves that they don't hide it any longer.

Trump is surrounded by the worst people. Help family and others if you can? Agreed.

Last edited Sat May 2, 2026, 06:25 PM - Edit history (1)

I knew it would be bad if he got back in the White House, but I didn't know it would be this bad. I cried for a full week after the election.

I'm a female baby boomer and I have lived through some very rough and challenging times for this country, but nothing like this. Every day is a new affront to our democracy, a new evisceration of the rule of law.

My heart breaks for what the young people are going to inherit. The fetid orange felon has made the golden years a daily, unending nightmare for those of us who are seniors.

If ever there was a personification of unbridled evil, it's Trump.

of us in to a miserable life. Not to speak out is being complicit, not patriotic.

We need to find candidates that speak out loud and clear. Then campaign for, provide monetarily support if possible, and elect them.

for the wealthy Republican elite; none of whom are patriotic, sympathetic or caring about their country or anyone in it, beyond themselves.

It's patriotic to say how you feel regardless. And I agree with you that life in the US is miserable right now.

Scaring is caring - when the one you love is careening toward self-destruction as we are.

Especially compared to history. Infant mortality dropped from about 100 in 1000 live births in 1915 to about 5.5 in 1000 live births in 2023 for example. AIDS isn't a death sentence. Same sex marriage went from a cudgel to cost us elections to widely accepted.

Just because Trump and MAGA are trying to drag us backwards, and there are similar movements in much of the world, they haven't won until we stop pushing back. Yeah a lot of things are heavy and depressing, but their hate isn't inevitable.

Last edited Sat May 2, 2026, 08:16 PM - Edit history (1)

Flag of My Heart

Flag of my heart, you always will be
I pledge allegiance to you and to me
Each 'true' 'blood believer', 'American way'
Each oath to be taken, all laws to obey...

Burdened believers, afflicted with 'sin'
Dying for 'saviors' in 'wars meant to win'
A seasoned believer, will 'show you the way'
I'm sure you'll feel better...

Once you trust in...
The undying love of the hardcore believers
The unshakeable faith of the fools and the dreamers...

Stark raving sober, the man said to me
"I hate my life daily, I'd be grateful to be..."
"In the presence of someone, that might understand..."
"The 'son' of the 'god' of the suffering man...

Give up your suicidal 'sainthood'
Don't multiply pain
All you 'sanctified sinners'
'Hymned' in by shame

If your 'father's forgiveness' needs blood for the plan
Wash in the 'son of your god's'
Not the suffering man's

Cause there's no easy way when you're a hardcore believer
And you trust in the schemes of the fools and the dreamers
When jubilant elation meets ultimate sorrow
Catastrophe's joy can take decades to swallow

One sip at a time is all most can stand
It helps with some lime, and salt on your hand
A lick and a swallow, and maybe tomorrow
Each can learn to be free

Free of this, undying love of the hardcore believers...
The unshakeable faith of the fools and the dreamers...

~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~

A large swath of humanity rejects logic in it's entirety, instead embracing unfounded supposition as factual reality.

Freedom is reason’s child: without the ability to tell fact from fantasy, argument from propaganda, and consent from manipulation, “freedom” is just a noise, a word for nothing left to lose.

When that rational capacity is dulled, delusion rules, congealing into censorship, coerced unanimity, ritualized slogans, and curated realities that make dissent literally unthinkable while constitutions and rights-talk remain as hollow script.

Oppression is delusion’s child, built on lies about who is fully human, what threats justify emergency powers, and which manufactured crises demand permanent exception.

Strip away the shared hallucinations and the cruelties stand naked and absurd.

Which is what we see and feel today.

For I and mine, reason is our god, doubt is our savior, and the fight for liberty begins with defending minds that can still tell the difference.

Defending reason defends it's child, freedom, because it keeps open the very space in which non-deluded choice is still possible.

Each of us are progenitors of that very thing: the defense of freedom.

I really appreciate your posts and your thoughts.

Thank you for your ongoing honesty about your own personal struggle, it's something we each have in common.

I got laid off last week because Walgreens got bought out by a hedge fund and they’re closing stores, cutting staff, our duties had expanding beyond the ridiculous (seriously, we didn’t have enough to do and they’re now requiring we call a quota of ALL patients from ALL stores to try to set them up with us for vaccines and refills to boost our numbers?!), and I was the next to go. Doesn’t help that two other techs are planning to take off ASAP. Toxic workplace run by toxic people.

So yeah, on top of my usual anxiety from my daily dooomscrolling, I’ve got a job search and rent, food, etc. to freak out about. Can hardly get more dismal than this. *sigh*

That isn’t your life’s passion, really sucks. I hope you find a really good job and quickly.

for those who aren't in the Nazi's direct line of fire, we are hurting for them, and our Country and Planet

That's why we're Fighting any way we can!

Mahalo, RandySF It's not unpatriotic, though. It's Very Patriotic.

💔💙 ☮️🌻🕯️🕊️💜

This is going to cause a global economic contraction. Oil deliveries are down between 10 to 20% this will result in nearly pure demand destruction. Not from reduced petroleum purchases but with all the other things cut from a household budget. This will see restaurants and tourism both take huge hits.

"In Irish when you talk about an emotion, you don’t say, ‘I am sad.’ You’d say, ‘Sadness is on me – Ta’ Bron Orm.’ I love that because there’s an implication of not identifying yourself with the emotion fully. I am not sad, it’s just that sadness is on me for a while. Something else will be on me another time, and that’s a good thing to recognize.” -P.O. Tuama"
from Hope Inc.

If we remember our emotions are visiting us and will move on, we are not the emotion but just the resting place for it. Maybe we learn from it too.
I see now that patriotism is universally built on myths.

There's no sugar coating in

Because I’d hate to be viewed as endorsing this unGodly mess we are living in.