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November 6, 2004
Depression
Here (and anger) is the stage where most everyone I know that strongly supported Kerry is at. Funny thing about the professional counseling; my therapist was a much stronger Kerry supporter than I—I'll probably have to counsel him!
Stage 4: Depression
Depression is a very likely outcome for all people that grieve for a loss. This is often the most difficult stage of the five with which to deal. There can be feelings of listlessness and exhaustion. The sufferer may burst helplessly into tears, with the belief there is now no purpose to life, and may feel like he/she is being punished. Pleasure and joy can be difficult to achieve even from things and activities which the sufferer has always gained delight. There can even be thoughts of suicide. The most important thing to do when depression arrives is professional counseling. Self-preservation is a must.
The countdown until the end of the world is at hand.
The president now feels he has a mandate to do what he wishes, just as Adolf Hitler had a “mandate” after he was elected chancellor in 1933. I don't look good in concentration camp colors. Was the president actually being smug with reporters, demanding that they limit their questions to one, with no follow-up?
Congress is now overwhelmingly Republican. I can feel progressive laws start to go into reverse: first sodomy becomes illegal again, then a women's right to choose, our personal liberties will continue to erode away until we have nothing. They'll just keep us alive to point out to the rest of the world that they're not doing away with us.
The war in Iraq will rage on, and on, spread into Iran, Europe will finally have to step in. What if mainland Europe, Russia and China got together and said America was starting to get too big for its britches? Could our “coalition” fight them all? Wouldn't Australia want to join their new friends, the Japanese?
Oh, heavens, now we have to live with the derision of the 59,459,765 Americans who voted for Bush, all “We showed you, and we're number one.” Who'd have thought that people could become even further divided? I guess a country like ours that fought a Civil War over whether states could make their own decisions about such time-honored traditions such as slavery, is used to division.
I can't say, however, that we saw anything like the hatred and us-against-them at any moment during the twentieth century. I've personally been involved in five presidential elections and have never in my life felt so isolated from so many of my fellow countrymen. George W. Bush himself said that they were going to bridge back to those who shared his goals. Someone please define what he meant by “his goals.” To me it sounds like it leaves the rest of us out.
Hopelessness. When so many people want to keep the rest of their countrymen downtrodden, any system that runs by popular vote is hopeless. My own decision to hide out from the Bush supporters and avoid trying to sway what I thought were closed minds puts me in the blame column as well. And as a nation, we deserve what happens to us.
Posted by Bastique at November 6, 2004 10:49 AM