When Kerry wins, do you think us Democrats will suffer some kind of PTSD?

I've been trying to envision having a Democrat in the White House, and it just boggles my mind. For the past three years we've all been fighting so hard, swimming upstream, taking hit after hit after hit...

What's it going to be like for us, not being so oppressed anymore, not having to deal with the ridiculous day-to-day spin put out by the White House?

I feel like a dog that's been beaten...I think I'm still going to be looking over my shoulder for a long time even after Kerry wins.

to help undo the mess you-know-who got us into.

You know what I mean? It's just going to be SO different.

but yes, chimp out will be a great start.

And expect another hunting of the president. We'll need to keep that shit in control, too.

'Cause they are going to be PISSED.

I'll feel like the bride after the wedding day. All the attention will be elsewhere, we'll be busy working on the issues instead of the adrenalin rush we've been working under. Bring it on

For Kerry to undo all the damage, he needs a cooperative Congress. We have to get the freepers out of Congress.

whether or not Kerry wins the Presidency. Damn! If Bush wins methinks our Country just may evolve into one big "Escape from New York" kinda place. Feel better? <eg>

will need to go into some serious therapy to deal with the PTSD

Nothing like a planet with violent mood swings...

Yes, the chimp has a LOT to answer for-- my advice...members of the current administration should avoid lampposts.

Thats when the attacks will only begin to start. Anti-spin efforts will be needed more than ever!

:-)

From Illinois.

and try to wean myself from the Xanax that I'll have become addicted to by that time . . .

I plan to get drunk for at least a week. Dom Perrignon, no less, on election night.

I kind of feel like, I am going to be able to resume a normal life. Right now I am so obsessed with the elections, and so angry at Bush, that it takes so much of my energy (I even dream about debates and polls, etc.). I really feel that a Kerry victory will release me from that, and from that feeeling of dread that Bush produces by his actions in the world.

I was in Mexico when Vicente Fox was elected and overthrew the ruling party of 65 years (the PRI), and believe me, that was pure JOY!

I am sure you will feel vinidcated when Kerry wins. But we'll all need some healing.

we will have PLENTY to worry about. The Republican Congress, and perhaps Republican Senate, will put up roadblocks to every thing Kerry tries to do. He has a horrendous mess to clean up that will take at least two terms. It is not going to be pretty- electing Kerry will just stop the damage, hopefully.

and we can breathe freely as Americans again. That's when the ugly flashbacks, nightmares, and guilt will start.

I, for one, am feeling plain old TSD right now.

(edited for typo)

about a few dems

whether Bush or Kerry wins this election, either way we will still have a huge fight against the Right ahead of us. In fact, the fight will only be just beginning.

If/when Kerry wins, the Right is not going to just lie still, any more than they rolled over when Clinton got in office. They will come at Kerry just as much as they gunned for Clinton. And likewise, if (God forbid) Bush steals a second term, we need to be gunning for him the same way the Right hunted Clinton.

This ain't over after the election. Not by a long shot.

I want to let him know that he should be proud of being a liberal. As a woman I owe liberals and progressives a debt of gratitude. When I was little there was still great controversy over whether a woman was equal, and whether she was entitled to basic reproductive rights. The radical left fought hard to unbind the cloths of ignorance that bound our feet.

I well remember the effects of Jim Crow and segregation. I remember when the local amusement parks excluded blacks, and I wondered why, but nobody ever had a good answer. The people who opposed Jim Crow of course were thought of as wild radicals and trouble-makers. People who dared to fight the unpopular war for civil rights were spit on for their troubles and called commies. They were brave souls whom most of us resented because they ripped the blindfolds of ignorance from our faces.

And in that same vein of courage, Jim Kerry, in his youth, was strong enough to testify against an incredibly immoral and indecent war, which had already killed over 50,000 young men in the prime of their life. His bravery then, on the battlefield of protest, is one of the things I like and admire most about him. The tragedy of what happened on the battlefield in Vietnam was a huge elephant in the room, that no one would speak of. John Kerry pulled the gag of ignorance from our mouths and let us speak, through him.

And so, I will write to John Kerry and ask him to fully embrace and love that young man that he was. That young man was so incredibly ahead of his time, and deserves more than to be brushed aside as youthful shadow. I heard just a few weeks ago John Kerry say that he thought the highest form of service was to serve in the military. I beg to differ. The highest form of service to one's country is to stand up to its government and tell the truth in front of your countrymen. I will write to John Kerry, to thank him and to say that although I trust he will be a truly great President, his service to his country and his people will never be greater than when his voice echoed in the halls of Congress in 1971.

They will try to do to John Kerry what they almost succeeded in doing to Bill Clinton. They will smear, lie, "investigate", call up any hack to allege, and "give away" videos of some Kerry atrocity with a one time, $20 donation to Falwell's Liberty University.

If you think the Swifties will go away, then you need to put that "Fahrenheit 9/11" back on the shelf and re-watch "The Hunting of the President" again.

NEVER let this happen again. Stay involved.

"Okay, we can stop fighting."

I was referring to the bullshit coming out of the White House day-after-day, which I think has taken a toll on our mental health.

No, the bullshit won't stop in its entirety. But it won't have nearly the same effect.

i have lots of kids around. and i am going to jump in with both feet and get off the computer, get bush out of brain, and be.........

We've got to take back congress. If Kerry wins, I will enjoy the holidays with my family. Then it's back to work, getting Dems elected to congress.

Longterm stress certainly can set off PTSD, and does so more often than a single traumatic incident does.

However - a great way to combat PTSD is to stay vital, stay busy and look for ways to create good and light in the world. Getting Kerry into the White House will be just the beginning. The Bush Administration is like metastasized cancer - it spreads, spiderlike, through every department and every branch of the Government. The ramifications of the last four years will be coming to light for decades to come.

So there will be plenty to do to keep PTSD at bay. November 2 is only the beginning.