Random thoughts on 2010..posts about 10 years at DU. Plus more random thoughts about loss of trust.

Very random, and very sincere.

There are a lot of posts recently about those who came to DU in 2001. I came in mid-2002, and I find myself thinking about others. Not the ones who are still here to celebrate the 10 year mark, but the ones who are not for varied reasons. Guess that is part of the political process online, some survive, some don't and never know why. The never knowing why must be the very hardest thing of all. Those posters are the ones I remember the most as the talk of the anniversary celebration begins. I miss them.

Someone today asked the question about why there are not more posts of substance here. Two things. First, I think there are a lot of posts with great substance. They just disappear so quickly while posts about "exciting" stuff kick them down the line. Lots of exclamation marks and lols and rofls.

Secondly, writing a post with deep conviction or strong feelings leaves one open to the ridicule of the internets. There are places waiting to ridicule such posts at once, whole forums devoted to showing scorn to those here who post their deeper thoughts.

About 2010:

The hardest part of 2010 was the loss of confidence in our party and country.

I have tried to figure my feelings of discomfort as the year ended. There were personal sadnesses mixed in, but I felt uneasy aside from those. It was not easy to put into words how I felt....but it really is that. A loss of trust and confidence.

I don't trust as I did before. I don't believe even half of what I hear around me in this fundamentalist area, and I don't believe much more of what passes for truthtelling in the news these days.

I don't believe the leaders of the country anymore, and I have never felt that way before. I don't believe the leaders of our state, and I certainly trust them not at all. I do think there is some intentional misleading, but I mostly fear the bubble of leadership does not let through the ideas of the grassroots, the netroots.

I have noticed many of our party's leaders..governors, congressmen..are adopting the "talk tough", punitive, zero tolerance language of the right wing. In their words of warning to teachers to do better or get fired...it shows. This administration began on the note of making teachers feel inadequate. I am having a lot of trouble getting past that.

Oh, I want to believe them, trust me. I would feel so much better if I did. But they are openly misrepresenting the condition of Social Security, they are not listening to those who know the program best. I don't know their full plans, but the fact that they have left seniors hanging, expecting the worst, is indicative that we will not like what is coming.

They are using right wing propaganda about Social Security. It is not true. They don't care if we don't like the idea.

They seem to feel it is necessary to make "the left", the "liberals" upset in order to govern. They never upset the right wing. Yet the right wing will never vote for them, no matter how much they cater to them.

The condescension toward teachers in public schools has gotten worse the last two years, even worse than under the Bush presidents. When our leaders show disrespect toward teachers, so will the parents and children. Our Democrats could stand up for teachers, defend them...but they are not doing it.

Today I read that Governor Cuomo and his staff are expecting the anger from teachers. They just "expect" the anger, they do not listen to their concerns. The feelings of teachers are not a concern. The goals are set, right or wrong. When you "expect" anger from a group like teachers you are equating them with pouty children who don't get their way. I find that inexcusable.

There is a flippancy toward those of us who speak out on education, who believe teachers' unions are necessary to protect teachers from random dismissals based on whims of school administrators.

The worst part has been the continued arrogant attitudes toward those of us whom the leaders consider to be "liberals" or "the left." There is no real set of criteria defining us, so they show their contempt toward anyone who speaks out that the party is failing to take important stands.

Our neighbors were visiting yesterday, and one of them was raving about the seafood at a local restaurant that gets their seafood straight from the Gulf of Mexico. I did not say much until she kept on, and I said I did not eat shrimp or fish now unless I knew it was from somewhere else. She said oh our government says it is perfectly safe now. I said they are wrong and they know it. I talked about the Corexit, and her son agreed with me. The government did not do its job in this case.

I suspect the falling birds of Arkansas will be a similar situation. Already they are blaming loud booms, and I am not accepting that. 5000 birds just don't die from loud booms. If they did there would be more birds falling from skies in other states.

Back to the Social Security proposed cuts..that is most on my mind these days. It is infuriating how they spin it, our Democrats are as bad as the GOP. We are building monster embassies in at least 3 middle east countries quietly....yet the leaders are calling for shared sacrifices from those who can least afford it. It's outrageous, and it is being done by both parties.

Both parties are unabashedly going after public employee unions. They are not even putting on a pretense about it. And public employee pensions...the powers that be have the ordinary people convinced they are somehow sinful things to have. Undeserved.

2010 was a sad year for our family, but that was personal and ours to overcome and deal with. What was worse was what it meant for our nation.

2010 was the year I realized that the great opportunity Democrats had to begin taking America down the right path again was lost. I finally had one of the hit my forehead with my hand moments...like how stupid have I been. It was the year I realized that both parties goals are basically the same, that we have become a nation in which our leaders answer to corporations and not us.

I won't be taking part in the reminiscing threads about the past of Democratic Underground. I can't right now, because my head keeps pounding with the names of those who did post their consciences, their deep thoughts...and are no longer here.

That's about all I'd better say, but the thoughts keep pouring anyway. I guess I will write another post to clear my head...but I won't post it.

We've been had.

to elect more and better Democrats. Suckered.

Obviously, DU is in a post-Obama depression --

we need to move on to deciding what we're going to do about all of this!

Love his posts, but it takes me about 10 readings and then I scratch my head. There's something very deep about his posts, but I just don't know what. :-)

but it IS an adjective, thus you used the word properly.

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:cry: :hug:

...and altho I always knew both parties were pretty much the same, I forgot for a while and then my hopes were dashed again.

Fool me once......well you know.

We are contemporaries only in the sense that we both "signed on" at DU in 2002. Since then, you have posted over 70,000 posts more than I have. I lurked for several years, not certain that I had anything to say that others might find of interest. I'm still not certain.

I believe your analysis of why the number of "meaningful" posts is decreasing is spot on. And, it might just be due to the fact that I post more often now, but it does seem that there are a lot of folks who apparently don't know how to disagree without being disagreeable.

I share your distrust of our leaders and don't even know if I want to be known as a Democrat any longer. I never thought I'd hear myself say that, but there it is.

I still believe that we should be representing working people and, in general, the relative "have nots" in our society. I believe in progressive taxation to care for everyone and I don't believe anyone should control who we love and with whom we choose to share our lives. I don't believe corporations should be allowed to contribute to political campaigns or exercise any other "citizen's" rights.

But, a whole lot of people in government with "D"s after their names disagree with everything just stated.

Someone is not a Democrat. Is it me?

I hope 2011 brings better days for you and our nation.

it out first, let's agree to let the other know.

That is the way people are getting used to being suppressed and subjugated. I do not like the culture that encourage and normalize submission to the powerful but it is hard to overcome numerous cultural taboo manifesting in the current DU make-up. We may never be awaken as a people since we are already surrounded by mainstream culture of consumption and illusion ... Hard time is here.

That sadness is ok but anger is not when directed toward our own.

It is healthy to rebel when circumstance is against your well being. When energy of righteous anger is suppressed, child/person become depressed or otherwise completely dependent on his/her parent/host entity which is unhealthy.

People who have left DU may have needed that kind of space for their growth. I do only hope that DU itself can include and allow such expression of freedom so that our discussions, debate and discourse on Democratic Party can benefit from insights of "taboo breakers".

It literally shook me to the core, it feels like the world is collapsing underneath my feet, the political truths I took for granted since I was a child have been shown to be a lie.

Nader was right in 2000, he was right.

The loss of trust and confidence is depressing and infuriating. I'm in the process of trying to convince myself that it could also be liberating. I have tried to figure out just how many progressive voices feel the same way, and I believe that we are a much larger group than we are portrayed as being. Of course we will never be as large as the percentage of voters who are under/misinformed, but we a large enough that we could & should make our voices heard.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x111565

Disillusionment and the lost of trust are a hard thing to take, no matter when it happens. For me, it was at a young age, as I watched the Democratic party abandon McGovern because he wasn't the man they wanted to get the nod.

The first time is always the worst, and it colors your life with a cynicism that you simply cannot shake. In fact, with each new action on the part of people who should be our allies and leaders, that cynicism will grow deeper, since there is no end to the duplicity and deceit.

I've never put my faith in politicians or parties, but rather with people, people like you, like me, like those who gather here. It is these people who are making the real fight, the real stand, out there in the real world. Putting your faith in politicians and parties is a risky move, putting faith in the people around you will not let you down.

Don't let this moment cause you to retreat from the world, you are needed to much. Your words, your insight are a light in the darkness, illuminating the truth and showing us what needs to be done. Though there is little hope for true progress, true change at this moment, don't fear, don't waver. As more people are disillusioned and disenchanted, you will find that our number will grow, and that real change can be made in this world.

Know that you are valued, treasured and loved. Do not despair, but rather resolved, resolved to carry that light, that fight on for as long as you live, and that despite what goes on here on DU, or in the real world, there are people who stand with you, that you do not fight alone.

Trying to do what you say...hard to be active though in our fundamentalist area. Thanks for the words. :hi:

We humans are manifesting a level of mental disease that is both frightening and corrosive. Far too many of us are in react mode, driven by inchoate fears and resentments. Far too many of us are willing to pollute our spirits with negativity, eagerly engaging in name-calling and other forms of vilification. Far too many of us are willing to glorify violence or resort to violence, often just for entertainment or personal gratification.

We seldom acknowledge the import of overpopulation, but Calhoun's research with rats has proven that when a critical level of overpopulation occurs, the outcome isn't pretty. With rats, abnormal sexual behavior, hyperaggression, eating their young, and increased mortality are a few of the problems that occurred. With humans, well...isn't it past time we acknowledge that our species has passed a critical tipping point?

When I was younger (and naive) I thought our species was in its adolescence--obsessed with sex, drugs, and all other forms of self-gratification, especially as regards our economic behaviors. However, I've come to understand that overpopulation is a macro-level manifestation of our species' hedonism. Regardless of how much energy we devote to denying the ravages of overpopulation, they are writ large by our increasingly sophisticated, increasingly corrosive socio-cultural and technological constructs--the very same constructs we use to remain in denial, and to externalize responsibility for our collective hubris.

Bearing this in mind, I feel overwhelmed with disappointment about the choices we (as a collective) have been making, because we seem to be moving inexorably back into 'balance' on a planetary scale. When it's time for Gaia to roll over and scrape us off her backside, the inevitable consequences of our hedonistic overpopulation and denial of personal responsibility promise to be extreme.

For almost a month now, I've struggled with a spark of an idea, motivated in no small measure by your activism, madfloridian. I hoped to network grandparents worldwide to advocate for a return to civility in public and political discourse. I hoped to encourage groups with similar progressive ideals to network and make our numbers known throughout the world. I hoped to encourage a resurgence of satyagraha, with a highly visible representation of our membership, world wide.

But, I am tired. I have had people on DU make snide comments about my advocacy, and about me personally. And, like you, I've been attacked because I question Obama's policies on public education (AND, Afghanistan, Social Security, health care, and the economy). Just yesterday, many of my posts about a poorly written paean to Obama by Frank Schaeffer were deleted by DU moderators, and for the life of me, I cannot find in the rules a justification for these deletions.

I've begun to suspect that our species is beyond help--with too many arrogant, hate-mongering, fear-mongering, narcissistic WATBs. I have no money, no job, and virtually no hope. I just don't see a reason to be an advocate OR an activist any more. I wonder if I've become a misanthrope...

Next they laugh and make snide remarks...that is past the first step of being ignored.

Keep up the fight, I will probably also. Just been a rough year.

:hi:

I hope you know my husband and I really appreciate your posts. About disillusionment, 2010 was a big year of that for me, too. I'm a little angry at myself for letting caution, and whatever else, keep me from seeing what was should have been obvious starting from the stolen election of 2000. That election was appalling, as was the election of 2002, but still I tried to tell myself that I couldn't judge politics by what I had seen with my own eyes. When the stakes are high the game is so rigged, and the mindless national self-regard hammered into Americans from birth keeps us from admitting it. I wanted, and still want, to be part of a "good" nation. Why on earth that ever meant overlooking the "bad" is less and less clear to me.

I have never forgotten that. And political dirty tricks are worse here than then.

When you see it with your own eyes, it is hard to forget.

no mistake about it --

The question today is "Who can we trust?"

And, that would be very few, indeed.

Imagine -- 26 million expected voters stayed home in 2010 -- !!

Certainly, they have figured out the scam we're still calling "politics."

For decades now, we have watched as the differences between the two parties

began to disappear -- if there are any differences any longer, they are too faded out to see.

I'll take Sen. Bernie Sanders in 2012 -- if he would be willing to sacrifice himself to

prove to us whether there is anything left of our "people's" government and/or the

Democratic Party still worth saving.

as I economically expatriated in 2003. Economically my family is doing pretty well, but watching events back home in the states and even more specifically Florida is like watching a parent slowly die from cancer while you live far away. Yeah, there is som cognitive distance, but the different perspective brings its own regrets.

I love my country more since I left it... Really and truly and I don't want it ruined for my children, or myself.

Someday I will be back... I will come home. The question is, will there be much to come home to (or for).

Anyone who truly knows about the political events and ridiculous talking points, not to mention flat out lies that have been renamed hypocrisy,can not look at our country the same way.

They uphold a document that wasn't written for most of the country (Constitution),they pander to the wealthy,they despise the lower income earners of this country (the only way the wealthy can obtain wealth),and allow the most precious of our resources (our children) to be sacrificed for their own personal gain.

They have taken the office of Presidency,since an African American has achieved the coveted chair,to new level of LOW.

We have a Supreme Court where it is evident that some members are not true to the court.We have Senate and House who really don't give a sweet fuck. Because win or lose, they get to walk away with their campaign war chest. So it makes more cents (no spelling mistake) to them to give the corporate handlers what they want before the people who put trust in them to see after their political behalf.

And you have a majority of the country who will still give them the tools to keep the average American from being a success in this Country. This is a country who will not stop placating to the corporate whore monger. They have been led like sheep. They have been tricked,hood-winked,bamboozled,and made a complete Jackass.

CHANGE hasn't come from us so why do we expect Washington D.C. to CHANGE???

your threads are appreciated..the things you care about are things that many of us care about..when everything is falling apart around us, it's time to look and be grateful that the darkness has exposed some stars we otherwise would never have been able to see. When life is hard you find out who your friends are. Every loss, even the loss of innocence about one's country or one's government or one's party, is accompanied by an equivalent gain, if we open our eyes to see it. If we find misery, we are also finding purpose. If we find that 'both parties goals are basically the same', we may also find that we have more allies among the disaffected than we thought. If we find glaring and offensive inequality, we have also found possible examples that can break through the fog of confusion in the 'United States of Amnesia'.

I do feel for what you are going through.

I often imagine it to be like the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin. If only we can find the right words to 'name' what is happening, then awful things can be stopped. But the right words aren't always enough; a change in circumstances can be necessary. Then if we can be ready with the right words when the time comes..

retirement vs. someone who traded air and swapped it out for our tax dollars.... I'm presuming they have already taken what they can, and now the elected ones will just rank the rug out from underneath us, and ta-da they have money for another jet, mansion, etc.... This is what they must mean by shared sacrifices....

after Obama, then whom?

Whether or not he gets reelected, there is still the concept of who will run as the Democratic Nom, or perhaps, a Progressive Nom?

Who could we trust? Who will we believe? Will we continue to sink into a morose sense of apathy?

This is what concerns me greatly. Obama ran on change and hope. He did change many things and did some good things, but still, in my opinion, fell far short of what he was elected to do. Aka get us out of the two wars. Hold the previous admin accountable.

Since those two basic, yet colossal things, haven't been achieved, then what?

Do we believe anyone who claims to due such things next time around?

Over the past year, I have stepped back from the fray. I now am trying to view both parties for what they are. Ideology aside, what they are are basically one in the same regarding operation.

They both live in a bubble, the both basically ignore the plight of the average person, they both are greatly indebted to corporations, etc.

We the people are still waiting for that hope. A hope that this nation will end the senseless killing, that we will wake up and hold people accountable.

but alas.

I thankfully still have a job. Raises and bonuses are things of the distant past. My health insurance still goes up. (I don't even want to go into my deductible). Prices in general go up, gas goes up, etc. My GF and I have cut back so much, we don't know were else to cut.

I'm just sort of rambling now.

Cheers to you and thanks for your post. :)

I had basically ignored politics for years like many folks, just didn't get involved but would show up and vote for the democrat in 4-yr intervals. Then I saw Obama in the early part of the campaign and got involved - worked through the primary in Texas (and I mean work - phone-banking, door knocking, precinct baby-sitting, all of it). As the summer progressed I talked on these political forums (I found DU early 2008, and then others), and slowly watched Obama reverse himself on issues as we got closer to the general election. I remember vividly when Mr. Obama visited Houston for campaign events in the nice neighborhoods, and then days later was compromising on off-shore drilling (here is a CNN cite commenting in the msm about that very topic - http://articles.cnn.com/2008-08-02/politics/campaign.wrap_1_offshore-oil-drilling-obama-gas-prices?_s=PM:POLITICS).

And that is when I started to listen to leftists who had been around awhile and keeping track of the details. There are a few who still post with clarity on economic issues here still - but not very many. This site basically stayed in campaign mode and is still there - folks who support Obama and those who do not. I find it an interesting site to check in because folks are always debating current news stories and there are still quite a few posting here. I'm not as familiar with all who have left, willingly or not, so I don't have much to say on that topic.

I do think your work on education is substantial and hope you are backing it up elsewhere - you're an excellent writer and the tale of public education going down the drain will be important historically.

Wish I could tell you "it will be better in 2011" - unfortunately I can't do that. I can tell you though that you are not alone in resisting. We really have no organization to speak of as of yet, but we are here, and I think there are more of us than many realize.

2010 was a very rough year for my family too. I want to thank you though. I look for your post and I share them with others. I feel hopeless to a point too. However we must keep fighting for the kids. I had a 16 year old tell me last night we are reverting backward and that she hates the ignorance of the kids she goes to school with. She was quite upset and just didn't want to go back. She loves school just not her piers.You do an amazing amount of good by keeping people informed. Thank you.

As someone once said. ;)

I was pretty sure by 2004 that we were fucked, but O's presidency has killed off any lingering notion that we live in a country run for the People, by the People.

The Two Party=One Party system makes sure that any real reform/change/progress is destroyed before it has a chance to take hold. Folks like you and I will continue to be marginalized, used, and abused by both the Parties in their current incarnations.

I see three possibilities:

1) Start a liberal takeover of the Democratic Party. Organize with other left groups like the Greens/Socialists on making the Party a true left Party.

2) Focus on breaking the current Two Party=One Party system and forcing more Parties and coalitions like in much of Europe. I think there are folks on the Right who would be willing to splinter the GOP to accomplish this.

3) Bypass the current system all together. Starve the Beast. Pull money/support from Party and focus it on idividual candidates regardless of Party. Screw the DNC and The RNC. Go direct instead.

All I know is Shitty and Shittier is not an option I am willing to stand for anymore.

I didn't believe the talk about our country being run by one-party rule when it was brought up in 2000 and 2004, even though it was partially true then. But I certainly do believe it now, after seeing what happened in a two year period in which we had the presidency and good majorities in both houses of Congress. I can no longer stand to look at Obama, just like I couldn't stand to look at Bush for 8 long years.

I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your well-done posts. I don't often comment, but they are appreciated.

I appreciate yours too.

I have agreed with your thoughts so many times without commenting. Admire your tenacity in wanting a good education for OUR children. Appreciation for all things Howard Dean.

I am guessing you are an enlightened person. Don't have many in your circle who are up to where you are. Kind of lonely at the top of the heap. Not being facetious.

I also see your distrust of your govt and Obama as acquiring wisdom. False hope and trust get us nowhere.As well as feeling powerless..which is edging on over toward depression. H&H or hopeless and helpless are the hallmarks of depression. And isn't this right where certain leaders want US?

Been there . A group started meeting near my house a few months ago. Our leaders have spent the last 30 years in Holland. There are schools all over Holland which teach their unusual, to me, methods of be ing. One , who was in their group in Holland , wrote a book about their school and their teachings.

Intuitive Magic , Understanding your Psychic Nature by Linda Keene

There is nothing in this book that would be a problem with our US brand of religion. Only the fundies who think that meditating puts you in touch with Satan, would have a problem with this book. Wish magic was not in the title, it is misleading. This book teaches the principles that Native Americans use in their ceremonies. I am drawn to their value system. Just a suggestion to keep you from feeling despair like I have over our country's unfortunate demise.I'm still feeling it but try not to stay in the dark hole that kind of thinking leads me.

Thanks for the thread, madfloridian.

2008 will go down in history as one of the great squandered opportunities of all time. Here Obama had popular support and both houses of Congress, and he kowtowed to the Republicans at every term.

This was either monumental ineptness or deliberate deception, and I move closer to the latter view every day.

I'm once again looking at overseas options for retirement, not because I think there's a perfect country somewhere, but because I no longer want to be associated with this country.

The only thing I like without reservation is the abundance and variety of natural beauty, everything from tundras to tropical rainforests, something unmatched in any other country in the world.

Our political system is all theater, and our economic system is a casino fixed so that the house (the major financial institutions) always wins. Young people can't find jobs. Older people are thrown out onto the scrap heap years before they're eligible for Social Security, and now the Republicans and certain scummy Democrats want to destroy even that fragile safety net. The national parties diss and refuse to support anyone who wants to rock the yachts.

Yes, there are great people here, but there are great people everywhere. What disturbs me a great deal is the growth and increasing intensity of the mean and dumb segment of the population. Read the comments section of any local paper, and you will see hysterical, hate-filled diatribes against compassion, equality, fairness, and generosity. Our side slept while the right-wingers used the most skilled PR flacks in the country to propagandize the ill-informed, and their efforts are bearing fruit. Propaganda works, and it has created a mental underclass of people who are barely getting by but who identify with the billionaires instead of with the people just below them on the economic ladder. Such people are a perfect fifth column for fascism.

I've been waiting for the Dems to do something about this since 1980, and I was furious at the number who have consistently played dead or collaborated with the Republicans to make life worse for ordinary Americans. In the beginning, there were a few lonely voices who still stood up for decency and the public good, but now, the Democratic Party establishment has nothing but contempt for those who don't play along with the plutocracy. It's always the left wing that has to give ground, not the right wing.

Believe it or not, I was happy on Election Night 2008, and a couple of DUers were present at the bar where we watched the returns. America had elected a man of color as president. For someone who remembers the Civil Rights era, it was mind-boggling. It was unforgettable to drive home along one of the main drags in the Twin Cities and see African-Americans and Latinos at bus stops, getting the news on cell phones and high-fiving and hugging one another.

But it's been all downhill since then, beginning with the appointment of a staff and Cabinet made up entirely of conservaDems and Republicanites (Republicanites!).

I'm luckier than people in Florida, because Minnesota still has some decent Dems, whom I could vote for without holding my nose. But the population is undergoing the same mean and dumb transformation as other places, so that our wonderful new Democratic governor, Mark Dayton, has a legislature with a mean and dumb Republican majority.

The idea of the left-leaning states seceding and joining Canada is superficially attractive, but another Civil War is the last thing we need. Maybe we need more states. Maybe the urban portions of each state should become separate states. Why not? There are more people in the Twin Cities than there are in all of North Dakota. Then the cities could experiment with more left-leaning policies and vote for them in Congress.

In the meantime, I'm wondering where to go and what to do.

Amen to that.

"What disturbs me a great deal is the growth and increasing intensity of the mean and dumb segment of the population. Read the comments section of any local paper, and you will see hysterical, hate-filled diatribes against compassion, equality, fairness, and generosity. Our side slept while the right-wingers used the most skilled PR flacks in the country to propagandize the ill-informed, and their efforts are bearing fruit. Propaganda works, and it has created a mental underclass of people who are barely getting by but who identify with the billionaires instead of with the people just below them on the economic ladder. Such people are a perfect fifth column for fascism."

So right.

to recommend. I come here much less often now. Mostly because of the things you mentioned in the OP. Too many here are as gullible or willingly gullible as the RW. You are right about every point you make in the OP. You are also right that telling the truth and being concerned about the truth will do nothing to abate the fall of the Democratic party.

I am a liberal. I am an educator. I am a thinking and informed citizen. This administration has made it evident that they do not care about what I care about, that they will willingly lie about things I know to be a lie. 2010 was a sucky year.

even if the rest of us never get that explanation or see why.