Who else feels tired and hopeless?

[EnergizedLib]

Last edited Tue Nov 12, 2024, 12:03 PM - Edit history (1)

See, this isn’t 2016.

2016/2017, I had hope. I felt the election swung by a very small margin, that if we endured the next few years, people would see the light and we’d make up enough to kick him out in 2020.

Well, we did. What I didn’t predict was we’d have him forced on us again four years later, after everything he’s put us through since he came down that escalator.

Even if the election was stolen and we had proof, what’s that going to do?

Even if he commits crimes, what’s that going to do? Because the past nine years have taught us nobody being above the law is only true in theory, not in practice.

Even if there’s an election where we win the House in two years, and the White House and Senate in four, what kind of gargantuan mess will we be cleaning up? How much more damage will be done to this country that will take decades to undo?

Eight years ago, I felt like fighting. Now, I just feel like throwing in the towel. That energy that EnergizedLib once had is gone.

And to think, maybe all of this could have been avoided if people actually knew what a tariff was.

Just one week in in 2017, I asked if it was 2020 yet. And now?

We’re all being taken for a ride, and it won’t be pretty. The leopards will be eating all of our faces, whether we voted for it or not.

[CousinIT]

1. I've been fighting this shit all my life so, yep.

[EnergizedLib]

19. It wasn't *this* bad your whole life, was it?

[EdmondDantes_]

41. It probably depends on how old one is

Things that have happened in a reasonable lifespan.

The civil rights era, women can get credit cards and own businesses, birth control, marital rape outlawed, interracial and same sex marriage (as well as other rights for the LGBTQ people), we elected a black president, we went to the moon.

Going back a bit further, we stopped the nazis, rebuilt Europe and Japan and helped form the UN which has helped deter future world wars.

It absolutely sucks that Trump is going back to the presidency, but we are better than him and our worse impulses (like voting for him). But even though he won all 7 swing states, he barely won many of them.

The fight for progress isn't easy and it's not linear. My recommendation is find a local volunteer opportunity or a group that matches your values. For me it helps remind me that I'm not alone and I can see the immediate impact of what I'm doing.

[EnergizedLib]

43. Thank You

I’m a millennial, and from what it looks like, went for Harris.

That’s a lot of progression you’ve seen, just hate that you’ll be seeing regression, too.

It doesn’t matter by how much we won or lost, just that if we did win or lose. We *all* lost. It’ll just take some longer than others to realize it.

Maybe after I leave my job that I’m not bound long for that volunteering could help.

[EnergizedLib]

5. Thank You

[JeffinUT]

3. I Understand

Reading some of the responses from people who voted for him saying they know he is a fascist yet still voted for him. I think on of the people that responded to AOC even acknowledged he was like Hitler yet he still voted and talked about economy. Its discouraging, 2016 I felt like a mistake was made but he fooled some people and then when he was voted out I put my faith back in people a little bit. How this could beat out decency, makes me sad and afraid.

[LisaL]

7. Well, the joke is on them, because they are not going to get those cheap eggs.

NT

[EnergizedLib]

9. That's what this was all about

Not lawlessness, not an inability to handle a crisis or deliberately cause one, not immorality, not cozying up to dictators or wanting to install a dictatorship here.

Eggs, freaking eggs.

The price of dictatorship is far greater than the price of eggs.

[Bettie]

31. But they will probably get a bird flu pandemic

with no pandemic response and laws against wearing masks in public.

Once a bunch of people die, the price of eggs might come down, or go up to protect those profit margins with fewer consumers.

[appalachiablue]

47. ++

[EnergizedLib]

8. That's what's tough

It’s not even, ‘He’s not Hitler,’ it’s ‘Yeah, he is like Hitler, but I still voted for him.’

How do we win against that?

[JeffinUT]

20. I don't know

In my mind, I usually tried to give benefit of the doubt. Maybe they weren't paying attention, maybe they didn't understand inflation and economics, but to knowingly understand what he is and represented and choose money over morality is just shocking to me. Its like the chickens just voted for the wolf instead of the sheepdog that tries to protect them.

[EnergizedLib]

21. I never thought I'd see the day

Where we’d willingly vote for this. Not any of us, of course, but the people who share this country with us.

I could be wrong, but something tells me the consensus of previous generations wouldn’t knowingly vote for someone if they knew how awful of a person they were, if they actually thought they were Hitler.

People can’t call this a Christian Nation when it’s showed in the past 10 years just how morally bankrupt it is.

[Politicub]

58. They knew. We're not going to

get anywhere by deluding ourselves about how millions voted for a hateful strongman.

Trump’s voters may whine about groceries but the bloodlust is what got them to the voting booth. I’m sure there are lots of naïve people who voted for him, but it’s a sliver of the overall number.

So we need to be clear-eyed about what we’re up against. I won’t go through all of the horrors his voters affirmatively endorsed.

I don’t know what the answer is, but I know we won’t find it by coddling bigotry and hate.

[Dem4life1234]

24. And that is what gets me

These idiots knew what he was about 2016 and he got voted out 2020, but for him to come back again? Of all people to come back to the office, it had to be him!

Why is that even allowed in the Constitution? Once you serve I don't care if it's one term and you lost, you should not be able to run again.

Why didn't his fast food diet catch up to him? Does God hate us? Maybe it's a test of strength to not be so complacent. Gotta be a reason.

[EnergizedLib]

36. Well, I *am* an atheist

And any God that would send *that* is a God unworthy of my worship anyway.

[CrispyQ]

44. A few weeks before the election, Alex Wagner observed how we were all hoping Obama wasn't just an aberration,

a one time thing. Harris was our hope to prove that we truly had progressed & were on a new path. The bigots shut that down. So we keep pushing forward even if it means finding a way around new barriers. People forget this isn't the first time the country has had a crisis. Hell, a few years after the Revolutionary War John Adams passed the Alien & Sedition Acts, a sort of beta Patriot Act, & he had those who opposed him locked up. The difference this time is . . . climate change. Humanity's on a deadline & it's getting tighter every day.

[Henry203]

4. This broke the dream

I was naive enough to believe America was getting better. This ended any illusions that the USA is a good country.

[EnergizedLib]

14. Is it not too late?

They’re going to take over, and they’re going to wreck everything.

I don’t recognize my country anymore.

[EnergizedLib]

17. Thank You

[appalachiablue]

48. The hard right has been working on this for 50 years, it's a process. Now

Last edited Tue Nov 12, 2024, 10:42 AM - Edit history (1)

all the keyholes and doors to democracy will be blocked, bet on it.

Unlocking those will take major superstrength effort. I wish I could be more optimistic but right now I'm still angry and disgusted.

[EnergizedLib]

11. See, I deluded myself into thinking

That 2016 was a fluke.

We had the popular vote, we won the House in 2018, won everything in 2020, we overperformed in 2022, did well in special elections in 2023.

And then boom.

[LisaM]

68. Yes, it's ridiculous. But don't forget about voter suppression.

2020 had record turnout in the swing states. That's because it was easy to vote by mail.

The Republicans noticed that and spent the next four years trying to find ways to suppress and depress the vote, all with the ready assistance of the Supreme Court, state governments, and a blind eye by the media, who assured us that there wouldn't be tampering but failed to inform on all the ways it would be more difficult to vote.

We are battling Citizens United and the destruction of the VRA, all because of the 2000 election and the wicked takeover of the Supreme Court.

[EnergizedLib]

72. That's why I don't believe this was stolen

2020 had more turnout because more voted by mail back then. It’s not that there were missing votes this year, just that less bothered to vote by mail.

[LisaM]

73. I live in an all mail state, so nothing was different here.

I don't know if it was different in places like Pennsylvania and Arizona and Wisconsin this time. I would be curious to know.

[LSparkle]

46. T H I S

It’s over. I want to start a new game.

[CrispyQ]

52. America WAS getting better! It's not an easy, straight journey, people.

This isn't the first or even the second or even the third time we've been knocked down, but if you compare where we are today to where we were in 1776 or 1876 or even 1976, we've come a long way, baby! Just cuz you win some rights doesn't mean the fight to keep them is over.

Oldsters will remember that cigarette commercial celebrating women smoking, with the slogan, "You've come a long way, baby!" And today there are no cigarette ads in magazines or on TV. So yes, things have gotten better. I can't believe the pessimist in me just wrote all this.

[wnylib]

13. I feel betrayed by fellow citizens. I feel tired of fighting

so long for what Kamala calls the promise of America.

But I do not feel hopeless. I feel a deep down determination to dig in my heels for the coming battles. I feel anger and outrage over the coming regime that we face. Anger is energizing. It can be channelled to constructive action. It makes me want to dig in my heels and resist.

[EnergizedLib]

15. Oh, I'm not going to submit, I won't conform

But I’m just aghast at we’ve become as a country.

[EnergizedLib]

26. Thanks a lot

DU and BlueSky help.

[Dem4life1234]

22. I feel hopeless but not tired, just beyond pissed

It's like an ugly hatred has built up inside me, I have started disliking other people. Thankfully I live in a blue area, but I still feel disgusted with humanity.

Had Dems won a majority in any part of Congress, I wouldn't feel so bad because that would check him. I still don't believe he won fairly.

I remember thinking the Rethug party would be done for after W screwed things up and the hope that was Obama.

[EnergizedLib]

27. I'm not even angry

Just appalled and hopeless.

I’m looking forward to some leopards eating some faces. But the question isn’t if leopards will eat faces, it’s will they notice and will they care?

I at least could’ve somewhat lived with winning Congress if we lost the White House, especially if we kept the Senate. I think we can win at least part of Congress back in two years, but will it be too late by then?

I thought that, too. That seemed to be the thought. That should’ve been the first indicator of how short voters’ memories are in this country.

[Dem4life1234]

29. See, that's the thing

Their faces will be eaten and they will still somehow blame us, because they are that stupid and the media worships his fat ass. I have never seen such a disgusting media.

[EnergizedLib]

35. Because they care about ratings and $$$$

If the country burns, as long as they profit from it. They abandoned actual journalism long ago.

[Marigold]

38. I worry about that too

Will they even notice? Or if they do, believe propaganda that is it not the dear leader's fault? Our own MSM is now sane washing the voters and blaming the victims.

I worry that we will end up like Russia. State tv and media, a demoralized population, with a never ending regime (Trump is too old to be there for long), sham elections, keeping quiet to avoid punishment, and polishing off a fifth of vodka a day.

I'm a ray of sunshine this morning, lol.

[EnergizedLib]

40. They might notice

But it might be too late.

I tuned out of MSM long ago.

Your concerns are valid. I know I’m demoralized, and I know even if we win everything back in four years, we’ll promptly be voted out in favor of who knows what not long after that?

I’ll never forgive the people who did this. Ever.

[CrispyQ]

50. They all suck.

Even MSNBC is in on it, showing pics of Trump while reporting on Biden or Harris. The afternoon & nighttime hosts are better but even some of them are weak. Ari Melber can't take a stand on anything. He's the fair-and-balanced king. He should go be a DJ his show is so weak.

[BlueTsunami2018]

23. This was the death blow. Everything was on the line.

And we failed.

And we cant even talk about why.

[EnergizedLib]

25. Sure, we can

DU is a safe space.

The only thing we failed in was saving this country from itself.

[BlueTsunami2018]

65. Not really.

We can’t talk about how people outside our bubble, a huge portion of the population, view things and how that affects our electoral chances.

We can’t discuss the elephants in the room because someone gets offended. You just can’t say anything.

And that mentality is a huge part of our problem.

[EnergizedLib]

75. The problem is information and messaging

I think a lot of people agree tariff proposals aren’t a good thing. Our problem is we’ve got people who don’t know what tariffs are until are they’ve voted.

I’m not sure people like Project 2025, but they don’t know what Project 2025 is and will do until after they’ve voted.

[BigMin28]

28. Come on asteroid.

They are eventually going to kill us. At least an asteroid would be quicker. That is my mood. I have lived with cruel bastards here in Texas for decades. They mean what they say. They mean harm to most of us.

[EnergizedLib]

34. But we're supposed to unite and be civil with them?

[BigMin28]

55. No, not me

I'm tired of being gracious, and civil. I have no friends that voted for the carnage that is coming. But I do have family members that I know did vote for him. Blood or not, I refuse to deal with them any longer. Their vote puts the person I love most in this world in danger. Grave danger. Even though he was born here. We live in Texas. Mark my words, this is where it will begin.
I have spent the last week making sure he has duplicate documentation. He had a passport when he was a child, and we traveled. Will be getting him a new one. The people that caused this will never be forgiven.

[GoYouPackersGo]

61. They absolutely want to kill us.

And, they will. It's just a matter of when and how.

[Johnny2X2X]

30. I think people are taking inventory right now

How will this really effect my life? For some it is going to have dramatic consequences almost immediately for their lives. For most it's more subtle and will be a slow drip.

Most of us are just still grieivng the loss of the country we thought we lived in.

The consequences for me will be student loan payments being higher, but I will manage there. After that, crime going up is a certqainty under Republicans, so personal safety will be next on my list of selfish concerns. Social Security benefits will probably be reduced, so I will try to up my 401K. All in all, not nearly as dire of consequences for me as for people who are younger who will live with the upheaval that Climate Change will cause. Women, minorities, and LGTBQ folk will have immediate consequences in their loss of freedom.

Immigrants? Immigrants need to begin arming themselves, do not go to these prison camps they will build, fight for your lives.

[EnergizedLib]

33. Nail on the head

See, I’m a straight, white male. I shouldn’t have too much to worry about, unless they decide to come for atheists/people on the spectrum.

But I guess I’m youngerish that I can still see what climate change will do.

It’s the others I feel for. When I vote, I vote not just for myself. My politics think of everyone, and not just me or those closest to me.

‘Most of us are just still grieivng the loss of the country we thought we lived in.’

Ain’t that the truth?

America isn’t what we thought it was. Maybe it even once was that. It sure isn’t now.

I’d have thought before this country was just asleep at the wheel in 2016. Now, I see we’re awake, and what a horror show it really is.

[BlueKota]

37. I'm a mix of exhaustion, anxiety, depression,

and anger. The anger right now is strong and it's at the people who knew it was coming, were warned it was coming, had the power and the duty to stop it, but didn't.

A part of me wants to believe there is still hope, like something unexpected will come out of the blue, but while I like fiction where the good people always win in the end, I am realistic enough to know 8 times out of 10, that doesn't happen.

[EnergizedLib]

39. I feel worn down/beat down/sad

I voted to stop this. We all did.

The optimist in me says the good people will still win in the end, just how long that’s going to take and what kind of damage we have to undo is another.

I hope that whenever it’s my turn to leave this world, may I please die during a Dem trifecta, where have the House, White House and Senate.

[BlueKota]

42. I know we here voted to stop it.

I am not angry at us. The government officials, however, are a different matter, they let the fox go wild in the chicken coop, until it was too late.

Maybe it will turn around in our lifetimes. In the meantime, I guess we have to follow the advice to appreciate the now because we don't know what the future holds for certain.

[EnergizedLib]

45. I appreciate the now

And the next two months and the past four years.

Thank You, Joe.

[Redleg]

49. Tired but not hopeless

Tired especially that Trump will continue to dominate the nation's attention, for good or ill (well, mostly for ill). Tired of worrying about what next act of evil he and his henchmen will commit. Tired of the media kow-towing to this substandard, corrupt fool.

[ismnotwasm]

51. I take example from marginalized people

Who have never stopped fighting. I won’t either. I follow a lot of black women especially on social media. I keep my mouth shut and listen, cause they have always known it’s a long game

[EnergizedLib]

53. 'I keep my mouth shut and listen'

Maybe if more did that, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

[Ocelot II]

54. That's what they want.

It's a hard feeling to fight, but knowing they want us to feel defeated in advance so we won't resist is enough to keep me going. I want to see them fail. I want to live long enough to piss on Trump's grave. I want to pop that champagne cork someday. Resist and be energized with your anger.

[EnergizedLib]

57. Of course, they want us defeated

And of course, I want them to fail.

But I’m not sure what I could do besides vote against this.

[PortTack]

56. Hang on you have a family here on DU that will help. If watching news, even MSNBC turn it off, that will help

For me, I’m mostly angry agitated.

[EnergizedLib]

66. Thank You

[Lonestarblue]

59. I, too, am feeling pretty demoralized now and I think we are losing the House and giving Republicans ultimate power.

Jennifer Rubin wrote an article for the Post today listing some of the right-wing media that is responsible for the refusal to believe reality that has led to Trump 2.0 and saying that we need to fight this media in new ways to get the truth out. We already know this, but the frustration and the sense of hopelessness come for the how we do that. I assume that most of us are not billionaires who can start a new media outlet. How do we get the truth to people who don’t want it and won’t listen?

[EnergizedLib]

67. Maybe they have to realize it for themselves

We can’t get through to them if we tell them the leopards will eat their face. The leopards have to eat their face.

[GoYouPackersGo]

60. Completely hopeless.

I'm done. Just, completely done.

[EnergizedLib]

69. I've felt this way, too

And the only silver living would be to watch people’s faces eaten by leopards.

[oldmanlynn]

62. Certainly tired, but definitely not hopeless

We as Dems will need to stand up and fight against the actions of the Trump administration. We cannot just capitulate and give in. We need to fight against the Trump man in a peacefully approach, which may trigger him to make some mistakes that make him look bad in the eyes of the country. if we were out there in a large protest that was peaceful And the Trump administration moved in with riot, police military gear to disperse the crowd that’s not gonna look good for them. But we have to fight the things we do not agree with we have to fight wrong. We have to fight lies.

[EnergizedLib]

70. What difference would that make

‘if we were out there in a large protest that was peaceful And the Trump administration moved in with riot, police military gear to disperse the crowd that’s not gonna look good for them.’

Do you remember the despicable actions during the George Floyd riots? We still barely won in 2020.

[SledDriver]

74. It'd just give them a reason to enact the "Insurrection Act"

Suspend habeas corpus and elections. Only it'd be permanent.

[LoisB]

63. I am tired too but so long as I'm breathing, I refuse to give up.

[Wild blueberry]

64. Grief takes time

It's been one week.
Please rest, eat well, get into nature, see friends, read a book, whatever gives you spirit.
We're gonna need all of us for this long fight. I think of our indigenous people, our black folk, and how they've been fighting for centuries.

[EnergizedLib]

71. Thank You

[Faux pas]

76. Mostly tired

I had to let hopeless go. I'm pretty sure the inhumanes would rather have us take ourselves out so they won't have to. EFF EM

[prodigitalson]

77. I'm exhausted and stunned.

I simply won't watch the news. This of course will change, but for now I am controlling my environment to the extent I can. And I'm not making any major life decisions while exhausted and stunned.

[LeftInTX]

78. I hear you. I'm worn out and in such pain..

I had a lot of energy at the beginning of 2017. Now I have been protesting and canvassing and I am very very sore physically. I worked very hard on this election. My house is a mess etc etc. I have to take care of myself.