This is how I have been feeling lately.

[redstatebluegirl]

I am not sleeping, my blood pressure meds have been increased. I am terrified that the crazy minority who support 45, are racist, sexist and highly religious are taking over my life. I am doing what I can to take back the House and Senate in the fall but feel that the system is now rigged by the rich republican donors and Russia. My husband is much younger than I and we are looking at alternative countries to live in if things go further south than they are right now. He has a skill that countries will want so no problem moving.

When I come here I come away feeling so depressed. I worked on a campaign back home and while I did my best to help my trip back home to Oklahoma was a depressing one. My husband keeps saying we can make a difference here, but I don't see it these days. There are so many crazy Trumpers in this state it makes me want to hurl.

I guess it is just a bad day, hoping for the best but expecting the worst. The Republicans will protect him till they can pack the courts with crazy conservatives who lean so far right they are falling off the planet. If feel sick.

[Sherman A1]

1. Limit your time here

on any other political boards, facebook groups and cable news. I listen to about 10 minutes of CNN during the day, watch a bit of Colbert no more than every other day and simply find other things to do.

Life it too short to let this all get you down. The sun will come up in the East tomorrow.

[Dennis Donovan]

8. Perfect advice, Sherman...

[Sherman A1]

9. I've taken almost a year off from here

and I really limit my cable news intake. I find it's mostly just high pressure repetitive noise between commercials for the latest reverse mortgage scheme and/or pharmaceuticals for conditions that I never knew existed. Even late night comedians who I tend to agree with on most of their stuff, are also over the top, because the news is constantly over the top.

One needs to find other things in life to do or you will simply explode.

[Sophia4]

2. I'm sorry you are having a tough time. Since Trump has been in the White House,

many of us are. I wish you well.

Call me, Blue in Blue State Granny.

I'm also a granny who is blue.

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. I hear you.

I have to step away often myself. I limit my time on all news sites when I feel too jangled.

Happily, DU has lots of non-political forums to see.

[CrispyQ]

4. If I were younger, I'd be looking to move, too.

I can't believe the shithole in the WH has 35-40% approval rating. WTF America?

[Upthevibe]

5. Wow...you completely captured exactly how I'm feeling now...

I read this on the CNN Website this morning....Steve Bannon told a far-right gathering in France on Saturday that they should handle accusations of racism with pride. "Let them call you racists," Bannon said to the French National Front Party. "Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honor." WHAT. THE. FUCK!

I have thought about relocating to another country too. I'm not sure how realistic it is. After Bush and 2004, I checked into what's involved in relocating to Canada. It's not impossible. If I had more resources, I would probably be making plans based on what happens in the mid-terms.

I also need to make a conscious effort to stay away from the news and focus on things that bring me peace....

[CrispyQ]

7. We finally ditched DISH & went with streaming & not having MSNBC & CNN on in the background all day

has really helped my attitude. Now I catch my favorite segments with the NBC app & I don't hear the same nauseating stories, over & over all day long, getting angrier & angrier.

[Sherman A1]

10. Well done!

all the cable news is simply infotainment.

[DFW]

11. Le Pen did herself no favors by having Bannon speak

They crazies will have loved it, but Europe despises Trump, and anyone having a trumpador come speak on their behalf only does themselves damage. Even the German AfD has kept their distance, and they are about the closest thing to wall sympathizers the continent has.

As for Oklahoma, I think I have been there exactly once in my life, and that was 45 years ago. I have no idea what it's like there, but Texas has plenty of blue pockets and a slow statewide increasingly purple tendency. We're not far.

[flying_wahini]

29. And if we can change the gerrymandering in Texas it may well go BLUE!

[DFW]

39. D-Lay's little map of the world according to Tom definitely set things back

Our part of Dallas was represented in the House by the very able Democrat Martin Frost until the gerrymander. Since then, we have the nauseating Pete Sessions. Sessions does not represent us, but rather the bible thumpers they crammed into our district with only a little slice of Dallas left in, namely us!

[avebury]

34. I don't think that Oklahoma could possibly get any redder then it already is.

The State Leglisature is overwhelmingly controlled by the Republicans. I sweat that the number one consideration when determining what bills they want to try to pass is that it be Unconstitutional at which point the State AG will waste taxpayer dollars defending said bills when the inevitable lawsuit is filed.

I know a few Conservatives that don't like Trump but there are still a lot of people who continue to support Trump which has to blow the mind of any rational person. I will say that there are a lot of people (Conservative and Liberal) who are counting the days until Fallin is out of office. We can only wait to see who replaces her. It seems like a Republican controlled State legislature is driving OK in the same direction that Kansas has gone.

Our representatives (Reps and Senators) in Washington are horrible.

[DUgosh]

6. Audio books

Available free with library card at participating libraries - I listen to over 100 a year.

[DFW]

12. Before you move to another country.....

Make sure you know EVERY aspect and consequence. There's no paradise anywhere. If you move to a non-English-speaking country, learn the language THOROUGHLY. Just think how easy it would be to blend into life in Oklahoma as a complete stranger if the only language you can speak is German or French.

On the other hand, it CAN be done. Just make sure it's REALLY what you want. Could you handle it to watch Joe Kennedy III be inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2021 on TV, and think, "damn, if only I had stuck around?"

[Upthevibe]

13. I like Joe Kennedy III too..

At this point, I also like Chris Murphy (Senator, Connecticut)..

[leftyladyfrommo]

38. I like Joe K. too.

He is like a fresh wind blowing through.

[redstatebluegirl]

14. After 20 years, it still seems they speak a foreign language in Oklahoma :-).

[redstatebluegirl]

15. I also like Adam Schiff.

[DFW]

40. I like him, too. One difference, though

For a member of the House to run for anything else, they have to give up running for their House seat. Kennedy is young enough to get back in 2 years later, and just about anywhere. Schiff probably won't have the resources at his beck and call that Kennedy would. Besides, Schiff is doing some VERY important work on our behalf right now, and we can't afford for that to be interrupted for the span of two years.

[Ligyron]

16. I'm giving the mid-terms a chance.

If the polls show us ahead and we lose, then it's def rigged and I'm out. Adios muchachers!

[redstatebluegirl]

17. yep

[DFW]

41. We've definitely had enough of that since 2000.

I remember here in Europe in 2004, all my friends here in NATO-land asked me for my prediction for the presidential election of 2004. I said, Kerry wins the election and Bush remains in office. They asked me how I figured that would work. I said just watch. After the election, they just nodded in resignation. After the Georgia Senatorial election in 2002, it was obvious what was going on.

My brother told me back then--and this is now SIXTEEN years ago--"give me a cell phone and a laptop. and I'll make any one of those electronic voting machines give you any result you want." Many of them use the SAME software they use now. He does top secret high tech stuff in the DC area for agencies usually represented by acronyms, so he's not some hobby hacker who plays in his basement on weekends. The voting machines MUST be eliminated.

[Vinca]

18. I've been feeling the same way - it's like a black cloud following me around.

I had been chalking it up to generic winter blues since it's not a true "I want to jump off a bridge" depression. The icing on the cake last week was a notice from the IRS telling me we owed them $9,500. They based it on a 1099 form their computer apparently misread. The thing said $4,560 not $45,600. In the past, that sort of thing wouldn't send my blood pressure into the stratosphere, but I feel constantly wired up in this age of Trump and it's a wonder I didn't stroke out. Things have got to get better.

[redstatebluegirl]

19. Yes they do, everyone I know is stressed to the max except the Trumpers.

[bronxiteforever]

20. Stay healthy and alive to fight another day

This is a long relay race. Give the baton to someone else and when you are rested pick it up again.
Your previous work mattered even if you don’t see the results!
If we don’t collectively resist this-who will? Also remember there are millions of us along with you who want a better world.
Decompress and enjoy nature and your friends and family. You will see that where there is life, there is hope.

[kag]

21. I sympathize, bluegirl!

My doc recently said to me, "I've seen other people taking bigger doses of [my bp med]. But not very many."

I'm from Texas. Every time I go back it tears me up. (Both in the "ripping" sense and the "crying" sense ).

Fortunately, I live in a pretty liberal community in Colorado. But I sometimes watch too much news and have the same "which country do we move to" conversation with my husband. I wish I had the answer, but days like today with the big rally in PA make it even harder.

I've started writing. That helps a little...at least it keeps me off the politics sites .

Be good to yourself. Put your faith in Mueller and the goodness of all the people who DON'T support Cheetoh.

Take care.

[redstatebluegirl]

22. Thanks, I have been depressed since we moved here over 20 years ago.

[Cryptoad]

23. Thats what they said abt Hitler,,,,,,,

",,,, ah the sun will come up in the east tomorrow! ".


My advice is the same as given to Europeans back in the 30's:,,,,,,,
If you have the money and Means,,,, its time to get out (of the USA} while u can!

[kairos12]

24. I live in Maricopa County, which is

infamous for giving Drumpt more votes than any County in the country. Do everything you can to maintain or improve your health. I want you to be fully ready and healthy when Drumpt is run out of office. Count on it.

[redstatebluegirl]

25. I went home and worked against him because it would count there.

Here I don't know. Nobody can beat the Repubs here.

[kag]

27. Just remember...

That's what they said about Alabama!

[mercuryblues]

30. turn off the TV

I watch 15 minutes in the AM. Local news a few times a week and I DVR Maddow and watch her a few times a week.

Put down the mouse and step away from the computer. Limit pc time to a few hours a day, max.

Go for walks, movies, etc.

[dameatball]

26. I have heard that Costa Rica is really nice, however......

......I have a sneaking suspicion that there are a lot of rich, white Republicans already there ahead of you.

[Leghorn21]

28. I woke up from a dream this morning, red - in it, there was a poster (like on a wall) full of

Trump/gop/putin/rightwing/mobster propaganda. I reacted strongly to it of course, some kind of way, and was fighting against it...do not recall details.

But as I blinked awake I thought, oh holy shit. “They” got me. “They” are eating through my psyche, from the outside in and back.

I do believe this is deliberate - a result of whatever the hell “asymetrical warfare” or “active measures” are!!! So...I do try to keep that in what’s left of my mind: that we’re being gamed and gaslighted by some real pros...but NOPE, they cannot and will not ever, ever own my soul or heart or psyche. Fuckers...NOPE. YOURS EITHER GODDAMIT.

So...”I hear you”, as trump’s crib notes might say - and all we are gonna do is hang tough.

Take breaks as needed, red, absolutely. This apparently is a verrrry long haul we’re in for, and rest is essential to maintaining our resolve to see this “thing” through!!!!

Hugs to you, my friend!
Sandy

[redstatebluegirl]

31. What scares me is they are bullying us away from taking them on.

No matter how nuts i get I will take them on.

[Queen of the Iceni]

32. There was a poster the other day looking for a country for her nurse daughter. I suggested Mexico.

Lots of opportunities there for skilled people south of the border.

[redstatebluegirl]

33. We have been looking north and south.

There are a couple of Canadian Universities and research labs looking at my husband. I don't know that we will go but we may of they don't do something soon with this crazy man.

[Blue_true]

35. I came close to killing myself one time.

Not by suicide, but by the effects of reacting to the world around me caused within my body. I am an engineer and anyone in that field know how hyper competitive people in it can be. I was driven to near extremes to be precise and accurate on everything and avoided office cliques. The problem is the actions of those cliques affected my career path. I got to the point where I developed stomach ulcers, constantly had chest pains and essentially hated when Monday came and I had to go back to work around some people who I frankly had no respect for, but knew could affect my future.

Then one night as I lay in just another sleepless night, I had a revelation. I realized that there were things that I could control and if I let them bother me, I was a fool. Then there are things that I have absolutely no control over, so worrying about them get me nowhere, I was better off to just prepare my self for their impact, something that I could control. I internalized that revelation and it changed my life, I became happier, slept better and became very good at my work.

You need to calmly assess you life to figure out what you can control and what you can't control, then build strategies from there. Worrying will only eat you up inside.

[redstatebluegirl]

36. I agree, I am an odd mix of science and sociology :-).

I tend to listen to my body, but this has been a challenge.

[Blue_true]

37. Listen to your body and ignore the other stuff until

you have reformulated strategies for dealing with it. There are about 8 months to November, maybe you should step back for a couple of months and only do things that bring you peace, your political mind will continue to subconciously work and you should come back recharged with better vision on how you want to help take back political offices across the country. Stuff will happen during the two months that you step back, but I assure you that you can do absolutely nothing now to change those events, worrying about them will only drive you deeper into a funk. Take care.