I've Been Here For Three Years And I Got Something To Say

[THUNDER HANDS]

I'm still breathing.

I woke up this morning after going to bed at midnight and I was pleased to discover that I'm still breathing.

I woke up this morning and I looked out my window. The sun was shining and the fall leaves were on the ground and I am still breathing.

I had a cup of tea and some toast and read my morning newspaper. I am still breathing.

I splashed some water on my face, brushed my teeth and stared at myself in the mirror. I am still breathing.

I turned on the tv and already knew what they were going to say, so I quickly turned it off. I am still breathing.

I am heading off to school in an hour. And I will be going back tomorrow. I am still breathing.

I am not happy today. But I'm still breathing.

I will not be happy tomorrow. But I am still breathing.

I was an optimist yesterday. I will be an optimist today. I will still be an optimist tomorrow. I am still breathing.

I am not going to cry. I am not going to shout. I am not going to fold into a fetal position and never get out of bed again. I am still breathing.

I refuse to concede this nation to fascists. I refuse to let them reduce gay and lesbian Americans to second-class citizens. I refuse to accept the policy of preemptive war. I am still breathing.

I see the beginning of a new American awakening. If people didn't understand the importance of democracy yesterday, I guarantee you they will today. I am going to do my part to make sure they never forget that we are still around.

I am more ready to fight now than ever. I am a pissed off American with fire in my eyes and rage in my heart.

I'm not down. I'm not out. I'm here. You're here. And I'm not giving up on this country.

Why?

Because I'm still breathing.

[ScreamingMeemie]

1. Here. here!

We want our country back....NOW!! :toast:

[liberalmuse]

2. Thanks for that.

I have peace, but I'm not happy about this, either. Thanks for giving us some beautiful and sober thoughts to contemplate.

[regnaD kciN]

3. By the time the Repugs get through with their plans for us...

...we won't still be breathing.

:scared:

[Danmel]

8. What will you be breathing

I appreciate the sentiments and the attempt at cheering us up and giving some perspective, I really do. But what will you be breathing with another 4 years of this crowd. What is in those "Clear Skies"???

I'm too tired to cry and I just don't know how I'm going to get through 4 more years of this cabal, I really don't- I fear for my kids, who are 13 and 10. I really do.

[THUNDER HANDS]

11. I'll tell you how you're going to get through it

By not acting like a loser and start acting like a fighter.

Are you just going to show up for one day and say 'I did my part, oh well' ?

Or are you going to get on the phone, call your closest Dem rep and say 'I will not accept you being the President's lapdog. I expect you to fight him tooth and nail for the next four years.'

Then you stay on DU, pay attention, and POUND the media to call Bush on his lies. Bush made the difference in this election when the media went two years without questioning anything he did. We MUST not let them do it again.

And then we tell our Senate Dems to act like what they are - the last thing preventing a complete fascist takeover of this country. We must implore them to not give one inch.

And we let Barak Obama show us the way. Watch this guy. He has something in him. If we can hold for two years when the GOP has to defend a lot of senate seats, we can take back the senate and be in a LOT better shape.

All if far from lost. Very far from lost.

[yardwork]

33. My 70 year old mother just told me the same thing!

She waited four and one-half hours to vote yesterday in Ohio. She lives in a college town (yes, you've read about it in the news) that was sent ONE machine for over 4,000 registered voters to use. They used it. They cancelled their classes. They didn't go to work. They went home and made sandwiches and brought them back and ordered pizza and carried their chairs as they bumped along in line and some of them waited in the rain for NINE HOURS and they didn't go home and they voted for Kerry.

My mother told me this morning to buck up. She said she felt the same way in 1972. She reminded me that the Republicans own this mess now and it's not going to get any better and THEY are going to have to deal with it and explain the mess to their voters.

Sure, I hope that the vote in Ohio turns around and Kerry wins. I'm in tears at the thought of things that are going to happen. But I have to deal with the fact that even though the Republicans stole another one, a whole bunch of stupid Americans went out and voted for the chimp on their own volition.

I will abso-fucking-lutely fight for democracy in this country and I won't back down for one minute.

And neither will my children. And I'll be damned if I send them to fight a filthy war. We'll go to jail before that happens. Are you with me?

[peacefreak]

4. Bookmarked & saved.

Are you sure you're not Mystical Rat??? Love, P

[NeoGreen]

5. I'm 39 years old and...

I've likely lived half my life and it has been a good one so far.

What I worry about is the world my children are going to inherit and the difficulties they will have to overcome.

The religious and corporatists are taking us in the wrong direction.

Life goes on but it won't be easy...

[AnnInLa]

6. Thank you.....Resistance IS invigorating.....n/t

[Deb]

7. Oh thank you!

You are so right on.

[PretzelWarrior]

9. looks like they got you right where they want you.

business as usual. glass half full and all that. a huge fundamental shift will have to occur. Not sure if it will come from abject failure of our institutions in short order, civil war, or outside intervention....but something's gotta give.

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. the glass isn't half full, that's not my point

The glass is shattered in a million pieces on the floor.

I'm saying, instead of crying about it, sweep it up, put it in the garbage and get a new fucking glass.

Fight. And never stop fighting.

[Kolesar]

10. I get knocked down, but I get up again

I am not going to let this Annihilation of Wildlife just happen.

edit: perspective

[expatriate]

13. Thank you.

I was sickened and infuriated by negative things said about Americans who do not reside in the United States on another thread (apparently the fact that we are American citizens and pay American taxes still means we are "quitters" and "cowards" to some people here). It's late night where I am, and I was about to go to bed shivering with rage and despair.

Your post has saved that. It made all the donations, GOTV and phone banking I have done from 15,000 miles away from the nearest US border worth it - no matter how this election comes out. I worked like hell for the Democrats, and I can take pride in that, even if some of "my own" feel that my contribution doesn't matter because of where I happen to live at the moment.

And I'm still breathing.

And now, good night.

[MrBenchley]

14. Nixon won bigger in '72 and fell soon after

Keep fighting, everyone.

Consider this....50% of the folks who voted for this corrupt drunk think he supports the Kyoto treaty....but he doesn't...

50% think pResident Shrimp's in favor of the International Criminal Court...but he isn't...

80% of the folks who voted for the GOP think Saddam had WMDs and that was a lie...

75% of the folks who voted Republican think Saddam was behind 9/11...and that was a lie....

60% of pResident Shrimp's supporters think that if Saddam didn't have WMDs or had nothing to do with 9/11, then we shouldn't have gone to war....

The truth is on our side....and the truth wins out in the end.

[quaoar]

15. When LBJ kicked their ass in 1964

The Republicans regrouped and remade their party. They crafted an ideology.

We have to do the same thing. We have to be about more than being the competent, intelligent and efficient choice.

[Eumenides]

16. Amen, Brother Rat

That's what I am talking about.
Can I add you to my buddy list?

[THUNDER HANDS]

17. sure

I could use a friend this morning. :hi:

[chiburb]

18. Thanks, Rat...

I just sent your piece to several people that are close to me (and crushed). I just had my coffee on the deck, and saw the same gaggle of nuisance geese in the pond. On the other side, a heron was fishing for breakfast and I realized that "life" (and hard work!) go on...

I'm with you.

[THUNDER HANDS]

19. don't lose hope

that's what they want us to do. And I never listen to Republicans.

[jdots]

20. Yup that says it n/t

[calimary]

21. Thanks, Magic Rat. If I read this often enough, maybe I'll start believing

it. Hurting pretty badly just now. And VERY fearful.

[THUNDER HANDS]

24. give it time

time heals all wounds. :hug:

[KittyWampus]

22. Magic Rat, I Can't Believe So Many DU'ers Can't See Fraud

and so many are pontificating on how and why Kerry "Lost" when he hasn't even conceded yet.

[THUNDER HANDS]

25. premature evacuation

of hope. Don't give in to it.

[Pobeka]

23. The glass is *at least* HALF FULL. We are NOT ALONE.

Even taking the vote results at face value, nearly HALF of the country is on our side.

This is not a time to give up. The glass is getting FULLER.

There are pluses and minuses in every situation.

If * does continue to occupy the whitehouse (and that is *not* a given):

We all know the minuses.
-- more pointless war.
-- international community gives us no benefit of the doubt any more.
-- more job losses.
-- stacking the supreme court with activist judges.
...

But every one of those minuses becomes a plus for us in the long run, *if* we have the strength and determination to keep fighting. The GOP never stopped fighting Clinton during 8 years of peace and prosperity, and they got * elected after that. That's worth thinking about.

If Kerry is confirmed:
We *have* to keep the pressure on congress.

Regardless:
We better get off our high horses and figure out how to sway *more* uneducated voters our way.

That's a battle to be fought with 1) the media, 2) basic voting rights and 3) learning how to frame our issues properly.

Everyone, and I mean everyone should be PROUD of what was accomplished here in 2004.

:toast:

[proReality]

26. We have a long road ahead, but...

we can't give up now!

[southlandshari]

27. Nominated for DU homepage

Your words and your spirit are exactly what we need "the morning after."

Thank you so much for wading in. We can wallow, or we can do damage assessment and waste no time in moving on.

Your post was a great inspiration. I know I'm not alone in my point of view!

[chiburb]

28. I hope Plaid Adder reads this...n/t

[llmart]

29. I don't know how to feel about your post.....

It's a beautiful sentiment - and yes, I'm still breathing, too - but I'm 55 years old and I've seen the way this country is heading and I've done everything I know how to get people to see the light and we still get results like what we're seeing now. I see the bottom line as people voted for Bush because of his supposed morals and yet, I can't for the life of me see anything that would indicate that Democrats aren't moral.

I hate to say that I wish for this to happen, but I do. Maybe I'm just tired, but I hope the people who voted for him because they think he's so moral get sent to Iraq or somewhere else for his moral wars or that their sons and daughters go. I hope they lose their jobs and their livelihoods. I truly want to sit back and say, "hey, be careful what you wished for."

[THUNDER HANDS]

31. I'm 26

and I plan on carrying on long after you've left this world. Take heart, there are millions more like me.

We will get this country back. I promise you.

[chiburb]

32. Well, if you're 55 you saw Nixon resign in disgrace in his 2nd term

Stick around and watch George go down too!

[llmart]

34. I wish I could be more optimistic.....

but I guess as you get older you get to be more of a realist. I like to think I helped bring Nixon down. I remember feeling so out of the loop because I voted for and supported McGovern and then Nixon won in a landslide. I had a terrible disconnect then. It was nice to see Nixon get his comeuppance, but I don't seriously think I'll see it with Bush. There are too many ignorant people in this country.

[archineas]

30. thank you

as a gay american, i refuse to be treated as second class citizen.

i told my partner this morning that all the things that make life worth living HAVEN'T changed. thanksgiving and christmas are coming. we have our home. we have each other. (ok, so we also have 2 cats and video games, but that's beside the point).

j

[Lugnut]

35. Hear, hear!

:toast:

[Maiden England]

36. I'm breathing too

I'm a recent immigrant to the US, from the UK. Last night I watched in absolute disbelief about what was happening.
I was scared, I still am, I see a frightening decline for this country into a form of fascism, not seen since Germany in the 1930s. This morning I woke up. I'm still breathing too. I'm still scared and I still feel sick to the pit of my stomach, but I'm still breathing.
I'm orginally an eastern European Jew. Hitler tried to eradicate my family, my kind, my people. He tried to control the world with his brand of fascism, but he has a bullet in his head, the rest of the world is free and I'm still breathing.
We have one thing Germany didn't have, the internet, and its still breathing too.
Never, never give up, our children's future depends on it.