I'm usually more controlled at this site and in offline life, but thought it appropriate to air grievances and offer ideas on expressing ourselves outside of DKos, post-midterm election. Think of this as a warm-up for Festivus and a mental flossing to help stay focused and active in political life as a natural aspect of socializing.
Big talk, hopeful walk following Aunt Flossie's latest hairdo.
Yes, I am not proud of this country much: rampant racism, woman-hating, LGBT discrimination/violence, worshipping at the feet of the greediest pigs, bombing other nation's people's families into fragments of their former selves. Sure, there's so much which is positive to also focus upon, but this list of items is most telling, I feel.
Because they represent the consequences of some older, white male voters going to the polls in this country, not the full demographic grouping or most other demographic cross-sections, it seems.
Consider the possibility that we've already jumped the shark on an international stage, with Obama trying to middle-ground his way through Republican wars and a defense funding+contractor-driven military which offers no positive consequences in modern theaters bullying him into starting even more. Our military is run by failures with lots of stars on their uniforms: short-sighted, greedy men who only want more money to flow via their oversight, regardless of the misery and unlawfulness they promulgate. They're mostly older, white men.
We have witnessed the calamitous breakdown of our 24x7 corporate media: fear-driven voting. This has helped drive our own society+economy directly into the filthy, greedy and slimy hands of the ultra-rich more than any other influence to which you can point. Those companies are dominated by older, white males.
I am usually not violent, but I honestly and sincerely wish a natural pestilence upon the Republicans in Congress and their core voters: they have already been destroying the rest of the planet (environment), our kids and non-whites+LGBT (guns, hate crimes) and our respect for others (surveillance state, hate speech, misogyny) without a shred of conscience. These core voters are also older, white males.
At some point in the bombardment on our society and the rest of the world, fair liberals must accept that packs of wild, rabid dogs who call themselves "patriots" or "religious" men need to be metaphorically put down, en masse. It's time we raised our voices at the local pizza place, kid's ball games, Rotary Club, family gatherings, etc. and let the miscreants who consistently damage our country (and surrounding ones) know that we see them as small-minded, scared freaks who deserve no respect afforded most individuals. I've always been brutally honest with my relatives, but recently delved into forays of increasingly head-on "straight talk" with extended family and it feels empowering: no longer nodding my head in basic acceptance of their conservative speaking points as being something to actually consider in much depth, or that gains in Exxon shares for their 401K are anything to celebrate, etc.
These ideas and their supporters need to be minimized in the public square by mockery, simple facts and - yes - overwrought emotional positions that we can use to gain attention from potential voters, once again. Show the particular older, white male voters who consider themselves as entitled or otherwise "going with the flow" as the scared, hoarding animals that most of them are. No holding back. Some of my relatives have been hearing from me that they are essentially killing my childrens's future - that hits the grandparents hardest. So be it, I can deal with my inner guilt later, because there's a war going on for hearts and minds. The emotional pain I'm inflicting upon others (and myself) is to help everyone speak openly about what's real and not act as if keeping up appearances should apply to all aspects of life, including voting.
That is, I feel we've been far too civil and left this country open to occupation by an invading force of goose-stepping idiots and their monied overlords, which has necessarily infested society for long enough to now feel like status quo. No longer extreme at all! At the same time, there are many moderates/independents who lean to the ease of status quo: that's my extended family situation. These people go with the flow and accept conventional wisdom at play in the market, on the news shows and from their similar-acting friends: of course today, USA culture is highly pitched towards the minority of extreme libertarian, right-wing greedheads who push for public money to find only the richest of private hands. So, that's the filter in which my moderate/independent relatives tend to view things as "normal" for others to consider - the Overton Window that is now stuck to the right, partly off its frame.
Perhaps we're now the minority rebellion in terms of government and media attention . . . if others feel similarly to me, will the ultimate in desperation - metaphorical suicide bombings - ramp up in the next two years? Those are the public acts of fortitude and disobedience to support which I mentioned above, of course (not physical violence! - that plays directly into the "beleaguered white male" fairy tale and is obviously not right, regardless). The public acts that put us into potential jeopardy with family, friends and even our jobs. The ones we sometimes wish we could help organize or at least attend, but don't always make time for. e.g., I recently saw a "Cross of Life" protest by anti-abortionists at a busy intersection and notified my spouse, who quickly brought our daughter with a long, handwritten poster for women's healthcare rights to help counter the mean, crazy people on display. That's nothing compared to Occupy Wall Street or singing in state capital buildings, but I feel every little piece adds up: we provide a wall of normal resistance to insane looters of our people and values.
To me, this election was a rehash of 2000 in some ways - the re-revenge of the scared, white, 45+ male demographic, a grouping which has held back our country and tortured its people (including themselves) for decades. That particular grouping deserves nothing more than the dustbin of history.
I'm an older, white male, btw. If I get hit in the coming backlash, so be it - my status is mostly undeserved, anyway.
Come at me, bro.