Me being an atypical person, I thought I'd offer an atypical GBCW. I don't plan to stop posting at DailyKos (I still have a problem with my tankless water heater that I need the folks at Home Repair Blogging to help me with). But I am considering ending it all, and ... dropping my registration as a Democrat.
I'd like someone to talk me out of it.
As I understand it, with my tenuous understanding of Dr-Phil-level psychobabble, people who threaten suicide (in the real, life-and-death sense) are typically reaching out for help. They have a problem they can't solve, or they feel like they're backed into a corner and have no way out. They don't really want to end their life; they just want someone to tell them they don't have to. Generally speaking, that is.
That pretty well describes my politics at the moment.
I've been a faithful Democrat for 14 years, voting Republican only once (in a local race, where the Democrat/Republican split is far less important). I've been a staunch opponent of the war, of spying on Americans, of torture, of raiding the bank accounts of generations unborn to pay for tax cuts for today's wealthy. I've made sure that my representatives in the House and Senate know about it, as well -- by making phone calls, writing emails, sending letters; by volunteering for candidates, canvassing for Dems; by protesting in the streets when a mass message needs to be sent; and by giving money when I can't give time (or sometimes in addition to giving time).
And what is there to show for it? A milquetoast Democratic-"controlled" Congress that still acts as if it's a minority. That still seems to have absolutely no ability to stand up to the unitary executive.
I'm old enough to know better than to expect significant or quick response from Congress on anything. But at the same time, I haven't been around as long as some people. I wasn't around for the civil rights era or any mass anti-war mobilization prior to the current one. I haven't had my life threatened for activism like some here have. Maybe I don't know real hardship; maybe I'm too soft.
Nevertheless, I cannot think of a good reason to believe that the Democratic Party is any part of the solution to our current problems. Politically speaking, I feel like someone who can't think of a reason to get out of bed in the morning. I'm just really, really dejected.
Can anyone give me reason to hope? Because I really want to hope.