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2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Thoughts of an old California Democratic woman on Sanders vs. Clinton [View all]islandmkl
(5,275 posts)53. outstanding post, PP...and laser-sharp analysis...
at our age, we can only hope to see the beginning of this movement take hold and flourish because, truth be told, it is going to be a long struggle...and the powers arrayed against the broad population are both mighty and entrenched...
what Occupy started, then lost, Bernie has re-ignited and more so...it is going to take a lot of work and involvement to keep it moving...
I always found this Hunter S. Thompson poignant view a bittersweet evaluation of the hope we felt in the '60s:
It seems like a lifetime, or at least a Main Era the kind of peak that never comes again. San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not, in the long run... but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant...
There was madness in any direction, at any hour. You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning...
And that, I think, was the handle that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply PREVAIL. There was no point in fighting on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave...
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high water mark that place where the wave finally broke, and rolled back.
There was madness in any direction, at any hour. You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning...
And that, I think, was the handle that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn't need that. Our energy would simply PREVAIL. There was no point in fighting on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave...
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high water mark that place where the wave finally broke, and rolled back.
― Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
I have always wanted that wave to return and sweep us to the place America could be...it CAN happen...
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Thoughts of an old California Democratic woman on Sanders vs. Clinton [View all]
Peace Patriot
May 2016
OP
This stuff is very, very wise. Thank you for putting all of this out there.
highprincipleswork
May 2016
#2
brilliant and compelling. Thank you PP, you help us all see the truth of matters.
bbgrunt
May 2016
#3
"... loyalty to ideals that this corporatized party has long since abandoned ..."
Scuba
May 2016
#15
Read a little into first post. All the respected Dems of the past are now evil, since Sanders
seabeyond
May 2016
#18
I did not say "evil," and I did not say "all." I said "heroes no more"...
Peace Patriot
May 2016
#38
No, they do not coddle Sanders or play his game, support him or keep their damn mouth shut, then....
seabeyond
May 2016
#40
Typos forgiven! As to anger, yes, I feel anger, too. Great anger and betrayal, but...
Peace Patriot
May 2016
#49
Hey, bigtree, I'm a 71 year old blue collar worker and don't have much time this morning...
Peace Patriot
May 2016
#35
Thanks, polly7! You, too, are amazing. And what we're seeing in ourselves and others is...
Peace Patriot
May 2016
#41
The best written, most logical and compelling piece I have read on DU since so many were banned
emsimon33
May 2016
#46