Thanks for hanging on Bob! I appreciate your voice! Pretty much no longer listen to that media show now that you're gone.
I'm 57 and have to apologize to my 19yr old for having read him Animal Farm when he was 5 so he knows what happened to Snowball and that the horse was turned to glue when it was no longer of use to the oligarchs.... I should have just migrated him from TeleTubbies to the Kardashians so he could be filled with the bliss of the willfully ignorant...
So tired of screaming...
That said, spent the spring knocking on doors and we elected the entire Progressive slate, filled with several democratic socialists... Hard not to think too little... too late..... so it goes.
I am one of the multitude of which you speak. Four weeks ago I had a mental breakdown so agonizing I had to drop away from everyone I talk to in the social media sphere. I’m terrified and upset and broken and afraid to go back. When something similar happened to my grandfather in his home country of Germany in 1938, just because he dared to defend his Jewish colleagues, he left. He came to the United States and found Hope here, and turned back and continued the struggle against the regime that had taken over his homeland. He never went back permanently, but he once asked me about forgiveness. The question was one I could not answer satisfactorily.
I am sorely tempted to do the same thing he did, though I don’t have the recourse he did through his brand new American wife. I also can’t bear the thought of leaving behind those who are more vulnerable than I am, including family and perfect strangers. And I am still terrified and upset and broken. And I don’t know how to fix it.
Hey Bob, parcel out the despair. Save the breakdown for when our fellow citizens vote for the “cult of personalityl” that is Donald Trump. Perhaps we glimpse false hope when one of his fascist lieutenants is elected instead. I have to cultivate and mediate my depression so I can be present at the apocalypse.
I value and appreciate your comments and points of view, and wish for you to be able to take a staycation from this aspect of yourself from time to time. And that's what I say to myself too when I get overwhelmed. Please keep on seeing what you see and talking about it, as it works for you.
My apologies for being so prosaic, but one of the best treatments for despair is exercise, and if you're not getting enough you might want to think about walking or running or some laps in the pool. Or hit the dance floor and ignore the funny looks. Just *move*; your blood pressure will thank you. It won't change the world, but it sure might help how you feel.
You're not wrong to feel the way you do, and you're not wrong about the Republicans you name. But many of the 100 million deplorable bigots they hold in their thrall just might feel as much despair as you (we!) do. I believe that only a few of them are willfully hateful. I think, like me (maybe you?), they also don't recognize what the country is turning into. Some of them might even recognize their gun-fetish paramilitary cosplay obsession for the embarrassment it is; I wonder what *that* feels like?
Anyway, great piece as always but please don't let despair overcome you. Some kindness and decency at the right time can make a big difference in someone's life. Enough people willing to extend kindness and decency can change a society for the better.
Love the roll call. Trash. And very happy we still have your take on the scene each week.
At 68, I vacilate between despair and nihilistic glee at seeing how many really dumb people there are in this country. I'm sure that makes me a bad person.
Thanks for hanging on Bob! I appreciate your voice! Pretty much no longer listen to that media show now that you're gone.
I'm 57 and have to apologize to my 19yr old for having read him Animal Farm when he was 5 so he knows what happened to Snowball and that the horse was turned to glue when it was no longer of use to the oligarchs.... I should have just migrated him from TeleTubbies to the Kardashians so he could be filled with the bliss of the willfully ignorant...
So tired of screaming...
That said, spent the spring knocking on doors and we elected the entire Progressive slate, filled with several democratic socialists... Hard not to think too little... too late..... so it goes.
I am one of the multitude of which you speak. Four weeks ago I had a mental breakdown so agonizing I had to drop away from everyone I talk to in the social media sphere. I’m terrified and upset and broken and afraid to go back. When something similar happened to my grandfather in his home country of Germany in 1938, just because he dared to defend his Jewish colleagues, he left. He came to the United States and found Hope here, and turned back and continued the struggle against the regime that had taken over his homeland. He never went back permanently, but he once asked me about forgiveness. The question was one I could not answer satisfactorily.
I am sorely tempted to do the same thing he did, though I don’t have the recourse he did through his brand new American wife. I also can’t bear the thought of leaving behind those who are more vulnerable than I am, including family and perfect strangers. And I am still terrified and upset and broken. And I don’t know how to fix it.
Hey Bob, parcel out the despair. Save the breakdown for when our fellow citizens vote for the “cult of personalityl” that is Donald Trump. Perhaps we glimpse false hope when one of his fascist lieutenants is elected instead. I have to cultivate and mediate my depression so I can be present at the apocalypse.
I value and appreciate your comments and points of view, and wish for you to be able to take a staycation from this aspect of yourself from time to time. And that's what I say to myself too when I get overwhelmed. Please keep on seeing what you see and talking about it, as it works for you.
My apologies for being so prosaic, but one of the best treatments for despair is exercise, and if you're not getting enough you might want to think about walking or running or some laps in the pool. Or hit the dance floor and ignore the funny looks. Just *move*; your blood pressure will thank you. It won't change the world, but it sure might help how you feel.
You're not wrong to feel the way you do, and you're not wrong about the Republicans you name. But many of the 100 million deplorable bigots they hold in their thrall just might feel as much despair as you (we!) do. I believe that only a few of them are willfully hateful. I think, like me (maybe you?), they also don't recognize what the country is turning into. Some of them might even recognize their gun-fetish paramilitary cosplay obsession for the embarrassment it is; I wonder what *that* feels like?
Anyway, great piece as always but please don't let despair overcome you. Some kindness and decency at the right time can make a big difference in someone's life. Enough people willing to extend kindness and decency can change a society for the better.
Don't take this the wrong way but OMG you White People.
Seriously though here is a video message I made for ALL of you after reading this post:
https://youtu.be/KVGrALO7Pv0
Love the roll call. Trash. And very happy we still have your take on the scene each week.
At 68, I vacilate between despair and nihilistic glee at seeing how many really dumb people there are in this country. I'm sure that makes me a bad person.