I am Losing All Interest in Politics.

[leftyladyfrommo]

I am just so disgusted with it all.

Bush and his war. And this totally impotent Congress.

I just can't stand to watch it any more. Bush is at 30% and he still just does any awful thing he wants. And no one stands up to him. They blow a lot of hot air and that's it.

I am just completely disillusioned by the whole thing. I don't even watch Lehrer any more and I used to never miss that.

[Totally Committed]

1. I'm beginning to feel the same way, so from me to you --

:hug:

Try and hang in there!

TC

[Demeter]

71. This Isn't Politics--That's Why You Are Losing Interest

This is the (un)controlled demolition of the world as we knew it, the future we hoped to have, and all reason for thinking it will ever get better.

[LakeSamish706]

2. The problem is if your like many of us it is just not possible....

to "Just quit and stay"... We have to be in the loop, even if the loop is damn agonizing to us.... Don't think I could stand not knowing what was going on, that would be worse than knowing it (don't know why that is) but it is...

[calimary]

18. I know exactly how you feel. It's so easy to get discouraged, especially

after all the work we did last year for the Dems. And look what we have to show for it. And yeah, we still have to stay in there and keep plugging. I don't mind saying I'm mighty tired of it, too. The return on investment is not good. But I can't give up just yet (well, at least today!).

When I feel like doing so, which is several times a day at this point, I keep thinking back to Howard Dean's statement that "the only way you lose is if you give up." And I LOVE Howard Dean.

Welcome to DU, btw! Glad you're here. We need each other to buoy each other up during discouraging times like these. The more the better!

[whistle]

3. When the will of the people is ignored and the people are shut out of the process

...it is no longer politics.

politics = social relations involving authority or power

[leftyladyfrommo]

5. And this Congress is just useless.

I just don't get it.

Just a whole bunch of hot air and a million excuses.

[whistle]

28. Follow the money!!!!!

[lips]

55. BushCo do, indeed, want people to iggnore them...

...or rather to only notice things they pay people to make us notice Therein, I think, lies the reason why it's such a good idea to follow the money. Or the history. Or the political migrations. Hell, there are oodels of areas I use to relieve my anxiety about the crapfiends in the government. Current events are poisoness in large qantities, which is why it may be usefull to focus on other aspects of current situations that have happened 3, 10, 50, or 100 years prior. What was going on in 1961 on the steppes of soviet territory that may have had people depressed about it's currency?

I have to steer clear of commericials, political or otherwise unless I'm digesting them in large doses. I have a suspicion that they are there to make people forgetful. There's still a lot to do and far too few people for undertaking it. I agree with most, Kusinich has the tongue of gold when it comes to inspiration.

[Golden Raisin]

34. Lots of investigations though.

Lots of subpoenas that BushCo just ignores, laughs at or spits on, like our Constitution. I'm with you. It's really beginning to seem hopeless.

[DangerDave921]

63. Pros

The older I get the more I feel like I'm turning into some Ted Kazinsky (sp?) who wants to retreat into a mountain cabin somewhere and get off this train. The billions of dollars that are wasted every year in war, inept government, lobbyists, etc. The fast-food commercialized nation that screams out of the TV all the time. The professional politicians who are driven by nothing but money. The two-year cycle of running for office and all the sound bytes that stand in for reasoned debate. It really is a lot of white noise after a while. And the weird thing is -- we start to accept it as normal.

I went to the beach for a week earlier this summer with my family. No TV, no radio, no internet, no newspapers. And truth be told -- I didn't miss a goddamned thing.

[ShortnFiery]

4. Don't feel alone. I'm getting ready to "check out" of politics myself.

Our country has IMO, fully MORPHED a plutocracy. The final blow was the loss of our Forth Estate via media mega-consolidation. Our so called "democratic leaders" are so wealthy that they are seriously out of touch with their average constituent.

Yes, I'm disgusted also. I choose to volunteer more time at the food pantry and homeless shelter overseen by our Parish. It gives me hope when I can "do something positive" at the grass root level.

Best to you - and please do take the time to vote. That way, we at least TRY to make our voices heard. :shrug:

[leftyladyfrommo]

9. What's the point in voting.

We did that last election and look what it got us.

Just a whole lot more of the same thing we were voting against.

[movonne]

27. I see your point...but maybe that is just what the repugs and "moderate"

dems want...more progressives dropping out..I think it is fatigue from whats going on with our dems...sometimes I feel exactly like you do... but I will vote and hope for the best...it is a terrible feeling that all you can do is vote for bad or worst...

[corkhead]

6. Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQzk9Qo

words and music by Eric Idle

Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you're chewing on life's gristle
Don't grumble, give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best...

And...always look on the bright side of life...


Always look on the light side of life...

If life seems jolly rotten
There's something you've forgotten
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing.
When you're feeling in the dumps
Don't be silly chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle - that's the thing.

And...always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the light side of life...

For life is quite absurd
And death's the final word
You must always face the curtain with a bow.
Forget about your sin - give the audience a grin
Enjoy it - it's your last chance anyhow.

So always look on the bright side of death
Just before you draw your terminal breath

Life's a piece of shit
When you look at it
Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true.
You'll see it's all a show
Keep 'em laughing as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.

And always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the right side of life...
(Come on guys, cheer up!)
Always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the bright side of life...
(Worse things happen at sea, you know.)
Always look on the bright side of life...
(I mean - what have you got to lose?)
(You know, you come from nothing - you're going back to nothing.
What have you lost? Nothing!)
Always look on the right side of life...

[Clovis Sangrail]

7. it's extremely draining

These days I actually try not to pay too much attention to politics.
I don't want to live my life angry and frustrated all the time.

[jojo54]

14. That's it exactly.

It's draining, emotionally and mentally.

[redqueen]

8. Same here... well, nearly.

I'm still interested... but also disillusioned.

[AlCzervik]

10. yup, i took a break after midterms and then another break this summer

when i went on vacation, i'm think i'm due one more god one before primary season. Although my break is never complete because i still get 2 newspapers delivered to my house everyday and i always read them.

[Adelante]

11. I have those days

They can be disheartening. But then another day it seems we have no choice but to try to turn things around. Anyway, I sympathize.

[Fridays Child]

12. The Democratic majority has the power of the purse but they refuse to use it...

They purposely promote the idea that they're just helpless bystanders because they don't have a veto-proof majority. This is not true: http://www.workingassetsblog.com/2007/09/on_iraq_whats_more_disgusting.html

[Fovea]

13. The problem

is that once you have seen the truth, backing away is worse. It makes it difficult to feel like the system has any survivability.
The despair that thought causes me is like living a nightmare in real time.

You might consider running for city council or other office where you live.

The fight to restore polity and responisiveness to America is a fight the world litterally depends upon.
If we fail to restore representitive democracy and do not remove the military industrial media complex from government,
the world is doomed.

[skypilot]

15. I'm getting there.

I try to watch the News Hour with Jim Lehrer every day but for the last couple months I've felt as though I was watching the same news and hearing the same conversations day after day. I feel that I might as well take a bit of a break now because when the election season comes around I'll want to stay in the loop then, but right now it is all rather draining and disheartening.

[ericgtr]

16. I am hanging in there

for now anyway but judging by the current polls Hillary is the front runner and her winning the primaries will send me to the Independent party. We have incompetence on both sides, I really hope someone jumps out in this mess.

[polichick]

17. Same here...

After a lifetime of involvement, I took a break after the 2004 election because it was so disillusioning to have had two elections stolen by criminals. Then I got psyched again, worked to elect Dems in 2006 and finally felt hopeful ~ only to be disillusioned once again by the unwillingness of Dems to use the power we gave them.

I know that change will only come when the people demand it ~ when we "REVOLT" in a meaningful way. The question is, what kind of revolution do we need?

[AtomicKitten]

19. They say it's darkest before the dawn.

Hang in there.

[Scriptor Ignotus]

20. I believe that those in power count on you to feel that way

they don't want you to know what they're doing. They don't want you to pay attention. It's to their advantage...

[ericgtr]

21. Or if you are paying attention

those it power could give a rats ass what you think.

[Catchawave]

22. K&R...I know how you feel.....

:hug:

[tech3149]

23. Since you posted this, I'll give you a free clue

That's the whole idea!
Those in positions of power and wealth don't want rabble like you and me involved in politics. They don't want to share the power and wealth and they'll do anything to avoid it.
If they can convince you your vote doesn't count, then it won't.
If they can convince you that whoever you vote for will give you the same results, then that's what you'll get.
If they can convince you that all politicians are corrupt, they will be.

Don't let the bastards get you down, that's just what they want. I knew in the 60's that politics was seriously F'd up, but it took March 19, 2003 to kick me out of my coma. Hang in there and remember we only get what we fight for.

[L0oniX]

24. These congress ass carrots are not representing us and I too am sick of it all..

so I am changing from dem to independent progressive.

[partylessinOhio]

25. It's a beotch to be slapped down by your own party. That is why I feel

partyless. There is none to represent me.

If the Dems sit on their hands and let * bomb and invade Iran that will be the last straw. I want to renounce and leave this country but don't have the means.

:grr:

[Gregorian]

26. Maybe you need to watch this video I posted last night,.

Like the Daily Show, the Rollins show gives me a new feeling. A relaxing sense that we can do something.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=53442&mesg_id=53442

[grace0418]

29. I'm right there with you. I used to be so committed and would get very

disappointed when someone I know would say that they couldn't follow politics anymore because it depressed them too much. I wanted to shake them and say "BUT THAT'S WHAT THEY WANT! They want us to be complacent and not pay attention so they can trash the Constitution, throw our rights out the window, and take our money and spend it however they want!" I felt like it was my duty as a citizen to follow what was going on, stay informed, read all the angles.

But more and more it seems like, even when we do pay attention, even when we do protest, even when we DEMAND change, nothing positive happens. BushCo still does whatever BushCo wants. The elected Dems roll over and play dead (oh but they sure do admonish the Maladministration in press conferences, they really know how to show who's boss :eyes:). The MSM decides who are next elected officials are going to be ("the presumed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton"), and those elected officials are going to be the same shit in a different suit.

I'm so sick of all of it. We're still fighting over things that shouldn't even be up for discussion (How hard is it? American citizens should be guaranteed reproductive rights, civil rights, privacy and the right to marry each other. Period, end of story. Americans should not have any one religion jammed down our throats. Period. America should NOT be bombing the wrong country. Period.). Meanwhile, people are still dying in illegal wars on an hourly basis. We're still just as unprepared and unprotected from actual dangers as we ever were. Our economy is going down the drain. Our jobs our going overseas. The ones that remain pay shit and have no benefits. Our health care situation is grim. And almost none of that even matters because we're doing next to nothing to reverse the grave danger our environment is facing very, very soon.

Yep. Disillusioned doesn't even describe it.

[KaptBunnyPants]

30. Depression is considered a learned sense of helplessness.

The Democratic Party wants us to do nothing while they make the world burn. Only they, the wise elders, understand enough to act, once the powder is dry enough. That depression you're feeling, that's what they want. Your only purpose is to give them money and vote for them, don't try to think for yourself.

[RaleighNCDUer]

46. Yah, that's my problem here.

I can stand up to the republicans and their authoritarian goons.

But having to stand up to the democratic party as well is just exhausting.

[2beToby]

31. A lot of us feel the same way.

It's hard because even though the state of politics here is outright painful to watch, it's just too hard to pretend it's not happening.

What keeps me involved is fear. I can't stand to look at my 3 year old and think he might not have a free country, or even a habitable planet. I can't look at my loved ones and not wonder who will be wrongfully imprisoned, discriminated against or labeled as ill for their beliefs.

After the 2004 election I was in disbelief. But I guess that's what keeps me around. We need the truth and the only way we'll get it is by fighting for it.

Also if it makes you feel any better, we don't even have TV in the house anymore. We couldn't take it. I'd get everyone in the house worked up. Yay for the internet!

[Celeborn Skywalker]

32. I hear you.

It's so hard to watch what's being done to this country and realize that there is no effective opposition at this moment to counter them. I'm sometimes tempted to transform myself into one of the willfully ignorant people that go about there daily lives happy and without giving a damn about politics and policy.

[Mabus]

33. Part of it may be information overload

and trying to do too many things at once. I've had to back out of a lot of stuff recently because of that. Sometimes I feel bombarded with information and, no matter what I try to do, the bad news (or worse news) keeps coming but I keep making those phone calls and writing those letters. I also talk to as many people as possible. I've turned my nephew (and now his room mates at the dorm) onto Keith Olbermann. It doesn't seem like a lot but at least now these 18 - 20 year olds are watching news and talking.

You've got to remember that the political process is slower than we'd like. The GOP started their power grab long before most people realized what was going on. I remember back in the '80's when talk began about the push to the right in the GOP at the precinct level. I was involved with Dem party politics and we used to think it was such a wacky idea that it would never work. We were all pretty sure that the GOP wouldn't stand for it. Well, not only did they stand for it, those whackos have been in control of their party for some time.

I guess what I'm saying is, if you want to see changes start with making the ones you can. I start at the bottom doing the stuff no one else wants to so I can help take back my Democratic party at the local level. Show up to meetings, volunteer, help them find volunteers and do whatever you can except give up. I have arthritis in my spine which causes my legs to go numb after walking for more than 10 to 15 minutes but I still go out and do canvassing. I have to take a lot of breaks and I have to take my cane with me but I do it. I can't tell you how many times I've been one of the few volunteers to show up for canvassing.

I'm also digging out my old file box so I can update it. I put together a file box back in 2002 that I updated in 2004 and 2006. It currently contains voter registration forms (with an information sheet on how to register properly, lists of people I gave forms to and maps of where to vote); contact information for incumbents; campaign lit (from 2006) from the Democratic candidates (city, county and statewide elections); where to volunteer information (contact numbers, locations and preferred hours); newspaper and magazine articles; my master calendar where I wrote which candidate was going to be where, where fundraisers were to be held, etc. I took my file box to everywhere with me. If I ran into someone at the grocery store, I could go get information for them. If I ran into someone at a party, I could go pull information for them. If I talk to someone on the phone or online I can put together a packet and mail it or take it to them. I was also able to call people I gave registration forms to so I could remind them to vote in both the primaries and the general. It may not sound like much but it is something I can do that I think helps make a difference.

[Scriptor Ignotus]

35. watch Obama's Sept. 4th Rally

he directly answers your question towards the end of the speech. It's short, about 2 minutes long(OMG I think he has ESP!!!!!11!!!)

http://www.barackobama.com/tv/

[superkia]

36. Kucinich is speaking out against the corruptness and attack on our constitution

turn your energy into something positive and help Dennis Kucinich stand up and make a difference against the system.

[nancyr]

38. It's all just a sideshow.

It doesn't seem to matter what we want anymore. They will just do their own thing...regardless. I seriously doubt that our opinion matters to anyone in a position of power. The only purpose for us is to vote the thieves in when it is expedient for them. I'be been so outraged and sick for so long...I'm getting too old to keep feeling this way. If Bush can't be impeached for his numerous crimes..then what is the point. It's a charade.

[superkia]

40. I feel that way but I listen to Kucinich speaking out against the machine

and he gives me hope. I think this will be the most important election of my lifetime, America is about to change direction. The question is do we vote for a candidate to change in a positive direction or a negative one, like it is heading now. I don't want another typical politician deciding what is important for me and my family. Dennis Kucinich continues to stand up and speak out about our rights and the constitution being under attack and I don't hear any other candidates standing up like that. Our rights are the most important issue on the table, without them we have no issues.

So before anyone just gives up, please helm me and my family protect our constitutional rights and vote Dennis Kucinich, the candidate the media doesn't want you to know about!

[Perry Logan]

37. Some of you need a fact check. Congress has been doing an excellent job.

I don't see how anyone could fairly call the Democratic Congress incompetent. With only a marginal majority, they are nevertheless setting historical records for standing up to the Administration. I know this runs counter to the oft-repeated meme that they're all chickenhearted bozos...but it's true:

"President Bush's success rating in the Democratic-controlled House has fallen this year to a half-century low, and he prevailed on only 14 percent of the 76 roll call votes on which he took a clear position.

"So far this year, Democrats have backed the majority position of their caucus 91 percent of the time on average on such votes. That marks the highest Democratic unity score in 51 years."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1728952&mesg_id=1728952
http://public.cq.com/documents/cqt/news110-000002576765.html

Your problem may be overexposure to the American media. They will not report anything that makes the Democrats look good.

[sampsonblk]

51. You post this a dozen times a day

And it still doesn't make it any more legitimate.

[PlanetBev]

39. God, I thought it was just me...

I've been pretty involved politically since 1976, but I've seen this country regress and deteriorate so much, I'm just numb.

[Dinger]

41. In A Way, Me Too

I'm sick of, in a not-so-subtle way, being "told" who my choices are this election cycle. Anybody else feel like this?

[Totally Committed]

50. Dinger, you know I do!

You are not alone.

TC

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Jed Dilligan]

43. You ain't gonna last long spewing flames like that

at long-term members of this community, but welcome to DU, I think.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

44. Just what the FUCK is your damage???

You're talking to people who have been working their asses off for YEARS against the Bush cabal, and are now faced with an ineffectual/enabling Congress. That's enough to make anyone depressed and/or sick to death of politics.

BTW, did the OP say anything about not voting in the coming election? Nope, didn't think so, brainiac....

[Totally Committed]

45. Wow.

We all voted. People wouldn't be here unless they were politically involved. How can you come onto a board, and make such nasty and sweeping accusations? Takes guts. Or something.

TC

[Lugnut]

47. Time for popcorn

Welcome to DU. Enjoy your short stay.

:popcorn:

[Didereaux]

56. I'm impressed!

I am truly impressed. Wow, freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom of speech!
FREEDOM TO CENSOR!
Seems a little illogical to me to remove a message that contained no great profanities, addressed a specific issue implied in the original post... yet is REMOVED because it disagreed and mya have bruised an extremely fragile ego.

Now read the ad hominems directed soley at me, not my arguments!

Yessir, you are truly representative of the problem.
Actually some of you sound a lot like Nader supporters!

Oh, and for your information their are a lot of us who have voted in more elections than most of you have lived through.

I noticed a little of the 'gray matter' envy in one of the posts. Oh well

[Skittles]

62. get over yourself

this isn't a board where any asshole can regurgitate nonsense - read the g.d. rules

[politicasista]

48. Join the club n/t

[4dsc]

49. me too

I'm seriously thinking of sitting out the next election because of our lack of leadership!!

[Ninja Jordan]

52. In a Parliamentary system Bush would be irrelevant.

Our system of government awards the executive near dictatorial power.

[earth mom]

53. I feel like giving up too-But if we all give up on trying to make a difference, no matter how small

we've let those goddamn bastards win! :grr:

[Carolina]

54. Ditto

I've been fired up since 1993 when I saw how the MSM dogged Clinton right from the get-go, no hundred day honeymoon for him. Whitewater (nothing there), Monica (who cared), alleged trashing of the White House (more lies), the Marc Rich pardon (why did letting a rich white crook off the hook bother repukes!)...

Then theft 2000, 9/11, Afghanistan, the 2002 midterms, Black Box voting, purged voter rolls, Iraq, the lives and money wasted, theft 2004 ...

I AM BURNED OUT. The fire is gone and with it, a lot of hope, too. I don't watch any TV news or talk (blather)shows; and when people ask my thoughts about 2008, I tell them I no longer care.

[stillcool]

57. I've curtailed my range of interest..

until a later date..there's a limit to the bullshit I can swallow.

[Duppers]

58. Lehrer?

I think Jim Lehrer is truly right-leaning, just like his Baptist minister brother, whom I happen to know.

I cannot stand to watch him.

Try Keith O. He'll make you feel as if someone is on your side out 'there.'

[jmp]

65. I don't care which way he leans ...

Lehrer does a good job. Nice and even handed IMO.

[orleans]

59. losing all interest in politics? yeah, i said that once. for about thrity seconds. n/t

[lligrd]

60. Hold On Everybody - Think Of The Alternative

If we all give up, tempting as it is, they win and we live (or die) under them forever. Save America, hang in there.

[Skittles]

61. I hear you

not only does the little bastard send MORE troops to that never-ending pitthole, he's waving a saber at Iran. And they allow him to trot out a hand-picked whore to give a "report". I can't understand what the FUCK has happened to my country.

[Vinca]

64. I'm not losing interest, but I'm increasingly depressed.

It's not just Bushco, it's the stories about machine gunned whales and burned Iraqi kids and people writing about the hell their lives have become because of the health care situation, etc., etc., etc. Even good news doesn't look good to me anymore.

[Tigermoose]

66. "History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake."

Politics has pretty much always been immoral and depressing. Our leaders, and our mythmakers, offer post-hoc rationalizations to what they do and we then regurgitate that as "history." We tend to believe these myths and we feel pretty good about our nation, until we look a little closer and see through the pollyanna bullshit and see the real reasons for why people in power do what they do. Depressingly, I think this is human nature. We seem driven to attain power through our social systems or violence so that we can attain scarce resources. Even in our inter-personal relationshipsIf you delve much further you will probably start delving into religion for consolation as you realize that we are all deeply flawed. I say, flawed, unless you develop a "will to power" philosophy such as Nietzsche. Of course, he was depressed and ended up killing himself. So maybe that doesn't quite work either.

Sometimes I think it would be psycholigcally more healthy to be under a monarchy. That way I wouldn't at all feel responsible for the atrocities that the government commits. More and more, as I increasingly realize that I am not being represented by the elected officials, I feel less and less guilty about the crimes that are committed by our government. And more and more, I realize that Christ was right about a lot of things in relation to the necessity to give up power in order to remain spirtually and morally pure. But yet to succeed in this world requires that we play the power game in order to be successful at work and even in the home. Another source of consolation can be found in literature: War and Peace, Heart of Darkness, Shakespeare, etc. You are not alone in your feelings of despair in the reality of how the world is.

[bonito]

67. Me to n/t

[SeanQ]

68. Off the computers and into the streets!

It's about time to shake things up and fire the lot of them.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

69. that's what the fascists want you to feel!

That's how I felt for a long time, but I don't feel that way, anymore.

I heard from a Republican old friend recently who was very big in his party in a major city, and his views of Bush are the same as ours.

[Ron Green]

70. You're exactly right.

Fascism requires apathy for the public sphere, and interest in the personal. As long as people care more about entertainment and shopping than they do about politics, Republicans will rule.

[renie408]

72. I am still interested in politics. I think I am losing interest in talking about it.

I get so FRUSTRATED with the endless talk talk talk talk.