How has the last six-seven years changed your life?

[PresidentObama]

George W. Bush was GIVEN the White House by the Supreme Court in 2000, and took office in 2001. Over the course of those six-seven years, we've seen America turned upside down. We've seen the pay as you go policies thrown out the window, and surplus has been replaced with billions after billions of debt. America's image went from the beacon of hope around the world to the most hated nation in the entire globe. What else? The healthcare system that was ignored for so long was only more and more ignored, and it's crumbled. We've seen the seperation between church and state take blow after blow, and moral issues used for political gain like gay rights and abortion while others like poverty are shoved to the side. He ignored intelligience and did nothing to prevent 9-11, and then cut and ran from Afghanistan and the REAL war on terror to lie and mislead the nation into an unwanted war in Iraq. Now we are on the horizon of more danger as the Taliban regains in strength in Afghanistan, terrorism is running wild across the world, North Korea is very dangerous, and Iran is very dangerous--with Bush holding his finger ever so closely over the "WAR" button.

It's been an unfortunate past eight years, and we all agree that we NEED a new direction. This thread is to tell personal stories about how the last few years of Bush's reign have changed YOUR life. Show DU why we HAVE to unite in 2008, and take back America.

My own personal story is this. Seven years ago. My mother was one of the people benefited by the economic turn around of the country from the Clinton Administration. She went from being a stay at home mother working as hard as she could to raise us the best way she could, and my dad brought home the bacon. But after a while, as times changed, my dads job just couldn't support us. So my mom took up a side stay at home job and within a few years was making $80,000 a year. Which for a stay at home job, working 20 hours at her own pace a week...not bad...

Bush takes office, and within one year thats cut in half. Within two, thats cut in half. Now she still does the at home stuff off and on, and makes maybe a few hundred bucks a month or every two months if she is really lucky. And even though my dad has gone onto bigger and better things with his job, they're having their own problems paying bills and getting by.

Even when I was a child, and we had to eat bread and peanut butter they weren't ever in debt. Now they are several thousand in debt, and while they can live somewhat comfortably--being in debt isn't something they are proud of or want.

Personally, I have no stories other then how hard it's been trying to manage living my life comfortably and going to college without going into debt and without pulling my eyeballs overworking myself because I can't pay all my bills.

So whats your story? Let DU know how the GOP has ruined your six-seven years, and how bad YOU want change!!

[Mrspeeker]

1. ITS BEEN A FUCKING NIGHTMARE!!!!

And I still can't wake UP!!!

[PresidentObama]

2. Agreed. It's been hard on my family. n/t

[Ishoutandscream2]

3. Anti-depressants

Seriously. I know, there are other things in play, but I attribute the last 6 years of total Republican rule as part of my anxiety issues. It's been hell to say the least.

[PresidentObama]

4. Hmmmm, you know. Wow.

I can relate. I didn't get my anxiety issues either until the Bush Administration. It's hard to think our government could add so much stress to our lives, but they do. Especially when they fail us, and force us to live miserable lives.

[Turbineguy]

14. Self delete

[peacetalksforall]

5. I want the 30% (+ or-) of the people that I have given up hope on.

to become a separate country and see how far they get spreading their imperialism on their own.

I dread waking to find out what happened in the Middle East or the east coast or to the not very good news/no news/horrible news from New Orleans.

I can't bear the thought of the thefts and debt.

I can't stand the killing and maiming.

I despise the legacy of the United States that is being spread.

I feel the other people on this planet are brothers and sisters and this country is slaughtering them.

We're still asleep. When we're physically swake we are bombarded with atrocities. I've seen many decades - there has not been anything like this. It changed my life because I did not know that the evil went this deep. And it has made me unhappy with myself because I didn't know that the plan was birthed many decades ago and has been under high acceleration since 2000.

[KoKo]

19. What you say....and on our end Downsizings and Downsizings

which actually started in the Clinton years as NAFTA took hold and job started disappearing. Cutting out Middle Management so the CEO's got full power and the many perks once MM was gone. So many dislocations of people towards end of Clinton years and through Bush it's been a nightmare for most folks with every company they get a job with laying them off after a year or two.

The big Clinton plus was his pushing through COBRA. It's saved us several times....and has been a lifeline for many. But, it does run out..

I had no idea either that things were as rotten at the core of America since Nixon. But, I knew that Nixon shouldn't have been pardoned. I just was more hopeful with the environmental movement and changes after the 60's that the world would be a better place. Never could have imagined what's taken place since Bush stole 2000 election. Never...

[leftofthedial]

6. loss and ruination

lost 90%-plus of my net worth

lost my career

lost two businesses

28-year marriage failed, largely due to financial problems and attendant depression

lost one home and much real estate

lost two friends to suicide (one specifically due to despondency over bush foreign policy)

lost two friends to cancer (no insurance)

lost all faith in our country, its government and its institutions

[Ishoutandscream2]

24. I am so sorry

One of my Bushbot friends is about to be laid off after 20 or so years with the same company. They are now going to have to move their "McMansion" quickly and downsize. He'll probably never have the same kind of income in a longtime, or maybe never again. I had to keep my mouth shut.

Hang in there, friend.

[PresidentObama]

28. So tragic to hear.

:hug: I hope in 2008 we can regain that faith in your country, it's government and institutions. We need some REAL leadership!!

[eridani]

64. My brother's 28 year marriage has just failed

He was on a sales trip--she went to her high school reunion and connected up with an old flame. He lost his job. The typical sales rep bullshit--they set impossible targets, and every year fire half their staff for failing to meet them.

He's always been a proud dittohead, and won't talk to anybody else in the family now. Our family has had a lot of depression, and I'm worried about that he might do something really, really stupid. (I'm glad to hear you got over this part, at least.)

My entire life has been consumed with politics since November 2000--polyamory is just theoretical for me now. No time.

[Sammy Pepys]

7. Only in ways not related to the Presidency...n/t

....

[paulk]

8. my economic situation has grown steadily worse

I had a viable business 6 years - now I'm trying to figure out how to get out of my lease. It's become a question of how much money I want to lose, not make.

Most of my friends and acquaintances are worse off than they were 7 years ago. There are a few exceptions - and those folks are far, far better off. It's kind of like a microcosm of the Bush economy...

---------------

I feel like I've been living in some kind of bizarre alternate reality - I had some problems with Clinton, but, overall, things were moving in the right direction. Then the neocons stole the White House and jerked this country hard to the right - a direction I still don't feel the country wanted. I've lost a lot of my idealism - there was a very narrow window for fixing some of the problems that beset the human race - Bush slammed that window shut and nailed boards over it. Then he set the house on fire.

It's going to take a lot of work to put out that fire and get the window back open. In my darker moments, I'm not sure anymore that it can be done.

[SharonAnn]

33. Same here. And emotionally, I went from optimism to fear and depression.

It's been really awful.

Cleaning out papers the other day, I read through some old newspaper clippings. One was Bill Clinton on Dec. 29th, 2000 speaking on how the U. S. will be debt-free by 2010. I can hardly remember that far back, when hope seemd justified.

[zanne]

40. I keep thinking of the 2000 New Year celebration.

I remember watching the fireworks displays from all over the world at the moment of the new year 2000. I was so optimistic, and so sure that the progress we'd made would go on and on. I was especially proud of the entire world that night. Millions of people were gathered in just about every country in the world and there was no violence. I thought that maybe, just maybe, we could all actually get along after all.

I look back at that now and think about how naive I was, and how happy I was. It's just another world now, and to think that little more than a handful of people are responsible for all the sorrow.........

[AnneD]

48. My economic situation has worsened...

but not through the fault of this administration. I know numerous folks that have their own businesses that are down to nothing (like when we have get togathers....I bring or pay for the entree sort of thing).

Paulk, I too feel like I live in an alternate reality. This in no way resembles the America I remember learning about in school. Our fundamentals...the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights has either been shredded, destroyed, or annulled.What I have lost is the basic trust of my government and I am sorry to say, many of my fellow citizens. There are plenty of folks around sounding the alarm but, as Amy Tan once said in a novel, it is as if they had taken opium laced sweets.

My Hindu Indian husband, a musician, has been tailed and harassed by police for doing nothing more than existing. I won't even mention the insults he has received from folks that don't even know him. I have exercised my right to free speech and I am willing to bet I have a file with artwork-because I have seen the same van at our protests-and my only crime has been to question this administrations policies that are against my will.

I too,Paulk, have lost my idealism, but the saddest thing I have lost is my hope. This next election cycle will determine whether we remain in the US or look for a better place to live out the rest of our lives. Never did I ever think I would be leaving the US. I will have done all that I can do and I am to old to fight, and almost too tired to care any more. Let these folks make this country over in the image they want and see how long it lasts. The Nazis in their arrogant boasts claimed the Reich was suppose to last a thousand year. I am sure this neocon paradise will last as long as the Third Reich.

[OhioChick]

9. Many, many paycuts

and pathetic healthcare.

[PresidentObama]

10. Sorry to hear that.

At least you have healthcare, even if it's pathetic. :(

Some of us can't be so "lucky" ahm. Unfortunately.

[OhioChick]

13. I should have said

Pathetic, expensive healthcare that doesn't pay for anything. I spend much of my time filing appeals, which still get denied. :(

I'm sorry to hear of your parent's situation.
Good luck in college....:thumbsup:

[PresidentObama]

20. Thank you.

I appreciate that :hi:

Sorry my response was poorly worded, I wasn't trying to be snappy at you. I just meant some of us don't even get the piss poor healthcare. Which is the grime truth. And it's still tragic that many, like yourself, have to settle for expensive yet less then impressive healthcare while the healthcare system crumbles year by year.

[OhioChick]

21. No need to apologize...

I knew what you meant. :hi:
Take care of yourself and do the best you can in school.....you're going to need it. The economy isn't "booming" for any of us.

[PresidentObama]

22. Very true.

I won't let George W. Bush and his GOP thugs ruin my dreams of college, and a better life. No way, no how. Hopefully we'll get a President in 2008 that gives me more opportunities, and a fair shake!! I can dream, can't I?

:)

[jayschool]

11. A dear family member died

serving in Iraq.

[PresidentObama]

12. I'm so sorry to hear that.

It absolutely hurts me to hear stories about those brave men and women whom have died in this tragic war, and hearing their families talk about them. These were our future doctors, dentists, scientists, preachers, Senators, and even Presidents possibly. And because Bush lied and mislead, unfortunately they're lives were lost serving their nation in this misguided and unwanted war.

It's tragic hearing about the human cost of this war, and realizing how much this has effected us not only money wise but human cost wise.

Again, sorry to hear that :hug:

[proud patriot]

66. I'm sorry

:( I hope you find support here :hug:

[sinkingfeeling]

15. I've aged 20 years in the last 6!

[BlueIris]

43. I feel that.

It sucks.

[blm]

45. That's how I feel - For two decades I watched Bush crime family set up their agenda

and the last 6 years I've had to suffer watching them push it even harder through their control of the corporate media.

My heart is also broken since reading Clinton's book and watching him work to rehabilitatae Poppy Bush in the public eye. That disgusts me, and, as someone who defended almost every move of Clinton's from 1992-2004, I feel betrayed. He has protected secrecy and privilege over the good of the American people and the Democratic party.

http://consortiumnews.com/2006/111106.html

[Initech]

16. I went to a fundmentalist church.

It wasn't until the days after 9/11 that I realized how batshit insane these people were when they started viewing 9/11 as a sign of the apocalypse. That's when I started paying attention to the world around me and I started to realize how badly were getting fucked by the system and that the church is a huge part of that.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

17. A lot of things.

I fell out of the middle class in the Clinton years. I got burned out on my job and it dried up, in the mid 1990s. I blame NAFTA for some of it, but I've been in a line of work that was supposedly immune to outsourcing (law). Financially, things were bad in the Clinton years, and they just got worse in the Bush years. These idiots in Bizarro World drive me nuts, since I learned how to think logically in law school.

I had some shitty low end jobs in 1999 to 2001, temp jobs, and eventually I just gave up and had to wait for both my parents to die so I would have some money to live on. I know that sounds horrible, but that's the way it was. All they did before they died was yell at me about "Why can't you find a job?" and all I could say was "I don't know, I've done every thing I could think of.". It was most unpleasant. They wouldn't give me a damn dime either. I kept telling them I might as well kill myself if I was going to be so useless to society, and they weren't going to help me any. I asked them if it would help any if I did do away with myself. They said "No". Mom threatened me with a lawsuit or criminal charges (either auto theft or UUMV, lesser included offense) when I borrowed her car, for a trip, and used it for several months. I needed a car to look for a job. She was blind and unable to drive at the time, and paid a woman to drive her around. After the nasty letter from her lawyer, I drove the car back up there in the middle of the night, left and didn't speak to her for months.

I've given up on finding any kind of a job I can stand. In all my jobs I've worked with people who were threatened by an intelligent person with a damned good education (I have a Juris Doctor - law degree) and some of them were nasty lawyers and judges. When I wasn't working in law I was working with idiots that did not understand logic, or English for that matter. Now I've given up on finding anything in the legal field. None of my rich lawyer "friends" that I went to law school with could lift a finger to help me find a job, and some of them are multi millionaires now. I feel like I failed totally, since it is a BIG FAT LIE that if you go to college and get an education, you can get a good job. I feel like I wasted many years and lots of money getting those two degrees--bachelor's and doctorate-- that never got me a job. I never had a mentor -- all I had was competition. Nobody would help me a bit, no matter how competent I am. Society's idea that education will get you anywhere is a cruel expensive joke, and I based my life on it. Twelve years of college and thousands of dollars.

I refuse to give into fear, but I am changing my lifestyle and getting out of the city.

My partner, who has a master's degree, had a crappy job and he got canned last spring due to budget cutting. The job was killing him anyway and he was a grumpy, exhausted person. So we lost our health insurance and I'm just taking my chances now. Getting my hypertension and allergy drugs, but not getting preventive checkups.

We can't compete in the rat race. There are too many baby boomers chasing that last dollar out there, and we don't know the right people to get jobs. So we're going to be "early retirees". And we are keeping our sanity and fighting those voices in our heads that say "loser" by playing music every day. That's what we really enjoy doing.

Corporate America is cutting its own throat by destroying the middle class, and we're turning into a third world country.

[Gotitdone]

79. Get a grip

Have you ever thought that perhaps it is not society to blame but you??
Read your post to yourself. Everyone is so threatened by your intelligence????
All the education in the world won't do you any good if you are so full of yourself that you can not work with others.

[Double T]

18. Since January 2001, 'WE' ALL have been living in the American Dark Ages............

the top 1% own 50% of ALL the wall street stock, the next 9% own another 40% of ALL the wall street stock while the remaining 90% of 'US' have made humongous sacrifices in our jobs, hourly wages, salaries, health care benefits, pensions and bonuses SO that the top 10% can live like a bunch of F**KING ROBBER BARONS!!! Most of 'US' have paid an extremely HIGH PRICE one way or the other. 'WE' MUST CONTINUE the fight to reestablish the power of the middle class; 'WE' still have the power, BUT 'WE' are NOT using THAT POWER to right ALL the wrongs.

[mnhtnbb]

23. In 2000 we moved to Chapel Hill, expecting it to be our last move

and where we would retire. Then the Bushies stole the election, with help from the Supreme Court. The nightmare continued when 9/11 happened. I read everything I could get my hands on about the 2000 election, and became convinced that we had experienced a bloodless coup d'etat in the U.S. (I am also convinced that 9/11 was actively helped to happen by the Bushies.)

2003 rolled around and I discovered Howard Dean. The anger I had felt, which had been growing exponentially with every lie out of Bush's mouth, was affirmed by Dean. Finally, there was something positive I could do to channel the anger by working to support Dean's candidacy.

I was devastated when Kerry won the nomination, but predicted a 60% win for Kerry/Edwards. We all know how that turned out. My husband and I, afraid for the future of the country, decided we needed to find someplace outside the U.S. that could become an escape hatch for us, if and when, everything went down the toilet in the U.S. We continue to see parallels in this country to Germany in the 1930's.

After considering Canada, New Zealand, Bahamas, Ireland, Turks Caicos, Bonaire and Belize, we bought property in Panama in April 2005 where we are building a retirement home. The house is nearing completion (held up currently by a workers' strike) and we are hopeful it will be done before summer. Knowing that this escape will exist for us has been a godsend.
I have long since given up being able to watch or listen to Bush. I cannot abide his lies.

We have refinanced our house in Chapel Hill and taken out equity in order to pay for the Panama house. We had a 4.75% 15 year loan on this house, that would have been paid off by the time I was 65. That's gone. We will probably sell this house in 2008 or 09 and move permanently to Panama.

If it hadn't been for Bushies, we would never have dreamed of retiring overseas. Part of me thinks it will be so much better for my health (especially blood pressure) but part of me is FURIOUS that after finally living in a place I love--Chapel Hill--I'm faced with giving it up because of fear that the American experiment in democracy has failed.

[CrispyQ]

25. I have become way less consumeristic.

Work supports my private life, not the other way around. Therefore when I want something, I think of it in terms of how many hours I will have to work to pay for it. I am married to a wise man & instead of ramping up our life style over the years, we have stayed in the same small house, with the same old furniture & old cars. We have no debt. Sadly, we realize that our government will not be there for us in our old age so we are trying to get ourselves as financially & physically fit as possible.

Katrina was an extreme & harsh look at the reality that those of us not in the upper echelons are in for. I never thought I would see the United States of America turn it’s back on it’s citizens like I have witnessed since bushco took office.

On a personal note, there has been incredible strain on my relationships with those who still believe in bushco.

[Double T]

26. YOU and your spouse are VERY WISE!! Best of health to you BOTH!!

[otohara]

27. 7 Years of Being Angry

there's a good article at Salon.com about hating Bush. http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2007/02/20/after_bush/

I'm tired of being angry.

[Arugula Latte]

31. Me too. That's what I think of first. The non-stop fury.

I'm enraged when I think about how those slimeballs have fucked over everything good about this country.

The 2000 election opened my eyes to so many things: Internet activism, the complicity of the corporate whore media, Republican propaganda techniques, etc. etc.

[kineneb]

29. went from being middle class to living at 109% of fed. poverty for 2

Hubby worked for WorldCom until their massive layoff in May 2002. Since then his kidneys have failed, due to diabetes, and we live on his SSDI.

[PresidentObama]

30. Sorry to hear that. Your story is tragic, which seems to be a pattern n/t

[Forkboy]

32. The worst things that have happened to me have nothing to do with the GOP

I blame them for a lot of things,but my marriage ending and me getting cancer are two things that even I can't lay at their feet.Though I'm working on finding a way. :)

[PresidentObama]

34. You poor thing. I'm sorry.

I'm sure the stress they added to all of that wasn't helpful.

I hope you beat cancer, if you already haven't.

:hi:

[Forkboy]

36. The state of the world has given me a great amount of stress my whole life

But yes,the levels have risen in the last six years :)

Thanks for good wishes.I got the surgery part out of the way.Next up is the radiation.Hopefully that will do the trick.

[PresidentObama]

37. Just keep that chin up, and look forward to saying "I beat it" n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

35. Economic stagnation, bad attitude,

inability to discuss politics with some friends and family members because it would become impossibly hostile.

[Bryan]

38. I've been lucky, but yes

Coincidentally, the Bush era has coincided with finding medication that made me emotionally stable, moving out of my parents' basement, and getting my first real full-time job with benefits. I have a lot to be thankful for.

At the same time, there's a certain low-level depression that I can't shake. I often forego the news because I know I won't sleep if I do, I feel ashamed of my country and its standing in the world, and worst of all, I've become a more hateful person: I hate my government, I hate many of my neighbors, and I hate my Fellow Americans, because they don't care or they won't care and they think a lone terrorist attack justifies our lost respect and fortune and the deaths of so many thousands. As a boy, I was always bemused by the idea of how many people viscerally hated Nixon, who seemed to me a somewhat comical figure, even though I knew he was a criminal. Now, I think I understand what they felt, and I think I feel it more strongly. I don't know how to deal with it.

[Vinca]

39. We've been in an economic decline and can no longer afford

health insurance. Our income is down almost 60% from the same time last year (one of us is in a real estate-related profession). We've gone from upper middle class to lower middle class and we're treading water as fast as we can, trying not to go into debt more than we already are. Savings? Fuhgeddabowdit.

[enough already]

41. I've never been angrier in my life

I used to be a pretty even-tempered person. Now, I find myself lashing out at people, particularly nazi pukes, all the time. I'm so fucking angry over what this country has become, and I'm even angrier that people on our side are willing to sit on their asses and do nothing and celebrate "non-binding" circle jerk victories while more kids die. This fucking nightmare can't end soon enough.

[BlueIris]

42. In 2000, I was a child (despite being 21 and gainfully employed).

I was a very, very young 21, too. Especially emotionally. I considered myself a liberal, but...needless to say, despite alleged disillusionment in the late '90s, a solidly progressive upbringing, etc., I wasn't doing anything to stop the madness. I wasn't engaged with this society enough to care about what was happening to it. Mainly because I barely cared about what was happening to myself most days. (Did I mention I was a very young 21?)

I consider myself an adult now. Who had to grow up fast after her rude awakening in 2004, not just because of what the Bush admin was doing to the fabric of reality, but because of the damage their actions did to everything, including my family, which is now basically in ruins. It will be up to me to support them in the coming decade, especially as my parents' health problems progress and Medicare is phased out/eliminated. I feel like I never had a real life of my own, actually. As soon as I started to grow into my mind and identity, post-college, (I finished in June of 2001) the society I should have had to participate and prosper in vanished. And also, well, it's like what Elie Wiesel once said about the post-Reagan years, "Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all those who need us desperately." That's how extensive the destruction has been. Thanks, neo-cons!

[Nimrod2005]

44. I would need about a full day, and a bottle of Tequila to discuss, somewhere

in the woods, where we can't be interrupted by anything...I need serious intervention/psychotherapy to process all of it. None of it is financial, just general other issues.

[mopinko]

46. can't even talk to my family any more

not that i was that close to them before. but between the prolifers and the warmongers, i just can't stand it.
i have also become sort of obsessed with politics, and watching the mad dog in the WH. hence my 2-4 hours a day doing nothing but hanging at du. making buttons was my main artistic outlet for a while there. the stress impacted some health problems, too.

[The Backlash Cometh]

47. I've become fully Muldered. I trust no one.

I pray all the time, anytime something bad happens to my kids on a local level or my husband at work, I assume it's related to this culture of cronyism. I keep my optimism purely on a spiritual level, believing that as long as the family is together, we are the lucky ones. But, for the most part, I'm pretty much afraid to get too political around here because I'm afraid of repercussions.

[info being]

49. Left my country altogether

[Serial Mom]

50. Interesting question

I posted in another forum some of my thoughts from more than a year ago about the "new century"...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=270x424

and the paragraph below should be added to the end...

And in August of 2006 I lost my job - can you believe it was for a vendor of defense contractors? But my husband now has a nice job and I have been a happier person the past couple months! So I will not complain about MY situation any further, BUT I WILL NOT STOP complaining or protesting anything about this mis-administration!

[Proud Liberal Dem]

51. More anxiety

I would say that I have personally become more apprehensive about my personal financial circumstances and (for the first time since I started paying attention to politics) genuinely worried about the future of our democracy during the last six years (and particularly during the last two). My biggest fear is that we are nearly to the point in this country where most people would gladly be willing to trade our Constitution and Bill of Rights for the facade of security despite the fact that other democratic countries have managed to live with acts of terrorism far longer than we have without suspending their democracy. That there are some people in this country whom are ready and willing to transform our country into a quasi-fascist police state the next time we get hit (if not before) is very scary for me. The fact that we still have two more years of Bush (during which just about ANYTHING could happen and more bad things probably will) makes me even more worried. Our country is already not regarded very well by most of the world right now because of Bush and I am very concerned that we are going to eventually be on the receiving end of some pretty serious "blowback" (maybe even on a larger scale than 9/11) if Bush et. al keep going around and capriciously attacking/invading other countries or purposely trying to stir up problems among our allies. I thought that the Democrats winning control of the House/Senate in 2006 would help but it seems like Bush, Cheney, et al are committed to doing whatever they want to do whether or not anybody (even the majority of the country) agrees with them and Congress hasn't seemed (at least so far) willing or able to do what they need in order to reign in their reckless rhetoric and actions.

[Cosmocat]

52. Driven me to run for office ...

Seriously ...

It has burned my tail so bad the last six years, I have stepped up and have made myself a candidate for a county office ...

[murielm99]

71. Same here.

I thought I was informed before 2000. But since then, I became angry, and then I got involved.

I ran for office, too. I am now an officer of our county Democratic central committee, and a precinct committeeman. I write letters to the editor. I write guest editorials. I was pleasantly surprised the other day when a reporter contacted me for an opinion about a local issue.

I call and e-mail television stations, locally and nationwide. I hate the spin they put on the news, and I call them on it whenever I can.

I call my congressmen and senators. I call other peoples congressmen and senators, too.

I have developed health problems since 2000, and I think a great deal of it is because of stress. I can't imagine how people like the Bill Clinton, or John Kerry dealt with some of the things that were done to them personally. I feel stressed because I think it is my job to step up and fight, in my own way, the evil that has taken over our country.

Some people do not believe that evil is a real, tangible force in the world. I do. All one has to do is look at a picture of * and Cheney, with Rove, Condi, Rummy and a few others of that crowd. They are evil personified. Satan does not have exist with his horns and hooves. They are Satan.

I found out a year ago that I have Graves disease. It is a thyroid condition. It is treatable. I found out as well that many of my friends who are Democratic women are suffering, or have suffered some sort of thyroid problem. I was astonished by the number of people I know who have had something similar. There are several reasons why this autoimmune disease can develop, but I think stress is very high on the list.

My particular illness has not yet responded well to treatment. I hope in time that it does. In the meantime, I have days when I don't feel perfectly well. This has not turned me into some patient little martyr. Instead, I am pissed. Life is too short, and my good days too few for me to be meek. When I hear some fundy wingnut or some dittohead spewing, I call them out. Being timid got us into this mess. We need to kick them in the nuts at every opportunity.

Since 2000, I have learned something else. I'll bet it is something you have learned, too. We can never get lazy. We must stay informed and involved. We must be noisy and obnoxious when necessary. We can never again sit back and let someone else do the work. I have sworn that even when we do take back our country and start the healing process, I will keep working.

[raccoon]

75. Great, Muriel! This is something we all need to do.

"I call and e-mail television stations, locally and nationwide. I hate the spin they put on the news, and I call them on it whenever I can. "

[Cosmocat]

78. It has been a tremendous ...

stress on me ... As with you, and most here, the mere site of these people makes my blood boil ... What they say, do, how they operate ... It just burns me to the core ... I don't have any direct health problems at this point, but I can not see how having a real anger in me about this stuff for this long hasn't effected my health in some way ...

The office I am running for is not a policy driven office ... It is a row office with specific duties ... If I am elected I will have no impact on the larger issues that have in part driven me to seek office ... But, it is the best I can do at this point ... It is a REAL race, a moderately large county, and I will have to beat a republican in a county with a marked advantage in republican voters ...

Funny thing is, I am enjoying it greatly ... I like people, I like meeting people ... I look the part, I am well spoken and people can tell I am a genuine person who really cares and gets it ... Frankly, it might have helped me to do more to reach my potential ...

And, as you noted, I look at it this way ... I wasn't as involved as I could have been before, and I don't want it to be 20 years from now and for me to not like how things are and be in a position where I didn't do all that I could ...

[Scriptor Ignotus]

53. the impact for me personally has been positive

in a certain sense.

I didn't care about politics before Bush or 9/11. I didn't think it mattered who was in charge, not unless you were a business owner or had a family maybe. Yea, I was naive.

The past 7 years has taught me that politics matter. It has taught me that history is important. Knowledge is important. You can't comment on policies when you don't know what you're talking about and you can't complain if you don't participate in the democratic process. I never voted until 2004. I will never miss an election again.

It has also taught me that conservatism is wrong. I thought I was a moderate before Bush, now I am proud to be liberal. I have learned what is wrong about government (cronyism, incompetence, hypocracy) thanks to Bush and his gaggle.

Bush woke me up from a long slumber and now I have a curious case of insomnia...

[flying rabbit]

58. That's what happened to me as well.

[Gregorian]

54. I woke up. And now I see the truth.

I don't believe everything I'm told by my government. Nor the media. They're liars. And now I don't expect them to do things FOR me. I know that a democracy is work. Not just something I expect from above. It's a bottom up job.

I know that nothing has changed since the beginning of the human race. It's just a constant job to keep the bullies at bay. And the Constitution is our license to do that.

I know why I was so angry. I stopped drinking! I woke up.

[Greyskye]

55. long term - not good

While living comfortably - my wife and I are both fanatical about not living beyond our means - my small retirement fund has not done well. Instead of being able to take early retirement (at 49, in 4 more years) after working for the same company for 28 years; I now realize that I will be working into my 70's. Pretty fugging depressing. :thumbsdown:

[BluePatriot]

56. Coming of age

and wishing I had come of age in a different time, a more optimistic time. Life keeps throwing a lot at me and my loved ones. A chronic health problem has surfaced recently which makes me realize I am totally expendable if I'm not in good health like the rest of the worker bees, and I'm only 23. I don't know what lies ahead and alternately thank the Universe for being insured / curse the health care system / cringe slightly at having to go to the doctor so often in a right to hire/fire state and vaguely expect to be let go if I can't maintain appearances, and then wonder if I'd ever be insurable again...yeah. But at least I have college paid for and went to college which is a very lucky thing. Did NOT want to get sick in BushCo America with something chronic. Stories on the board make me cringe.

[catgirl]

57. I've felt ashamed to be american

My husband's from Europe. After the elections and the onset of Bush' war,
it was very stressful when visiting our family and friends.

[rmgarrette64]

59. Best seven years of my life

Sorry to say, but these have been some of the best years I've ever had. Met my husband and got married, got U.S. citizenship, changed jobs to one I love much more. Moved away from LA, then moved back. A few problems, to be sure, but far more that went extremely well for me. We bought our house, I've finished paying off the first car I've ever actually owned. I haven't given it a lot of thought until seeing this post, but my life has just gotten so very much better in the last 6-7 years it's almsot hard to recognize how it used to be.

I wouldn't give the Bush administration any credit for this, of course. But just to remind everyone, politics really doesn't determine the course of most lives. Not mine, certainly.

R. Garrett

[Gotitdone]

80. Very true

Many people in here allow their lives to rise or fall based on who is in office. In 1999 I made $32,000, last year I made $110,000.
All with only a high school education. The biggest determiner of success is not formal education but a desire and drive to be successful.

[LSK]

60. Yes

[Aussie leftie]

61. It has made me feel ashamed

to consider myself part of western society

[Gloria]

62. At odds with family; more nervous and grumpy; less patience;

just very little joy

[MrMickeysMom]

77. Out of the many things I've noticed, this seems to be the one...

There's the general push in the corporate world, which resulted in a bout of depresion, but since I've suffered this and knew the signs, I changed course drastically to save my sanity. I was finally forced away from a corporate world to keep sanity. It actually made me phycially and mentally suffer. I am now trying to start my own business (not necessarily bad, until you realize the reason I left the corporate world never changed the same unrealistic Wall Street expectations on others in my place).

Amazing what similar effects are observed by me in our extended family. It's pretty acurate to say I feel everybody's stress. I see how difficult it's been for my brother's kids (no longer kids) who can't stop draining their parents mentally because of the situations they've put themselves in (in debt over a divorce, not being prepared in college). I notice how all surrounding families in my neck of the woods have pulled back fiscally, due to the positions they've had to settle for. Hardly anyone I used to work with likes their role at work. I already made my choice in not being caught up in the corporate world- However, what are we really doing to our society by squashing the middle class like this? Seems we are polarized. Then there are those who can't keep going to jobs they hate, but feel they should tolerate. Turn the TV on and look at the UNBELIEVABLE bullshit being developed in the name of this corporatocracy. We all work more, have less family time, are mentally drained and make ourselves sick, as a result!

Finally, I've noticed during these 6 years how no body at work seemed to be paying attention to what other people have been dealign with and suffering due to events in their part of the world. How detached we've all become from the pain inflicted upon those who are either in the way of international big oil energy, or don't have any oil in lands that are being savaged by their dictators.

Well, have a nice day! :hi:

[Manifestor_of_Light]

63. No job etc.

No job.
SO lost job; so we both lost our health insurance. I'm the one with high blood pressure, allergies, and other stuff.

Quit speaking to remaining relatives because they are all rich, rightwingers and boring as hell. Nothing in Common with them.

Over educated and sorry I wasted ten years of my life in college and grad school.
Pissed at the anti intellectualism in the work world -- I don't stand a chance due to my competence, plus my age (over 40 is a mortal sin).

[proud patriot]

65. I hadn't been on the internet once, before bush stole office

I learned the internet on DU I learned computers on DU.
Now I'm a moderator at one of the biggest Democratic discussion
boards on the internet. The road here has been a long painful
traumatic,enlightened, empowering , enraging , educating
experience. I've cried , I've marched , I was interviewed
by the local high school newspaper and had my picture on
the front page below the fold . all because of a support
the troops sign , a gadsden flag ,and a bushoccio doll in
my front yard .

I've been told to my face by a hateful woman that I should be hung
for treason . I've been flipped off yelled at and you know what I
FUCKING YELL BACK , I've called them cowards , I've asked them "why
aren't you in Iraq?"

I've had mothers / sisters and fathers of soldiers thank me
through tears and they needed to somehow express their gratitude
for my caring about their loved one life . Hearing their fear
and outrage at bush and the other people who use the military
as pawns . I've been followed from my car into the grocery store
just to be told I love your Car Thank You .

I've been told that I have courage and that I am brave and THANK YOU
more times than I can recall .

I've had notes left on my car calling me the most hurtful things .
I've had notes left on my car telling me right on , even had someone
left a cool bumper sticker under my windshield wiper.

My car has been keyed , kicked , punched , Had a fog lamp kicked in
and tires oh the tires ....

I've had yard signs stolen and returned vandalized . I've been sent
hatemail . There's a file down at the local police station which
contains documatation of it all.

I had this one lady take a picture of my car from the front going down
the road . Bush is a liar is written in huge white letters across the
front of my car (backward on the windshield and frontward on the bumper)

Basically my life has completely changed and now I fight to defend
my countrymen from evils they know not . However more and more
are waking I do have hope for the future . I must for my sons sake
continue to hope and fight for a better future filled with peace and
stability .


Peace Out
:patriot:
proud patriot

[conscious evolution]

70. WOW!

Thanks.


Really.

Thanks.

[proud patriot]

81. You are welcome

:patriot:

[Porcupine]

67. I've had health problems and no insurance.....

Really what more is there to say in the US today. If you've had health issues you are busted or close to it and the wolf is at your door.

I read a fictional account once of cancer commando's, terminal cancer patients that took direct action against the sources of their disease. Of course there is no real source to chronic pain but some days you just wish the bastards would ALL get alzheimers or cruthfield jacobs disease.

If one more person tells me the solution to my problem is "happy thoughts"......

[Common Sense Party]

68. What kind of work did your mom do? And what did Bush do

to cut her income by 75%?

That's amazingly drastic.

And did your dad's income go down? How and why?

[zann725]

69. A true loss of innocence due to last two "manipulated" elections; & lost hope for TRUE Democracy.

This election cycle particularly, the political "wind" is knocked out of my "sails." Deep sadness, and an entire loss of interest in current candidates and ongoing campaigns. Entirely numb about a subject I once cared so much about. A true, irreversible 'loss of innocence.'

[Skidmore]

72. My lord, it has been that long.

Well the Skidmore family has undergone a greatd deal of change. My daughter and her husband are in constant fear his job will be outsourced at the drop of the hat. He's managed to survive 3 such threats over the years, and that's on his current job--the one he got after his business went under. My son has elected to play the corporate game and is prospering because he's willing to fillin for everyone and put in 60+ hours a week (sometimes I can't believe I raised that boy). I worry about his health and the fact that he apparently has no time for a social life any longer. My husband is working still and as long as he doesn't retire, we have health insurance. I lost my job, and have gone back to school to study a new field because mine is suffering.

We're on the edge right now. We have no debts and own a home so we have some equity. But it wouldn't take much to lose it all.

[bklyncowgirl]

73. I have become a partisan Democrat.

I used to be a happy independant minded left leaning liberal who could see the bad (mainly) and good in both parties and enjoyed the sport of equal opportunity politician slamming. If both major parties candidates sucked I'd vote for a third party candidate. No problem.

I'm now for better or worse a partisan Democrat. I've even volunteered in elections--and touted candidates that I did not personally believe in. What matters is that there's opposition to Bush and to the Republican party.

I watch the news more. I spend way too much time on the political blogs.

Frankly I want a Democratic administration so I can have my life back.

[primative1]

74. The past six years ...

Changed my life?
Well, the obvious point I suppose is that I was laid off from my process engineering position at GE in August of 2001 and have gotten a grand total of 1 interview since. Hard to overlook the effects of that, I suppose.
I'm back to working as a self employed stone mason.
Great stuff seeing as I am pushing 50 but on a bright note my student loans will finaly be paid off this year. If only I had gotten back in salary what I paid in tuition I would be less bitter. Can I deduct education as a BAD investment loss?
I guess the biggest change then would be that as I have seen how bullshit everything is (and I mean everything) I have lost all my dreams. I have none. I am convinced this is Nero's Rome and I am watching the fall of a once great empire.

[independentpiney]

76. Good, bad and all inter-related

The first hit was watching 36k worth of tech stock purchased through my then wifes options crash to nothing almost overnight.

Then March 6 2001 i had either a stroke or massive ms attack that put me on ssdi. (Drs. are still at odds which it was)There was a bit of a silver lining to that though, because the statewide job market for my field is all but dead,particularly for college educated professionals unwilling or unable to double as scab laborers and equipment operators.The preceding 3 years i had gone through 6 hired gun jobs trying to salvage already failed projects. I was really burnt out and not thrilled with the prospect of chasing work around the country like many of my former colleagues are now doing.

With the time on my hands for reading and following the news i became increasingly re-politicized. Not until 9/11 though did i become really afraid of the * regime and get involved with actively opposing them. Prior to that i was sure he was a mediocre one-termer whose rollbacks in environmental protections and social programs would be quickly overturned after 2004.

Along with becoming politically active i also reevaluated my priorities in life (serious illness and massive income loss will do that) which exposed some deeply rooted differences in my ex-wifes and my goals and philosophies. Combined with the stresses caused by my health and financial circumstances and her annual salary and benefit cuts and constant fear of being outsourced, it was too much for our 17 year marriage to endure.

So that's a brief synopsis of how things have changed for me over the last 6-7 years. Mostly it sounds shitty but it's really not overall, imo. Along with the losses i feel i rediscovered alot of the 'real me' that had been lost in 26 years of pressure to 'climb the ladder' and achieve the materialistic version of the american dream.

[DainBramaged]

82. I am bitter, less tolerant of people and especially of the chronically stupid

I Am amazed daily at how little people care about the future and how it will affect our children. Living in a Rethug majority County in NJ, I have had more than my share of argument with freepers, and have lost my ability to keep my mouth shut. I am confrontational, aggressive, and many times intimidating to those assholes who believe Bishy is a god.

And I grow less impatient by the day with Democrats who believe eating our own and bashing the shit out of our candidates will in the end, benefit the Party and our goals.

12 years these scum raped and pillaged our Country and economy to their own benefit. I will not stand for another loss in 2008. I am 56 in May, and I would just as soon become a hermit than fight any more fights if the party doesn't have the guts and stomach to fight these asholes.

[AZBlue]

83. I used to be proud to be an American. I thought that stood for something good.

My income took a nosedive and the benefits for my parents dried up. All my bills went up as my income went down. I don't know one person, no matter what their economic situation, who hasn't seen a decline in their income or worth. I have friends' husbands and sons in a situation from which they may not return. And, if they do return, how will they be changed? I've witnessed things I never thought possible in my own country. I've seen a whole country helpless against corruption and evil. I've watched those who need help the most get it the least.

And it haunts me.

[AZBlue]

84. I used to be proud to be an American. I thought that stood for something good.

My income took a nosedive and the benefits for my parents dried up. All my bills went up as my income went down. I don't know one person, no matter what their economic situation, who hasn't seen a decline in their income or worth. I have friends' husbands and sons in a situation from which they may not return. And, if they do return, how will they be changed? I've witnessed things I never thought possible in my own country. I've seen a whole country helpless against corruption and evil. I've watched those who need help the most get it the least.

And it haunts me.

[Hekate]

85. I am now afraid of my own government. Even Nixon didn't do that to me.

Rage, high anxiety, and grief all mixed together. I fear the damage to the soul of my nation may be permanent.

Events in my personal life have taken a turn for the better in recent months, and Democrats now have a majority in both Houses. I feel better -- but my country is still in dire peril, and my government still threatens its citizens.

Hekate