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“What a Difference a Day Makes
 
Soundtrack: John Coltrane's "Interstellar Space" & Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising"
 
Do not be depressed. Do not be depressed. Do not be depressed. I woke up this morning; sure the States would get attacked. "Thank God I'm not in New York," was my first thought this morning. "My God, almost everyone I love is in New York," was the next. I am in Huntington, West Virginia, what the pundits are calling "Bush Country." Word.
 
Yesterday, everywhere I went people looked beat down and broke. The downtown is full of construction workers and planners walking in and out of huge developments. The people are friendly but do not extend themselves. There was a toxic leak a few days ago, and some of the evacuated are staying in this same hotel. One medium sized window is not bringing enough light into this dreary room.
 
I waited and waited for my absentee voter's form. I filled out the paper work in late August, with the DNC. I assumed it would be in my accumulating mail. Nothing.
 
Do not be depressed. There is work to do. There is light to make.
 
My candle is lit. The scent is fig; it smells green and damp, alive. I bathed in rosemary oil, t soften my skin under the armor I will have to don. I scrubbed my body with a luxurious "polish" which was part of my friend's birthday gift to me. Exfoliate, let breathe. Be kind to myself. Be kind to those I love.

Eleven states will add amendments to their constitutions defining marriage as only between a man and a woman. We must all love harder, fiercer, in defiance of those who aspire to own and mandate love.

My friends have sent emails from across the nation, around the world. People are aghast. Does this mean the American people continue to mandate this Administrations policies , even as the coffins return home, and thousands are buried, nameless to us, in Iraq’s imploding streets? Does this mean we really don't give a fuck what the rest of the world thinks? What will happen to our American progressives and
activists? What about Palestine, Sudan, North Korea?

Do not be depressed. Depression is a weight we cannot afford to carry right now. There are plans to make, and hopefully, plans to put in action. Why are so many people voting against their best interests in favor of letting fear guide their politics? Fear has won this round. We will need all our resources not to fall to it. There is nothing to be gained from becoming the victim of a weight that is not ours to carry. Breathe - sigh. And get that dirt off your shoulders.

While I am constantly shocked and awed by what a few people are doing with the power they have, I feel like I pretty much know what I’m working with here. We must practice Fortitude. Compassion. We must remember this country has always had a radical tradition of dissent. This will be the legacy we leave. We will be even louder. Write even better. Live even fuller. We will not be bought into a de-habilitating stupor. We will not be medicated beyond awareness. Alongside that fear you are feeling, is an adrenaline rush. We know now, it is the very soul of our planet and collective humanity we are trying to save. Nothing less.

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“yeah. I'll tell you what: I'm optimistic.
Bush won (so far), but I'm not discouraged. I'm determined, and if it wasn't for Bush, me and a lot of people wouldn't be discussing and working on the issues that are important to us. This election has shown me that we need to look at how we respond to rhetoric (and lies) from politicians, and how we define and defend what we believe (weather you define yourself as a Democrat, a liberal, a progressive, or whatever), and how we respond to issues and hold our officials accountable. I'm looking around for what I'm going to do, and how I will present my beliefs to the people of Texas around me. I'm not saying it's going to be easy. It will not be at all. But I want truth and justice. Sometimes you need to slap people to wake them up, make them stand for what they believe. This may not even be enough, but it's a start. I think that progressives (let alone the democratic party) have a lot of work to do in the future in various ways.”

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“you are right, the american voter stuck their heads in the sand. We sure need a new symbol, the ostrich sounds like a perfect one.It's been a very depressing week. We know that times will change and the pendulum will swing. But boy, it seems like a long time between now and next Kerrville Festival”

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“We Were Made for These Times

by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

My friends do not lose heart. We were made for these times.

I have heard from so many recently who are deeply and properly bewildered. They are concerned about the state of affairs in our world right now. Ours is a time of almost daily astonishment and often righteous rage over the latest degradations of what matters most to civilized, visionary people.

You are right in your assessments. The lustre and hubris some have aspired to while endorsing acts so heinous against children, elders, everyday people, the poor, the unguarded, the helpless, is breathtaking.

Yet, I urge you, ask you, gentle you, to please not spend your spirit dry by bewailing these difficult times. Especially do not lose hope. Most particularly because, the fact is that we were made for these times. Yes. For years, we have been learning, practicing, been in training for and just waiting to meet on this exact plain of engagement.

I grew up on the Great Lakes and recognize a seaworthy vessel when I see one. Regarding awakened souls, there have never been more able vessels in the waters than there are right now across the world. And they are fully provisioned and able to signal one another as never before in the history of humankind.

Look out over the prow; there are millions of boats of righteous souls on the waters with you. Even though your veneers may shiver from every wave in this stormy roil, I assure you that the long timbers composing your prow and rudder come from a greater forest. That long-grained lumber is known to withstand storms, to hold together, to hold its own, and to advance, regardless.

In any dark time, there is a tendency to veer toward fainting over how much is wrong or unmended in the world. Do not focus on that.

There is a tendency too to fall into being weakened by dwelling on what is outside your reach, by what cannot yet be. Do not focus there. That is spending the wind without raising the sails. We are needed, that is all we can know. And though we meet resistance, we more so will meet great souls who will hail us, love us and guide us, and we will know them when they appear.

Didn't you say you were a believer? Didn't you say you pledged to listen to a voice greater? Didn't you ask for grace? Don't you remember that to be in grace means to submit to the voice greater?...

Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely.

It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing.

We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale.

One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire.

To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity. Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it.

If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do. There will always be times when you feel discouraged.

I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate.

The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here.

The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here.

In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall: When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for. This comes with much love and a prayer that you remember who you came from, and why you came to this beautiful, needful Earth.”

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“hey man I hear you...it's a bit mysterious that folks are buying into this creepy guy like that...but hey, the scenario is so dire that there's only one place to go-up. I know, it's a bit of a sicko line.

Still - to me, this giant illusion that being suffered by the great nation, the USA, has simply got to have a positive outcome. There are so many amazing Americans, it's only a matter of time until they mobilize to take the place back...and that my friend is cause for hope.

BTW - those slimy creeps are gonna eat humble pie one day. Of that, there is no doubt. Justice will come to rest in the world eventually. I for one believe it. It'll be a truly great day!

Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out if the takeover of Canada will be complete by 2008!

Also - you and any of your kind are more than welcome to come visit me in Edmonton for as indefinite a period as may be necessary...”

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“Friday, November 5, 2004 (SF Gate)
Hello, Uranus? Got Any Room?/Must. Move. Away. Cannot endure more Bush. Soul
about to implode. Right? Not so fast
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist
I said it, you said it, pretty much anyone with a brain larger than a grape or a soul more nimble than a rock said it maybe a thousand times over. And you probably weren't even all that drunk when you said it and maybe you were even a little more than half serious and maybe you said it just like this: If Bush somehow snags another election, if the unthinkable comes to pass and the Dubya neocon nightmare refuses to end, well, that's
it. I'm outta here. Done. Over. Gone. Moving away. To Canada. Or France. Latvia. Uranus. Anywhere, really, that doesn't have Bush as leader and that doesn't make
me openly ashamed to be a citizen and that doesn't make me feel like a sickened disillusioned ulcerated outcast in my own happily divisive country every damn day including Sunday. You want a place, you say, that doesn't right this minute seem to be
working heroically to make homophobia and born-again fundamentalism and pre-emptive isolationist warmongering and environmental ignorance a national religion. A place where SUVs aren't considered minor deities and where gay people aren't loathed for wanting to slice a wedding cake and where brazen heavily narcotized denial in the face of a veritable mountain of presidential lies isn't the national pastime. Tempting, isn't it? To just move away to a sunnier, clothing-optional utopia and wait for it all to be over, for the dark days to pass and the Shrub era to sink into the tar pits of history and the fog to finally lift? After all, most all of us on the progressive Left feel we truly faced the dragon this election, and we put up a valiant fight and marshaled as potent an army of dissenters and intellectuals and moderates and liberal crusaders and feminists and enlightened activists as possible, considering. And we supposedly had more of the youth vote and the disenfranchised single-female vote and the "Daily Show" vote and the Eminem vote and the celebrity vote and the humanitarian vote and the antiwar vote and the gay vote and the pro-choice vote and the Howard Stern vote and the immigrant vote, and still the dragon just sneered and hacked up another fireball of bogus fear and evangelical Christian self-righteousness and torched our glimmering sword of juicy hope into a smoking cinder. And now, this. The nation has officially, stupefyingly handed the world's worst president a blank check to do whatever he and his cronies like, without fear of major repercussions or voter disillusionment or damage to an imminent re-election campaign, because there won't be one. Which is to say, Bush now has no one to worry about now but his true constituents (hint: it ain't mainstream Repubs, or even the born-agains), no one to answer to but the CEOs and the energy barons and the military-supply corporations co-owned by his father, and nothing to guide him but his own deeply regressive, monosyllabic moral compass. Hell, why stick around for more of that? But here's the catch. Here's the tough part to accept. Here's what everyone who's right now on the brink of packing their bags and checking the real estate prices in Vancouver has to know and has to have drilled into their disconsolate hope-crushed souls right this minute, before it's too late: You cannot leave. You cannot drop the armor now. Why? Because you are needed, more than ever. You are mandatory to keep the energy flowing, the karmic vibrator buzzing, to keep the progressive and lucid half of the nation breathing and healthy and awake and ever reaching out to the half that's wallowing in fear and violence and homophobia and sexual dread, hoping to find harmony instead of cacophony, common ground instead of civil war, some sort of a shared love of a country so messy and internationally disrespected and openly confused its own president can't even speak the language. After all, you don't hand over all your children the first time the flying monkeys bang on your door. You don't give up your dream house just because a bunch of gangbangers moved in down the block. You become a bit more wary and alert and you stock up on the superlative porn and the expensive wine and the deepened sense of true beauty and sex and love and hope and you hunker down and grit your teeth and dig in for the long haul, and you work on making your own goddamn garden more beautiful than even you could have imagined, because, well, the neighborhood -- and the world -- needs it, more than ever. Look. No one said it was gonna be easy. No one said it was gonna be painless. And no one said it was gonna be quick. As I've noted before, the neocons have been planning this takeover for decades. The Bush regime, despite feeling like a massive indigestible incomprehensible fluke, is no accident. The GOP is deeply entrenched and the razor wire is all around their compound and they are masterful at working the angles of fear and manipulation and of kowtowing to the least tolerant and least morally flexible segments of the population -- this is, after all, how Bush won a second term -- and hence they aren't about to just roll over at the first sign of outcry or dissent or a snowboarding senator, even if he's 10 times the man and a thousand times the intellect of the smirking lunk currently in office. And besides, most hardcore Republicans would, of course, love it if you'd leave the country, and take your gul-dang gay-lovin' tofu-eatin' tree-huggin' ierced-labia values with you. They would love it, furthermore, if the libs in the morally shredded red states would split for the coastal cities and the major metropolises of America, all those godless heathen places where the neighbors won't yank the Kerry/Edwards sign outta your front lawn and chase you down and beat you with it and call it patriotism. Remember: bullies never deserve to own the playground. And one of the most stirring e-mails I received during the outpouring of grief the day after the election was from a young female reader, "an artist, an intellectual and a Jew" who's been living in Mexico and who now says she's so enraged and saddened by the election's ugly outcome that she's preparing to return to the States ASAP, just so she can help, so she can join the resistance, keep the right-wingers from coming after our souls. Now, that's patriotism.

The bottom line: Don't disband the newfound army just because one ugly battle was lost. Mourn, commiserate, lick wounds, lick each other, drink heavily, spit out your stale gum of disappointment and pop in a fresh clove of laughter and spiritual heat and then regroup and sober up and take an even deeper breath and watch in hot wet spiritually emboldened
amusement as the cosmic circus unfolds. It's far from over. The tunnel is just a little darker -- and longer -- than we imagined.”

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“Not a few people have spoken in the past few hours about an Americanist authoritarianism emerging out of the country's current leadership. I think that's not far-fetched. Fighting this requires that we stick together, not bashing each other, not fleeing or hiding or yielding to the temptation of behaving as if "what's the use?"

It's tough on the psyche to be beaten. Throughout our country's history, abolitionists, suffragists, union organizers, anti-racists, antiwarriors, civil libertarians, feminists and gay rights activists have challenged the majority of Americans to take off their blinders. Each succeeded one way or another, but not overnight, and certainly not without serious setbacks.

After a decent interval of licking our wounds and pondering what might have been and where we went wrong, we need to spit out our despair and return - united - to battling those who have for the moment outmaneuvered us. Otherwise, we might just as well lie down in the street and let them flatten us with their schemes. http://www.dailykos.com/

The good news: America is a divided nation. Despite the pundit hand wringing over this fact, it is a positive thing. Nearly-- nearly--half of the electorate rejected Bush's leadership, his agenda, his priorities, his falsehoods. From Eminem to the chairman of Bank of America to 48 Nobel laureates to gangbangers who joined anti-Bush get-out-the-vote efforts in swing states. Nearly half of the voting public concluded that Bush had caused the deaths of over 1100 American GIs and literally countless Iraqis (maybe 100,000) for no compelling reason. Nearly half saw the emperor buck naked and butt ugly. Nearly half said no to his rash actions and dishonest justifications. Nearly half realized that Bush had misrepresented the war in Iraq as a crucial part of the effort against al Qaeda and Islamic jihadism. Nearly half desired better and more honest leadership. Nearly half knew that Bush has led the country astray.

Other good news: Second-term presidents often hit the skids. The last
Three second- terms were marked by scandal (Watergate, Iran-contra,
Monicagate). And as top officials sprint through the revolving door to snag high-paying jobs (while their contacts are fresh), the job of running the government during the second administration often falls to the B Team. In the post-9/11 world, this is not all that reassuring. But the historical trend does suggest that Bush will have trouble enacting his various schemes. Yet--let's be realistic--the Senate results indicate that the GOP will expand its majority in the Senate, which means Bush will have more allies for his wrongheaded missions.

More good news; Bush will not be able to hand off his own wreckage—Iraq and the gargantuan deficit--to a new man. But this does not mean he will accept responsibility and deal with it. Bush has the ability to deny and defy reality. And if he cannot see that the trash has piled up, he will not be hauling it to the curb.

Okay, no more good news. I can't stand all this good news. Bush has bamboozled and frightened just enough Americans to gain the opportunity to flimflam them for another four years. And the rest of the country--and the globe--will be along for the dangerous ride. http://www.dailykos.com/

And one more:

The good news is, that person is already available. His name is John
Edwards. If you have any doubt about his electability, just read the exit polls from the 2004 Democratic primaries. If you don't think he's ready to be president-if you don't think he has the right credentials, the right gravitas, the right subtlety of thought-ask yourself whether these are the same things you find wanting in George W. Bush. Because evidently a majority of the voting population of the United States doesn't share your concern. They seem to be attracted to a candidate with a simple message, a clear focus, and a human touch. You might want to consider their views, since they're the ones who will decide whether you're sitting here again four years from now, wondering what went wrong.

In 1998 and 1999, Republicans cleared the field for George W. Bush.
Members of Congress and other major officeholders threw their weight behind him to make sure he got the nomination. They united because their previous presidential nominee, a clumsy veteran senator, had gone down to defeat. They were facing eight years out of power, and they were hungry.

Do what they did. Give Edwards a job that will position him to run for president again in a couple of years. Clear the field of Hillary Clinton and any other well-meaning liberal who can't connect with people outside those islands of blue on your electoral map. Because you're going to get a simple president again next time, whether you like it or not. The only question is whether that president will be from your party or the other one. http://www.slate.com/id/2109079/”

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“Great to hear from you and congrats to you and all Red Sox fans. Holy cow hunh!!

And condolences on the re-election of that imbecile. Shit. Wanna move to Canada?”

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“We can't give up on America yet. Even though all of the south and middle America seem to be off in "Jesusland" those among us that remain sane enough to see through the ruse Bush is putting up need to remain on our mission to expose the wrongdoing which this administration is sure to continue.

May a higher power save us all!”

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“I'm actually heartened by some things in this dark election, for the next four years, for the next two elections, and for our future.
1. Only one blue state went red in a major GOP victory. And one red state, New Hampshire, went blue. In the meanwhile, as conservative activists like Pat Buchanan have been screeching for a couple of years, the demographics of this country are shifting away from the old GOP "southern strategy" coalition. With rising Hispanic and hi-tech populations, the Southwest is trending Democratic. Many think this is inevitable - Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada were all closer to being blue states this time than in 2000 (the only place Nader may have been a factor was in keeping Kerry from taking New Mexico - it was that close). A Democrat beat a billionaire Republican in the Colorado senate race. Many think all three of these states will turn blue in 2004, and the GOPs are doing nothing to stem this rising blue tide.
2. The Republicans owe their victory entirely to a surge in the evangelical Christian vote. As shameful as it is that, in this crucial election, the decisive issues were gay marriage, Ten Commandments statues, saying "God" in the Pledge of Allegiance, and abortion, this has painted the GOPs into a very ugly corner. They now appear completely dependent on the Christian right for their majority, which will come with a heavy price-tag next time, pushing their candidates and platforms further and further from the mainstream values of most American voters.
There's a reason Karl Rove did his work mobilizing this community in secret - most Americans don't want to hear the kind of faith-based hate-mongering required to get these people riled up. But the secret is out now. Expect much more attention paid to just what their politics are, and increased activism among liberal Christian churches and groups to counter the evangelical surge. And just watch the GOPs wriggle around, trying to find a candidate who's got more to offer mainstream America than "I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal lord and savior."
This is already posing problems for the Bush administration's agenda. The first warning shot across their bow came not from angry Democrats, but from Republican Arlen Spector, newly reelected after a vicious attempt from the evangelical right to knock him out in the primaries. He will be the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and sternly warned Bush not to try sending his committee Supreme Court nominations that appear likely to threaten Roe v. Wade. He owes both his primary victory, and his Senate seat, to his strident pro-choice position, and he has made it clear to his constituents that he will not countenance any threat to a woman's right to choose.
3. The Democrats succeeded at what they tried to do in this election. I know that sounds ridiculous right now, but without the evangelical upsurge (about six million more than last time, I heard), we would have coasted to a pretty comfortable victory. So all the Dems need to do is find about two million more votes somewhere, and there's lots of encouraging places to look. Some think they will get it simply through the changing demographics in the Southwest. And in the next two elections, the potential is there for picking up independents and moderate Republicans who are increasingly alarmed about the economy, the deficit, oil prices, health care costs, and the GOP's growing obsession with the meaningless social issues that evangelicals vote on. For example, I heard that a lot of corporate money went into defeating the gay marriage ban in Missouri, because they're afraid of the effect it will have in attracting high-end employees to their industries. As the deficit swells, along with health care costs, more non-liberals are going to be willing to give the Dems a serious look.
4. For the first time in memory, the Democrats had a financial advantage over the Republicans, thanks to the millions that poured into liberal 501c3's. Campaign finance reform and the growing power of the Internet have given issue-based organizations much more power and influence. The Democrats still need lots of corporate money to compete (we MUST bear that in mind), but not nearly as much as they used to. As they become more assured that these progressive groups can balance the fund-raising scales, they'll be more willing to adopt anti-corporate positions. In addition to helping the Democratic Party move safely to the left, this will help attract independent voters from the "both-parties-are-the-same" camp.
5. The center-left coalition the Democrats put together this time was the most unified, well organized, and productive I've seen in my lifetime. It produced all the votes it thought it needed, and is very capable of growing even more. Obviously, a northeastern liberal should not be our candidate next time (I'm already salivating over the possibile candidacy of Hispanic New Mexico governor - and former UN ambassador - Bill Richardson), but I honestly don't think our message or strategy needs much tinkering with. That wasn't the problem, and I hope we all remember that. In four more years, how many more people are going to be ready for a change? And we're not going to be running against a Commander-In-Chief.
The thing I'm the most afraid of is that the left will tear itself apart over a perceived failure by the Democratic Party. I really don't think we failed; we just got beat by a sucker punch the Republicans threw that nobody anticipated. But that punch may not have fully landed yet. It may just have grazed us as it swung around, gaining strength and coming full circle, to land squarely on the Republican chin in 2006 and 2008. For better and for worse, in sickness and in health, till death to they part, that party is now married to the evangelical Christian right. And you know how those folks feel about divorce!
This election year, I was motivated enough to learn how easy it is to get involved in Democratic Party politics. I worked phone banks in the days leading to the election, calling swing voters in New Hampshire. On Election Day night, I ended up at a Teamsters local in Charlestown, huddled happily with union folks and hippy-liberal types like myself, phoning likely Democrats in Nevada. Boy, it felt good - like I was in the thick of the fight. And I was. Even here in Massachusetts, I was able to work the swing states.
Now that I know how easy it is to make a real difference in national elections, I plan to continue. You can volunteer to phone-bank over the Internet, through the DNC or groups like Moveon.org, and do your phoning right at home. I'm going to do that in the mid-terms. As Kerry said yesterday, what was started here is not over. It's just beginning.”

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“As for reasons to hope, it may be macabre, but I do astrology and many astrologers have predicted a downfall for George W regardless of whether he wins the election; both Hindu and Western astrologers believe he has come to the end of his luck and will be either forced from office or from life. That’s all I can say. The other alternative is that the machines really were rigged. For this see article on web by Greg Palast.”

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“You're not alone in these sentiments. I've heard the same reactions from many people in the last few days. I guess I try to remind myself that we survived eight years of Reagan, so hopefully we'll survive this. But I worry about all those folks in Iraq getting killed because of his actions. Don't we try to teach our kids to accept responsibility for their actions and deal with the consequences? I guess being president gives you the privilege of having others do that for you. It makes me sick.”

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“No blood was shed, unlike 1860 when we were even more divided & polarized. The pendulum swings, it will go back thru the middle again, and back to "our side"

If we don't like these extreme swings, we can determine not to despair and figure out how to make "them" less afraid of "us" and abstain from denouncing.

It is the day after, and now well-meaning folks must choose hope. Speak clearly and listen respectfully.

Artists of various types are especially valuable now. We need the creative imagination to show us that in addition to being the worst of times, it is also the best of times.”

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“As for hope, I've seen us live through LBJ (NOT Lil' Baby Jesus, but the one who brought us both the Great Society and the escalation of Viet Nam), Nixon and Watergate (remember he's the one that got us out of Viet Nam AND was responsible for most of the environmental protection laws that the Bush family has been trying to dismantle), Carter, Reagan (who if nothing else presided over the beginnings of fiscal restraint and deficit reduction), Bush the First (whatever he did) and the sex scandals of Clinton. Even before my time were the black lists of Joe McCarthy and the zealousness of J. Edgar Hoover. And before that, and before that ... We survived in spite of all that. As a result I have an abiding faith that the architecture and structure of our government as laid out by our founding fathers is proof against the slings and arrows of both the powerful and the populist. We will live through this, too. More importantly, we will learn through this, too. As a result we will grow through this. We always have. It may not be pretty. It may be quite painful. But we WILL learn and grow from this. Like the fire and water temper steel we will be stronger as a result. The truth always wins, like water cracking stone.”

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“No one stood in the rain for 9 hours to vote in the status quo.

Dick Cheney took the podium today and announced Bush as "THE MAN WHO TOOK THE GREATEST PERCENTAGE OF POPULAR VOTES OF ANY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IN HISTORY"

Question: How do you steal an election, preside over the worst security disaster in national history, tank the economy, start an illegal war, have a net job loss under your leadership, not know the difference between Switzerland and Sweden, never meet once with the NAACP, lose all three debates and.......... win the popular vote?

Answer: you don't.


Diebold voting machines in 30 counties in Florida last night.
Dieblod CEO Wally O'Dell promised to "deliver Ohio" for George Bush this year.
2002 elections courtesy of black box voting included 'phantom voting', negative vote counts, missing computer cartridges, and machines going offline for hours at a time.
No paper trails.

O.K. - I am sending this out to my friends, colleagues and family, not as a rant , or to further burden heavy hearts, but to give love to all those despondent and shocked, and thanks to all those souls who work tirelessly to bring truth to their corner of life. Those were real people in voting lines last night, that was really 80,000 people in the streets in Wisconsin last week, those are really american soldiers who refused their mission last month- and they were really offered humvees without armour and e-mail voting.

The casualness with which Bush was 'allowed' to fake his way through the debates is evidence enough of the confidence his team had in a sophisticated system, in place not only to deliver him to the
oval office, but to deflate public will and give legitimacy to a criminal administration.

Bush's supporters can lay claim to his base and his mess. A great many people have been manipulated, and finally people's votes have been manipulated.

Don't deflate. Go get something to eat, hang out with nice some people, listen to great music, get some rest. Then maybe try to remember what you were thinking 48hrs ago.”

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“Looks like we are in for it. I was hoping that they would just call it a tie and settle it by a winner-takes-all mud-wrestling match between the Bush girls and the Kerry girls... at least that would be a spectacle worthy of our attention.”

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“actually, i don't know if this is a hopeful thought, or just a validating
one: there has never been a more important time in america for artists.

the bush party's strategy is to rewrite history even as it's happening.
artists remember.

the moral (barely a) majority voted from a fear sustained by ignorance.
artists inform.

faith based america has become the new dark ages.
artists illuminate.”

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“Yes, We're all depressed....and it seems you can never underestimate the stupidity of the masses....but the reason to hope is that, in spite of it all, you really do have a pretty cushy life, on the world scale.
Don't you?
Just can't travel there, as safely as my Mom and Trudy did.
But we are never really safe.
Maybe the silver lining will be a change. Eventually.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“We have reached the far edge of the spectrum of sanity. Yet, this means that we have nowhere to go but back towards the Truth. We will join with our fellow humans around the globe. And we will reduce this regime to its proper standing...under the power of the people. Do not lose faith. The story is just beginning.”

……………………………………………………………………………………….
“You ARE sounding discouraged...and with some good cause. I hope it doesn't overwhelm you.
Let me remind you that there are greater and more compelling Forces at work in this world than any government of any nation at any time. There is a mighty and loving Hand that reaches into the affairs of humanity both individually and collectively to help us and bring us joy, peace, love and hope. "Look not to the things that are visible, but to the things that are invisible..." I suggest that you lean upon the Everlasting Arm to which that mighty Hand is connected...and trust in the Heart that is behind it. And incidentally, THERE also is the source of much great poetry.”
………………………………………………………………………………………….

“bush won on the fear and loathing ticket. america voted with it's comfort zone, not it's conscience. i weep.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“W can't clean up the mess in Iraq or the deficit (he made his bed, let him sleep in it)...the people get fed up and in 2008, we elect Hillary...

Politics are cyclical...let the arrogant Rs gloat now...they'll do a Nixon...it's in their blood.

In the mean time, listen to music and turn off the news.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“It truly was a heartbreak. But there is always reason to hope - that's part of what makes us the good guys. We will keep up hope and keep up the fight in the face of this utter nightmare. We will protest in large numbers when we need to. We will file lawsuits. We will teach our children. We will be outspoken about our values and our patriotism and not allow them to hijack either. We will not lie down and go away. We WILL defeat these morons. Or better yet, they will defeat themselves.

Hang in there. It will get better. “

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“This is a sad and most embarrassing day in America.

Nonetheless...

We have the reason for and possibility of continuing to fight the good fight, one policy, program, or appropriations line item at a time. It's not a monarchy, constitutional or otherwise, just yet. I have seen the professional staffers of the Justice Department join forces with congressional staffers assisting the Justice Appropriations Subcommittee keep important programs from Janet Reno's tenure alive, despite Ashcroft's distaste for them, because they kept their focus on bottom line appropriations instead of politically spinning rhetoric. Single bricks don't look like much but they are really effective taken together, or thrown individually in the right places.

I became really worried about the Supreme Court then remembered Robert
Bork. We are capable of giving them a good fight and winning.

I ran the Ohio numbers on my laptop early morning on the 3rd and solidified my depression. Let's keep our long-term grief for America in the anger stage, with just enough denial to keep fighting.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“there was little hope to begin with. the only value of man was and is still his ability to create from the ruins and waste of self centeredness that fuels the necessity for art and compassion. I'm afraid that's as good as it gets. we are not meant to live this way but
human greed has forced it upon us. humor and patience are our only coping mechanisms, as we are solitary beings trying to live in a mass of frightened ill-informed vulnerable beings.

if i had better news to report, surely i would”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“The ostrich has it's head in quick desert sand-perhaps to be buried like the Sphinx for centuries to come. They say that between the paws of the sphinx there lies the answer to the question about Atlantis-is America another Atlantis? I 'm not planning to sunbathe in the Sahara, for the next four years”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“the freedom riders got beat up and got back on the buses.
that's the reason for hope.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Hope, like faith, nourishes the soul. I know from working with people who have suffered tremendous losses that the intangible element in recovery is to believe that recovery is possible. I set forth today with an even stronger sense of purpose to do better for those I can despite the actions of others. I know that America's decline into reactionary conservatism will eventually foster a generation more convinced that progressive philosophies better serve the greater good. It is awfully sad that we as a nation must suffer more so that good will eventually come, but that appears to be the case. Let us all go forth with renewed purpose to act locally, to extend our reach to those we do not understand, to practice our beliefs with an even and fair touch. Do not accept that defeatism and blind ideology is the only way.
Ignorance is bliss, and truly many of our fellow citizens have chosen to be blissed out. By conservative estimates we have killed at least 100,000 civilians in Iraq since the start of this war. That toll will drag down our collective good will unless people of conscious work persistently to overcome it. We must each and every one of us work hard to counter this collective guilt. Our nation kills; my prayer is that our people will heal. We must spread a bliss fostered by good thoughts, deeds, and works.
When I ask my conservative friends if they support a limited Federal government, if they support fiscal conservatism, if they support equal opportunity, if they support the concepts of liberty and equality, invariably they say yes. The Left, in our expansive search to broaden individual liberty, has lost sight of the fact that those liberties are seen as a threat by some. There are some who feel the pinnacle of American glory has already been obtained. I say this great nation has never been as great as it will be. I say that just as each person should always strive to improve, so should this nation.
I am, like many, deeply distressed at the results of this election. To have the ideology of tolerance trounced is disheartening. But I have also seen, in my own life as well as others, the greatest good coming from the greatest loss. True, loss can beget loss. But it is only so when apathy rules. We should give the victors credit- they most certainly were not apathetic. Nor did they believe that hard work and persistence would not pay off. My friends, can you say the same for yourself if you allow the election of 2004 to stop your desire for change?”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“The northeast should secede from the fucking union and/or we should
march on Washington on Inauguration Day to protest this travesty.
I am writing to Move-On PAC to make these suggestions.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Here's one reason...yeah, sure, I'm really digging for this one...But I do believe that things will get much much worse with Bush and his cronies....so much so that it will create an atmoshpere ripe for huge change like the late 60s and early 70s...We had just come out of the conservative and repressive 50s and early 60s...right? And stupid war was raging to boot....and wham! Huge movement. Big changes. I just hope I'm still around to see it turn around again...Especially to watch
Ruby and others turn it around...

There. That's my 2 cents. I'm trying like hell not to be too depressed. There must be a reason for this...something we will learn...everything happens for a reason...great protest songs and poems to come...

Until then, Canada's lookin' pretty good...and I hate being embarrassed
to be from the country of my birth... ...and the division between all us humans is painful...and sad. so sad.
I hope I find a part in the change to come...Always looking for a way to bring us humans together...all of us. The us and them thing is never helpful...But it sure is hard right now to find that spirituality needed to remember that it's all me out there....”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“I share with you your shock and awe. A nation that picks a leader who has lied his way to the top and a press that calls the main theme of the election values... how can I be a part of this?
I have been searching my mind all day for encouraging words and none come. However... this too shall pass. The activism that encourages thought is the enemy of the state. Keep up the good work (and I will try too)”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Yes, it is very strange. I felt like I'd been socked in the stomach this morning.
Gotta keep the long view in mind. Ever read "Shikasta" by Doris Lessing?
Maybe this country's gotta go down. Maybe God knows something we don't. You're still writing poetry. Hope is not gone.
Plus, there's a lot of people who love and appreciate you.
It is not the end of the world. And even if it is, there's still reason to hope.
"Hope lives in the smallest things..."
………………………………………………………………………………………….

“I came home from work today and had to break down and weep.
I had followed and supported Kerry throughout his campaign
and had likewise put a lot of hope into his election.
I can't believe and I'm ashamed of the American voters
who are backing this ostrich. I guess Kerry is too bright
for most of the dumb asses who populate our country.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“I'm getting ready to burn my draft card...guess we just have to hope for the best, and remember that this too shall pass.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“did you get howard dean's message yet? i'll have to send it. it's the most inspiring thing i've come across so far. i'm NOT ready to let go of my anger and bitterness and reach across the divide to work together, or whatever it was kerry said. nice sentiments, but the election was won in large part by lies and fraud and the blatant abuse of the media which is mostly owned by the right wing. it's hypocrisy at its worst to call this an election about morals, when it was won with such underhandedness. it's ok to send kids to iraq to die for no valid reason but it's not ok for gays to marry? what kind of morals are those?”

………………………………………………………………………………………….
“Don't put YOUR head in the sand...
Don't be afraid or underestimate this incredible land
Under NO circumstances give up in anticipation of impending doom,
Don't doubt for one moment your voice at large won't loom
Remember that which is impermanent and changing
As life is constantly re-arranging
Can wake us up and broaden our view
perhaps achieve an unexpected breakthrough..............
So transform our habitual reactions
Exert our life's energies to greater transactions
This Land is Our Land we have many benefits to reap
America the beautiful let us not weep
Though temporary clouds may obstruct our view
How we perceive things depends on........ 'YOU'.”
………………………………………………………………………………………….

“My hope is in a new heaven and a new earth. We clearly have no clue what we're doing with the present quarters.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“working on that.

might be the "theocracy now!" tour of 2005. i'd like to book a package show of a poet or two, a songwriter or two and a rock band into some markets and tease out the theme of living in a fundamentalist Christian regime.

i need to flesh it out and i'll let you know what i come up with.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“There is always the knowledge that we have a 2-term limit on the presidency and we will not see a repeat in four years. To look on the bright side, after being around for 2+ centuries, we can suffer through another measly 4 years. :-)

Interestingly enough, most of the people I've spoken to today, or overhead in conversation, are not happy about the results. Ergo... where are all the folks who voted that way?? (Things that make you go 'hmmmmm....')”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“There have been periods of American history when things actually seemed bleaker than they do to many of us today. Back in the late 1880's and up through the early 20th century the country had a series of severly inept and corrupt elected officials and no presidential leadership to alleviate the situation. Before and after the Civil War there was much dissension and depressing events that must have seemed like there was no hope. I even remember how out-of-kilter things seemed during the 1960's when we had a series of assassinations, the Vietnam War, public drug use and some severe rioting in the streets and neighborhoods. There really have been some bad times in the history of the country. A lot of folks are feeling "down" about the present times for the very first time.

My observation is that when things really seem to get out of whack then there is a tendency - call it "the invisible hand of God" if you will, that seems to come into play and make things right. The crazier this administration is the more "correcting" will take place somewhere down the road. I believe this. I don't know when it will happen but I am sure it will happen. Certainly rampant commercialism and business is at the heart of much of what is wrong with our country. I believe that too will be corrected at some point in the future. Look at totalitarian communism. It seemed that it was invincible and would never end. It died from internal corruption and it lost the will of the people. That is what will happen in this country. The signs of our weakness, I think, are already evident in the corruption of corporations, the resentment of much of the civilized world, and the wholesale ignoring of the needs of our own people. This can only go on so long and then it will reverse. I put my faith in the common man. People have an innate sense of what is right and when they are being lied to. Not enough people in this country feel betrayed right now but they will in the future.

Don't let despair overcome you. You are a good man and people will learn from your example. I hope that you will heal from this national travesty and press on. The longer you live, the more you realize that tyrants come and they go.

An ostrich is a strong bird. When it takes it's head from the ground it can run and kick like hell.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“This is one bad, dark day. Maybe the majority of Americans think America is the best country on earth. America is superior to all other nations, and Americans are superior to all other peoples. Therefore, America can do no wrong. The rest of the world hates us because we're superior, and that's why we were attacked. Muslims are stupid, inferior people. They attacked us because we are a free and superior people. America is right and the rest of the world is wrong. This is the truth. This is what George Bush believes. This is what I believe. Anybody who disagrees is un-American and is an enemy of truth and freedom. Bush is the right man to lead America."

I watched the History Channel until four this morning, flipping to NBC once in awhile to confirm my worst fears. The History Channel was chronicling Stalin's rise to power. Coincidence or commentary?

Have you seen the latest twist in the news? Two incredible things involving former Secretary of State James Baker... I don't have all the details, but the outlines are: 1) The U.S. recently told Kuwait that the U.S. is forgiving Iraq much of the debt it owes other nations, including many billions owed to Kuwait in war reparations and damages from the Gulf War. However, Baker is part of a consortium of U.S. CEOs that will help Kuwait get back some or all of what Iraq owes... for a 5% fee, and 2) James Baker is also part of a legal firm that is defending the Saudi royal family against lawsuits brought against it by victims of 9/11.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“the voters are going to get what they deserve. the shit is about to hit the fan and this republican ostrich stance is about to be visible even to the dimmest among us. they can't keep denying the truth without it falling on them. in the words of a bard...

they are badly built, they walk on stilts, watch out they don't fall on you.

this will crumble in the next two years. and we have two years to turn the democratic party into the real thing. we need to get rid of mcauliffe and all these old party people who put up someone with as little chance as kerry. dean had chutzpah. kerry had leno's chin. not the same. by the next election in 2006 we will be legion. and it will be the republicans fault.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“I can only offer the words of Holly Near (I believe): "To be hopeless would feel so strange. It would dishonor those who've gone before me. Lift me up to the light of change." In my own words, as a follower of Thich Nhat Hanh, I will be trying very hard to reach the core of peace inside of me, knowing that if I can be peace, I can spread peace. It will be hard to maintain that core and not burn out when this administration has already destroyed things on so many fronts, including our reputation throughout the world and our civil liberties here in this country...oh, did I forget to mention the loss of human life? Hang in there, we've seen dark days in the history of this country and we've come back before. I myself am feeling more and more that my doing the stonewalk this summer (stonewalk.org) was a first step on a journey that needs me to take a lot more steps. It connected me with a Japanese Buddhist nun named Jun-san who is part of a walking order and has walked all over the world spreading peace. Some days that's all that seems to make sense anymore. Take hope where you can...we had the largest preemptive peace march this country (and the world) has ever seen and in NY for the GOP convention, the largest protest that we have ever had for any presidential candidate. The race was close, especially considering how many people feel (and are) disenfranchised and therefore either didn't vote or voted for someone other than the two frontrunners. There is a growing movement toward awareness combined with activism and there is a growing network of creative people who have come together to speak out and sing out. If we lose hope, we lose the creative edge that can be the root of change. I leave you with Holly Near again. Her song, Planet Called Home continues to inspire me even in the face of this horrendous regime. I actually dug it out today so that I would not fall into despair. Reason to hope? Because to not hope would dishonor those who've gone before us...”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“"Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away."

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“pretty bummed out myself about all this. just didn't make sense until I saw your Ostrich in sand thing. Close the eyes, vote for dubya and then pray that *?it doesn't hit your fan.

re: despair - only one I can think of now is the Red Sox coming back from being three games down and winning eight straight to take series. goes to show that you never can tell as long as you wait around long enough.

being a long time yankee fan this is doubly tough - hoping that the Babe was lifting the curse to signal not only red sox finally winning it all but that it was a omen of better to come for Kerry. looks like it ain't gonna happen but remember what Yogi says about things being over.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“No shit. We're reeling out here in CA.. How could ANYONE vote for Bush??? I cannot imagine what we're in for. But I know it isn't good. I guess I'm glad I'm not living in Nashville any more- at least I'm in a democratic state. For what that's worth...”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Good to hear from you. Sorry it's under such frustrating circumstances.
I agree this is a horrendously grim and suspicious outcome.

I think hope sharpens our ability to see through deceptive tactics designed to eliminate us from the process. It is the fuel that keeps us involved in the face of such a defeat. It is most crucial at times like these.

We knew on some level that the democrats were not going to pursue some key issues like the lack of an election paper trail, the continued
disenfranchisment of people of color, the lack of a real exit strategy from Iraq, the scapegoating of lesbian and gay couples etc.

One thing that I have seen across the country is that people are becoming more outraged and in turn more involved in the political process but we are still a very dysfunctional culture. My home state of Ohio has been absolutely devastated by unemployment and though my county, in the industrial Northeast part of the state voted for Kerry, a good portion of the rest of the state clearly bought Bush's religious rhetoric. We still have little sense of our own power and responsibility to concretely improve our circumstances for the greater good.

I have not yet checked in with my local activist contacts here in DC (since we just got home in time to vote) to see what they are planning.
I think involvement on whatever level feels possible will be key in the next 4 years. I will keep you posted on what I find.
Moving Forward,”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“reason to hope... well i might have said the increasing populations of latinos, until i heard this morning bush did pretty well with that bunch.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“- if we are going to keep going then we have to keep going.

***absolutely!
we have to.
now more than ever......
we survived reagan!!!
and nixon!!
we'll make it thru this........keep on, keep on!!!
peace out.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Because it is America and we just have to move on and forward regardless of who is in the white house.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Les says, People who are absolutely in despair over Bush's re-election have not lived very long. The people he knew that lived through WWII in Europe understood the meaning of war and despair and came through it. So we have to have a little bit of historic consciousness to know where we are. This does not mean that we can afford to become complacent over the real civil and human rights issues that our culture is facing. We have not seen the end of these confrontations. This is just the first phase.

If you believe these issues matter you must hang in there and find other ways to persuade people that these changes have to take place. There is an old Jewish saying that says "we all need to be involved in the task of preparing the world." The saying understands that no person can repair the world on his own and that the task will not be finished in our lifetime. But that does not free you from doing what you can.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“We need some clear heads. I'm glad Kerry is still a senator so he can continue to have some input, but I've been afraid all along that he would lose this election. New Englanders know he's a good person and dedicated public servant, and he swept the entire New England area which proves that, but people across the country just saw negative stuff about someone they didn't know much of anything about, and they fell for it. That is very hard to overcome.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“I'm assuming you're referring to the election results, which are discouraging to say the least (although VT, as usual, has bucked the trend). But my reason for hoping, even if it feels futile, is for my kids' sake. I need to continue to do what I can to give them a better world. Not an easy task, and perhaps impossible, but I can't give up hope entirely or I'd be letting them down.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Don't despair! We all still have songs in our hearts. We all still have our gifts. We live in America which is still the greatest place to live on Earth. God is still God and He is still good. Senator Kerry proved today that he is truly a statesman and a man and a far better one, at that, than Al Gore ever thought about being. When my old friend and mentor, Jimmy Driftwood, lost his two sons, the joys of his life, in a murder/suicide in 1967, everyone thought, "Where is his hope???" But Jimmy found hope, peace, and solace in his music, his wife, his friends, and the Ozark Mountains that he loved so much. Time heals all wounds and time wounds all heels. Spring is not far off. The Hill Country beckons. I have already bought my sponsors package. Hope is out there and is ours for the grasping...

Let all the elements I took from beast and plant and bird
Go back into the soil again and let my every word
Float on forever through the air wherever thoughts may go
And enter someone's consciousness and help their mind to grow
I often hear sweet music that I never heard before
Did it come from some ancient bard or minstrel of yore???
Well, I thank whoever, be it God or man, that sent me that lovely rhyme
I send it back upon the breeze...Along the road of time....
<Jimmy Driftwood>

Ostriches don't really stick their heads in the sand. That is a myth.
However, I have run across some people in my lifetime that I strongly suspected had their heads stuck up their ass...

I won my race 69 to 34. The bad part about that is that my opponent dropped dead about three months ago. That means 34 people in my township voted for an urn full of ashes....An humbling experience for sure....But...That's politics....”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“The Muse also warns "Be careful what is wished for ..."

If these LIARS want four more years ... then let their wish be granted!
Now, there is no place for them to hide ... they are on the world's stage
... and the world is watching!

It is a time for TRUTH, it is a time for ACTION ... It is a time for SHOCK and AWE!”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“My only grim consolation is that Bush will have to live with the catastrophe, which I believe is going to unfold in Iraq. One of my fears was that Kerry would wind up bearing the brunt of that. Maybe there will be a silver lining in here somewhere, although it may take a while to show up.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“it is hard for (us) Europeans to understand how a war monger like Georg Dub-ya could be re-elected after all the misery he has caused in the world. Fear is a great tool to perpetrate more fear. Shame on America. Otherwise, life goes on.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“hope...a very difficult thing to hold on to...but here goes...
hillary clinton
four more years of good political poetry and comedy
land prices are still cheap in new zealand
i'm still here for you

these are scary times...thank god for like minded folks”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“I can find no reason at all.

I've dubbed today "Black Wednesday".

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“There are so many things going on worldwide that are heartbreaking to me if I dwell on them. Instead I am choosing to be present with things in my immediate world and while I realize this is very selfish, honestly it is the only way I know how to not only survive, but thrive.

Today Bush will be re-elected and I hope he will be impeached.
Today I love, am loved and comforted within my small, but dear group of friends and family.
Today the weather is finally fit to be called "Fall" in Texas. It's 64 with a light wind, blue skies, no clouds and lots of sun.
Today with my own home, car and job I have the freedom to be a single woman.
Today I have the power to do what I love and I will do it as long as people will listen.
Today I will continue to sing with my heart wide open.

Don't give up, Tim. You're not alone; I am a dreamer too.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“You know, in the Mass state rep and senate races over this fall, the progressives and liberals clearly won against a very well funded attempt by Romney and the conservative democrats to ban gay marriage and to make the legislature more conservative.

I've been working on the grassroots level in mass for three years now, and i really think that we are lucky to be here, and that we are
doing really well. it will be a while before we get organized in places like ohio and florida and iowa and new mexico, but not interminable. a national victory is not that far away.

what we need to do is to adapt. conservatives own radio (except mostly NPR) and TV networks. We need to get more hold on the internet and cable and satellite TV. It's a new playing field and now we see it.

I'm thinking that there still was a lot of voter fraud as the swing states exit polls were different than their vote tallies. But I also think legitimately many Americans voted for hate - mostly homophobia and xenophobia.

But as someone who volunteered in New Hampshire and made calls to
Ohio, I think the new organizational tools that liberal grassroots workers are developing are strong. Also, because Obama won, and he
is a rare democrat who presents a strong vision with clarity, I'm hoping that the years of DNC Clinton dominion (and I like Clinton for the most part but I don't like what he did to the party) are truly challenged.

Also, if there had been no war in Iraq, this election would have been a cakewalk for Bush. So I really believe that the anti-war movement has galvanized the left. Now, we just must make it a pro-peace movement.

So I'm not as bleak as I could be today. I know it's dark. But there are a lot of candles in this here room.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“We can only look at the election with dismay and note
that both parties are unhappy... More importantly >
HOPE < that folks who truly need aid like our friends dying with AIDS in Africa will get it...Tim, HOPE for others...not yourself...and it will find you and you will catch yourself smiling. Simple.

Hugs not thugs
Earth not Mars”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“It's called denial. As my friend Rod said "Anyone who voted for Bush is in serious need of therapy." There's a lot of truth to this. We may end up with a civil war. Keep the faith.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“the only reasons I can think of to hope are that:

--We survived nearly 8 years of Nixon, we survived 8 years of Reagan. Therefore we can survive this.
--After 8 years of Republican congressional control and incompetent ideological foreign policy, there will be clear blame, and the pendulum may swing back.

We have a very skewed view of things in the Northeast. America is a very conservative, religious country. It's amazing, in the face of Das Republikan Machine, that our junior Senator from li'l old liberal Massachusetts (motto as viewed from the rest of the country: Gay marriage? Sure! Come on down!) did as well as he did.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“As I try to sort things together in my mind and suffer the bouts of on and off depression that half the country is now feeling then all I can do is "hope" that the somewhat moderate republicans will side with sensible people and keep things in check. But, above all, we must continue on.....keeping the music and poetry alive...to help give solace and light in these seemingly dark days ahead. Let's hope that the next 4 years comes and goes fast.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Montana! We elected a democratic governor who is a HUGE step up from our previous 3 administrations - all very conservative and increasingly
idiotic. Also, lots of new, young energetic democrats in both the state house and state senate, re-election of an excellent superintendent of public instruction - AND we put the kabash on a very environmentally-unfriendly mining procedure with one of our ballot initiatives.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“No kidding...Bruce and I are completely stunned...thought it was really going to change...and it did, for the worse! Unbelievable...who ARE these people? Sheesh...so depressed, and we live in Berkeley, where I think the whole city is depressed now! It's a dark day and I really feel uneasy...like I've never felt before. Anyway, hope you're well and that we regroup and rethink all this after the cloud lifts.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“It appears NM has also gone for that idiot...

Our only hope is people finally see the light and vote the bums out next election. People just seem to care about their own narrow little selves right now...the heck with what they will leave their kids and grandkids or what they are doing to others. Selfishness rules...”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“I've had my morning cry, but since you asked for reasons to continue to hope...
* I can think of 55 million reasons for hope: The narrow minority who voted for John Kerry.
* Progressives have just begun to get organized in the way the far right did thirty years ago, with independent pressure groups like MoveOn, think tanks like the Foundation for American Progress and networks like Air America.
* The presidential second terms in my lifetime have been disasters:
Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton. The implosion of Dubya's presidency will only get worse.
It may take ten or twenty years to take America back. The right wing has had the backbone to fight relentlessly until they won. Let's hope
progressives can muster the same backbone in the years to come - after we've all taken well-deserved vacations and enjoyed a few well-deserved drunks.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Amen! i'm wearing black. Looks like that'll be my official color, except for the blues, for the next 4.

I do want my country back.”

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“here in austin we were all very strongly for kerry and everyone i know is dismayed and crushed today, contemplating what country we can move to. I will choose to remain here. i lived in germany when reagan stated that he "could foresee the possibility of a limited nuclear war in europe", a statement that did NOT go over well in the country where that would most likely have occurred. i was ashamed to be american, but resolved that with my citizenship i theoretically had more power than any of them to do something about it, so i came back to the states and got involved in grass roots politics. we are fucking iraq and the middle east in our newest crusade, we are fucking the planet by walking out of the kyoto treaty and denying the effects of greenhouse gases, we are fucking ourselves with short sided agreements on trade, tariffs and exporting jobs, and we do not deserve to retain the role of world leader. as we continue to bankrupt our country with tax cuts for the rich and tank the economy and drop the safety nets beneath our elderly, children and poor, we will surely and quickly slip from that role, as we have already lost the respect of the world. i'm relieved to think the united europe may step into that role, with far greater maturity
and wisdom than we have been demonstrating. i'm concerned about the supreme court, the environment, and the dismantling of the bill of rights and constitution, as all are irremedial. i'm especially concerned about the future of democracy in this country. as garrison keiller so eloquently pointed out "no democracy in the history of humankind has survived the massive transfer of wealth we are witnessing". how much of this bleak election return is due to a completely amoral manipulation of information, i.e. blatant lies and slander, assisted by right wing domination of most major media in the country, and how much is due to people honestly wanting easy, black and white answers instead of honest, difficult solutions. will it take a generation during which we must teach our children to think before we can turn this around? how can the greatest voter turnout in our history have failed to deliver a responsible verdict?

i too am at a loss and realize i am offering nothing in the way of comfort or hope right now. please know that even in texas there are large, large numbers of grieving, caring people.”

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“I know that you sent this to your entire mailing list, but I cannot let it pass without responding.

I'm sitting here waiting for John Kerry to speak at 1:00, and I'm just so devastated that I'm actually shedding tears. I had so much hope, so much confidence that people would do the right thing.

I don't know how to find a reason to continue to have hope. It's utterly devastating to consider the unbelievable collective stupidity of this nation. I found my move to Virginia to be a real wake-up call about the realities of holy rollers and other non-thinking sheep. Boston certainly has its challenges, but the relative willingness to think critically and consider nuances rather than fall in line behind sledgehammer-delivered lies made Massachusetts seem to me like a different planet, not just a different state or region.

The world is laughing at us, while so many of us are crying. How can this country be so blind, so gullible? I can only hope that the ostrich will realize with a sand-filled gasp that he cannot live, breathe, see, hear or speak with a buried head. Either that, or he'll simply wither away, perishing due to his own stupidity.

Here's the only bright spot I can offer: As conservative as Richmond is, I saw huge support for John Kerry, more outright support than I've ever seen for a Democratic candidate since I've lived here (8 years...can't believe it's been that long). I did a lot of volunteering, and the phone banks were always packed with people, the signs were up all over, and the stickers were everywhere.

That's not much, in the grand scheme of things. And it didn't matter.

I don't really know what to say. But I feel so isolated down here, and your e-mail made me feel a little less alone.

We have to continue to stand up and shout, because as bad as things are, they could get worse. That is a pitiful reason to continue, but it's all I can see right now.”

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“I can't believe it. Is this what you get when a population is not
encouraged to think?
If W screws up in the next four as much as he has in the last four.... hmmmm... Bono and Molly Ivans in 2008”

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“Sure, I can think of a few. One is that the Democrat/left coalition came together better than I've ever seen it in my lifetime. I think when the vote is analyzed, it'll be clear that the Dems did everything they set out to do, and surpassed expectations on everything it set out to do (except the youth vote, which went for Kerry, but didn't vote in greater percentages than in 2000). This renewed spirit of activism is likely to burn even brighter now, which is always hopeful (not to mention good for folk music's ka-ching).
Another is that the Republican Party is now officially married to the Christian social conservative movement - joined at the hip more than ever before. That's what swung this election, and what gave Bush his surprising popular vote victory. Nobody saw that coming, except probably Karl Rove, who's been secretly working on this strategy since 2000. The pollsters missed it, the Dems missed it, most Republicans missed it.
The number-one issue for Bush supporters was not even asked on most polls done prior to the election. It was not Iraq, not terrorism, not jobs, health care, the deficit, the environment, declining wages, Social Security, Medicare, or even leadership. It was "moral issues." In other words, gay marriage, anti-abortion, the Ten Commandments, the Pledge of Allegiance, prayer in schools, et. al. Bush won as if nothing he'd done in office mattered; simply because he was the only candidate who had "accepted Jesus Christ as my personal lord and savior." You'd think it was 1958, for pity's sake. Nothing that's happened in the last four years mattered to these people; they are completely living in an alternate universe. And now the Republicans are stuck with them, which could be trouble down the road as more and more economic conservatives sweat about the deficit, declining jobs and wages (bad for a consumer-based economy), corporations that desperately need to be regulated back into a sense of fiscal sanity, raging oil prices, etc., etc.
How does power usually collapse? History tells us that, more often than not, it dies of its success, not its failures (see Rome, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union). The Republicans are not likely to solve any of the growing problems around us, because they lack the will, the interest, the ideology, the discipline, the patriotism, and the ability. Their leaders now are demagogues, pure and simple. And now they are completely dependent on that part of their base vote that responds only to demagoguery. History tells us that doesn't usually end well for the demagogues.
Hope that helps, ol' comrade. Don't take from this that I am not devastated; I have never been more ashamed to be an American”

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“I teach children. Carry hope. Our young people were voting largely
Democratic. Their numbers increase. Pray that they inherit something to work with.
Children. That is the reason to hope. It is our job now to teach those who follow.

A poem by Walter Lowenfels TO A TWELTH GRANDCHILD

"Don't stop that scream you got born with.
Resist, Resist and then RESIST.
And keep up that occasional smile that lights your crib ...
You may grow as old as Doctor DuBois,
but keep up your smile, scream syndrome ....
and
you'll reach the Himalayas of Eternal Unrest."

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“the muse -- along with myself and others on each coast, as well as in the northern urban areas -- needs to find another country.

Say... do you and/or the muse think it's ... you know ... a coincidence that this punk bush "wins" by the slimmest of electoral margins for the second time in a row?

Me, I love (in a perverse sort of way) the fact that so many bush voters cited "moral values" (helloooooo?????) as their prime reason for voting for the wretched little freak?

really, truly pissed, I remain,”

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“I live in one of the most republican counties in the nation... we have re=elected a democratic representative.......
Thank goodness we have term limits for presidents....”

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“you are much in our thoughts just now.

hope -- many people talking

hope -- many people getting their understandings shaken

hope -- many people reaching out to say 'what happened'

hope -- many people birthing a thought 'that ain't right'

hope -- many people asking questions

hope -- many people deciding that if they don't care no one will

and that's just for a two minute bash at it. help me out.

i find myself musing that