Do you remember feeling proud of this country?

[zanana]

I remember it well. I think I know why some people don't want to face up to the reality of what this country has become--it's demoralizing and depressing. I remember when a flag wasn't just a political symbol and people honored the sanctity of religion by keeping it out of the White House. I remember when we used to send peacekeeping troops to other countries and when we still had faith that our votes counted. I don't feel proud about our form of government anymore and after the election, I don't feel proud about our people, either.

[seito]

1. I served six years of active duty under President Clinton

Yes, I remember it well.

[Jo March]

7. I served my last two years under Clinton

And I also remember feeling proud of my country, proud of the Army and proud of my CIC.

[Chicago Democrat]

2. All peoples and civilizations go through such times and ours is

not to question why. The only question is what to do with the time that you have. Be happy and live your life right now and don't concern yourself about things you can't change.

:)

[zanana]

3. Ours is not to question why?

Are you kidding me? If we don't question it, who will?

[Chicago Democrat]

8. We are doing everything we can! I am fighting every day. But still

they stole the election. Things look terrible for the USA and the world. It will get much much much worse probably.

so...

Again I say

What more could we have done or do? NOTHING. We continue the struggle and expect to loose.

Until we win... we must live our lives and not be further defeated by depression. We must carry on and I am simply trying to show you that this situation is not unique in history and remind you that the world is a very shitty place, so what good is being depressed?

[NoSheep]

5. Huh? Were you feeling particularly woozy when you posted that?

:-(
I am reminded of what my mother said when I called her up crying about my fears that Kerry may not be elected. She said the "good lord will handle it". Well, did the good lord handle it? And how good is he if he did?
That reaction seems so out of place here. I'm not yelling at you, just wondering if you really believe that?
I too like to put this aside when I can and have a breather...listen to some good music or something. But Damn! Ours is not to question why? Fraud, greed, murder, erosion of a democratic society?

[Strelnikov_]

9. Maybe The Good Lord Has Spoken, And He Has Given Us The Leader

that will come close to destroying our country, thus ending our role as the 'lone superpower'. In the process, the greedy (i.e. money changers) in this country will be punished.

If the fundy's think their boy is appointed by God, I guess they will have to accept that God was not happy with us when the inevitable fall comes.

[American Tragedy]

12. My mom reacted similarly

That morning when I came in, I was extremely bummed out. My mom said that Kerry was going to concede shortly and I told her to turn off the TV because I wasn't interested in hearing the right-wing pundits gloat, or enduring the usual masochistic analysis from Brazile and the other handwringers who brought us to this point.

Mom remarked that she had been through this before, when Nixon and Reagan both defeated their superior opposition, and that we would survive. I whispered, "But those were already projected as landslides from the beginning. There was no suspense. And the stakes are higher now. Nixon wasn't nearly as right-wing, and Reagan wasn't as blindly determined." My mom shook her head and said that I was young, and there was nothing that we could do now.

She then drew in her breath, pulled out a tissue and mumbled, "I promised myself I wasn't going to cry anymore." Her eyes were wet. If you knew my mom, you would be shocked: she almost never weeps.

For some reason, just saying this too shall pass isn't good enough for me. My family is fairly well-off, so of course we will survive. If that was all that mattered, I could afford to be apathetic forever. But the Bush administration has stolen something intangible from me: my faith and pride in my country. And I don't know how that can be replaced.

[Chicago Democrat]

13. Ours is not to question the situation we find ourselves...

apparently they cheated somehow and until our "experts" prove it there is nothing we can do -that we aren't doing-. The money has been provided, new revelations come every day, until we PROVE FRAUD, noone is going to march in the street and Bush has his one-party state, almost.

Bush is gonna start wars, kill thousands, and screw up everything, but if we are lucky we will live through it.

Nothing that is DONE in history, can't be UNDONE, in time..
No law that is made, can't be UNMADE, in time...
NO SIN committed in our name, can't be FORGIVEN by our victims with PROPER apologies and COMPENSATION

Look at Germany today and 55 years ago... It may take 55 years it may take 5 months but the Bush fascist regime will pass someday and we will live and tell tales of the bad old days.

[American Tragedy]

4. Only faintly, because I'm so young

That is why I love to study American history and I've been spending many hours in the university library. It gives me an opportunity to objectively pinpoint the moments in modern history when we could rightfully be proud to be a part of this country. There is so little hope to be found right now. :cry:

[illflem]

6. I was proud just four years ago

then the US flag became a swastika

[Us vs Them]

10. I'm proud of this country every time I log on to DU.

We have to understand that THIS is the heart of America. We are the thousands fighting for our own democracy. I don't know anything more American than that.

[Chicago Democrat]

14. Well said! This is recorded for the ages and lives in the ether...

No fire at the Library at Alexandria will erase it, nor would a nuclear bomb.. That is very comforting for me.

[Rose Siding]

11. I was very proud of America when I saw the We're Sorry site

The Idea of America never fails to floor me and individual acts are a source of frequent pride.

It's pride in out govt that has vanished.

[AG78]

15. Maybe when I was a kid

I'm only 26 now, so it's not that long ago.

It's just a mass of land with arbitrary borders that were drawn up a long time ago.

But some of the people that have lived here, absolutely. Even a few politicians. The brave people that were willing to stand up to power. Stand up, and maybe give up their lives, against the system. I know I could use more of that in my daily life.

But there's also that force, those people, that want to keep people down(for lack of a better term), and gain more and more power.

It's a constant struggle. It's been going on since 1492, 1776, the 1860's, the 1930's, the 1960's, 2000, and 2004. I wish it was a new thing brought on by this administration, but it's not.

It's a constant struggle that will probably never end. In the 30's, the middle class was born. It seemed like a good thing. But from the day the middle class was created, there's been a force trying to eliminate it. It took 50 years, but when the 80's came around, they started winning. The 90's didn't help it, thanks to NAFTA and other agreements. And now we can realistically see the end of the middle class, and having to start over from the bottom again.

Proud of a country? A flag? A "clean" election(has there really ever been one)? No, that's just not my thing. Proud of the people that have fought for whatever democracy is, the idea of it, if it's ever existed at all? Yes. Even if it might be a losing battle in the grand scheme of things.

[datasuspect]

16. i remember

it was before i "woke up." maybe when i was kid and didn't know better.

although there are some admirable things about this country. i can say that much.