The USA today. A rant

[Renew Deal]

I don't know what to say. I have been wanting to post my thoughts for a few days, but I haven't been able to organize them. They are too cluttered with anger, confusion, complexity and resentment that I am not sure if I can get it all out. I will try to lay them out.

We are fucked. I never thought that I would be in an America like this. I was so proud of being here as a kid and growing up (I am 27). My parents were greek immigrants and I was born here a year after they immigrated. The US could do little wrong in my eyes. The reason was that I felt the government worked in good faith for us. I know that the parties wanted different things, but the officials were at least working for themselves and for the people. Bush and co are the opposite. They do not govern in good faith. They do everything to make their masters happy. They ignore facts, science, and the truth. They muzzle people and suppress information. They say global warming is bullshit. They ignore peak oil and just insist we buy our SUV's. They order people to stay quiet. They are even apologists for torture, rape and murder. This is the current US gov't. WTF? People are too scared of terra to do anything about. Questining them is unpatriotic. Where is my fucking country? I do not want to live in a place like this.

The Abu Graib stuff is the worst thing I have ever seen come from the US. How horrible? I don't want our soldiers treated that way. Now they will be and it will be worse than that. And what can we say when it happens? Will we send our soldiers to the Hague? I doubt it. So how can we expect others to not do the same thing?

The economy is a large pile of steaming smelly shit. Those job numbers are meaningless. Look at inflation. Look at gas, oil, dairy, and other products. Look at the deficits. Bushco are not willing to do anything in good faith to fix it. This country will be bankrupt within 10 years if we don't do anything about it.

I am thinking about getting hitched with my awesome girlfriend. She wants to have kids some day. How am I supposed to bring kids into a world like this?

That's my rant. We don't have leaders that honestly care about us. That means that we have no way out of this.

:shrug:

[vetwife]

1. Good Rant and sums it up !

[DemosthenesOfTheWest]

11. Geia sas, vetwife. Very moving peace.

I sympathies with you completely. But don't let Bush dictate whether or not to have children. Raised by someone as caring perceptive as yourself they will be a necessary part of the solution.

[vetwife]

13. I adopted my three grandkids..so I must still believe in kids

I feel for them though. My child is 35 and when his wife left him for other men and got on drugs, he lost his business and signed adoption papers over to us when she lost the kids. He sure believed in them and didn't want the government to have them in his state of affairs and knows he will eventually have them, well he is over here all the time. So he played it smart. We were stable and had an income and he did the right thing but at 53, its like starting all over again but the Really great part is we love him, and them and they are being raised democrats, liberal, raised left !
He was too.

[seabeyond]

15. my father is doing the same

with my brothers kids, a 12 and 16 year old. he is doing a bang up job. i think he was a little afraid at first, doing it just him. but he is getting so much out of it. except he isnt liberal so i have to talk often with the kids to bring balance, lol

[shraby]

2. Everyone study the ballot

in your area..if the people running for congress are of the quality of John McCain, re-elect them..if they aren't, vote for the other candidate. It's time to take out the trash...if the new person is elected and performs like a statesman he/she can stay..if not the trash can be taken out until we have statesmen/women in congress. We need no more blatant partisanship when the ship is sinking. We need people who put America first and party second.

[enki23]

4. fuck that

study the ballot long enough to figure out how to avoid voting for *anyone* with an "R" next to their name.

i don't jump on the partisan bandwagon lightly. i am angry. i'm very, very angry.. i don't give a damn about the democratic party, frankly. but i want to do whatever i can to help destroy the republican party, to outlaw its symbols, to criminalize its associations, to jail its leaders, and to prosecute as many, as aggressively, as possible. mccain included.

"acting like a statesman" is an utterly useless standard to hold your elected officials. they are known by their deeds, and by the company they keep. not by their fucking acting skills.

[pocoloco]

3. "The Abu Graib stuff is the worst thing I have ever seen

come from the US"

Only because it is so visible and we can not deny it or overlook it. If we beleive half the reports we have been getting out of Central and South America over the years I am afraid this would be pale by comparison.

I hope this will serve as a wake up call but I certainly share your lack of faith in the future and of our leaders!

[Delano]

5. If I were you, I'd edit the headline.

I thought you were going to rant about the stupid newspaper "USA Today"

Maybe you should change it to "The USA today" or "America Today"

Just a suggestion.

Also, I don't hink things are all that different than they were 10 years ago, ity's just that the moneyed powers that be have gotten more blatant and more obvious in their grabs forr power and money, and Bush is one of the worst presidents ever at putting a pretty face on the whole mess.

As you know, President Clinton gutted welfare and allowed the country to continue sliding right throughout his term. I liked Clinton very much, but I've always been disappointed in his inability to promote progressive ideals. He also gave the rightwing pundits way too much material.

As for having kids- the world has sucked for a long time. But let's say you don't have kids, and all the other nice, conscientious folks like you don't have kids - that will leave only the a-holes having kids, and you what kind of kids a-holes raise, more a-holes. So we good folks need to have kids too, so the a-holes don't take over!

[Renew Deal]

6. lol

That's one of the best posts ever. Thanks

[immoderate]

9. Yeah! Think of the glass as half full

I didn't have kids when I had the chance because I thought the world would be too polluted and fucked up for them to enjoy their lives.

But the kids who have grown up during that time have had good lives.

It always can look bad. What you do for them will make the difference.

--IMM

[KharmaTrain]

7. What Do We Tell The Children???

A very well thought out and appreciated post.

I think there are many Americans right now that are seeing what's going on and can't believe this is the same country they grew up in. "Democracy" is now granted by imperialist powers at the barrel of a gun using humiliation and intimidation...all run by a regime that lost an election and manipulated the courts to gain power. Is this really America, 2004??

Here's wishing you and your girlfriend/fiance a lifetime of happiness and companionship...and the joys of having children. Don't let others dictate how you feel in this area...the joys of raising children far outweigh any financial riches or political games.

That brings to mind my own children. During the Clinton inquisition, they were about 10 years of age...and were exposed to all the slime of the time with the GOOP mantra "What Do We Tell The Children" (doing a smoke & booze-filled Bill Bennett voice). Of course it was THEIR Starr report that made oral sex a national issue and while my wife and I were so incensed at the time that we didn't care what was said after all the sliming, but I saw it affect others...very uncomfortable with the media and our government wrapped up in blow jobs and semen stains.

Now, how does that rate to what we have just seen and heard and the words that we'll be seeing even far worse in the days ahead. Fortunately, my children are older (one can't wait to vote for Kerry) and can form their own opinions now. But how will this new slime go over with the Soccer Moms and the "silent majority". There are still many who haven't really tuned into this story fully yet...but sure will when there's sight and sound available.

Cheers!

[Norquist Nemesis]

8. I've got about 20 years on you

and got married in 1980...the start of the Reagan years. **UGH** They were not kind to us and I'm sickened at the way he's now revered. You're not alone in your thoughts and feelings about what we are today though. Not by a long shot.

Anyway, I really just wanted to comment on the getting hitched and raising a family thing. (Here's where the Reagan thing comes in). We seriously considered moving to another country when we got married. We didn't like the direction the country was headed and couldn't see bringing children into something was saw as getting worse.

But 24 years later, we have two beautiful children (now 16 and 19 years old). For mother's day today, my son came home and handed me a wrapped gift saying "I don't know if you'll like it, but Happy Mother's Day" and gave me a hug and a kiss. I was in shock...he actually went on his own and bought a gift AND wrapped it. LOL But the real shocker is that he bought Michael Moore's "Dude Where's My Country". I never felt prouder. :D

The thing is not that I've brought them into a world where terrible things are going on. There's nothing every parent would like to do more than to protect their child from any pain or harm. The real thing is knowing that my kids will have an impact on the future, and hopefully make this world a better place than they found it just has their father and I have tried to do in our lifetimes.

[LizW]

10. A very heartfelt post

Just to address one thing: Don't let the events of the world today keep you from surrounding yourself with people you love. Marry your girlfriend -- or don't, but either way, be together and love each other. Have those kids when you're ready. NOTHING is more terrifying than raising children in today's world, but also, nothing is more inspiring than fighting to make a better world for those you love more than life.

I say have them and teach them well.

[Renew Deal]

12. kick

:kick:

[seabeyond]

14. ah dude havent you ever heard, the children are the future

gosh guy you are exactly the one i want to marry that awesome girlfriend and have your kids and then, teach those kids to be wise. you will just be amazed how awesome those kids will be. they have such a purity and wisdom beyond so many adults that have been conditioned and cannot see.

i have a 6 and 9 year old. and have always talked about universal law and responsibility and how we create our world to live. i have watched the last handful of years things progressively swing to the right and all the rigidness and comformity in fears and selfishness. this is so clear to my boys, they learn so easily what they dont want in the world. now a days, we just say this is history being created. watch and learn, cause these boys are going to be the ones to fix this mess we adults are creating for them

talking to my nephew, and a friend of his, they would be considered lower class, trailer park, grin. we went to university to the pool and talking about the grandness of university and the learning, and how exciting it would be for them. the little boy shrugs and said he wouldnt be going, he couldnt afford. this kid, a huge brain. no way i tell him. you work and pay your way thru and get your education. we need you, we need your brain, we need you out there creating nifty for this world with your huge brain you have

have those kids. love those kids and all you will grow and learn from those kids.

there is nothing to fear but fear itself. fear is all an illusion. not in the now. it is either a creation of past or thought of future. but never in the now

now, marry that awesome girl of yours