Just call me Pollyanna.

[cali]

Though not too many people who know me would.

I believe we will get through the bush years. I believe the U.S. will right itself.

It's true; we are an imperfect nation. We always have been. There is no golden age to look back on, but there has been progress in this country. We move forward and then fall back; and bushco has taken us back, taken us to an ugly place, but it won't last. bush will not stay past his term. You and I will not be sent to detention camps. There is a genius to this system- at least domestically, and I don't believe that Diebold or lobbies or anything else will win out.

I tend to believe that there is a group wisdom, just as there is a mob mentality- two sides to the same coin.

I choose to be hopeful; to have faith, to believe the tide is turning. That's not the same as denying dangers. And what's the alternative? To work oneself into hysteria, to focus on conspiracies to the exclusion of working toward a better country?

I think November will bring hopeful changes.

If it doesn't, I'll deal with it then.

[Marie26]

1. Or an optimist.

Nothing wrong with that. :hi:

[Protagoras]

2. Ok

You are Pollyanna.

But in a nice way :D

And I pray you are right.

[Behind the Aegis]

3. From your mouth...

...to the Voter's ears and hands (to pull the lever)!

[Common Sense Party]

4. I'm right there with you. Our country is better than the current crop

of lunatics who happen to be in power. We will survive. I'm an optimist.

I know saying that can get one flamed around here.

[NotGivingUp]

5. Let me ask you...if you were from some other county that has not

been as fortunate as us, would you still feel the same?

[cali]

6. Sorry, I feel a bit dense

but I'm not sure what you mean. Can you clarify your question please?

[existentialist]

7. "You've got to be optimistic."

That quote is from my Father.

I agree.

Things could easily turn out just terribly. Civilization itself could be destroyed.

Or we might get lucky.

But if we are going to get lucky we have to keep trying, and if we are to keep trying we must have hope in our hearts.

[Liberal_Dog]

8. Let's Find Something To Be Glad About

:)

[1620rock]

9. We WILL get this country back on track if it takes...

...revolution with fighting in the streets!

[Democrats_win]

10. Call me Doubting Thomas but I'll need more proof America isn't FUBAR.

[OwnedByFerrets]

11. I want desparately to believe

that American will right itself. Even if "it" does, however, it may be too late for our beloved Earth. Climate change may make it all a moot point.

[SheilaT]

12. I hope you're right, but I'm firmly

convinced that we're still at the beginning of the long slide down.

Two separate things here: One is this country's place in history, the other is the Bush regime and what they've done since 2000, and perhaps what Republicans have done since 1994 and the Contract for America.

This country has peaked in its power and prestige, only most people don't know it yet. It's obscured by the fact that no successor is on the horizon. Think Imperial Rome in, oh I don't know, 550 AD maybe. They're a bloated corpse, past their prime, but still the only game in town, so if you're a citizen anywhere in the world that's touched by Rome, they're still the one super power out there and it's impossible to imagine any other country ever being greater than Rome. And it's going to be a good eight hundred to a thousand years before there's any other true major player on the world stage.

I'm not predicting that we've got several hundred years more of corrupt control of the known world, nor that there will be a thousand year long Dark Age to follow. What I am saying is that at this point in the historical cycle we can't begin to guess how it will really play out, what country or countries will eventually come to the fore.

In the near term, it's crucially important NEVER to forget that the Bush administration came to power in a coup in 2000, consolidated that power in a second coup in 2004 (read Greg Palast's The Best Democracy Money Can Buy and Mark Crispin Miller's Fooled Again for some of the details). They will not give up their power to anything as silly as a free, fair, and honest election. Look to Republicans to consolidate their gains this fall. I predict that there will not be a net gain of Democratic seats in either the House or Senate, but rather a gain of some Republican seats. And I further predict that John McCain will be the Republican nominee in 2008, especially if Hillary turns out to be the Democratic nominee. Can you imagine the campaign? They won't even have to steal that election.

We are going to be pulled further and further into the quagmire or Iraq and whatever other mischief George and the boys get us into during the next two years, no matter who is President (in case I'm wrong about 08). And even if I'm wrong about this year, try to imagine the Democrats currently in the House and Senate actually standing up to the President in a meaningful way even if they hold a one or two vote majority.

And even if I'm really, really wrong about the election results this year and in 08, we've been as a country put into a terrible place, with sky-rocketing deficits, continued and new tax cuts for the rich -- which the middle class cheerfully embrace, especially that idiotically-named Death Tax because they've been led to believe they actually have to worry about inheritance taxes (they should be so lucky), a crumbling infrastructure, a school system that has the confidence of no one, the only first world country without a national health care program -- I could go on and on, but I think you get my drift for now.

Optimism has its place, but realism can be better.

edited for clarity.

[klook]

13. There was a time when I never thought we'd survive the Nixon years.

And there was a time when I never thought we'd survive the Reagan years. And there was a time when I thought we'd never survive the Bush I years.

And, of course, those dark periods have left many scars on the nation (not that Democratic administrations have been all sunshine!). But we survive, we go on, we live to fight another day.

I know people who survived Nazi Germany. I know people who survived the Klan in the Jim Crow South. They're thriving today.

I tell you one thing. I'm sure looking forward to turning the page we're stuck on right now.