Still not over it

[judecorp]

It's interesting to me that at least half of the people I know who posted an "I'm So Sad/Mad/Angry/Upset about the election" post yesterday have posted some sort of "I got over it" post today.

Screw that, people! Don't get over it. Stay angry. STAY REALLY EFFING ANGRY. And for feck's sake, DO SOMETHING WITH THAT ANGER. Start today.

Comments

[happy2beso.livejournal.com]

I'm over it, in terms of coming to an acceptance that a majority of vote went to a candidate I didn't support. Of course, that still frightens me....


I'm not over the fact that all those SSM consitutional amendment crap was passed in such large numbers. I mean, geez.


In California, we get Vermont-life civil unions starting the beginning on 2005. I'm glad about that. At least it's a start.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

See, I'm not sure if it's a start or not. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's definitely 98983278 times better than a stupid constitutional amendment defining marriage or whatever. Definitely. But only in that same way that eating food scraps is better than eating nothing.

And yeah, I can accept that the majority of the people in this country voted for someone that not only can I not support, but that I find repellant. And I can make some sort of peace in that acceptance, but I'm not going to get over that repellant feeling. And I'm going to do everything I can to find out why other people don't feel that way.

But I'm not sure I can ever understand single-issue voters.

[siercia]

Oh my god, I'm SO not over it. I'm so not over it, I still haven't been able to sit down and write how I feel about it.

And when I get over it, it won't be the passive shrug of life moves on, it will be the get over it of accepting that it happened and steeling myself to do the work to make sure IT DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Good for you! I think it's high time we show the people out there who don't think like we do EXACTLY what we can accomplish.

[biophile6.livejournal.com]

Im still upset, but then again, Ive been fighting for 18 months now, like you I think. I cant just bounce back, it will take time, Ima very slow person to change, theres a ton of overhead to deal with spiritutally.


But Im with you, its all in there, i have to rest though, now. I put so much into this. Perhaps I was able to contact 50k people, that's my estimate. Knowing what I knew, I put my effort into Nebraska and Iowa from the start, some also in NH. It was hard, I wasnt very welcome.

I'm going back there at thanksgiving, it will be difficult. I love Boston.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I totally understand needing to take a break after a disheartening loss. I took a little mental time out for the past couple of months because I just couldn't deal. I didn't get involved in anything political, and just let myself get lost in the niceness of Massachusetts.

Now, however, I've been spurred into action. I'm looking for a great place to volunteer as we speak.

It was so nice to see you today. Hopefully this will become a more regular phenomenon.

[biophile6.livejournal.com]

It was fantastic to see you as well.

There are always backload volumes to get to between us, cannot do in moments...

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

It's true! Someday...

[livinganthology.livejournal.com]

thankyou.

thankyouthankyouthankyou.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Get it done, K.

[gabriellag.livejournal.com]

I know I'm not over it, but I managed to put it in the back of my mid for a couple of hours today. Until, I was driving home from work and saw an 80+ year old man removing the Kerry sign from his front year. I started bawling. I mean who knows if he'll even be alive when the Bush family no longer rules the world.

It's hard to do something when you're so depressed. I've always had hope in my generation. One in seven of them voted. It'll change when they get older. And they'll vote Republican. What can I do?

I registered voters. I displayed my Kerry bumper stickers and buttons proudly. I debated, talked to, encouraged anyone that would listen. What can I do?

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I think that's what we're ALL asking: What can I do? Right now it seems like such a hopeless business.

I think our strength AND our comfort lies in numbers. Organize, organize, organize! Not only can we take solace in each other and find some common understanding, we can pick each other's brains and use each other's different strengths to make a plan of action for the next four years.

Begin with a single step. But do it together.

[hope-persists.livejournal.com]

personally, i'd be happy with getting angry. i'm not there yet. i'm still at hopeless and depressed.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Hang in there, honey. We are going to make it to the other side.

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

I'm not over it. In fact, I went to a peace & justice committee meeting at my church last night even though I didn't think I had time so that I could work on getting more active.

Lots of people aren't over it, Jude. No one in our house is. :-/

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Good. That gives me hope.

(Not that I was worried about you guys, but you know...)

hell no I'm not over it!

[luloubelle.livejournal.com]

No, we are not over it here. I know a lot of people who are just in shock. We're numb, and we don't know what to do next. We need some type of guidance because right now it seems the who country is against us. What do we do? That's what I've spent the past two days trying to figure out.

And even though I know I'm not alone, I can't help feeling so isolated and afraid - and so fucking angry.

Re: hell no I'm not over it!

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I'm glad people aren't just rolling over and taking it. I know it's tempting because four years seems like such a long time and the prospect is so daunting. Add to that the disbelief that people could willingly CHOOSE more of the job loss, the poor international relations, etc. It's baffling.

But I think that I just need to meet and talk to more people. I can't really make any progress if I don't understand the other side. And right now I just plain don't understand it at all.

Hang in there, kiddo.

[drainbead.livejournal.com]

I think that even through my anger, I was trying to figure out how to get things done.

I have a few ideas now. I need to find some kindred spirits and flesh them out.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I feel exactly the same way! I want to get in a room with some young, intelligent, determined activists and just scheme and scheme and scheme.

I think it's warranted. I wonder how I can go about setting something up.

[drainbead.livejournal.com]

I'm in the exact same boat right now. I want to talk, I'm just not sure who will listen.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Must. Figure. Out. How. To. Network.

You know, it's a shame that I only saw you that one time in Columbus, and you were with That Guy. I think we would have had a good time.

[drainbead.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I'm horribly inept at socializing. The only person from LJ in Columbus who I see very often is Melissa.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I'm not inept at socializing, but I'm /really/ bad about getting to know new people. I'm more of a lazy socializer. (Which is not coming in handy right now, let me tell you.)

[lemur68.livejournal.com]

LEMUR SMASH

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Excellent.

[juliann.livejournal.com]

I'm still sad, and dumbfounded at human dumbness. However this has only reconfirmed what t and I had expected all along, all we have really done is turn to each other and say "Right then, we're staying in London no matter what it takes."

(As John Howard was re-elected in Australia a few weeks ago. I don't think he's anywhere near as bad as Bush, but he's a Bush yes-man to the core.)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I hear ya on that one - there's no way we're leaving Massachusetts any time soon. (Now, if the bigots make their way over here too, I guess we could hit Canada. Or London! We could come move in with you!)

[hoo.livejournal.com]

I spent part of yesterday looking up how to buy a gun in Massachusetts.

[hoo.livejournal.com]

As in, we have one half of one right left from the Bill of Rights so maybe I should use it. Not as in 'I should go shoot someone.'

[lorac.livejournal.com]

You could ask William about that if you want - he has a gun here. wbardwell at gmail dot com

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the clarification - I was actually wondering.

[poopsmoothie.livejournal.com]

I went to a punk show the night after the election. A punk show, full of anarchists, who should be as angry and pissed as anyone, right?
People were getting drunk and high instead of angry. It was pretty discouraging. But it served as a reminder to myself that the punk subculture will never be more than a vanguard to any revolution. And that vanguardism *sucks*. :)

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

Maybe it was just a little denial? I mean, it sounds like you were out there and active this weekend, right? So there's still hope.

[jadefu.livejournal.com]

For me, I was completely miserable Wednesday. It didn't help that we were covering the election, so I was awake most of the night. I went to bed with hope left....I woke up, and it was gone.
If I didn't get over that miserable hopeless wtf mood I was in, that would have been a bad thing. But I'm feeling much better now. I can function again, I can think clearly.
BUT I'M PISSED WE LOST.
How could people want 4 more years of more job losses, more tax breaks for the rich, more cuts for social programs, more abuse on our environment and natural resources? I just don't get it.

I just haven't figured out what to do next yet.

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

I, too, have been knocking my brain around thinking of a plan of action. I think it has been a little harder because I'm here, where the good fight doesn't /need/ a lot of help. Part of me wants to move back to middle america and try to win people over out there. But then most of me just feels so much safer here. Aaah, dilemmas.

What I really need is to be in a room of likeminded activists, so we can all brainstorm and scheme together. I think that would be good.

Hindsight's 20/20

[bingothemonkey.livejournal.com]

I'm not over it. I'm varying between anger, confusion, and depression.

The thing is, I did what I could. I went and voted - I was working 7 days a week, otherwise I would have volunteered. I haven't talked to anyone who voted for Bush or against SSM. I talk to a lot of people.

I still think it's shady, but I think people who seemed to be upset and then let it go are just entering the "acceptance" phase faster. It's hard to get motivated so soon when the disappointment and disbelief is weighing heavy.

Re: Hindsight's 20/20

[judecorp.livejournal.com]

There you go throwing Kubler-Ross into the picture! Aaah, my nerdy little heart goes pitty-pat! :)

And I understand needing to take a little break from activism to get your fighting spirit back. Heck, I think that's a good idea. I just want to make sure people are taking actual breaks and not giving up. I don't want the 2004 election to bring about learned helplessness in a significant portion of my powerful friends! :)