I guess I'm what's known as a lurker. I have been reading Daily Kos daily since well before the '04 election, and have posted a few comments and no diaries, until today.
This site has truly helped get me through this painful and turbulent time in our nation's history, and for that, I would like to thank Markos, Armando, and EVERY SINGLE KOSSACK who has contributed their intelligent and insightful thoughts to this site. I have learned so much here - much more than I could ever learn from angrily reading the NY Times or watching the crappy nightly network newscasts.
With the (hopefully) forthcoming indictments of some of the criminal element currently running our country into the ground, I am - for the first time in many years - optimistic. And much of my optimism comes from reading the thoughtful comments of like-minded people like you.
It's a cautious optimism. I'm not fully in the Fitzmas spirit just yet. But I had an epiphany as to when I personally turned the corner from dread to hope: All of the sudden, I can watch and listen to George Bush and not get ill. I can listen to him fumbling thought entire speeches on the car radio and not scream "shut the fuck up!" at the top of my lungs. I can smile and shake my head when I see his jaw twitch 17 times in 10 minutes. I look at him now and realize that this is a man who knows he's not gonna get away with his crap much longer. He is a beaten, broken little man, who will get what he deserves.
After the election last year, I was beyond despondent. Like most of you, I was in shock. I still believe the election was stolen, and felt as though this was the final nail in the coffin of our democracy. Since my days at GWU in DC in the mid 80's, I've been a news and political junkie, but in November 2004 I stopped watching the news. I canceled my subscription to the NY Times. I had to change radio stations if a GWB sound bite was played.
My head would have been completely in the sand if not for Daily Kos. Two or three months after the election, I came back here regularly, taking in more or less everything that people had to say. It felt like hanging out with old friends (only you peeps are way smarter).
I've gone on way too long without saying a whole lot, but - on what I believe to be the eve of the re-awakening of our great country - I just wanted to say "thanks!" to all of you for making this rough time much more bearable. Keep up the great work!
David