I read DU and can but wonder what we, tthe seers, have become.

[Jackpine Radical]

I feel our rage, our paranoia, our general jumpiness. If we ever get back to a sane world, those of us who remained aware of what has been going on in this era are going to need a major head-cleaning. We have been acting, reacting, overreacting, fearing, raging, slipping into fits of hopeless melancholy, occasionally rising to manic heights, fighting, crying, weeping and beating our heads against the wall for six years now. Are any of us in shape to live in a calm and normal time? In shape to even recognize a sane and normal time if one befalls us? Or will our calmer, more ignorant and passive brethren have to cage us and restrain us lest we prove incapable of returning to a civil pattern of life?

I am now beginning to think that the time for cool and intelligent heads is rapidly coming, maybe faster than we can yet imagine. If the nation is again to flourish, verily if the world is to survive, it must be through the application of rational, deliberative and creative thought processes--all those so-called "higher functions" that seem to have been extirpated from our world these last few years. Can we get them back? Can we rehabilitate ourselves? Or are we, with our battle scars and invisible injuries from the Bush Years destined to become fossils, fit only for the human scrapyard?

Does anybody know what I'm trying to say?

[babylonsister]

1. Cage us and restrain us? I look forward to peace, the sooner the

better. Our passions might help move that along.

[mike_c]

2. yes I do know what you're saying-- I lost my faith during the watergate years...

...and have never believed in American government since, really. A lot of others will come out of the Bush years even more cynical than I am.

[Dammit Ann]

3. I do.

Sometimes I fear that this presidency has scarred me beyond returning to a "normal" existence.

[Horse with no Name]

4. I understand.

You are saying that we have sacrificed ourselves to defeat this President.
Will we ever be whole again--or will we forever be malcontent?
I believe we will live to enjoy the fruits of our labors.
Remember..we hated Bush when hating Bush wasn't cool.

[cui bono]

5. WTF?!?!?!?!?! That's directed at me isn't it?????

DAMMIT!!! I don't know what you're talking about. I still can't believe you'd accuse me of that! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!!! That makes me SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO angry!!!

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. Yes, I understand - and am hopeful, and not concerned - as long

as those caring souls here have the opportunity to unplug now and then, enjoy life - be it loved ones, hobbies, the inherent beauty of nature - perhaps that one moment in each day (at a minimum) when we can put things in perspective. We fight the good fight - but in the end we are given one shot at life, and need to make the most of it. And each of us will interpret that through their own particular spectrum.

so I listen to a Mahler symphony, Kayak on the lake with my wife, spot a red headed woodpecker, drink a great Belgian beer - and I also learn so much from the many wonderful contributors here - in fact, finding DU has kept me sane (as/if I am!)!

[ToolTex]

7. I can handle Peace if it ever comes. Hell, I'll even kiss a nurse in Times Square

if he is cute enough.

[JohnnyLib2]

8. Excellent point, nicely put.

And the parallels to PTSD are startling.

Yes, we must stay steady and look far, far down the road. Life goes on...

[villager]

9. "Kiss me once, and kiss me twice, and kiss me once again....

...it's been a long, long time...."

Yes, political PTSD. But don't worry -- the madhouse century of global warming and eco-upheaval is just beginning! We won't have to worry about "calmness" for, well, "a long, long time..."

[KAZ]

10. I understand what you're trying to say.

And it's filling me with an urge to hopelessly beat my head against a wall, while wallowing in a melancholic crying fit, and desperately hoping for the next manic Ascension.

All kidding aside, I know exactly where you're coming from. The same thoughts gnaw at me.

[welshTerrier2]

11. we must remain eternally vigilant

some of us truly felt radical change was possible ... we were not just political or anti-war - we were a "youth revolution" ... naive? sure! we were never a mature movement ... there were all kinds of problems and deficiencies ... but there was also hope that as our numbers grew, fed by those younger than we were, that someday the vision we had might be realized ...

and Jerry Rubin went to Wall Street ...

i understand that we have internalized a warrior's mind ... and perhaps, in peace, we might indeed find other positive parts of ourselves we have lost ... from the road i travelled, such pursuits sound like a return to an empty, materialistic world with little hope for the radical changes i believe our humanity ultimately needs ...

we were lulled and dulled; i hope we don't repeat the mistakes of the anti-Vietnam warriors who were subsumed by the corporate state ...

[derby378]

12. I think we are going to stay on "full alert" until Bush is brought to justice

If he is allowed to escape us without being impeached, let alone hauled before an American court to answer for his crimes, we may very well melt down. It is of paramount importance to us that Bush not escape the same way that Nixon did.

That said, here's a nice little "rage" video for everyone:

http://www.dailymotion.com/Moshpit/video/x8yrm_wekilledjahnet

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Cleita]

14. I've been thinking a lot about if we really need a President.

I think the idea of President was invented by our forefathers as a substitution for king. I mean this was a time when people were used to kings. They probably felt that people would still want a Big Man, but they also put in checks and balances to make sure we didn't get a DICTATOR.

Apparently, many countries with elections and Parliaments or congresses still can end up with a dictator. I think it's time to end the Big Man concept and make the executive office into a Board of Directors (i.g. the Cabinet, with an officiating person who does the meetings.)

I really want to put the real power back in the hands of Congress until we figure out who does it best.

[BeHereNow]

15. Yes, I know what you are trying to say...

Although you don't need to add the "trying."
You said it perfectly.

I don't however, share your optimism regarding cool and intelligent heads.

It is clear to me that this Junta is about to release the mother of all hubris
upon the planet- we, the people be damned.

I think at this point, we all need to figure out how to survive what isclearly about to happen.

BHN

[Jackpine Radical]

16. With any luck, this is the last Hooraw of a terminally irrelevant little man.

They always get desperate and really weird just before the end.

I think the Dems will pull it out of the fire--not because they particularly want to, but because they know they need to. The chimp seems to have gotten off his tether. Even the Illuminati, the Bohemian Grovers, the Bilderbergers, have turned on the little slimeball, and he doesn't seem to realize just how much trouble he is in. The magic, invisible hand that has always pulled him out of his stupid messes is no longer there.

[JohnnyLib2]

18. Nixon, last 3 months

more bizarre at each sighting.

[asthmaticeog]

19. You forgot the CFR, the Trilateral Commission and the reptilians. nt

[peacetalksforall]

17. Yes, we get what you're saying and your paragraph describing us

is perfectly stated.

Something happened along the way in this (seven?) years - we became smarter citizens. Can you even begin to assess the amount of civics we've learned? Did you know as much about our Constitution starting out as you do now? Did you not learn a lot about law? I have learned a bunch about the balance of power and how it has been abused and hijacked. I can't thank the Republicans enough for my education. I am a much more knowledgeable citizen.

I haven't watched one sitcom in seven years - I've devoted time to reading tons of articles that have been linked. I've read essay after blog after opinion piece and more than I realized of good reporting by still honorable INVESTIGATIVE journalists (none of them who seem to work for corporate tv). I am an avid follower of Democracy Now and many of the programs on Link and FSTV. I feel I've earned the equivalent of a degree.

Zinn, Chomsky, Palast, etc. etc. have become friends. I've added so many heroes to my list - people I didn't know were out there. I've watched incredible documentaries - Control Room, the ones about Fox, the elections thefts, corporations, the gutsy CIA and military people who have not tossed truth out of their lives.

I've been given great joy in comedy - Moore, Keillor, Stewart, Colbert, the comedians of Middle East heritage... Sanity through comedy.

I've learned Geography, Political Science, Cultures, Religions, Tribal history, plain History. We learned tons of stuff about our intelligence divisions and the Pentagon and how lobbyists cheat the country - aided by our leaders. We've learned how our leaders feel about children, seniors, vets, teachers - not so good, but how they revere employees of pharmaceutical and war weapon companies and anyone who will help them spy on us.

I've learned plenty about the foreign leaders that our WH and State Dept hate and how they've used tax payed employees to ruin them. I've learned how they use tax payed jets to fly people around - from Aristede out of his duly elected Presidency to Africa back to the Caribbean and back to Africa against all wills except those of the right wing and France - to the rendition flights of torment and torture and the countries who aided and abetted. I even learned about the dirty deals between the UK and the US in Diego Garcia and what happened to the poor souls who inhabited those islands.

My education keeps on going - and I may be starting grad school now - along with you and all the others.

Thank you George and Dick plus PNAC - you've made all of us better citizens so that we can take back our country. We are better prepared to identify and recognize lies and theft. We can spot all the privatization attempts. We are so much smarter now.

[WilliamPitt]

20. You encapsulate perfectly my main fear for DU

When our newly-empowered Reps take steps to change things or make them better, many here will flip out on them because they are not as radicalized as we are. "Cooler heads" do not usually get a warm welcome from those who are torqued up.

[proud patriot]

21. I get what you're saying

I don't know the answer but I understand the question.

I hope we can , I believe I can .

[VelmaD]

22. I don't know that there has ever really been a sane world...

so I don't think we can "go back" to one. There has always been injustice, poverty, homelessness, militarism, etc to fight against.

If the war in Iraq and the endless war or terra magically ended tomorrow...I would still be "jumpy" because there would still be so much to tackle. I think some "jumpy" people are necessary to get "saner heads" to do anything.

However, I do agree completely that "If the nation is again to flourish, verily if the world is to survive, it must be through the application of rational, deliberative and creative thought processes". Well said.

[Annces]

23. Change only comes through pushing ceaselessly

not calm minds.